Pros: Extremely sharp pictures, Zeiss lens, USB support, good size, huge storage capacity, advanced exposure modes, excellent menu system, good user control, pretty good software,
Cons: Expensive, proprietary technology, not enough manual tweaking for pros, one step below professional quality
webword's Full Review: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H2 Digital Camera
Overview
Interestingly, I did not spend much time deciding if I was going to buy the Sony DSC-S70 digital still camera. I went to the store, tried it out, and compared it with all the other available cameras. The whole process took about an hour. This might make you chuckle, but price was not a consideration. Prices normally matter, but I had a pressing need for a very good digital camera for my usability consulting business.
I tried over 20 cameras. I picked them all up, I used all of their controls, and I asked a lot of questions. I looked through a book of pictures, I took several pictures, and turned on every camera that I could. No camera was left out and all brands, sizes, and styles were tested for a couple of minutes each.
I gravitated to the Sony DSC-S70 after about 30 minutes. I kept going back to it again and again. It felt a little bit heavy but the size was good in my hands. It was pretty well balanced and it was a bit smaller than a traditional 35mm camera. It felt right, and that was an important selling point since the purchase was made real-time, at a store.
At the time I was buying the camera, I did not know that it was so damn good overall. Instead, what won me over was its simplicity and power. It could capture a high number of pixels (3.3 megapixels), the lens seemed very good, and the usability of the menu controls was outstanding. I also liked that the memory capacity was potentially so high. Note that the default memory is 8mb in the Sony DSC-S70, whereas several other cameras are limited to 1.44mb because they use floppies (without higher capacity support). That was important since I don’t like floppies and they are not as portable as I like.
So, that’s why I bought the camera. It seemed good and it felt right.
Juicy Details
What follows is a good list of important resources. If you are doing research like most other folks buying digital cameras, you should follow up on the links below. They will save you time and money. You’ll know if this is the right camera for you in no time.
Resource 1
Sony DSC-S70 Discussion Group -- “This list is for owners and would-be of the Sony DSC-S70 digital camera. You can ask questions of members and benefit from their expertise.”
>> http://www.egroups.com/group/SonyDSCS70
Resource 2
Sony DSC-S70 (OUTSTANDING Imaging Resource review)
>> http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S70/S70A.HTM
Resource 3
Sony pushes Memory Stick as mobile storage standard (CNET)
>> http://www.canada.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-1690949.html
Resource 4
Sony Cyber Shot DSC-S70 (CNET Review)
>> http://cnet.com/hardware/0-1079-404-1739163.html
6-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 14 x 19-inch prints 12x image-stabilized optical zoom; 2.0-inch LCD display High Sensitivity ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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