I have just recently purchased the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 Digital camera for my son. I don't even want to hear a word about how my son is spoiled, (my husband doesn't think a 9 year old should have such an item) Yes I admit he is 9 years old, and I never had such a great camera at that age. My God... I had a Kodak 110 camera... ha ha.... But times change, and his new found interest in photography has lead me to make this decision. Goals were set, and goals were met, and his reward was this camera. He's earned it. I purchased this one from someone on Ebay. Brand New - In the Box - Never Been Used!!! and Still at $20.00 cheaper than it could be bought in the store at that time. Can't beat that right? We have had this camera in our household for just ONE week, and it's been used more than any camera I know. The kid is wild about his new camera. He's taken pictures of everything from 4-wheelers, friends, local police officers, fishing adventures, and yes, even spiders.(how nice!) To find out more about this little camera, keep reading.......

But first....
The Specs on the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52

• 3.2 mega pixels (2048x1536 resolution)
• 2X optical zoom
• 3.2X digital “smart” zoom
• 1.6 inch LCD screen (280x220)
• 16MB memory stick
• 2 AA nickel-hydride batteries and charger
• USB and A/V connecting cables
• Sony Image Mixer software


The Size & Protection:

I have found that the size of this particular camera is a bit odd. Not so much for comfort in holding and taking pictures, but when it comes to fitting into camera cases, and such, it's hard to find the perfect fit. The dimensions are 4 7/8 x 2 3/8 x 1 ½ inches and it weighs in at 10 ounces. When I bought this camera for my son, I was thinking that because it's for a 9 year old adventuring into the photography world, I'd better find a protective case for it. I would have liked to keep the camera safe from bumps and bangs that come along with the active lives children lead.

A friend of mine had purchased the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P92 last year and had ordered a protective case for his camera that is just awesome, and would be the PERFECT thing for my sons new camera. BUT NO CAN DO!!! This particular camera the P52 can not use the awesome Nylon Cyber-Shot Carrying Case (LCS-PEA) that my friend has. WHY? Because of the dimensions of the P52. This camera is a little bit bigger and therefore will not fit inside this carrying case. It would have been perfect too, because the base of the carrying case actually screws onto the camera, and all you do is unzip the padded upper part and use the camera and then zip it back up. The case never really comes completely off of the camera. Oh well, I was out of luck. As of right now, I have not found what I'm looking for in the line of appropriate camera protection for a child. As of right now my son carries his camera in a NY Yankees Fanny Pack. ha ha ha!!! Hey, whatever works right?

Features & Settings:

You can add special effect to your pictures, you can change a picture to Solarize, Black & White, Sepia, or Negative Art. They are pretty standard, but it's always cool to turn a color picture into something else, (I especially like black & white or sepia) making the picture take on a whole new appearance.

Flash levels can be adjusted as well, you will have High, Normal, and Low. I usually leave it on Normal, unless I find that I'm in a darker environment and think that a higher level of flash will help. Some other features include a self-timer, and red-eye reduction.

It may be pretty standard, I'm not sure, but with the cyber-shot P52 you can shoot multiple frames and multi-burst mode. With Multi-Burst mode when you press the shutter button just once, it will record 16 frames in a row. This works great if you want to see a progression of pictures, and you may find just the perfect one within those 16 shots. I have to admit, however, that I have not used this feature on this particular camera. I have on other Sony Digital cameras, and I assume they work pretty much in the same manner.

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 also allows you to shoot a still picture with an audio clip. Believe it or not, when I bought this camera for my son, I didn't even know it did that, until the first day he had it, he had been outside taking pictures of all sorts of things. Little did he know, or me for that matter, that he changed a setting. When I downloaded the pictures onto the computer, I suddenly was hearing a recording of my son laughing hysterically at someone he had just taken a picture of. Boys will be boys I suppose. I said... "Hey, that's cool" and sure enough upon looking in the book, I found out that the camera offers that option. Pretty cool feature if you ask me.

You are also able to take mini video, we know them as MPEG videos. It will take up more memory on the memory stick. That's a given. But it's pretty cool to take a picture and maybe have the person say something, adding an even better touch to the picture itself. Images can be rotated within the camera, there is no need to wait until you have it on your computer. For such a small camera this baby comes with a lot of cool little features.

The controls are located on the back of the camera. You have a dial that lets you select the mode in which you wish to use, such as whether you wish to Change camera settings, Record (take a photo) or Play (view the picture). Below that dial you have a set of directional buttons, up/down/left/right with a button in the center which is basically the button of all buttons. It's the button that selects whatever it is you choose to do. This is where you will do all of your navigating! Beside the dial, and the navigational buttons, you have 3 small buttons one of which is a Menu button... This will show the status, the amount of battery that you have left, the image size, the flash, red eye etc. You will have a choice to have all of that showing on your LCD screen or not have it show at all. Personally I don't like all that stuff there. I'd rather SEE what I'm taking a picture of.

Just below the Menu Button you have your LCD status button, this lets you choose if you want to use the LCD or not. On/Off so to speak. Very simple to figure out! The last of the 3 buttons is the Image size and image delete button. If you press this button while you have your camera set for taking a photo, you will get a screen coming up that will allow you to choose what image size you wish to take your photos at. If you have the camera set to the Play mode, where you are just viewing what you have already taken a picture of, then press this button will delete the photo. Don't worry it will ask you if you are sure you want to delete.

Back to the subject of LCD.... The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 gives you the option to use the LCD screen OR a view finder. This is something that even my own camera doesn't have. I have the Sony Mavica CD400. I have a nice big LCD screen, but no view finder. Hmmmm, who would have thought?

Over all, I would say that the camera is very easy to use and to navigate. It doesn't take a genius, and if all else fails, there is a great book with all kinds of instructions to go with it. =)

Quality:

I have found that taking a picture close up is a bit blurry. One thing that the Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 does NOT have is the macro mode, allowing you to take close up photos. The Cyber-Shot DSC-P72 and P92 DO have it.

The small flash on the Cyber-Shot is nothing spectacular. The BEST photos you will get are outdoor photos. You CAN take pictures indoors, but you had better plan on being fairly close to the subject. If you aren't the subject will be a bit blurry or grainy due to the fact that there isn't enough flash, but as I mentioned before, maybe it would be wise to put the flash level on HIGH if you are indoors.

With the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 you are able to adjust the size which in turn means the quality of the photo you will get. Before I tell you what the DSC-P52 has to offer, I will first tell you that it's ALWAYS better to take an already large photo and shrink it, rather than take a smaller photo and enlarge it. Enlarging a smaller photo takes away the quality, whereas sizing down a larger photo is the perfect way to guarantee that there will be nothing lost in the image quality. We take pictures because we want something to keep, right? So why not be sure you have a good quality picture? What image size settings do you get with this camera? 3.1 Megapixels (2048x1536) Prints BIG PICTURES - 2.8 Megapixels (2048 - 3:2 prints) - 2.0 Megapixels (1631x1224) Will easily print an 8x10 photo - 1.2 Megapixels (1280x960) Used for 4x6 photos I wouldn't try to print anything larger than that......- The VGA setting, which actually is for pictures that are about 640 x 480 in size. That will work for maybe for web site use, but not even good enough for printing a 4x6 photo.

Accessories:

The Sony Cyber-Shot P52 comes with rechargeable batteries and a charger. The batteries were NOT what I had expected but they do seem to work perfectly. The camera will use the 2 AA batteries that came with the camera, or you can use just your usual AA alkaline batteries. Remember though that digital cameras are famous for eating up batteries so the rechargeable are the best way to go. It might even be a good idea to buy an extra set of batteries just to keep one set charged and have as a spare. (depending on what your needs are) The charger is an actual battery charger. It you must take the 2 AA batteries out of the camera, put them in the charger, and then charge them. It usually takes about 6 hours to fully charge batteries that have gone completely dead. I have charged the batteries for just 2 or 3 hours and found that it lasted for a while. Once again, it all depends on your needs.

The battery life depends on what features you are using. Obviously if you use the flash a lot, the life of your batteries are used up faster. If you are recording an MPEG movie, or recording voice to go with your image, you will use batteries in a BIG HURRY.

You also get a 16MB Memory Stick with this camera. It serves it's purpose, but I can't say that it's really enough if you are taking higher quality photos. According to what the book tells you, you will get about 10 pictures on the memory stick if your camera is set at "FINE" mode. I recommend Fine, if you have it set to Standard, the quality is a little less than what I care for. If by any chance you do wish to have it on Standard quality, you can get 18 pictures on the 16MB Memory Stick with the camera set at the highest Image Size (3.1M)

I personally have this camera set at 2.0M which in turn allows for about 16-20 pictures when set on FINE mode. The quality is good enough to be able to resize properly and will print an 8x10 without a problem. Of course you'll want to have a good printer as well. You can get photographer quality photos from this camera if the proper settings are used, and then pictures enhanced and resized properly, and the right printer used. I know this for a fact, because I've tested it.

SONY Image Software:

I have found that transferring images to your computer has proven to be an extremely simple process when you use the Image Mixer or Image Transfer software that is provided with the camera. Since I bought this camera for my 9 year old son, I thought I would have to TEACH him how to work with the files and copy them to his computer, but with this software, I found that there is a setting that allows the images to transfer all by themselves. You can't ask for anything easier than that. If you choose a simple setting when installing the software, you can have it set so that when you plug the camera in, and turn on the power, ZIP... you will notice that your pictures are being transferred in JPEG format almost immediately. It is so easy, I have found that if I just leave the USB cable plugged into the USB port on my sons computer, it's there and always available to him. Transferring photos couldn't possibly get any easier than this. Sony also included a cable to connect the Cyber-Shot to a TV allowing you view all your photos on a TV screen instead of on the small LCD monitor on the back of the camera. What a great way to show off your pictures. Everyone can see them at once, instead of passing the camera around so each person can take a look.

Even though the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 has a few things lacking such as the macro mode, the flash isn't the greatest, this has still proven to be a GREAT camera for a beginner. This camera has dropped drastically in price over the last 6 months even. I bought this from Ebay.... Bidding, and winning the bid at $172.00 It's STILL cheaper than buying it in the store. Just last week, I saw this camera the Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 advertised at Circuit City for $179.00. Sooner or later the price will drop even more. It has proven to be an EXCELLENT camera for my son. He loves it, and I think it's great that he's finally able to take great pictures. It makes him happy, therefore, making me happy!!!

~ BRAINS & BEAUTY in the Photography World ~
on the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F828 Digital Camera.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 172.00
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use