Sony DSC-S50 2MP Cyber-shot Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

This was the first digital camera I ever owned and I stumbled across the amazon page for it and realized I never wrote a review for it, and it certainly deserves the glaring review I'm about to give it.

I own 3 other digital cameras now that I have bought for various reasons (smaller, slr capabilities, large (3.0" viewfinder) ) and while I am happy with them, none of them deliver more consistently impressive pictures in any surrounding you can think of like the Sony DSC-S50 does.

What I am most happy with when it comes to this camera is its night shots. It takes amazong low light shots, I have taken so many incredible pictures at concerts and outdoors (las vegas) with it.

The viewfinder is an incredible feature that guarantees perfectly framed self portrait shots, overhead shots, waist high shots, basically you can take a picture from an angle high or low and frame it perfectly because of the viewfinders ability to rotate.

Now 2-megapixels isn't the greatest six years later, but I have printed and framed many 5x7's and even 8x10's from this camera (and other megapixel cams) and been very happy with their results and visitors to my home have always asked what kind of camera I took them with and are shocked it was with my trsuty six-year old 2 megapixel S-50.

It is a little bulky by todays standards, but it is VERY durable. I have dropped and knocked around this camera for years and it still performs like new (save for one little plasitic knick near the arrow keys that doesn't effect functionality at all).

The camera comes with one batterie and when I purchased it originally I bought an extra camera. To this day, they hold a very long charge and sonys battery feature that tells you down to the minute how much time is left on the battery is an incredible feature.

The video clips can only record 15seconds at a time (with audio too) but I've fond that is just long enough for a fairly brisk "happy birthday" song!

I cannot reccomend this camera enough for overall picture quality, functionality, eas-of-use and espeically for those on a budget. Memory Sticks in a suitable capacity for this camera are dirt cheap, and the camera itself is very affordable now.

I'm just now writing this review after I bought this camera used on Ebay and years later. I have nothing but great things to say about it...

- It has held up through the worst abuse with me. Even survived a few concrete drops. Construction is awsome.
- Optics are great. I can get about 5in from an object before it gets blurry; and that is enough to get fine print off of something in great detail. Zoom control is great once you get the hang of it. Moving objects are usually no problem and you do not have to hold the camera extra-steady to aboid blurring either.
- Colors are vibrant in most any light source. I rarely have to mess with the brightness/contrast in PShop. I don't know how, but image quality rivals 5 MP cameras that I've used. I actually bought a Casio Exilim 5MP and resold it right away to stick with this.
- Swivel LCD is useful for personal photos. No dead pixels or problems with the LCD after years of USE!
- Aftermarket batteries are $10 and work great. Original used battery lasted 2 yrs.

Might not be worth >$100 these days, but definitely close! One thing's for sure, you definitely won't be the least dissapointed.

I bought this camera used and have been pleased in every regard. It takes crisp, clear pictures. The flash is strong. The battery life is excellent. Unless you plan to enlarge your photos to 8" x 10" (and would need more pixels), I recommend this camera whole-heartedly.

Last week, I used a friend's adorable, new Olympus Stylus Verve and I couldn't believe the difference in photo quality. This old Sony takes pictures 100 times better. It's also very easy to use, has a large LCD display that rotates--so you can turn it inward when not in use (protecting the screen) and you can take pictures of yourself without any guesswork.

It's a great camera. Grab one while you can.

My dad was the one who first bought this Sony Cybershot. At the time he used it a lot but now he's letting me have a go at it. The zoom is phenomenal and the 2.1 MP resolution is perfect, and allows the photos to be crisp and clinical. It can take reasnable MPEG movies and is very simple to use. Downloading the pictures onto computer proves to be quick and simple. The LCD screen is flexible allowing you better photos from awkward positions. The only small draw-back is that the shutter takes a bit too long too catch a fast moving object such as a bird. This camera was a really pleasent experience for me!

Bought this camera for my brother and DSC-S70 for myself, I just loved this one more than mine(DSC-S70)for which I evantually paid almost $250.00 more. It has all simple and great features and even my 9yr old son operates it like a pro. I like the LCD on DSC-50 cause it's more protected from scratches and picture quality is not different than DSC-70 on even 8 X 10 size prints. I strongly recommand DSC-50 over DSC-S70(or on anyother 2 or more megapixel digital camera), for the pic quality, ease of use & price.