Decent reviews (3.8 out of 5.0) stars over at amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-W620-Digital-2-7-Inch/dp/B006K555EU

Product webpage: $99.99, including video, vs. $69.99 tonight
http://store.sony.com/p/Red-Point-and-Shoot-Cybershot-Camera-Camera-Cyber-shot-Digital-Camera/en/p/DSCW620/R

The manuals page of the support section:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=DSCW620R&LOC=3#/manualsTab
I can't seem to directly link the pdf manuals.

Mixed BestBuy reviews: $89.99
http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/4881346/sony-dscw620-r-14-1-megapixel-digital-camera-red-reviews/reviews.htm

Retrevo section of info/reviews collected:
http://shop.retrevo.com/m/s/Sony-DSC-W620-Digital-Cameras-review-manual/id/24067dj197/t/1-2/#userReviews

Good night, hope more people drop in.

In the heyday of 35mm point and shoots, I saw Japanese brands that clearly had "borrowed" a camera from a totally different maker and put their name on it to fill in certain price points.

This is NOT the same as having a model they designed made in a factory in China, etc. They just didn't have a certain style of camera and needed one -quick- to compete on the store shelves, so they turned to one of many anonymous suppliers. (Go to a camera trade show and you'll see dozens of such companies.)

Several years ago, I bought a "Sony" that was had cheap price for it's specs. Alongside the Cybershots I owned, I noticed that there was nothing in common with the others, including finish, types of screws used, hinge design, etc. The optical quality of the lens was not on the same level as the other Cybershots I owned.

I will be curious to see if this is another example of "borrowing" a camera model from an unknown Chinese maker and putting a Sony name on it. Sometimes, you get what you pay for.

(And never trust anything stated "Made to our specifications." It's practically an open admission the company had little to do with the design of the product!)

As with most point and shoot cameras, this one will function best when it is nice and bright, especially outdoors. For indoor use, pictures tend to come out slightly grainy.

I have had 2 previous iterations of the sony Cybershot camera. They are very good cameras and have served me well. The only drawbacks with Cybershot cameras are the same drawbacks for ALL SONY products; all of the accessories are SONY specific AND the battery charger is a separate item that is as big as the camera and you have to keep track of it for as long as you have the camera.

The picture quality is excellent, the optics are optimal.

BUT sony! why always with the proprietary stuff? why can't I just charge my camera by plugging in a USB cord like everyone else?

Why must I get memory sticks that only work with other sony products?

I <3 SONY, don't get me wrong I have a VAIO computer and an ancient discman that JUST WON'T DIE. But everything I have ever purchased from SONY comes with a big bulky charger that I have to keep track of for the rest of my life.

please SONY, no more proprietary chargers.

conanthelibrarian wrote:Decent reviews (3.8 out of 5.0) stars over at amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-W620-Digital-2-7-Inch/dp/B006K555EU

And the ones that were not favorable used vague terms like "blurry," which elicited this response:

"Folks, how many of you understand the relationship between F/stops (apertures), ISO and shutter speeds? How many of you know that, as you zoom the camera lens out, the aperture gets smaller? How many of you know that a small aperture means that less light gets in, and the camera uses a slow, slow shutter speed that allows shake and subject movement? How many of you know that zoom also magnifies any camera shake? These cameras are not magic and the laws of photography have not changed just because they do not use film. You need to truly understand the limitations of your cameras so you know what they can an cannot do. Camera makers are also at fault for not stressing this strongly enough."

feckineejit wrote:I have had 2 previous iterations of the sony Cybershot camera. They are very good cameras and have served me well. The only drawbacks with Cybershot cameras are the same drawbacks for ALL SONY products; all of the accessories are SONY specific AND the battery charger is a separate item that is as big as the camera and you have to keep track of it for as long as you have the camera.

The picture quality is excellent, the optics are optimal.

BUT sony! why always with the proprietary stuff? why can't I just charge my camera by plugging in a USB cord like everyone else?

Why must I get memory sticks that only work with other sony products?

I <3 SONY, don't get me wrong I have a VAIO computer and an ancient discman that JUST WON'T DIE. But everything I have ever purchased from SONY comes with a big bulky charger that I have to keep track of for the rest of my life.

please SONY, no more proprietary chargers.

Welcome to Sony World! It's their corporate philosophy, borrowed from Apple, I guess.

It is possible to find an adapter that let's you put microSD cards into what looks like a memory stick.

Ayyy it has Sony Guts...

feckineejit wrote:I have had 2 previous iterations of the sony Cybershot camera. They are very good cameras and have served me well. The only drawbacks with Cybershot cameras are the same drawbacks for ALL SONY products; all of the accessories are SONY specific AND the battery charger is a separate item that is as big as the camera and you have to keep track of it for as long as you have the camera.

The picture quality is excellent, the optics are optimal.

BUT sony! why always with the proprietary stuff? why can't I just charge my camera by plugging in a USB cord like everyone else?

Why must I get memory sticks that only work with other sony products?

I <3 SONY, don't get me wrong I have a VAIO computer and an ancient discman that JUST WON'T DIE. But everything I have ever purchased from SONY comes with a big bulky charger that I have to keep track of for the rest of my life.

please SONY, no more proprietary chargers.

It says in the specs that it takes regular SD cards: looks like SONY preemptively corrected your complaint.

PS I agree with you about the propietary problem, and I think it is one of the big reasons Sony has gone from the industry leader (remember "its a sony"?) to a brand who has to flog it's products on woot.

feckineejit wrote:I have had 2 previous iterations of the sony Cybershot camera. They are very good cameras and have served me well. The only drawbacks with Cybershot cameras are the same drawbacks for ALL SONY products; all of the accessories are SONY specific AND the battery charger is a separate item that is as big as the camera and you have to keep track of it for as long as you have the camera.

The picture quality is excellent, the optics are optimal.

BUT sony! why always with the proprietary stuff? why can't I just charge my camera by plugging in a USB cord like everyone else?

Why must I get memory sticks that only work with other sony products?

I <3 SONY, don't get me wrong I have a VAIO computer and an ancient discman that JUST WON'T DIE. But everything I have ever purchased from SONY comes with a big bulky charger that I have to keep track of for the rest of my life.

please SONY, no more proprietary chargers.

My Sony DSC-WX10 charges via USB, in addition to an external charger. It also takes SD cards.

They've got it together.

I bought the same camera, slightly different model number but nearly same specs. It's the best point and shoot that I've owned by far. I used it to take pictures on vacations in places where I wanted lots of detail in my shots. The 14 MP is no joke, and I never have had any blurry pictures. This camera shoots nicely, easily, and should be a great camera for the normal user looking for a cheap point-and-shoot. Also, at 70 bucks, it's ridiculously cheap.

feckineejit wrote:
Why must I get memory sticks that only work with other sony products?

I have 2 different Sony Cyber-shots (which are awesome), and both use SD cards, as does this one. This seems to be a great price for a new one.

If anyone is looking for a camera that takes good low light pics, try the Sony Cyber-shot HX20V ($289/Amazon) or HX30V ($318 Amazon) (same camera, only 30V has wireless capablities, which personally, I don't like or use often). I have the 30V and it takes pretty good low light photos, and is an overall great camera. Only issue is dust on the inside of the lens, which I'm still under warranty for and it will be getting sent back...

I am now very sad I paid just over $100 for the display model of this camera.

However this camera is light and pretty durable (I am notorious for dropping cameras). Also it takes high quality photos when I usually have trouble with shakiness. All-in-all a good investment even if it requires Sony chargers and memory cards. To me that just means I get to buy a Sony again when I upgrade to my next camera and I have never been disappointed with their Cybershot cameras.

Most of the big brand name (Sony/Canon/Nikon/Panasonic/etc...) compact point and shoot cameras take pretty amazing quality pics in good light and close shots (not zoomed).

Key differentiators are ease of use and reliability.

We've owned many digital cameras since they came out. We've had Sonys and they're well designed but they break. Several of our friends have consumer Nikons and half of them have broken.

We keep going back to Canon because they've been more reliable for us. Our family has 6 of them currently in use from compacts to DSLR. We have an at least 10 year old S45 that still works. (You need to treat any camera with respect.)

radi0j0hn wrote:In the heyday of 35mm point and shoots, I saw Japanese brands that clearly had "borrowed" a camera from a totally different maker and put their name on it to fill in certain price points.

This is NOT the same as having a model they designed made in a factory in China, etc. They just didn't have a certain style of camera and needed one -quick- to compete on the store shelves, so they turned to one of many anonymous suppliers. (Go to a camera trade show and you'll see dozens of such companies.)

Several years ago, I bought a "Sony" that was had cheap price for it's specs. Alongside the Cybershots I owned, I noticed that there was nothing in common with the others, including finish, types of screws used, hinge design, etc. The optical quality of the lens was not on the same level as the other Cybershots I owned.

I will be curious to see if this is another example of "borrowing" a camera model from an unknown Chinese maker and putting a Sony name on it. Sometimes, you get what you pay for.

(And never trust anything stated "Made to our specifications." It's practically an open admission the company had little to do with the design of the product!)

When you see "made to our specifications" it's not just "practically an open admission....". When you see those words the camera was absolutely not made by the labeled maker in one of their factories and by their employees. So yes, you are very correct.

Does this alone make the product a bad product? No, not at all. But I like you are hesitant to buy when I know the label and the maker are not the same.

People still use digital cameras? *shrugs*

charliecarroll wrote:When you see "made to our specifications" it's not just "practically an open admission....". When you see those words the camera was absolutely not made by the labeled maker in one of their factories and by their employees. So yes, you are very correct.

Does this alone make the product a bad product? No, not at all. But I like you are hesitant to buy when I know the label and the maker are not the same.

Anybody know if the higher end Sonys all have SD cards or just these?

Will this work with Eye_Fi? Anyone???? Thanks!