I bought this camera at a computer products outlet, and as it came out a while ago, it was pretty cheap. It cost about $100 by the time I purchased it, which was a big factor - I'm a poor college student, so I needed something cheap.
The camera has worked well for my needs. I mostly use it to take snapshots of friends and family, nothing fancy. I think it's a great camera for the average user. There is no viewfinder, which doesn't bother me, but may bother some. I find the LCD screen on the back sufficient. It takes up most of the back of the camera, and the quality of the pictures when you review it is good. The camera does a pretty good job focusing itself for you when you partially depress the button for taking pictures (no, I don't know the real name for that button.. sorry). I also like the video - when you preview the video on the camera, you don't get the sound, but once you upload it to your computer to watch it, the sound quality is pretty surprising.
I don't have a memory card for it yet (it takes the Sony Memory Stick Duo), but I find that there's plenty of space for my pictures if I don't use the highest quality setting. It holds about 150 pictures on the lowest quality setting without the memory card, and I put my pictures onto my computer pretty frequently, so space hasn't been an issue for me yet.
The biggest problems I've run into so far are the lack of a delete-all function (as far as I can tell), and a problem with slow shutter speed. When I say slow shutter speed, actually I guess maybe I'm referring to a long warm-up time: When you first turn the camera on, you can't take a picture quickly - a yellow light comes up, and your picture isn't taken.. If you're whipping your camera out right away, hurrying to get a shot you really wanted, you're pretty much out of luck. By the time the camera is ready, your shot is probably gone. The rest of the time, though, the camera is decently responsive.
All in all, I think it's a pretty good camera for the casual or first time user. It serves its purpose well enough for me, and you really can't beat it for the price.
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Welcome to Ciao, good first review. You can pick up the memory for as little as £8 on ebay, well worth it in my opinion :)
Amy69 04.01.2008 08:28
Great review there! Shame about the slow start-up when switching it on - I like to be able to grab my camera on the off-chance I spot something exciting! Amy xx
mumsymary 04.01.2008 07:25
hello and welcome to ciao , a good review on this camera . Hope you enjoy writting here , A little tip read and rate lots of other peoples reviews you will make friends and get more people reading your reviews . All the best Mary
Advantages: excellent picture quality and zoom Disadvantages: low battery life
shadowtiger88 07.01.2007 (07.01.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S500
Advantages: excellent picture quality and zoom Disadvantages: low battery life
shadowtiger88 07.01.2007 (07.01.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
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