Great overall camera deal

I purchased the DSC-P200 to give as a retirement gift. The person who was going to receive the camera had used a digital camera previously, but we still wanted to give an easy-to-use and easy-to-handle camera that would be, for most people, the latest, greatest camera we could get. We had a $400 target for the camera.

I visited www.dpreview.com to find opinions on the cameras I had identified within our price range. The DSC-P200 had good reviews and was easily available. With the 7.2 megapixel resolution, this camera will make large prints and 7.2MP is probably the highest resolution you can get for $400 or less.

Since we were buying a camera for a retiree, we wanted a camera that was easy to use for someone who wears bifocals, has bigger, not-so-nimble fingers, and has accessories that are easy to obtain. The DSC-P200 has a large LCD that is good for anybody, but especially for a person who wears bifocals. The camera uses the Memory Stick format which, at about the size of a stick of gum, is easier for people to use when they have big fingers or not-so-nimble fingers. Memory Sticks are available everywhere. I wanted to avoid the SD format because while SD cards are nice and small, they can be too small for many people to handle, and easier to lose because they can be difficult to find.

I also wanted a camera that had a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Most of the cameras in our price range use AA batteries or maybe rechargeable NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries. The lithium ion batteries give a greater number of photos per charge, which is more important than having our retiree carrying dozens of AA batteries with him wherever he goes. Since it is a replaceable battery, he can buy additional batteries with an external charger and take multiple batteries with him. This is great for long trips.

I opened the box to charge the battery and test the camera. I was amazed at the really high quality of the photographs that I could shoot with the camera. The colors were even and reach, and clarity was astounding. The camera was very easy to use with plainly marked buttons, and only as many buttons as required to shoot the photos with just a few controls. After transferring the photos to my computer, I could zoom in on areas of the photographs and still see great clarity with no graininess.

Overall, this is a great camera that makes high-resolution photos, it's easy to handle and it comes with great accessories (like a docking station) for $400. I think I may be buying a DSC-P200 for myself to replace my DSC-V1 that I purchased about 3 years ago.