Cyber-Shot DSC-H70 16.1 MP Digital Still Camera with 10x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom G Lens and 3.0-inch LCD (Black)

[[ASIN:B004H8FNF8 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H70 16.1 MP Digital Still Camera with 10x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom G Lens and 3.0-inch LCD (Blue) In the 1980's I enjoyed photography as a hobby. When my equipment wore out and my vision wasn't good any more I lost interest and gave it up. About 12 years ago I received a hand me down digital camera from a family member who always has to have to best and latest of everything. It was a nice little camera...simple to use; but with my poor vision it wasn't much fun; and I only used it on a rare occaision; but it wasn't for a hobby. Recently, I was looking for a new camera and, I compared several of the major brands that were priced under $200.00. They sure have come a long way in technology. I was able to narrow my search down to 3 camera's and spent much time weighing the pro's and con's of each. I carefully examined the cameras that were in the running for simplicity, quality, function, etc. It was the large 3-inch screen that finally sold me on the DSC-H70; as well as, the extra features that allow just the right amount of creativity for me at this stage in life. WOW what a difference! The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H70 is so easy to use. You can actually see what you're taking a picture of and; I have not had any problem with glare or being unable to see what's in the screen when using it out-doors. I'm still learning about all of the extra features; but it was so easy to set up, and I was able to try it out in no time. The instructions could be a bit more thorough and perhaps include a comprehensive index. But the on camera help is good for when you don't have your instruction booklet with you. It is a great camera for the price. Plus their shade of Blue is my favorite color. Hooray! I don't have to squint or point and guess what's in the photos now. I do wish the camera came in a box-set with all of the accessorries. If it does, I couldn't find it. The camera came with a corded strap, a transfer cable, a software disk, one battery and a battery charger. I was disapointed in the quality of the battery charger...flimsy plastic which looks and feels like it could easily break. I can actually slightly squeeze the sides of the charger...it is not made of solid hard plastic like the ones I had seen before; and it does not have an charging adapter for travel use. The charger did charge the battery without getting either hot. Take note that it does not come with a memory card. It does have enough internal memory for 3 photos. In conslusion, FOR THE PRICE IT'S A GREAT LITTLE CAMERA! It's not just a point and shoot...it has some extra features that allow you to be creative. ie. self-portrait timer, manual operation mode , automatic mode option, plus many that I haven't played with yet. The extended video option sounds like fun...I'm waiting for my memory card to arrive along with my hard shell camera case that has a memory foam lining so I can start enjoying my new Camera.

I had an old dinosaur of a Sony that took 1280 by 640 photos, max quality. It weighed a ton and was a solid 1/2 cubic foot block of dead weight (or so it seemed). So it was HIGH time to upgrade. So seeing the wonderful reviews on this camera, and being happy with my previous one in spite of it being outdated, I happily ordered this one! Boy, what a PAIN this one was. We have incandescent lighting and no matter how many "auto" settings I tried, I couldn't get the pictures to come out without them having a yellowish tint to them. On top of it, since we have a large family, the pictures were consistently ruined by one kid or another moving and making a big blurry area. It was terrible! So I did research and changed some settings on the camera so that the shutter speed and other settings were better. I changed the White Balance to get rid of the yellow tinge (FINALLY!!). Still, it was very much a pain to have to constantly reset the white balance before I took any pictures. Some of the pictures were still blurry, but it was ACCEPTABLE, barely. Then I brought it to my new daughter's baptism and I got NOT ONE good picture because of the light coming through the windows. I am SO frustrated. I would have used my DINOSAUR camera if I would have known that this brand new, almost $200 dollar camera COULD NOT TAKE BETTER PHOTOS!!!! What good is a camera if you have to be messing around with settings before each one? Who has time to be messing with this before your child's special event, in the Church, etc??? I am FLABBERGASTED by all the 5 star reviews on this thing! So to continue the saga, I brought the camera to Best Buy to pick out a new one... and to see if I had a lemon. Lo a behold the camera was acting fine THERE, under their fluorescent light... but was still a bit on the blurry side and the colors weren't quite right. Picked out a new Nikon Coolpix S9100 that took excellent pictures in the store, brought that home, and it's PERFECT. You point it at your kids, it takes a picture perfectly. You then point it out the window at the bright light and it adjusts and comes out perfect. Voila! A camera that works! Oddly enough, I went to Sam's Club later that day after Best Buy and guess which camera I saw there? This Sony one! And guess what it did as soon as I tested THAT one in the store? Yup, blurry picture and glare coming from the door of Sam's. How in the WORLD did this camera get such good reviews??!!! Needless to say I'm returning it even though I'm past the 30 day window and probably won't get my full refund back. Adios, piece of junk! Pretty pitiful that you can't even take as solid pictures as a Sony from 10 years ago (that one takes 3.5" floppy disc too, just to show you how old it is! LOL)

We bought this camera because my wife didn't want to lug one of our Nikon SLR's around on our recent trip to Spain and South Africa. It quickly became our go-to camera. After comparing the picture quality of photos taken with the Cyber-Shot to similar photos taken with a Nikon D70 (w/18-200 zoom lens), they are of near equal quality. The metering on the Nikon is just slightly better, but with photoshop, that doesn't really matter. Zoom is fantastic and compares to about a 150mm lens on a SLR. The panorama feature is really neat and gives good quality coverage. Having the built in movie feature is great. Photos cannot begin to capture the essence of Zulu dancers. I'm willing to bet in the future that this camera gets used 5x more than our two Nikon SLR's. I purchased the 16GB high speed memory card and didn't once have to worry about running out of storage. Having a second battery came in handy. Leaving the camera on means that the LCD viewing screen is on and that cuts into battery life. Order a spare battery with the camera (the newer model G battery provides remaining time estimate on the dispaly screen).