Sony LCS UJ/W Soft case Digital photo camera > Reviews (1)

When I went out on the hunt for a case for my Sony Cyber-shot U DSC-U30/S camera, I was looking for a few basic things:

1. The camera had to fit snugly into the case
2. The case couldn't be too bulky (there's no point in a tiny camera if the case is going to be huge!)
3. The case had to be sturdy enough to withstand being chucked in a rucksack and carted round for a few weeks.
4. A small storage place for spare batteries and memory cards would be useful
5. Perhaps most importantly, the case needed to be a reasonable price.

With these ideas in mind I went off to investigate all the usual camera/electornics shops nearby. I soon began to realise that I has little chance of getting everything I was after.
On the up side, all the cases were fairly sturdy, had storage pockets and were in gerneral within a reasonable price range.
HOWEVER, the smallest cases that any of the shops had on offer would have fitted two Cybershot-u cameras in it.

Eventually I decided that I would have to buy the Sony case disigned for this camera, which I was rather disappointed to find no shops had in stock and I would have to order it. All the other small camera cases I had seen were in the range of £5-10, so I was disappointed to discover that this one was going to cost me £20. (If you shop around more on the internet, I have recently seen this case in a wider variety of colours and at much more reasonable prices.)

All I had to judge from was the picture in an order catalogue that was briefly waved at me, but assuming that the case tailor made for the camera would be ideal, I bought it.

When the case arrived I was rather disappointed.

Yes, the camera fitted in snugly, there was a little pocket in the back that would hold a spare memory card and it seemed fairly sturdy,

BUT....

with the camera measuring at 8.5cm x 3cm x 4cm I was rather disappointed to find my sleek, slinky, tiny camera, when popped into its little case, now measured 9.3cm x 5cm x 5.5cm!!! That's two and a half times its original volume!!! On top of this, there was no way I was going to be able to store spare batteries in it, and since I tend to go through batteries more quickly than memory cards, this wasn't ideal!

On the more positive side, it definitely seems to be sturdy enough for general travel. I haven't yet tried any extree sports with it! (it is most definitely NOT waterproof)

[Not on the ratings: not entirely sure how a camera case can have a battery life, but I can't complete the review without filling in all the fields, so use your imagination!! :o) ]