DSC-U20 mini marvel
Written: Dec 29 '02 (Updated Sep 02 '03)
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Pros: Very small, functional, reasonable battery life.
Cons: No zoom, needs external charger for batteries, no viewfinder.
The Bottom Line: If you want a camera you can carry anywhere and takes good pictures, this is a great option.
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| deaddred's Full Review: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-U20 Digital Camera |
I became interested in the DSC-U10 (1.3MP little brother of the DSC-U20) when I saw it briefly in a shop, but didn't have time to find out what it could do. Its size was what really attracted me to it. I got home and did some research on it, and found some very favourable details about it. I already had a cheap 1.3MP camera so the U10 wasn't going to be much of an upgrade for me, but then I found there was going to be a DSC-U20, a 2 mega pixel version, so I decided to wait a month for it to be released - I am in the UK by the way.
I received my camera a couple of days before Christmas. The web based company I ordered it from were offering it with a free Sony 64MB memory stick. The camera itself comes with an 8MB card which would be fine for a few snaps, but would be quickly used up with hi-res pictures, so I think a bigger card would be important for a lot of people. The 64MB card I got allows 122 hi-res (1632x1224) , or 655 lo-res (VGA 640x480) pictures to be stored. The camera display tells you how many pictures the available memory can hold.
The camera is ready to take pictures within about 2 seconds of opening the shutter, and its size means it is very easy to carry about so you can take a lot of spur of the moment shots you might miss with other cameras.
I found the picture quality to be excellent for the size of the unit. As it has a very small lens, it obviously isn't going to be the best image quality you will find for a 2MP camera, but I found the quality to be perfectly adequate for my needs - snaps of people, interesting buildings, country vistas. It has auto focus which works very well, and it also handles light levels well. It has settings for sepia, B&W or negative effects, which work well, but as it is taking digital images, I prefer to take the pictures naturally, and then enhance them on my PC later if I think it is needed.
The controls are a little fiddly, but given the size of the unit, this is something you can't really grumble about. The control/menu system works logically and it doesn't take long to learn how to access all the functions of the camera.
According to the manual, the rechargeable Ni-MH AAA batteries give about an hours useage, which is probably what I got. With the first charge I took about 40 pictures, and about 5 15 second movies, and had a good play about with the menu system with the backlight enabled (it can be disabled to lengthen battery life).
I haven't tried the USB software that comes with the camera, as I bought a PQI USB memory stick reader/writer, which is a lot more convenient to use, and saves on camera battery life.
Overall I am extremely pleased with the camera as I have been waiting for a tiny camera with good picture quality for a long time.
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 373
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
deaddred
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Location: London, UK
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Into PC's, games, gadgets, travel, and more gadgets.
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