Sony Cybershot DSC-T200 8.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization (Silver) Reviews

• An example of form over substance!

  
  By A146EFB0AIEVXM on 2007-10-01
  I've been using a DSC-T30 for a year, everything about this camera is just fine. But I was seduced by the beautiful look of the red DSC-T200, and its large touch screen, so bought one as soon as I could. I returned it after a couple days of playing with it.
  
  Sony has added marginal features to the T200, but has downgraded the important basic features. The T30 has a rather large 4.4Wh battery, the T200's is a puny 2.4Wh and runs down very fast, especially with the LCD turned to its most bright setting. With the T200 you're going to have to carry spare charged batteries. This is annoying.
  
  Worst problem is indoor 'point & shoot' photos with the camera on "Automatic," most images come out grainy and noisy. Heck, that's what an ultracompact camera is for. I don't know why this is, maybe because the flash lamp on the T200 is much smaller than the T30's flash? I open every photo I take in "Photoshop" and try to improve them, but these take too much work. Outdoor photos are better, but not totally wonderful, just OK.
  
  The LCD on the back of the camera isn't all that great. Instead of glass (like my new iPod Touch) the T200 has a somewhat flexible plastic membrane cover which requires a pretty firm 'push' to activate. When I push it to set the focus point while taking a shot, for example, the camera moves a bit.
  
  I've always hated having to remove the battery from the T30 to charge it, (because of the flimsy plastic cover), so was hoping the T200 might have a charging base accessory. Not. Oh, enough. I could go on. The T200 touch screen menus are very clear and simple to understand though, let me at least give Sony credit for that. And it's such a pretty camera!
  
  

• Innovative elegant camera, best buy

  
  By A2WH9R7L106MT2 on 2007-11-14
  Sony T200 is a best buy. I have owned several Canon A series and SD series cameras up from 3MP, and this is the first Sony camera I bought, so here is my opinion comparing Sony T200 against Canon ones.
  
  1) Adjustable flash intensity: T200 offers three levels of internal flash intensity: soft, normal and strong, user selectable. I haven't seen it on my Canon yet. Soft flash is particularly useful for taking pictures on my kids. Their eyes are so precious to protect.
  
  2) Smile face scene mode: Sony innovation. No Canon has this yet. It makes life easy when picturing my little kids. With other cameras, I have to shoot 10+ pictures in high speed mode and hope that one of them would come out with that beautiful natural smile. Definitely Sony advantage.
  
  3) 3.5" LCD touch screen: another Sony innovation on camera, (only Apple iPod Touch has a similar size). As I measured, 3.5" is the screen horizontal dimension, corner to corner is about 3.75", no Canon has this LCD size at this moment. Bright, clear and beautiful. LCD surface has special coating, so no light reflection found on most other cameras. Plain fun to frame a picture and review photos with this Large LCD. Touch screen replaced those many traditional tiny navigation/select buttons, very nice to me. Big Sony advantage.
  
  4) 5X optical lens: most Canon SD series cameras have 3X or 4X lens, but Sony T200 has 5X. Lens quality is very good, as the pictures are sharp and clear. Sony advantage.
  
  5) Anti-vibration: Sony uses Super Steadyshot feature which is a sensor based floating feature to compensate for vibration. Canon SD870IS uses lens based stabilization feature. They are both quite effective on this kind of compact cameras. I don't see much difference on pictures.
  
  6) Face detection: both Sony and Canon digit III have this new feature, very good for taking portraits alike. Sony and Canon equal.
  
  7) Simple, easy to use menu: without even looking at the user manual, I can touch through the menus and start taking pictures in minutes. Canon has a good menu system too, I don't see either superior than the other however.
  
  8) Battery: Sony T200 has a relative small 680mAH battery and is rated for 250 shots, it does run down fairly quickly. Canon SD870IS cameras is rated for 270 shots, not any better. Generally speaking, compact cameras using LITHIUM ION rechargeable battery requires frequent charging because their tiny size has usually less than 1000mAH in capacity. If you are looking for cameras with long lasting battery, buy a Canon A series which uses AA NiMH battery with 2500+mAH capacity, you may then totally forget about charging issues. It's bulkier though.
  
  9) Picture quality: nothing above is important if the pictures doesn't turn out great. In side by side comparison, Sony natural color mode is close to Canon vivid color mode. Sony color saturation are great and close to life. Canon pictures is more earth and natural. I personally prefer Sony color as I most often take family pictures and sightseeing pictures and would like a rich looking color scheme.
  
  10) Picture noise: outdoors, both Sony and Canon did a good job, no visible noise. Indoors, Canon does a better job in noise reduction than Sony. Canon indoor pictures may be printed directly without noticeable noise. Sony is slightly worse than Canon, although much better than Panasonic FX9 which produced horrible noise. However, T200 doesn't bother me, as I have Neat Image software to filter out the noise. After filtering, Sony T200 pictures turn out to be even better than Canon unprocessed pictures, noise is completely gone.
  
  11) Video: Sony uses MPEG codec while Canon uses motion JPEG codec. For same time duration and 640x480 fine mode, Sony video file is half size of a Canon video file, so memory card may store twice the videos on Sony because of the MPEG codec. This is Sony advantage. In outdoor environment, video quality between Sony and Canon are comparable. Indoors low light, Sony seems to automatically switch to higher ISO to keep higher shuttle speed, the good side is the higher shuttle speed the better image quality (less ghosting like on Canon), the bad side is the higher ISO the slightly more image noise than Canon. Nevertheless, none of Canon or Sony camera-based video can match to an average camcorder. They are both good for day-to-day quick life snap, for best video quality, go for a camcorder.
  
  12) Some reviewer complains about Sony T200 auto mode performance at indoor low light shots. It is true, but this is not just Sony. Like all other cameras, including Canon, auto mode is only suitable for outdoor shots or well lite area, unless you don't care of the picture quality. Tips: for good indoors shots, use T200 program mode where there are more choices in ISO setting, white balance etc for fine tuning to get a good picture.
  
  In summary, given that the current market price for Sony T200 and Canon SD870IS are similar, and all the points above, I consider my Sony T200 is a best buy, without regret.
  
  

• Packs enough b(i/y)te into everything that u shoot with it ;)

  
  By ABQKXMCPIY8MS on 2007-09-28
  Starts up at once with no noticeable 'boot up' time. Touch screen is cool and navigation is smooth, I actually am not missing those physical buttons, not even those dials. But I wish there was a way to lock it away at times when you don't want the settings to get changed by unintended touches while shooting. You need only shutter and telly/wide buttons while shooting, right? Kids just might find it hard to operate it without disturbing the settings.
  
  One of the things that its 3.5" screen has made possible though is that it displays a good amount of info about your shot while keeping all the setups/presets/menus available on the screen at the same time. While you are focusing, it tells you in order the shutter speed, aperture value, sensitivity and exposure value, which is cool.
  
  Enough maneuverability with great many presets for WB (white balance), ISO (sensor sensitivity); an EV(exposure value); etc. for the professionally inclined to get the best out of this camera. In PGM mode (program mode) WB, ISO, shutter speed and aperture can be played with but they are all given in the forms of presets to choose from (with the exception of EV that's given in the form of a scale). I have a stand with me, I took some photos of far off objects using zoom to its limit, and keeping the sensitivity low (ISO 80)- a way to tell the camera to prolong the exposure, I really got good details, I think I got more that what I expected as it is not a professional camera.
  
  Night mode worked well, but its not outstanding.
  
  Smile shutter is an interesting feature but I found holding the shutter button pressed a bit tedious for continuous shots, if only there was a way of integrating it with timer.
  
  Macro mode gave pretty good pictures of rather close by objects.
  
  Back and white photographs were cool but don't expect too much. it aint flexible there as it provides no way of optimization. The grey tones are rather limited.
  
  Sepia mode is cool so are color mode and vivid color modes.
  
  It doubles up reasonably well as a camcorder (zooming works really well while shooting movies too), just that mic and speaker quality is a bit of an issue. It's a still camera but the length of the movie is only limited by the size of the memory and quality is great (you can choose from three quality presets, I shot the movie at Fine) which tempted me to suggest that it would actually be great if it had some sort of mic attachment provision in it. Speakers are weak too but the movie sounds well when played on TV. Its not a camcorder but the overall out come looked simply great on TV.
  
  When you run slide show on the camera, the music is hardly audible. But you can add better quality music files to the camera from your computer.
  
  Face detection is good, automatically focuses the faces and adjusts the exposure etc to best depict them, when multiple faces are being detected you can also touch a face to keep it on priority.
  
  Super steady is handy but doesn't help when there is a real and unavoidable shake.
  
  Computer and TV connectivity is painless. Movies play directly on TV or on media player.
  
  I think the interface has been kept simple, I cribbed a bit for a while for no textual names for most of the menus but now I actually think that I would myself had turned the text names off after a while. Although the features are numerous the camera is very easy to operate just that you would need to keep the instruction manual with you for a while initially, the camera keeps you abreast of the things its doing for most purposes.
  
  In-camera touch up software is fun. Good many frame types and clip art to chose from. You can draw on the snaps with the paint pen, but one thing that I missed while playing with a snap was `thought balloon' in the clip art. ;). Time to get creative !
  
  With so much, the battery had to take a toll. It is sort of lagging behind. The camera promises 250 shots per charge but I don't think with so many features you would use it in a disciplined manner. I personally played a lot with it and I had to recharge it within 4 hours of fully charging it. When, however, I use it `reasonably' the battery did last long enough, there is room for improvement there still.
  
  Overall a great camera for the price.
  
  
  

• Amazing Photos and Touchscreen Trumps Minor Flaws!

  
  By A3LUUB42QRL37Z on 2007-09-20
  This camera is amazing! It takes great photos and the 3.5" widescreen touchscreen is very fun and functional at the same time (let the jealousy begin!). I have had no problems selecting options and such with the touchscreen with my finger or the little "stylus" attachment that comes with the camera that attaches to the wriststrap. I was very impressed with the Slideshow mode, which has different style and music options for you to choose (e.g: the "nostalgia" mode plays photos in sepia toning and has slower music). Slideshows also look great when you connect the camera to a a TV. There is also a fun option that lets you draw and put stamps onto photos that you take. Even though I love the camera, there are a few issues that made me give it only 4 stars. The first is that the screen is not very sharp when you are taking photos. In comparison to a Canon Powershot 750 (3" non-widescreen), the viewfinder is a lot more blurry and pixilated, although the photos become much more clear in photo preview mode. I've read that the T200's widescreen has the same amount of pixels as the old T100 3" screen, so maybe this explains the blurriness. Another issue is that as a touchscreen, fingerprints get all over the screen and dust tends to collect at the edges of the screen. Since the back of the camera is all screen (which is awesome), this makes it sometimes awkward to hold the camera when shooting (while also trying to avoid fingers blocking the lens). I used to hold my old Canon a certain way and I had to adopt a whole new way to avoid touching the screen while shooting. I've noticed the screen is easily cleaned though, so it isn't too big a deal if it gets smudgy. Overall, this is a devastatingly stylish camera that you may have to guard with your life when friends come by!
  
  

• Great Pictures, Great Features, Cool Camera

  
  By A9OVUZ7SGVVSD on 2007-09-25
  I have found the LCD to be very clear. It also has a bright mode that makes it still pretty easy to see outside on a sunny day. Here are some of my favorite features:
  1 - Touch focus! When setting up a shot, you can touch the screen where you want it to focus. (Functional and really cool).
  2 - Widescreen LCD. You can take pictures in either the standard or widescreen aspect ratio. This provides a lot of flexibility if you edit and print yourself.
  3 - Touch zoom. When reviewing photos, you can zoom in on any part of the photo by touching it on the screen.
  4 - Great pictures. There are lots of features you can set to create your perfect shot. I love the white balance, and image stabalization. The out-of-the-box auto pics are great too. The images are very clear and beautiful.
  This camera is great. It is small enough to take with you anywhere, it takes great pictures, and it takes advantage of new technology.
  
  
• Know what you want
  By A187VIILQK989F on 2007-10-03
  We bought this camera a week ago. It has very cool features like the face detection, smile shutter, slide show mode, paint and many more. My husband was very skeptical about this one at first since we have been a Canon fan for years. However,he is very impressed with T200. Sony is known for its style, but not picture quality. This camera delivered on the style and features. As far as picture quality goes, not the top notch. But we certainly can live with that because we enjoyed the huge screen, interactive touch menu and shooting 16:9 pictures sooo much. I would say go get it if price is acceptable to you. For us the extra dollars are worth it. I didn't wait until it is on sale to buy because red seems to be more popular and run out of stock quickly- plus I have been tracking the prices for T100 -- the price didn't drop much even a year after it came out. Anyway, after researching for months for a high-end stylish camera with cool features, I am glad I finally found the match.
  
  I must admit that the indoor pictures leave much to be desired. It is not unexpected though,given the size of the sensor. Canon really gives much better indoor shots but come on, after years of buying Canon ( I have bought more than six, either as gifts or for ourselves), I am losing interests becasue of the dated design of Canon. Why can't they use some colors?? I have had six silver Canons and I am done with it. This time, I am choosing style and features over photo quality. You just can't have it all. I really wish Canon could step up to the plate to spice up their camera a little bit. How hard can it be, to produce a red camera?
  
  An update- we just took some outdoor pictures with this camera. They are very nice photos with astonishing colors. The white balance and the colors in the pictures can not be beat. Sharpness might not be as good as the Canon ones but I can say I really love it and found the outdoors pictures are much better than I expected.
  
  
• My cellphone takes better pictures...
  By A14ZD3S4OBNM8L on 2007-10-14
  If you shoot indoors or at night, forget about using this camera. It was so disappointing. I have a sony K800i cellphone with a 3 mp camera, and I swear it shoots equivalent pictures.
  
  Also, the battery life is abysmal, especially when compared to the Sony DSC P200 that I thought I was "upgrading."
  
  I returned the camera and think I'm going to go over to Canon.
  
  
  Boo to Sony for such a form over function product.
  
  
• simply a superb camera
  By A2YTV0IBQZYPUR on 2007-10-03
  had this camera for almost a week now, i've done a lot of indoor picture, in daylight, under bright room lamps, and in completely dark room(using flash of course). the picture quality is amazing. you'll have to tweek it a little for some extreme light condition, but you'll get the hang of it after a while. touch panel is cool, and the smile shutter is just fantastic. in-camera edit tool is great too, allowing you to edit, crop, and put some stamps and borders, and also aloow you to write notes in the picture. so far, as far as indoor picture is concerned, i am fully satisfied.
  
  
• Not a DSLR, Point and Shoot
  By AACI313CB9ZQX on 2007-10-23
  I read so many reviews, looked for sample pictures and took the step to actually buy this camera. I dont know why people dont like it, the picture quality is wonderful, the ease of use and ability to turn the camera on and capture a great moment are the reasons I love my T200. I snapped 76 pictures this weekend in many different situations and was unhappy with maybe 5, because the person was moving, or the light didnt catch just right. This is a point and shoot and is extremely fun to use and great to show people the pictures you just took.
  
  This is not a DSLR, the photo quality is not professional. But it is simply wonderful to pull out, snap some photos and enjoy the moments that you just captured. I am extremely happy with my purchase after being skeptical about all the negative feedback from so many people. Yes this is an expensive camera, but not near the expense of a quality SLR. Get over it people this is a tiny camera, huge screen, and yet produces great shots!
  
  
• Fragile Camera and Customer Service Is Unacceptable
  By A1XMIL9S4RG941 on 2007-10-23
  First the good news.
  I bought this camera in Sept 2007 and loved it - stylish, fun, good photos
  
  Now the not so great news.
  The camera was dropped from under 3 feet (the person holding it was kneeling for a shot) and it cracked the lcd screen.
  
  I sent it off for repair - and the cost of repair is 1/2 the cost of the orginal price I paid ($211 to repair)
  
  Sony's Customer Service is poor.
  
  I went through 4 conversations (where I had to start all over explaining my concerns with each person I spoke with)
  
  And finally ended up with that my only recourse is to write a letter to the executive review board.
  
  No one below that level appears to be able to say anything other than "I am sorry for your inconvenience...I cannot do anything for you.
  
  So - the camera is nice but very fragile for a point and shot pocket camera and if you break it you will pay big.
  
  Be forewarned
  
  
  
  
  
• GOOD CAMERA BUT BATTERY POWER GOES FAST
  By A17QJ4P47AMO3M on 2007-10-29
  A long time Sony fan having many of their large dscr-1 cameras- spent the last week at Disney World with the new dsc t-200 here is some quick remarks:
  1- battery drain is seems terrible. Battery was dead by 2 PM. On my other compact sonys battery lasted days. Next day I nursed it throughout the day but suggest to have extra battery on hand if you are on vacation.
  2- having to recharge battery you have to remove it from the camera- so easier to just pop in fresh at the same time
  3- camera is very small and lens is at top left corner where your finger wants to be around- so for large hands you must be aware at all times to keep finger away from lense. On initial days use I had many picts with finger blur.
  
  4- bottom line pictures were good- I thougt they would be better being 8.1 pixel after using higher priced big older digital cameras by sony. But probably the best they could be considering size and convenience.
  5- Video was exceptional far surpassing my expectations.
  6- focusing was fast,
  7- Yes a fantastic camera considering size and all.
  
  
• Grainy Indoor Picks
  By A3066088PAWEH9 on 2007-09-26
  Got the camera even before it hit the market through the sony website. I was very excited to get this one as T100 reviews were solid, but this one doesnt stand a chance as per its pricing. The first test i did on it for the indoor picks resulted in poor, grainy pictures. You wont see that on the LCD itself but once you transfer that to the computer and view it the actual grains and picture quality is seen. I tried all the options auto/PGM , EV, modes etc...but still the indoor pictures dont stand upto the mark. Outdoor photos are nice and crisp but all cameras can do that mostly. So if you are having party at home and this is the only camera that are using to capture the fun moments, once you transfer that on computer, your momemts may be ruined. I belive if its a point and shoot , on auto it should give quality close to the manual mode. Anyways I am returnig and again exploring the posibilites ...might be T100 or DSCN2 which I know for sure about nice indoor photos.
  
  
• Great Camera!
  By A2NACC3PKCPRSE on 2007-11-12
  I did a lot of research before buying this camera. I purchased it right before a vacation to the Bahamas. So it got a great workout right away. I am not a camera freak. I just want to take some pictures without the burden of carrying around a trunk of camera gear. The camera is easy to use and the pictures come out great. The widescreen really helps get the picture taking right. I love that I can take videos and pictures on the same device. The videos may not be of the quality some demand but they are perfectly fine for me. They capture moments that still pictures cannot and I don't have to carry two devices. I purchased a 4 GB card and never ran out of space. I bought a card reader for my computer so all I have to do is drag and drop the pictures to where I want them on my computer. Couldn't be happier.
  
  
• A wonderfull camera for the average user.
  By ATIKTO28JUWDC on 2007-11-13
  I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. As a previous owner of the T5 model, I find it to have many improvements over the T5.
  I have had a chance to use this camera and it has been simply wonderful. The touch screen menus are very easy to use after a few minutes of practice. Photos are also very clear and crisp. The smile shutter feature is also very innovative although is more for fun than practicality, but still a nice feature. I specially love the very large display. It is very convenient when showing the photos. The lens as usual for the Carl lenses, just fantastic. The ability to have 5x zoom in an internal zooming lens is absolutely fantastic. Also the ability to edit the photos in the camera is great.
  If you are looking for a compact, full of enough features, simple to use, everyday home or vacation camera, look no further, it is worth the price. Hope this review can help someone to make a wise decision.
  
  
  
• Great Camera
  By A1WYETXTEY3KNL on 2007-10-20
  
  This camera is very functional and easy to use. The lcd is fantastic. I've had no problems with the camera. The picture quality is great. I would recommend it to anyone.
  
  I love the 5x optical zoom. I also use the zoom while recording video. It's the best sony camera I've used. (I've had 3 sony cybershot's)
  
  Oh, and my kids love to watch the slide show.
  
  
  
• Warning for those who intend to use the DSC T200 to display photos....
  By A1D5M8G1A34PI8 on 2007-10-05
  Overall, the DSC T200 disappoints. What led me to purchase it was the large screen - I enjoy looking at my photos and displaying them as much as I enjoy taking photographs.
  
  In a nutshell, the problem is that this camera will not display those photos taken by certain other camera makers - certainly Nikon, based on my experience. Nor will it display any photos previously uploaded using computer programs or those photos which have been cropped or digitally altered. Of course, because all of my other cameras use SD cards, there's that hassle, as well.
  
  The DSC T200 seems to dislike any photos with tag marks that have an underscore. Photos taken by a Pentax are tagged with CIMG. They upload to the DSC T200 properly. So do photos taken on a Casio. But no luck with cameras taken with Nikons (they are tagged with a DSC_). The photos will upload but then show up as a 'file error'.
  
  When I called Sony, the representative pointed me to the section in the manual which states that Sony does not guarantee the ability to upload photos. He suggested changing the pic identifier, but it didn't work. You have been warned. If there's something I can do to fix this problem, please feel free to let me know.
  
  Picture quality of those pictures it takes is good, but show up on the screen as alarmingly pixellated.
  
  Battery is weak and will need to be re-charged frequently. It's also difficult to handle and the zoon lens is extraordinarily tiny, making the process of taking photos a pain.
  
  Still unsure about whether to return this. Regardless, a disappointment.
  
  
  
  
• Beautiful camera, awful pictures
  By A1Z6OK5NEJMVIE on 2007-11-10
  I was genuinely excited when I first bought this camera. Sleek, stylish, focuses and takes pictures extremely quickly. But the quality of the pictures it takes are utter crap!
  I can clearly see the pixelation of the photos (it looks like groups of 8-10 pixels of the same color) - this is especially evident when you view the image at 100% view on your computer.
  
  The picture quality is worse than my four year old Canon. I highly recommend that you DO NOT purchase this camera (unless of course you like crappy pictureS)
  
  
• All Flash but the T70 is better.....
  By A3EKPJZT9STBUD on 2007-11-13
  Bought one because I loved the color, but returned it was a little to large and Liked the T70 Much better they have the same feautures but the T200 has more zoom....battery life is just OK......bought a new T70 in white and not looking back :)
  
  
• Back on the SONY track
  By A1IANEBSMVGHS9 on 2007-12-09
  For a number of years I owned a SONY camera and eventually decided to switch to a Nikon. When the Nikon died on me (and I was quoted $150 + shipping, to fix it), we decided to get back on the SONY track. We are happy with our decision, however it is not a perfect choice nonetheless.
  
  PROS
  -Face Detection Technology makes sure you get the best possible focus on the faces in your pictures.
  -The HUGE 3.5" LCD touch screen is not just sexy: it's very convenient and gives you plenty of room to maneuver.
  -Photo and video quality is hard to argue with.
  
  CONS
  -The main downside, as usual, has to do with the insistence on SONY's part to have proprietary cables to plug the camera to the computer to download photos/videos. You can always get a card reader to circumvent the annoyance, but stil...
  -For Mac users, the native MPEG format for videos will force you to install a converter to transform them to MOV format before you can do anything with them in iMovie. If you only are going to watch them on Quicktime, you should be OK.
  
  Overall, the camera scores an easy 4 stars without much trouble. Once you get over the two cons listed, it's almost a perfect camera to carry around.
  
  
• Buyer Beware, lacks low light/flash capabilities...
  By A1MASAS8IK6SPC on 2008-01-16
  Well you have read all the prior reviews on this on how landbreaking, minimalistically wonderful this digicam appears to be, but not much in the way of a working synopsis has been put forth. So I have had the opportunity to travel to Europe for this last Christmas 07'(;P, and was quite dismayed at the flash/indoor and low light capabilities of this camera. Outdoors it shines and has good zoom, and with enough daytime illumination, it is actually pretty good and right on with most DAYTIME applications.
  
  Now if you are trying to take pictures in the evening, inside with flash under normal lighting conditions, and/or nightime with flash, there are some major fallbacks and this needs to be addressed by Sony, they are not exceptable. For upons my excitement to utilize this camerea and then have so much problem and discontent, that I am taking it back as we speak to Costco, yah that red one you see. I spent two weeks snapping around 3000 pics (no joke) in and around London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, etc. Outdoors with sunshihne....beautiful. But espcially indoors at museums which has a fair amount of light, this camera failed on most accounts...period! The battery issues were one thing, HAD to get a second backup battery due to the already mentioned battery sucking LCD screen which you NEED to take the pictures and operate this little gem. So for the most part, as well, one must continually change either focus modes, or fiddle between AUTO, Progam or SCN modes, to gain even a modest amount of capability in twilight, evening outside with flash or with ANY attempt at inside situation unless your are pretty close or if you stabilize or tripod mount this camera, is the only way to get a large prospective photograph out fo this little darling. So if you think about buying this for parties, meetings inside, don't waste you time. I mean the point of these little digicams are for convenience at the moment shooting, and with ISO settings up to 3200, Sony conveys promise as one would think they would have an edge on ANY light sitution within reason with such stats, but I can show you the proof, I have over 60% of my pics that were completley out of focus, grainy, even with the designated low light, firework, twiglight, twilight panorama program settings, believe me I tried them all, dismal at best in this particular area of useage, due to this camera's inability to do it's job, Sony has Failed on this.
  
  Don't believe me, well try to find drivers and/or firmware on Sony.com support for this DSC-T200, they yanked their support on everything.....so either take this back or ignore the temptation...just my little contribution to save you all some precious time...As for my once in a lifetime Christmas Holiday...60% ruined by this Sony catastrophe...BTW, I am an avid photographer, have lots of experience behind me, just wanted to tell you like it is without a bunch of useless verbage....good luck!
  
  
• Amazing Camera For The Price
  By A3E827WCLVD62L on 2007-09-28
  I just got this Sony Cybershot T200 in silver. I absolutely love it over my old Sony T100. The touch screen is awsome, smile shot very cool, 3.5 large screen. I showed it to a couple of people and they think it cost $500 bucks! You have to know how to use a Sony camera to appreciate it over say... Canon. It's the slim, fashionable, cool look, with lots of high end features that separate this from the rest.
  
  
• Sony Cybershot DCS-T200
  By A2EH9ZLK6UERJW on 2007-11-02
  Excellent camera! Love all the features especially the smile detector. Haven't used my video camera since purchasing the camera either. I have been shooting videos from the camera since it has some much memory with the memory card I purchased.
  
  
• Disappointed
  By A35A6ST3ZINYZL on 2007-11-26
  Pros: It's small, easy to turn on and off and has a large easy to see display screen.
  Cons: Indoor pictures are dark and grainy. The large display screen is the whole backside of the camera, so it's too easy to accidentally touch the icons and change the settings. I found it difficult to take clear, unblurry photos of anything that moved in the least.
  I bought it because I wanted a small easy to use point and shoot. It is small and relatively easy to use, but that's not worth much if the pictures aren't any good.
  
  
• Sony Cybershot DSC-200 - Terrible Camera - Photos Dark and Grainy
  By A16WIZNJI5EYTJ on 2007-12-11
  This camera is simply the worst camera i have ever bought. I own a Nikon S51C and a Canon 870IS. This camera does not even come close to either of those two. I have taken hundreds of pictures with each and the Sony DSC-T200 I thought was defective but it was just the quality you get from a Sony I guess. I think the Nikon S51C is the best photo camera on the market. It takes awesome indoor photos in low light and superior outdoor. The Sony is you take an indoor picture you will see darkness all around the photo except for the object you are focused in on and that is fairly dark and grainy as well. My advise is simply dont buy it. It is a very sharp looking camera I love that about it. I will admit its the best looking one of the three in my opinion but the purpose is to take pictures and this camera doesnt do that any better than 10 year old digitals with more megapixels. Hope this helps!
  
  
• Sony Cybershot Digital Camera
  By A31K6XBC9DQWN on 2007-11-07
  This camera takes phenominal outdoor shots and action shots. Low light shots leave something to be desired. Am still learning the manual adjustments to exposure etc. but suspect the built in flash is deficient, by design. But as I said, great outdoor and action shots!
  
  
• Only 10 mins of continuous video!
  By ABF8KQV2BAH1M on 2007-12-21
  I just bought the cybershot DSC-T200 because my husband really likes his T100, so I thought why not go for the upgrade. I can't believe what a poor product it is! The screen was scratched almost immediately, and for some reason they've greatly decreased the continuous video recording time to 10 mins. I've taken 35 min long videos with my husband's T100, but this one just cuts off at 10 mins. Sony was no help at all. Luckily, Amazon has excellent customer service and will take back this piece of junk. Also, the usability is bad. Even just one usability test might improve this thing. And on top of that, the Sony Cybershot AC adapter I bought doesn't fit it!
  
  
• Beware: terrible pictures, wasted reputation
  By A1TOA6875U05WS on 2007-12-26
  I've used a DSC T-1 for nearly four years, and Nikon, Minolta, and Canon for four, three and two respectively. I was enamored with the T-1 even for serious pictures. Naturally when the T-1 finally gave in I went for the latest Sony mini, the DSC T-200. I didn't read the reports because of the good experience I've had with the T-1. What a disappointment! The pictures are grainy, noisy and with poor definition. Period, full stop. That is what picture taking is about. At first I couldn't believe it so I placed the pictures next to old ones from the T-1, the Nikon, Minolta and Canon. Not even close. Then I read other reports. Almost half of the new users report the same problem. And as if it isn't expensive enough, you still have to spend extra for basic attachments like a stand to charge the battery while in the camera! Oh why, tell why Sony did you throw out the window such a good reputation, and with an otherwise well designed product? As soon as the Xmas return rush slows down I'll be taking mine back.
  
  
• Easy to use, excelent camera, super technology
  By A240HG8VKDEIAG on 2007-11-29
  Recently I buy the DSC-T200, when I receive the product, it fill al my requeriments and expectations for the product, the functionalities are really amazing, I buy one screen protection (for handheld) and cut for exact for the screen, the view is perfect, the size of the screen is really huge, and is the new show to my friends, I'm very satisfied with the camera.
  
  
• Bad Picture Quality for this Price
  By AV6Z4CKX86A4Y on 2007-12-30
  I am not a photo guru, just a simple point and click guy with a family that needs a nice small camera that is easy to slip in a pocket to take good pictures and videos with little need to read a manual or make adjustments. Previousily I had a Casio 7 megapixal camera for three years which took good clear photos.
  
  So the t200 looked great, tiny, stylish and good features. I tested it the day we got it, took pictures indoors and right away they were noticably worse not a little but much worse. Very grainy, blury not sharp at all. I tried several different ways to improve the quality but the pictures almost always came out very soft. The odd picture was clear the rest were soft.
  
  Took pictures outdoors, the same, most were soft not sharp pictures.
  
  I was disappointed so I returned the camera two days latter. Got the much cheaper and still small with nice style Canon SD 750 and right away it takes good sharp pictures indoors and outdoors as I would expect with a new point and click camera.
  
  
• Just What I was Looking For.
  By A24WQO5ZZ1V0KA on 2008-01-01
  I ordered this camera for my wife and I am delighted with it. I read various reviews before finalizing my purchase and none of them outright recomended this camera. However in the sum of its parts it adds up the best on the market. The screen is huge and large enoufg to really show off your pictures. The touch screen is easy to use and not over sensitive. Best of all is having a 5x optical zoom in such a compact camera. Great.
  
  

• Apple Aperture 2.1.1
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 (Mac)
• Apple Aperture 1.5 [Old Version]
• Adobe Photoshop CS3 [OLD VERSION]
• Adobe Photoshop CS3 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]

• Sony 4 GB Memory Stick PRO DUO ( MSX-M4GS ) (Retail Package)
• Sony NPFD1 Rechargeable Battery Pack
• Sony LCS-CST General Purpose Soft Carrying Case for Slim Cybershot Digital Cameras
• Sony 2 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (MSX-M2GS) (Retail Package)
• Sony LCSTHK/B Soft Carrying Case for the DSC-T70 and DSC-T200 (Black)