Sony Cybershot DSCS730 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Reviews

• Taking great pictures! If not fabulous for movies...

  
  By A3K77GJCI8FRYU on 2008-04-22
  This is our latest in a loong series of digital cameras. The last two have been Nikons that I thought were pretty decent, but it turns out I've been missing a LOT. This Sony is a good size (I have small hands, though), with a bit of weight to it that convinces me it's more solidly made than some others out there. Our Nikons died because the LCD screens cracked under very little pressure - this one feels a bit more substantial, though I still won't be tossing it around.
  
  But the best part about this camera is that it takes great pictures, right out of the box. The included AA batteries don't last long, but once we switched to rechargeables, there has been no issue. And choosing a camera that uses standard size-and-shape batteries was VERY important, since we do sometimes need to buy & use AA's when we're on the go.
  
  It only includes 22mb of memory, which will only hold 8-10 pictures on the medium-quality mode, but I found a 4Gb card for not too much money that will hold over 1000 more. Just plan on adding the cost of memory to the camera purchase, because the built-in memory simply is not enough.
  
  In general, I'm thrilled. With significantly less shutter delay, I can finally take the pictures I've been WANTING to take all along - spontaneous, cute, funny pictures of my kids in less-than-ideal conditions: low lighting, moving targets, etc (when are ANY kids ever in an ideal pose for more than a millisecond???).
  
  *** UPDATE November 19, 2008
  
  Wanted to update this in response to a question. It has been a bit of a peeve over the last few months that the DSC730 doesn't seem to be able to zoom when you're shooting a video. You can zoom before, but once you click the shutter button to start shooting, you're stuck with the level of zoom you established beforehand. Mighty annoying. My husband's slightly higher-end Sony has this feature, as did my daughter's much cheaper camera... so I have no clue why they'd leave it out of this one. Drat. Just a little fly in the otherwise great ointment. :-)
  NOTE: this camera has taken several lickings and still ticking... so I guess my bad "luck" was only with Nikons.
  
  

• Sony Warranty a joke

  
  By A3J6BK4Y1ZWKL6 on 2008-04-21
  Purchased sony cybershot in June 07 and the mechanism to open the lense failed. After sending the product in to sony, I was told that mechanism had corroded and would not be covered by warranty. The camera has not seen any unusual treatment and I have no idea why it should be corroded in the first place except that it perhaps suffers from poor design. I have never sent in a product under warranty and the one time it was needed the company failed me. That will be the last camera purchase from Sony. There are better camera manufactures with better warranty service.
  
  

• Excelent camera

  
  By A18ABYY8FZNC6U on 2008-03-05
  This Camera is what everybody need, simple, great image, perfect photo colors, and not too heavy, you doesn't have to charge it (that is unconfortable for me) because it use 2 AA alkalines.
  I recommend this camera to everyone that just want a simple but functional camera!
  
  

• Battery description wrong

  
  By A3U69ACE9AUQ7T on 2008-05-01
  I bought this product for Mother's Day 'cause she's tired of using the AA batteries on her old camera and the description of this camera says that it uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery. This is not true. This camera uses 2 AA batteries. I was forced to return and very disapointed at the inaccurate information.
  
  

• DO NOT BUY FROM ELECTRONIC EXPRESS

  
  By A1V1UNUPZ4K1XK on 2008-04-11
  Received camera at end of March. 2nd time using it the camera shut itself off whenever shutter button depressed. Called seller ELECTRONIC EXPRESS a couple days after 14 day return period as I had just discovered defect. Of course, I was told I could not return it and just paid to send it to Sony warranty repair at my own expense. After sending in to Sony TWICE it worked for another month or so. Now the flash is not working. BUT bottom line is I ADVISE TO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM ELECTRONIC EXPRESS AS THEY DO NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS. If you do, good luck returning defective item.
  
  
• Great Camera For Recreational Photography
  By A2LU1XQU394ZL3 on 2008-07-09
  If you are looking for a good, basic digital camera, this one is great. It's got enough features to do everything you want from a personal use camera (not professional level).
  
  I bought this camera for my mother. I bought myself the Cannon SureShot, because I got lured in by the extra features. After they both came in and I used my mom's camera, I wished I had bought the Sony instead of the Cannon.
  
  This camera is easy to use. The dials/menus are easy to use. Just a few minutes of "playing around with it" is enough to figure out the basic functions. A good solid camera. Nice pictures.
  
  
• Great Camera!!! Horrible Zoom!
  By A3BOEXWHNFKPDQ on 2008-04-27
  This camera has an amazing picture...though its lacking in the zoom category.
  
  It can take a beautiful picture, though it says 3x optical...more like .5 optical.
  
  Don't expect anything spectacular out of the zoom feature of this camera. Though if most of your pictures are close up, or within 12 feet, you should have no problem with it.
  
  Kodak has a better zoom feature, even on the 3x optical. I own the Kodak Z710, 10x optical zoom for my personal pictures, this camera was for my fiancee.
  
  Overall: Great camera, great features...not too happy with any ability it has to zoom.
  
  
• Great Camera!!!
  By A1LLWTU2YQNP7G on 2008-05-16
  I was looking for a camera for my mom (her first digital!) and since I am familiar with Sony Cybershot I decided to get her this one. I agree this is an excellent choice for people who are not very fond of technology, very user-friendly and the screen has a pretty good size. It is also lightweight considering it uses AA batteries. I love the fact that it gives a brief description of the setting you are selecting, once again great for beginners! The internal memory is very helpful since it doesn't come with a memory stick. Great quality pictures, too bad my mom probably won't use most of the different settings.
  
  
• Look around.
  By A2B0QVE3G2RT2X on 2008-08-04
  Immediately had flash problems. Had to send it back to get it fixed when the flashed wouldn't work. It took a few weeks to fix, and I had to pay for shipping it there even though it was a problem covered by the warranty. Slow to take pictures at times. You can push the button and it won't take the picture. You may have to push the button up to 3 times to get the pic if the lighting (I guess) for the auto setting isn't perfect. Look around. This is the second Sony I've gotten that has had issues with. I will not be purchasing another Sony in the future. This camera is adequate for now. Turns out the memory cards I have (3 different ones) are not suited for this camera either. This takes a very small Memory Stick PRO duo. No bigger than a stamp. If you do get this memory stick, make sure it comes with an adapter. Then you can use it in other cameras that use a full-sized memory stick in the future. Also rechargeable batteries aren't strong enough. Uses lots of AAs.
  
  
• Great purchase!
  By A3H0V8WOQQ5OLM on 2008-05-11
  This camera turned out to be a sweet deal. The camera takes really nice pictures, it's really fast and the ISO 1250 feature is incredible. The only flaw i can find is there is no orange/red light before you take a picture. That really helps when you're taking pictures in no light. Now i'm not sure if that's a malfunction on mine or the feature is simply not available in this camera. Other than that, this is an amazing camera.
  
  It's not as small as other models, but i managed to put it in a nice bag and it looks cool.
  
  
• the product is good , except that make is not good
  By A1S1XIZUH8FV3A on 2008-05-20
  Amazing features for amazing price , but it looks more of a toy and it is made in China
  
  
• webfoot
  By A1T8JFPTEXBCRF on 2008-05-25
  I liked mine so well I got a second one as a spare. Digital cameras are a new thing for me. I got mine 3 days before a trip. It is a nice small size and easy to use. The viewing screen is large enough to provide a great picture. The control dial, selection button and menu are easily accessably by thumb as well as the playback & delete buttons. It provides an audible & visual alert when the still picture is in focus. It does movies with audio and has many other features not mentioned here. It uses two AA batteries (reg. or rechargeable), & I liked this feature when overseas. A very nice all around friendly camera to use.
  
  
• don't buy sony cameras
  By A39Q080D88Q0B7 on 2008-08-02
  The problem with Sony cameras, both photo and video, is that Sony uses a variety of Sony memory sticks. My Sony video camera memory stick does not fit in my Sony Vaio. Incompatibility is a big problem generally within the Sony family. My girlfriend's Vaio's charger does not work on my Vaio. I have made a commitment to myself to not buy anything anymore from Sony because I'm tired of having to carry an adapter for SD cards and having a memory stick gate which doesn't accept my video camera, and remembering to not pack my girlfriends charger when I go traveling, and so on.
  
  
• Sony Camera
  By APFAX690YL921 on 2008-08-08
  The camera is good but it operates on pencil batteries. It would had been a great option if it had a chargeable battery.
  
  
• (-:'
  By on 2008-08-22
  I got this camera a few months ago, and I really like it. It is my first(and only) camera and I am happy with it!!!!! It is a good camera for a beginner. But, not bad for an expert,ether.
  Thanks.
  
  
• A real piece of junk.
  By A3DPEP7EC2HT7Y on 2008-09-21
  Such a dissapointment. First off, this camera only has a storage bank of up to 7 pictures it can take. Second, it is so fragile we just dropped it by accident into the grass in our yard and it broke. What cheap quality. I wouldn't recommend this camera to anyone. Sony isn't the quality they used to be. W.D.
  
  
• if i could, i would un-do this purchase and get something else.
  By A3UBBYHVB6PKM2 on 2008-09-30
  I read a lot of reviews on amazon.com before i committed to buying a camera. I wanted cheap, but not really cheap (about $150.00) and i didnt want to be bombarded by options I would never be using--i just wanted a simple point, push the button snap shot camera comparable to my 5 megapixle 2005 bit that recently stopped working.
  
  PROS:
  This camera looks nice. it's a nice size. the screens big. It's easy to use (i'm sure grandma could handle it).
  
  CONS:
  the batteries last 3 hours. Seriously. battery eater extreme.
  There is a delay on the picture taking. You push the button it does all this thinking and THEN it takes the picture. Makes for awkward pictures and it, surely, always misses the moment you were looking to catch. This is the worst part of this camera for me.
  
  
  I've learned to "deal with it" and finesse it so it works ok for me but if i could, i would un-do this purchase and get something else.
  
  
• Excellent!
  By A304UETXY9HZ8V on 2008-05-08
  I am very happy with my last purchase of Sony Cybershot DSCS730 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom because is an excellent camera.
  
  
  
• Cyberright!!
  By A2N6V2IZRN987 on 2008-05-19
  I purchase the Cybershot and was very amazed. The picture was very clear and with very little know how I was able to use the different functions easily. My family and I will really enjoy our vacation more with our long lasting pictures of places we have seen. That's why Cybershot is Cyberright for us. Thank you Sony!!!
  
  
• Good
  By A2EG3ISZ2FL4MG on 2008-07-03
  Good pictures. This camera does not put the date on the picture. You have to do it manually through the sofware included. In my opinion it's a disadvantage although you can choose the color of the date.
  
  
• Good Camera... Kinda
  By A10DP1IP3IY8UK on 2008-09-17
  Ok well the camera is somewhat good... when i first got it, it worked fine but then the flash went out... no more flash :( and then for some reason it kept draining all the batteries i would put it on... even the ones made especially for cameras... and its not a good camera if your gonna take pictures in the dark.
  
  
• What is this?
  By AMGIU2YJ5EJNL on 2008-10-14
  Do not buy it. I bought it in august 08 and after using it a few times the buttons wouldn't do what i wanted them to do. the go right button went to the menu. the delete button made it go right.etc. then the menu started to flash up at random times. i would not recommend this camera to anyone.
  
  
• Garbage - Don't waste your money!
  By A2NPSTDFTIK4XY on 2008-10-16
  Purchased in May of 2008 as a Mother's Day gift. Drains batteries quickly. Within first week of ownership swapped for a replacement because lense became jammed. Thought it was an isolated incident but five months later the flash has stopped working. Also usb chord worked fine in beginning but now requires that I hold it at an angle for it to connect.
  
  On the rare occasion that the batteries weren't dead and it was working it did take beautiful pictures. Buyers beware, this camera looks compact and cute but isn't worth the price!
  
  
  
  
• Sony Digital Camera
  By A3OW5GSO4B6V8U on 2008-10-31
  this was my first digital camera purchase. i'm very happy with the price and features of this camera as well as the the company that sold it. it was delivered in a timely fashion with no problems. thank you!!
  
  
• Sony Cybershot
  By A1Q2Z93UYEZ2BO on 2008-11-01
  Takes pretty good pictures. When it initally came out it was most likely cutting edge. It has now been pasted by other cameras. Not surprising but a good overall camera for quick and easy photo shoots around the house or on a trip. Happy shooting.
  
  

• Vista Explorer 60" Lightweight Tripod with Tripod Bag
• Built NY E-HCS-BLK Small Hoodie Camera Case (Black)
• Built NY E-HCS-OLV Small Hoodie Camera Case (Olive Green)
• Built NY E-HCS-D07 Built Small Hoodie Camera Case (Brown)
• Built NY E-HCS-SHS Small Hoodie Camera Case (Soho Stripe)

• Sony 2 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (MSX-M2GS) (Retail Package)
• Sony LCS-CST General Purpose Soft Carrying Case for Slim Cybershot Digital Cameras
• Sony 1 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo Media (MSXM1GST) (Retail Package)
• Sony LCS-CSD General Carrying Case for Compatible Cybershot Digital Cameras
• SanDisk 2 GB MemoryStick Pro Duo (SDMSPD-2048-A11, Retail Package)