By Michael Fuhr “dwd94″ (Annapolis, MD)

I love everything about this camera. It’s the right size, battery has a long life, menus are easy to navigate, video mode yields pretty decent pictures and sound (for a still camera). Takes beautiful still photos. Sleek brushed metal casing makes for strong and sturdy camera. Photo management software is easy to use too. Perfect for the “point-and-shoot” amateur. And it’ll fit in your front pocket too!

By M. Egu “Marz” (San Francisco, CA)

I recently received this camera as a Christmas gift and I cannot stress how much I love this camera. I received the black version, which looks very sleek and has nearly an all-aluminum body. The camera powers on extremely quick and has above average battery life. Photos look great. Please take note that when you are purchasing a P&S(point and shoot) camera, please remember that if you go to professional camera review sites, you will notice a lot of negative feedback on these particular cameras. You have to realize that most of those negatives will NOT affect you if you are not a professional photographer. That being said, I’ll leave you with a list of Pro’s and Con’s.Pros [+]
+ Sleek, sexy look
+ Great shots indoors and outdoors
+ Above average battery life
+ User friendly
+ Image stabilization (This is a LIFESAVER.. you really notice the difference when you try to take the same picture with and without stabilization, or as Sony calls it “Super Steady Shot”)
+ Face detection - what this does is locate up to eight faces in the photo and puts a box around the faces, telling you that the auto-focus will be placed towards the faces, giving clear facial pictures and less emphasis on the background. This is a really neat feature.
+ Grid display. This shows a grid on the screen so if you’re taking landscapes, it’s a lot easier to level your hands so you get a great picture, avoiding any odd crookedness.
+ Videos look great
+ Viewfinder is useful when taking pictures in the dark (just don’t use it when taking macro shots — it’s not even close to what the lens will capture)
+ Continuous Shot mode (aka Burst mode)

Cons [-]
- Directional buttons are hard to press at times
- Uses proprietary memory sticks (MS Pro Duo) which is generally more expensive than an SD card.
- The provided battery charger is unnecessarily slow (over three hours to fully charge). Sony has a faster charger out there, but don’t expect to find it for less than $45
- Not really a con in my book because I don’t notice, but the LCD screen is only 115,000 pixels whereas the competitors (Canon, Nikon, etc) have 260,000 pixels. It really does not matter because 115,000 is more than efficient to view pictures. Once it’s on your computer, it doesn’t make a difference on what a camera screen shows.

That being said, I truly enjoy using this camera and my friends are very envious. I chose this over the Canon SD1000 because the Canon didn’t have IS (image stabilization).. and I must say, IS is extremely beneficial.

• Read More About Sony Cybershot DSC-W80

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