Sony Cyber-shot S500

My mom asked me to help her buy a digital camera, and knowing her, it has to meet a list of her requirements:

1) Budget of RM600.
2) Must be not bulky so can fit in her handbag.
3) Must be very friendly to use.
4) Must be a new unit, so no second hand.
5) Must have good picture quality, equivalent to Canon Ixus V3 or better. (She compared to V3 because I owned one before about 3 years ago and she likes the picture quality of that camera.)

So as you can see, the first requirement alone almost make it impossible to meet the rest. At first I wanted her to get the Canon I Zoom, one of the best sub RM1k camera already, but then she said is too expensive, so I recommended her Canon A430, with 1Gb SD card it is only RM590, great deal! BUT, she complain it is too bulky, too fat for her liking, and then she saw the new Sony Cyer-shot S-500, and from then on everything went wrong...




To be honest, it is a really nice looking camera, it looks really well built, very handsome, have that solid built which make you think you're using a RM1k+ camera. What's more, this camera has 6.0 Megapixel, 3x Optical zoom and a big juicy 2.4" LCD monitor. Honestly, I couldn't believe Sony would price this camera at only RM599, infact, it is a surpise itself to see Sony come out with a camera at this price range.

So...everything sounds good right? Price is right, size is right, and the features seems more then adequate. Even I almost liked it, that is until I transfered the pictures taken into the computer.

When I reached home and played with it, first thing, the minute you on the camera, you are greeted by one of the most pathetic LCD monitor ever. Yes, it is big, and looks really good, but it is HORRIBLE at previewing pictures on it. The reso on the screen is so low, is almost as good as my FIRST digital camera by Fujifilm, way back when 640x480 digital camera was considered the best!! So, my lust for it's big juicy screen got turned off already, what's worst, when trying to compose a shot under bright sunlight with the screen, well, you can practically see, nothing!!

Other then the screen, the lens on this camera is ABSOLUTELY horrible. Probably that's why Sony can priced it so cheap, the lens is practically rubbish!! (I'll show you why in a short while). The picture quality is also nothing short of pathetic, even at the highest reso, 6 Megapixel and at "Fine" settings, picture taken at ISO 80 is already NOISY!! The amount of noise taken at ISO 80 on this Sony camera is even more then my Nikon D50 at ISO 1600 (I know is not a fair comparison but still??)

The color reproduction is also terrible, it is either too dull, or too overexposed, there is no balanced. And all this I'm talking about taking outdoor picture, in bright sunlight!! When you come indoors and start using it's flash, well, I've no more comment.


Sample photo, taken at the highest possible settings, looks "quite" good eh?

Now look at this photo cropped out from the above photo:


That is the MAIN and BIGGEST problem!! If you look closely, look how bad the picture quality is on the right side of the picture, especially on the flower pot. Because of the lousy cheap lens Sony is using, ALL the picture taken is out of focused on all the 4 sides!! Don't believe me, click on the full picture of the garden and look closely to all 4 sides, you can see it runs out of focus!!



Another sample photo, taken indoor, with the Sony's highest possible quality setting and at ISO 80.

Now this photo looks quite good? That's probably because the picture you're looking now is so small. Click on it for a bigger sized version, and look at the cupboard, check out the amount of noise evident, and this is taken with the lowest ISO, ISO 80!
Another thing you will notice is this camera has a quite terrible lens barrel effect. Look at the pillar on top, I could've sworn they built that pillar perfectly straight!!

As a comparison, I took the exact same photo with my Nikon D50, to be fairer, I set my camera to the LOWEST possible setting (VGA resolution and "Basic" quality). And I took this picture at ISO 1600.


Taken with a Nikon D50, on the lowest possible quality setting (VGA resolution with "Basic" quality and at ISO 1600.


So, this Sony camera is very cheap, it only cost RM700, together with a 1Gb Memory Stick Duo. It looks good, it has great built quality, and has a big LCD screen, and it is quite pocketable. But do I recommend anyone to buy it?

NO

If you only have a RM600 budget for a camera, go get the Canon A430, it is MUCH better. Or if you can stretch, get a Canon I Zoom (RM850)or a Canon Ixus 40 (RM 1.1k), just stear clear and far away from this...rubbish!

Mind you I never wanted my mother to buy this camera in the first place, but it is the smallest camera she could get for her budget...her choice...a bad choice!