Sony FD Mavica MVC-FD75 350 Kilopixel Compact Camera

WHAT'S HOT: The FD in the MVC-FD75's name stands for floppy disk. You can store up to 15 fine-quality JPEG images or one uncompressed JPEG or bitmap image on one 1.44MB floppy; when the disk is full, pull another out of the box. Perhaps more important for people on the go, you don't need a driver to transfer the images to your computer. Writing images to disk is surprisingly quick (though the camera isn't storing large files in the first place).

The camera's controls are easy to use--a directional control on the back of the camera allows you to navigate menus for functions that are used less often; you simply push the center of the dial to select a command. Separate buttons on the back actuate the flash, program settings, and a few useful picture effects (photo negative, sepia, black and white, and solarize). A 10X optical zoom (a much longer lens than most digital cameras) allows you to frame faraway subjects easily without reducing the resolution of the final image.

Thanks to a large, rechargeable lithium battery, the MVC-FD75 lasts almost 2.5 hours on a charge (good for 197 shots), well above average compared with other low-priced digital cameras.

WHAT'S NOT: The MVC-FD75 delivers by far the fewest pixels of any digital camera we've tested, and it couldn't disguise that fact in our performance tests. Even at 640 by 480 resolution onscreen, we saw ugly jagged edges and obvious JPEG compression artifacts everywhere we looked. Flesh tones looked very chalky, and the eyes of our mannequin twinkled as if we'd used a star filter on the lens. Prints looked even worse: Even 4-by-6-inch photos looked ghastly, and at bigger sizes our test subject looked as if we had captured it from a television.

Despite the limited number of pixels, the MVC-FD75 carries a steep $399 price and few extras--not even an optical viewfinder. The flash doesn't offer a red-eye-reduction mode; you cannot focus the camera manually; and you cannot control exposure or shutter speed manually (though you can choose from a few preset program modes, such as landscape or sports). And with no video port, you cannot display your images on a television. As a result, the manual doesn't have much to cover, though we'd still prefer something a little beefier than the pamphlet-size manual Sony provides.

Because it accommodates a full-size floppy disk, the camera is quite large, heavy, and clunky-looking. Although writing images to the floppy drive seems quick, playing them back on this camera takes longer than on most digital cameras. Transferring the images to computer also takes a long time, even though the largest image we shot with the camera came out to 85KB. You cannot delete images while in shooting mode; you must switch to playback mode first, which takes considerable time.

WHAT ELSE: Outdoor subjects are easy to frame, because the 2.5-inch LCD viewfinder shows up in all but the brightest sunlight. Icons representing settings clutter the LCD screen a bit, but one click of a button makes them disappear.

BEST USE: Sony's floppy-disk cameras should appeal to people who want to share their images with others without worrying about getting expensive media back. But the Sony MVC-FD87 costs only $100 more and takes much better pictures.

SUMMARY

Sony MVC-FD75 0.35 megapixels, 640 by 480 maximum resolution, 40 to 400mm focal range (35mm equivalent), f1.8 to f2.9 aperture range, shutter speeds from 1/60 second to 1/4000 second, LCD viewfinder, Sony lithium rechargeable battery with external charger, 19.2 ounces with battery; MGI PhotoSuite 8.1 (Windows), MGI PhotoSuite SE (Mac), and MGI VideoWave III SE (Windows) software. One-year parts warranty, 90-day labor warranty; toll-free support 15 hours daily. $399 800/222-7669 www.sony.com/di