|
| Home | Guest - Not logged in | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
» Register
» Login
Gear Reviews
Documents
Tools
» Contact
|
Reviews > Cameras > Digital > Sony DSC P72 > Owner Review by Coy Ray StarnesSony DSC P72
Digital Camera Owner Review September 15, 2004  Savage Falls in Savage Gulf in southeastern Tennessee
Tester Bio I live outside a small town in northeast Alabama. I also enjoy hunting, fishing, canoeing, and most other outdoor activities. Backpacking is my favorite pastime. I consider myself a knowledgeable backpacker but I am not an expert. I enjoy hiking with my friends and family or solo. I limit my hiking to areas fairly close to home, usually within a day’s drive of home. I hike throughout the year and actually hike the least in the hot humid months of summer. My style is slow and steady and my gear is light. However I will sacrifice weight for comfort and durability. A typical 3-season load for me is around 20 lb (9 kg) not counting food or water. I usually sleep in a hammock and cook with an alcohol stove. My backpacking trips are usually 2, 3 or 4 days in length. Product Information
Product Specifications (more detailed info can be found on the Sony website)
Product Description The Sony DSC P72 is a compact 3.2 megapixel camera which has a variety of features aimed at amateur photographers. However, the camera can be used by more advanced photographers who are willing to study all the controls on the camera and how to use them. I will get into more of this in my review. Please note however, I am not a professional photographer and I don’t understand a lot of the terminology that is used. I will stick to the basics as I understand them as I talk about my camera. I used the Sony website to find a lot of information on this camera. The information was easy to find and quite helpful once I got to the USA section. Do a search on digital camera reviews if you would like to find more technical information than I am capable of giving. The camera comes with a detailed instruction booklet, batteries, charger, A/V and USB cables, and all software needed to download pictures from the camera as well as some basic imaging editing software. I chose to not use this software once I downloaded it and used it a few times but this is strictly a matter of personal taste. The instruction booklet uses small print which I found hard to read and as a results I have not studied it thouroughly. Using bigger print might result in more folks with aging vision to read it. A little insight into the purpose of this review My purpose for writing this review is not to sell you on the Sony P72 or even on a digital camera, and quite frankly, there are tons of camera review sites which will give much more detail on this or any camera you might be interested in. Choosing a digital camera for my backpacking trips proved to be a frustrating experience as I tried to choose the one camera which would take great pictures, not weigh too much that I would end up leaving it at home, and still not sink my budget. However, I will share some of the decisions I made and the reasons for them as I chose my camera. To be honest, my first choice was not the Sony P72 but rather a Pentax Optio S 3. I looked at several but the price was always just a little more than I was willing to pay. I made a few compromises, mainly in the weight department, and picked the Sony P72 as a great camera for what I needed. I prefer a camera which weighs less than 10 ounces including the needed batteries and capture card. I was also determined that my backpacking camera would use batteries readily available. This eliminated a lot af nice cameras and I will say that the camera had to perform well in other areas. As I look back, I'm not so sure the AA batteries I preferred are that big a deal. Still , I'm happy with the decision and that's what really counts. To help me pick my camera I first had to answer; what is a backpacking camera? I came up with the following. Actually, it is any camera I am willing to carry into the backcountry. At one time 35 mm film was the choice for casual picture taking as the larger formats are usually reserved for the pros. Over the past decade digital cameras have almost taken over the market in the non professional field of photography and they are making big inroads into the professional market as well. I chose a digital camera for the ease of getting a picture from my camera, onto my computer where I could then share it with friends and family, or use the photos in gear testing reviews. For my use a backpacking camera must be easy to use, fairly lightweight, and somewhat robust. The P72 fits into these criteria very well. A closer look at the DSC P72 Digital cameras are usually categorized into several areas starting with simple point and shoot, low megapixel, beginner cameras. Stepping up in price are cameras usually having a higher pixel rating and more control over the camera. However, these cameras usually have a strictly point and shoot mode (usually called auto) and seem to be the most popular. The camera companies realized that smaller cameras would be handier and the compact line came into being. The P72 is a compact (but not near the smallest) model capable of capturing 3.2 megapixel images. Before I get any further, a few words about pixels might be helpful. Digital cameras work a lot like film cameras, only instead of capturing the picture's detail on film the image information is recorded on a sensor. The more areas the sensor is divided into the more detailed the photo becomes and can be enlarged without losing details. The higher the pixel number, the better the image quality, especially when viewed as a large picture or large prints are needed. The 3.2 megapixels on the Sony P72 allow me to take pictures suitable for printing up to around 5 x 7 in (13 x 18 cm) but I can and have printed 8 1/2 x 11 in (22 x 28 cm) pictures and was satisfied with the results. One of the features I really wanted in my backpacking camera was a zoom lens. The main advantage of a good zoom lens is picture composition. The 3x optical zoom on my Sony P72 is already seemingly inadequate compared to the 4x and 5x zoom cameras now in the same price range. But, with the 3x zoom I can take a picture of a flower or the whole field it is in. I realized that a good zoom lens cost money but the better quality zoom lenses would allow me to shoot in lower light conditions. I won’t go into the technical aspects of lense speed (called aperture) or shutter speed but these are set automatically by the Sony P72. Besides the plain Auto Mode The P72 has several Scene Modes (Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, Beach and Snow) to choose from which the camere then uses to pick the best shutter speed and aperture settings for that type of picture. I wonder why a plain Portrait Mode is not included? I can also take short videos with the camera or add voice or sound to a still picture. To be honest I don't use these features much and I am not all that familiar with how everything works. I feel that if video is important then a dedicated video camera is a better choice. There are video cameras small enough to consider for backpacking. I mentioned batteries and their availability early in my review. I like the rechargeable batteries used in the Sony P72. If I were to run the batteries down and not have my charger with me I could use AA batteries found in almost every convience store as well as most hardware, drug, and grocery stores which most small towns have. Of course the mega-stores like Wal-Mart always have plenty of batteries. I have heard that standard alkaline batteries have notoriously short battery life in digital cameras. Since I haven’t had to try them I really can't say one way or the other. A better solution would be to purchase another set of NiMH rechargabls. I bought a cheap set and they did not work (never could get them to charge). At least the charger that came with the batteries work and I use it ocasionally. I have been eying some NiMH AA, 2400 mAh rated batteries. I said earlier that this camera offers several controls which I can set. I don't really use these features so I will just mention a couple of them. All focusing is automatic but I can choose center focus or multipoint focus. With center focus I can lock the focus and then move the camera to frame the image as I want. I can also adjust the exposure ±2.0 EV (Exposure Value). By picking the Twilite Mode I can slow the shutter speed down to 2 seconds (keep it open). The camera can be set for white balance, different flash options and several other settings. To be honest I use the camera in full Auto 99% of the time. The manual settings on the camera will help overcome certian situations such as difficult lighting but the camera is still mostly a point and shoot. Field Testing Locations and Conditions The P72 has accompanied me on several backpacking trips, both in summer and winter. The coldest temperatures encountered were in the mid 20s F (-7 C) back in the winter. Both last summer and this summer saw temperatures above 90 F (32 C). These trips were all in the southeastern US. A short trip on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina saw elevations at around 4000 ft (1200 m). The camera was along on one trip when it rained nearly all day. Humidity is usually pretty high and more to be reckoned with than extreme temperatures or elevations. Field Testing Results Generally the camera rides in my fanny pack which I keep in front for easy access to my camera and other items I need to keep handy. This works out pretty well except when it rains a lot and I need to put the camera inside a large 1 gal (3.8 L) Ziploc bag. Note: I could use a smaller Ziplock bag but just happend to have some heavy duty gallon size bags handy and have used the same Ziplock bag for over a year now. With the camera just in my fanny pack, if I want to take a picture I can get the camera out and have it on in a matter of a few seconds. When it is in the Ziploc it takes a little longer to get it out and in fact I have missed a few picture opportunities as a result. Once a deer nearly ran over me but by the time I got the camera out it was long gone. I replaced the supplied 16 mb Sony Memory Stick with a ScanDisk 64 mb memory stick. This has allowed me to take all the photos (within reason) I wanted to at 3.2 resolution. Once I did notice it said I only had room for 4 more pictures. I wanted to take a few shots of my last campsite so I switched to the lowest setting (640 x 480) and had room for about 16 more pictures. I forget exactly how many pictures I had taken at the 3.2 mb setting but it was probably around 70. The batteries were still showing over half their charge remaining. The booklet that came with my camera says I can take 41 pictures in fine or 74 in standard (this is at the 3.2 mp setting). I usually put the camera in "standard" set at 3.2 mp. I can always reduce the pictures if I want to but the original is limited to where the camera is set when the picture is taken. I almost always charge the NiMH AA, 2100 mAh rated batteries before each trip. If the batteries are not completely drained before I plan a trip I will play with the camera (viewing old photos stored on the camera is a good way to do this) and run the batteries down until the low battery indicator flashes. Then I put the batteries on the supplied charger for about 6 hours (reccomended charging time). I know the instructions say the batteries will not develop a memory but I feel better doing it this way. That said, I have not always followed this procedure. If I needed my camera on short notice I have put the batteries on the charger for as long as I could, and then taken some pictures. Occasionally I have used the 10 second timer on the P72. I would rather have a remote so that I would have time get in the picture and get everything situated like I want for the photo. As it is, I have to set the camera on something, usually on a stump, when I'm backpacking because I don’t carry a tripod and I lost my little clamp camera holder. This usually works out OK but if I want to take a picture of my hammock with me in it, I'm still swaying when the shutter fires and the pictures usually turn out blury. Speaking of pictures, here is a photo taken at night that illustrate how nice the camera works. These picture is reduced from its original 3.2 mp size but still shows the ability of the camera a low light situations. The picture was taken at night in the rain when it was pitch black. I think the bright spot on the hammock body may be from the flash?  My friend Daniel sleeping in my hammock Likes
Dislikes
Conclusions I learned a few things in my search for a good backpacking camera. One thing that I found was, there are many great cameras to choose from. I also learned that if I waited for a better camera, one would come along, but only to be replaced with another better camera. Such is the life of a digital camera. My camera is just over one year old and it has already been surpassed in several benchmark tests by cameras costing much less than what I paid at the time. I can buy a camera that weights less, has more pixels or does many other things my camera will not do. I could even buy a digital camera that uses detachable lenses and pick a lens suited for each type picture I want to take. However, I find my P72 is adequate for what I need in an easy to carry camera. I also learned a few things about my camera while writing this review. I failed to notice the camera had an optical view finder until I examined the camera closely. I guess this just helps prove that the camera can take great pictures despite the intelligence of the guy pointing the camera. I have used the camera for over a year now and have been very satisfied with all my pictures. Read more reviews of Sony gear Read more gear reviews by Coy Ray Starnes Reviews > Cameras > Digital > Sony DSC P72 > Owner Review by Coy Ray Starnes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||