The Mavica Your Parents Will Love
Written: Aug 01 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Convenient and easy to use.
Cons: Storage media limitations, focus and flash problems.
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| e-diva's Full Review: Sony Mavica MVC-FD73 Digital Camera |
I have used the Mavica FD73 digital camera extensively for nearly two years, incorporating many photos from it on my web site for my travelogues and for general use. The MVC-FD73 camera is an older model digital camera and as such, is slightly outdated by many of today's standards.
If you're seeking a multi-purpose camera for the long haul that will let you take print quality photographs, steer clear of the Mavica. However, if you're looking for a low-price alternative to some of today's costly multi-megapixel cameras and want primarily to shoot for screen resolution, a new or secondhand Mavica may be for you.
Pros
1. The Mavica is extremely easy to use. I purchased a second one of these models for my father for Christmas. He's moderately computer savvy and had his Mavica working in minutes, and I had photographs in my mailbox the next day from Christmas at his house.
2. LCD Viewer for preliminary photo checks. Most digital cameras come with an LCD viewer these days and the Mavica is no exception. You'll find the viewer useful for weeding out shots you don't want to keep and sharing those you do want to keep instantly with friends.
3. Floppies are a convenient, cheap, reusable medium. When we went on a cruise this past February, I picked thirty floppy disks from my ever-growing pile of floppies (thanks to AOL!) and placed erasable marker labels on them. I shoved them into a Ziplock bag along with the special label marker and used about half of them on vacation. Each time I finished with a floppy, I'd eject it, mark the contents of the disk on it, and toss it into our backpack. We returned home with more than 150 photographs on nearly-free media and when I'd offloaded them to my computer, I just erased the labels and returned the disks to the bag for reuse with the camera. Try getting kind of convenience for so little expense from one of the new "memory sticks"!
Cons
1. The LCD viewer gets scratched easily. There's no cover or protection for the viewer.
2. The LCD viewer is hard to see in strong outdoor lights. Many digital cameras, including other Sony Mavica models, have an interchangeable viewfinder and an LCD viewer, but the FD73 doesn't.
3. Overbearing flash. We get a lot of red eye incidents in low light and indoors.
4. The camera has difficulty focusing in low-light.
5. Floppies, while convenient, are much too small for high resolution pictures. I think a Zip drive or Super Disk solution would be perfect, but Sony is instead pushing their own proprietary memory stick media instead of a standard disk/floppy alternative which is a shame because it will require an external adapter and introduces another step between taking the photo and loading it onto your computer.
Sony could have taken this idea out for the long haul but it seems their Mavica cameras are being developed in a different direction. This is a good first-timer's digital camera, though.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
e-diva
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Member: Cat
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
Opinions from a 29YO cat-loving, childfree, Miata-driving geek. What could be better? :-)
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