Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P9

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P9

Cyber-shot DSC-P9 Review, by Nikki Echler McDonald and Carla Thornton May 24, 2002

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• Reviewed by: moed34

  Strengths: The sony is small in size and is very durable. It has seen a lot of milage in my front pocket. Video is nice and clean.

  Weaknesses: LCD picture is not the best, it only takes a 128 meg stick. Sony says no firmaware updates are planed for a larger stick. No zoom function while in video mode,At times it dosen't focus right by water.

  Overall: Nice camera if it cost under $250.00 I paid over $800.00 when it was new for camera and 128 meg memory stick, It didn't say max memory stick was only 128 meg. I would have purchased another camera if I had known that. This is a nice camera but not worth more then $250.00.

• Reviewed by: iinikonikoii

  Strengths: compact size, mpeg videos, wide range of features and settings, easy to use, fast uploading, looks cute, high resolution

  Weaknesses: small memory card, flash is too strong too often, scenery mode produces questionable pictures, doesn't come with carrying case, on the pricey side

  Overall: i've had this camera for over a year and have taken over 2000 pictures and and hour of video. Of those, i've printed about 200 through ofoto.com. The resulting picture quality has been pretty good. A couple pictures didn't come out as well, but that could be due to the printing company. The scenery mode for taking pictures of landscapes has a lag time where is says "processing"...if you move the camera even the slightest bit when it's "processing" night photos taken with flash, the pictures always come out fuzzy. Not quite sure what's that all about. However, 95% of the time, i'm very very satisfied with all its features. I love sony innovation. By the way, the camera is very mac-friendly. It's good for slightly more mature users to appreciate all it's greatness.

• Reviewed by: birdmousedog

  Strengths: Small size, features, ease of use, usable MPEG movie mode

  Weaknesses: No case, bundled 16 Mb stick too small

  Overall: I have used a few different models of digital cameras at work over the last few years, and was sold on Sony for ease of use and durability (construction sites). At the highest resolution setting, the camera is a little slow to record the shot and be ready for another, say 3 seconds, and creates an almost 2 Mb file. I normally set it at 1600x1200 which only takes a second to store and is more than enough to print 4x6 prints at home. It comes with a coupon for $20 off an accesory at Sonystyle.com. The case that Sony makes for the camera is semi-rigid and the perfect size, solving the no case problem. Memory sticks are also available from other manufacturers now, I got a 128 Mb for $30 after a rebate, solving the other problem. The menus are not the easiest for a non-tech person, but if you can only figure out how to turn it off and on you will have great pictures. As with any small-lensed digital camera, dark and shadow are not always compensated for, but a fill flash takes care of backlighted situtations. Find this camera at the right price, trick it out, and you will be as satisfied as I have been.

• Reviewed by: paulsmethurst

  Strengths: Compact size,Light weight,Easy to use,Good quality pictures,Easy to understand manual.

  Weaknesses: supplied memory stick is really too small,expensive battery.LCD is easy to scratch if carried in pocket.

  Overall: I bought this camera as a everyday carry around,the old 35mm F3 ws just too big and heavy! Overall i can say the camera takes good pictures with very little user input even under sometimes less than perfect conditions.The zoom lens could use a little work though 2.85.6 is a little too slow for fast moving objects but given the compactness of the camera its acceptable. i would recommend the camera for anyone who want to have a nice small capable camera that is always at hand. Nice job sony!

• Reviewed by: cbp

  Strengths: Small, Sleek look, excellent picture resolution, wide range of accessories

  Weaknesses: Slow picture access for LCD display, Red-eye redution setting hard to change, auto-focus is not consistent, slightly weak battery performance, NO CASE INCLUDED, too small 16MB memory stick, pricy.

  Overall: After reviewing many cameras, I decided upon this camera for a variety of reasons. This camera was the smallest (my main focus in buying a new digital camera) but I also wanted a 4-megapixel camera this size as well. This camera seems to fit all my needs in a small compact 4 megapixel digital camera. There are plenty of accessories to go with it. The major downside I have with this camera is that in perfect daylight, it will take a perfectly crystal clear picture, but in less light, or if the photographer is not as steady as can be, the picture may be out of focus. The main determining factor between a good camera and a bad one is whether a camera focuses well. This camera gets the job done more times than not, but it can be disappointing at times to find yourself with an out of focus picture. Otherwise, this camera is an excellent solution for the money!