Sony DSC P3

A great little camera. Very easy to carry around in a pocket and thus always available. I've owner other good digital cameras and iniatially wanted a big camera with all the manual features. I realised that on previous slr cameras I always ended upshooting in auto mode anyway and so I decided to go point and shoot. I had no interest in movie mode until I got the camera and realised it will be handy and its fun. Don't expect to enlarge it much for viewing.

Compact and well built. It may look cute but the photo quality is very good even at 640 resolution. Works well with Windows XP. I think the macro mode is great with accurate colours and good sharpness. I tidy up photos with Photoshop but the levels are often very close to correct. The camera is very well designed and most features are intuitive. It feels right in my hands and the buttons while small are easy to use. To me the greatest strength is that its the sort of camera you will use because its easy to have at hand.

Many people find a lack of optical zoom is a weakness. It can be a strength as you get in closer, have a faster camera and spend less time fiddling with buttons and more time shooting. If you want a good zoom don't buy this model.

I have had several 1.5 - 2 megapixel cameras. I had a Toshiba PDR-m4 which was excellent but not as compact and versatile as the Sony P3

Yet to need them- Hope I never have to. My experience with cameras is that they need to be cared for - soft cases and padding. Avoid sand and water and they should last for ages.