Cyber-Shot DSC-W530 14.1 MP Digital Camera with Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 4x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens and 2.7-inch LCD (Black) (OLD MODEL)

I haven't bought a new camera for myself in years, so I did a lot of research before buying this one. Actually, I did too much research and wound up confused. I finally just broke down and ordered this one because it seemed like a good deal. I'm really glad I bought it. It takes great pictures and it's easy to use. I don't like to spend a lot of time figuring out technology, and the menu on this camera makes things really easy to figure out. I haven't even looked at the owner's manual since I got the camera. The panoramic feature is awesome: just set it on panoramic, hold the button down, and scan the scene from left to right. The only thing I wish this camera had was a lower MP setting. It takes pictures in four settings: VGA, 5 MP, 10 MP, and 14 MP. The 10 and 14 are very detailed and ideal for blowing up into large prints. Even the 5 MP looks good in a large size. The VGA setting is pretty poor quality, not even worthy of viewing on your computer or sending to someone via email. The solution to this is the 5 MP setting, which produces a great quality picture but is also a very large-sized file, so you can't send many pics at once. It would be great if this camera had a 2 or 3 MP setting. Not a huge deal, though. UPDATE 3/31/13: This camera still works great. The battery still holds a charge just fine (knock on wood.) I have no regrets about this purchase.

I wanted a portable camera for travel and this one does it's job. The camera quality is good unless you want to zoom in or take a video. Pictures are good in low light with flash.

You can't beat the quality for the price! I have another camera that I paid the same amount of money for and it doesn't compare. The quality is crisp and clear! The camera is light and easy to carry around. Ok, I am now updating my review. The camera held up great for about 3 years. I really liked the quality of the pictures, I only had a problem with taking pictures in dark settings at times, or in places where lights were flashing. I took thousands and thousands of photos and a few videos, and took this little camera with me on many trips, including plenty of trips to beaches, in places with extremely hot weather as well as very frigid weather. I got sand all over this camera plenty of times, and someone even broke the bottom part where you insert the battery. I still used it that way and it worked fine for a while. You do have to get the hang of it as far being able to let the camera focus in order to take a clear picture. When other people took pictures, they usually came out blurry because the camera does take a second or two to focus sometimes. I am now shopping for a new camera, because this one gave out on me, but I am not upset, I am surprised it lasted as long as it did after all I put the camera through! It started to switch settings on me, going to panoramic mode whenever I wanted to snap a quick picture. Overall I am very pleased with the camera.

I don't normally write reviews. This camera is horrible! I had another Sony cyber-shot and loved it, and although a few other people complained of blurry pics, many people seemed to love this camera so I gave it a shot. At first I did love it, took great pictures. After 2 months of use my husband and I can't get it to work. Of course this is a couple weeks before we are about to have our baby, and right before Christmas so we can't take descent pics of our 5 yr old on Christmas or of our new baby!! What is even more infuriating is that it stopped working right after Amazon would replace it. Now they say I can return it for 50% of what I paid!!! Unbelievable. This is NOT a good purchase.

I just love this camera. I bought a really great Sony Cybershot in 2009 but it was stolen in February 2011. I wanted to replace it for a trip to Ireland over the summer, but I did not want to a buy the same top of the line model. I went with this one and I am so glad I did. First of all, the price is really unbeatable. The number of megapixels you can get for just over $100 is incredible. I took this camera with me to Ireland for three months. It was fantastic because the battery life would last for an entire weekend filled with hiking and loads of picture taking. There is no bulky dock either, I like that I only needed a USB cord. This camera does require that battery charging be done on a wall unit. This is not ideal for a trip to Europe, but I experienced no problems when using a voltage converter, it never got too hot or lessened the battery life. If you are looking for something that won't break the bank but is really quality, I think this is a great option. I like the blue because I thought the black one looked dated. It is pretty bright, if you are conservative go with silver or black. It is really really blue. Update: About a year later, this product is still a great value. Of course, I don't think a new generation has been released, but it is gratifying that I can walk into a Target and not see a camera by the same make that is twice as good for the same price. Image quality is good for the price and with a little editing some of my photos from Ireland are print and frame quality. I also like that the item comes with a cord instead of a dock + cord like some of the other Cybershots. This is ideal for traveling, it packs up much lighter and you can import photos without a hard, flat surface (say from your bed in a hostel). The dock on my old Cybershot was unnecessary.