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Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P72
Features
3.2MegaPixels The DSC-P72 can shoot images up to 3.2MegaPixels. This means you can shoot images at a resolution as high as 2048x1536 which (if you want high quality prints) will be about 5x7 inches printed. Microphone / Speaker This camera has a built-in microphone and speaker. The microphone is located on the front of the camera and is of higher quality than one might expect. I was able to record myself goofing around with music playing in the background, and the music actually sounded decent upon playback! The speaker can be found on the back of the camera, to the left of the LCD screen. Again, the speaker was of higher quality than I would have expected. It's not ideal for playing back music obviously, but it plays back sound nice, clear, and loud. Optical & Smart Zoom The DSC-P72 has an optical zoom of 3x at full telephoto. In addition to the optical zoom, there is smart zoom. Once the full optical zoom is reached, then smart zoom will continue from there if possible. Smart Zoom is a digital zoom that claims to cause little to no quality loss. Smart zoom is only available when shooting the following sizes: 2.0M (1632x1224) up to 3.8x, 1.2M (1280x960) up to 4.8x, and VGA (640x480) up to 9.6x. MPEG Most mid-range cameras these days, such as this one, can record movies. You are able to record MPEG movies at a maximum resolution of 640x480 with decent sound at any length as long as you have enough memory. The detail quality was pretty good, but I was a bit disappointed in brightness of the movies that the camera records. Unfortunately, if you are recording in a low-light environment, you may be shooting a very dark movie, even if you have EV set to +2.0. See the small clip I made to see what I mean. Download movie clip. This clip was taken with EV set to +2.0 in a fairly well lit room. I took another clip with the camera on 0EV, and noticed no difference in brightness. This means that the EV settings are pretty ineffective for shooting movies. Scene Selection Beach: Used for shots on beach, at lake, etc. Can either use forced flash or no flash. Snow: When shooting on a snowy mountainside, etc. Can either used forced flash or No Flash. Landscape: Used to focus on far away landscapes such as mountains, etc. Can not use macro mode. Can either use forced flash or no flash. Twilight Portrait: Used to take shots with people in the foreground at night. Shutter speed is slower, tripod recommended to avoid blur. Flash is forced and strobes. Twilight: Used to shoot distant night view. Shutter speed is slower, tripod recommended to avoid blur. Can not shoot in macro mode. Flash can not be used. Program: User has control over all settings. Auto: Camera chooses appropriate settings. I found while testing that for the most part, the camera will indeed choose the correct settings. If you aren't comfortable with customizing the settings, leaving the camera on the Auto preset should turn out great images.  Note: This should look pretty familiar to you if you have used a Sony camcorder EV Setting EV stands for Exposure Value. You can choose to underexpose the image by a value as low as -2.0 or overexpose it by a value up to 2.0. There are six EV settings above and below 0. Focus Multipoint AF: Useful for automatically focusing on a subject when it is not in the center of the frame. Center AF: Focuses only on what is in the center of the frame. A nifty tip straight from the manual explains how Center AF can be used even when the subject is not in the center of the frame. Simply focus on the subject by pushing down the shutter button half way (keep it held down), and then return to the fully composed shot. Take the picture, and it will have focused on the subject. 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m, 7.0m, Infinite: Set focus distance according to subject Metering Mode Spot: Lets you adjust exposure to subject even when there is a strong contrast between subject and background. Multi-Pattern: Camera adjusts exposure by looking at subject and background and selecting a well-balanced exposure. White Balance Incandescent: Used when shooting with room lighting / in situation where lighting changes. Fluorescent: Used when shooting under fluorescent lights. Cloudy: Used when shooting under a cloudy sky. Daylight: Used for general shooting outdoors, even at dawn, dusk, or night. Auto: Camera adjusts white balance automatically. ISO Setting Auto, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 300, or ISO 400. A higher ISO setting will be more sensitive to light, whereas a lower setting will be less sensitive to light. Higher ISO setting also tends to make the image have more noise. Picture Quality Fine or Standard. Fine is higher quality but takes more space on storage media. Record Mode Normal: Takes a picture just like normal. This is the default. Burst 2: This is for motion shots where you want to take two pictures, one right after the other. E-Mail: This mode takes one shot, and makes a copy of the image and resizes it to 320x240. This lets you have a full-size copy for yourself and a copy to send to your friends via e-mail. Nifty mode indeed. Voice: This mode takes one shot and lets you record five seconds of audio along with it. You will end up with a normal copy plus a MPEG version with the recorded sound. Flash Modes Auto: Camera chooses appropriate flash based on lighting conditions. Forced: Flash will be used regardless of conditions. Slow Synchro: Flash will be used regardless of conditions and slow shutter speed will be used to clearly shoot areas out of the flash-lit area. Tripod recommended. No Flash: No flash will be used. Shutter speed reduced, tripod recommended. Flash Level High, Normal, or Low setting. Self-explanatory. Picture Effects There are a total of five picture effects. There is Off, Negative Art, Sepia, Black & White, and Solarize. See examples of each effect here.  Editing Capabilities In playback mode you can not only view images and movies you have shot, but you can edit them as well. Image Editing: Resize - This option will create a copy of the image at a different size. Rotate - This option will rotate the image in 90° increments. If you accidentally rotate an image the wrong way, it is okay, you can just rotate it again. Divide - You can not divide an image. The option is there on the menu, but can not be selected.. Movie Editing: Resize - You can not resize a movie. The option is there on the menu, but can not be selected. Rotate - You can not rotate a movie. The option is there on the menu, but can not be selected. Divide.- This option will allow you to split a movie into two pieces. It will let you select any point in the movie where you would like to split it. This is not reversible within the camera.
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks Page 3: Camera Controls & Layout Page 4: LCD Screen Page 5: Features Page 6: Included Software (Image Mixer 1.5) Page 7: Sample Photos Pg. 1 Page 8: Sample Photos Pg. 2 Page 9: Sample Photos Pg. 3 Page 10: Sample Photos Pg. 4 Page 11: Pictures of DSC-P72 Page 12: Overview & Conclusion 
Related Reviews Digital Cameras September 23, 2004
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Add Comment
8 User Comments 1 - Posted by
EmoMakesMeCry
on October 14, 2003 - 10:21 pm that's the camera that i've been lookin at getting......now to just get the $200
2 - Posted by
Kurtis
on October 14, 2003 - 10:24 pm $200? where do you plan to buy it for that amount? lowest ive seen is like $300. Ebay or something? 3 - Posted by
EmoMakesMeCry
on October 14, 2003 - 10:27 pm my friend has one and bought a bigger better digicam so he has offered to sell it to me for $200.
4 - Posted by
Kurtis
on October 14, 2003 - 10:33 pm ah nice. don't forget you could get a nice new one from ioCombo $321.95 - $10.00 with coupon code: ttlio0001 $311.95 :D 5 - Posted by
Mister E
on October 15, 2003 - 9:08 pm I was just researching this camera... Anyway, thanks for the great review. I just have one question: How long is the shutter lag (time from pressing the button to taking the picture)? I really hate having to wait a second or two to take a picture, and I need to know this before I buy the camera. Any reply would be greatly appreciated.
6 - Posted by
Kurtis
on October 15, 2003 - 9:40 pm when you use flash, there isnt really shutter lag, but you ahve to wait for the flash to recharge, which takes 2-3 seconds. When you use no flash, it will take about half a second to take the shot, and then you can immediately take another picture, but you will want to focus again first which takes about another second. We use this camera for all our reviews, and i used it on vacation etc... and the short wait wasn't a problem for me hope this helps, and thanks for your kind words. let me know if you have any more questions 7 - Posted by
Neolander
on November 23, 2003 - 7:01 pm I still love my Nikon Coolpix 950, even though it's considered obsolete and in the aging process. The Nikon Coolpix 950 is only a 2MP digital camera, but I'm still amazed at the quality of the photos it takes that rivals the quality of some of these new 3-4MP cameras. Given the resolution/pixel count is not as high, the balance between the colors and capture of the depth aspect and shadows is amazing. Since my Coolpix was bought as remanufactured and it's already considered old going on 2-3yrs, it's already showing its signs of wear and tear with the switch that's going out on me, but it still takes awesome pictures :) Nikon is a bit more pricey than other digital cameras, but the quality shows for it. A review I found on the CoolPix 950: http://www.steves-digicams.com/nikon950.html 8 - Posted by
Guest
on April 15, 2004 - 7:10 pm Great review - extremely through! Nice to have real photos to review as well.
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