Review of the Sony Cybershot S650 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

After spending $125, I was quite impressed with my new Sony Cybershot S650. It had a resolution of 7.2 megapixels, a reasonably good optical zoom, and had cost me less than half of what I paid for digital camera like it a few years ago. After some time with the thing, I'm still impressed, but find that it leaves a bit to be desired in a couple areas.

First off, as with any Sony camera, I found that the Cybershot S650 only takes Memory Sticks, rather than SD cards, like any other reasonable camera. This, however, only prove to be a minor inconvenience, since memory sticks were only slightly more expensive than any of the alternatives, and because my computer's card reader was fully compatible with them.

The second thing I noticed was the size of the Cybershot S650's LCD screen, 2 inches to be exact. While this is not too bad, and I couldn't help but notice that a few of my friends have cute pocket-sized digital cameras with gigantic LCD screens that cover their entire backsides. While it was not a huge problem, I was slightly disappointed that my little camera couldn't live up.

Another feature that I noticed that was missing was the numerous shooting options that a number of cameras come with, especially those by Canon. Will my Cybershot S650 was capable of taking a picture either with or without a flash, and on a number of relatively simple settings, I notice that my friends cameras could take specially optimized pictures wherever they went, from the beach to the forest, day and night. However, in all fairness, I will dismiss this is a relatively useless feature.

I hate to nitpick, but one other feature this notably missing on the Cybershot S650 is automatic image stabilization. For those you unfamiliar with this term, basically it just means a feature that makes it much harder to take a picture that is out of focus. Under low light conditions, when your camera would otherwise display that little symbol that means that it's in danger of taking a blurry picture, unless you use a tripod, (which, of course, you never do) the camera will take a perfectly crisp, beautiful picture.

However, to be fair, you can't expect $125 camera to be equipped with all these features. Unless you want some sort of sleek marvel of technology that will get comments and every party you go too, there's nothing wrong with getting a camera like the Cybershot S650. After all, you can't argue with the price.