Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 7.2 Megapixel

I bought this camera because I was looking for a basic to above basic easy to use camera for vacation and for business. I needed a camera that was small enough to be easy to carry but powerful enough to take clear, sharp pictures.

I found this camera here on Ebay for a very good price. After reading a list of features I decided to go with this model. I made an excellent choice.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 7.2 Megapixel camera has enough resolution to produce high quality photos in about every situation encountered. It has excellent low-light capabilities as well as sharp colors and high contrast in bright lighting. It also takes very good closeups, although in macro mode the photos have a warp to them that is annoying in some situations.

Battery life is above excellent. With the 8M Memory Stick installed I can take over 200 photos with one charge (LCD ON) and nearly 300 with the LCD off. Many reviews complain that the LCD only has 150,000 pixels compared to comparable models with over 200,000. But the LCD has a very sharp picture and is easy to view. The LCD is for viewfinding and reviewing images anyway so in my opinion the LCD quality is not a major issue.

Another thing often mentioned in other reviews is the complexity of the menu system. This is bogus. The menu system is VERY EASY to learn and much, much easier to use than described. It took me less than 10 minutes to figure out all of the features and that is without even looking at the instructions manual. The "Delete Image" feature, the one most complained about, is actually two button pushes away. Other reviews often describe the delete image function as such a hassle to use it may as well not even be on the camera. Not so!

Other things you should know: The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 7.2 Megapixel Camera has one of the most advanced image processors made by Sony, so the camera has features other cameras in this class do not have. Such as face recognition (and it really works!), auto light compensation, digital zoom and movie with sound in high quality. The HD feature is only available on still images (not on movies) but to me, who wants PICTURES for use on web pages, Ebay etc., this is a non-issue. The movie feature is excellent and with the 8M Memory Stick the movie feature can record MORE than a T-120 VHS tape can hold!!! You can also break up movies into individual files so you can make more than one movie at a time, selecting which "file" you want to record/edit/add to. And the built-in slide show lets you show your pictures on any TV with A/V inputs, and comes with customizabe background sound!

The camera comes with USB/A/V cable. You need a special HDMI cable to use the HD feature (not included). Also included is the Sony Cybershot CD-ROM but you do not actually need it to access your photos. The camera shows up as a separate mass storage device in Windows (just another hard drive). Any image software can view the pictures (like Photoshop or iPhoto Explorer). The camera's built-in memory and the memory stick are separate folders and you can move pictures around from folder to folder and from drive to drive like any other file on any other hard drive. (In fact, you can move non-photo files, like EXE or PDF files to the camera's memory! Excellent way to hide files on the run!).

Overall, an excellent camera for everyday use and for light to medium business.
I recommend it! And I'm an electronics engineer!