Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DSC-P92 Digital Camera [5MP 3xOptical]

The P92 is simply a fantastic camera. I've used many digital cameras in the past and this is by far the best. Picture quality is great and the camera is simple to use and quicker than most other digital cameras I've used. If you like the convenience of a point & shoot camera, the auto features on this camera work fine.
Battery consumption is great for a digital camera - I took over 200 images at top quality over a 3 week period without having to recharge. Best of all, it uses AA rechargeables, which are far cheaper than the rest.
Issues like red eye and poor night shots, which can be a major problem with other leading digitals, aren't significant with the P92.
One major let down is the supplied software, which is poor to say the least of it - something which could be said about the free software you get with most digital cameras. You'll need to buy additional software like Adobe Photoshop elements if you want to do much editing of you photos. Another potential problem is the cost of the memory sticks, but these seem to be coming down in price now. Another slight drawback is that you can't use digital zoom without first selecting a lower picture quality, which can be annoying when you want to take a quick photo.
But, these are only minor points in an otherwise flawless camera. If you want an easy to use digital camera that will take great photos, you can't go wrong with this one.

The Sony DCS-P92 is my first digital camera, and thankfully, I think I made the right choice.
Everything is automatic if you just want to point and shoot, but there is plenty of scope for those who like to tinker with their own settings. I nearly brought the 3 Megapixel DCS-P72, but decided the P92 at 5 Megapixels was worth the extra for future proofing. The picture quality is superb, better than my old faithful 35mm camera.
You can resize any picture you take within the camera. This is in effect cropping the picture by using up to 5x zoom, but unlike many software editing programmes, this process maintains the original dimensions of the picture, which is useful if you want to print your pictures all in a uniform size. If you plug the camera into your television A/V socket with the supplied lead, it’s a lot easier to resize than using the 1.5inch camera screen.
The supplied stamina batteries seem to last forever. Don’t bother buying the expensive mains adapter, order a double set of four batteries when you order your camera.
The biggest disappointment with Sony is their software. (Anyone who uses OpenMG software with their Net MiniDisc will know what I mean). Unfortunately Sony have done it again with the supplied Image Mixer software. You can use Microsoft ‘Picture It’ or similar for enhancing your photos.
If you have a card reader for your computer, it’s just a matter of plugging the memory card into the appropriate slot, and the computer will treat it as a separate removable drive where you can copy your photos to the hard drive and even format the memory card (wipe clean). You can of course use the supplied USB lead and the Sony Image Transfer software. If you have XP you can use the Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard without installing the Sony software. It’s well worth buying a USB Memory Stick Card reader.
You can also use the camera to take video with sound, and the time is only limited by the amount of memory you have. Don’t expect video camera quality, but it’s quite reasonable to give you the feel of a place rather than just a photo.
Sony memory stick is generally dearer than the rest, but prices are coming down all the time. You won’t be disappointed with the build and quality of this camera.

Being a sceptical sort of chap, and a lover of 35mm film, I thought this digital thing would be a fad. I needed a camera for work so I maxed out on the budget and blew it to buy this camera with a 128Mb card.

For work I need to take pictures of construction sites so the digital camera has been excellent. Transfer is a hassle at work as we have NT4 which doesn't support USB so I had to get a floppy adapter (a further £60) but transfer at home via USB is quick and painless, and really is plug and play.

For home use the camera is very good. However outdoor performance is noticeably better than indoor, with quite a shutter lag when using the flash.

The resolution choice is very good. I have only used the 5Mp setting a few times and the consequent prints are not appreciably better than the normal 3Mp prints. With the 128Mb card I can get 80 shots at 3Mp.

The movie mode is more a fun thing than a serious video camera so don't expect too much.

The colour definition is excellent. I have used bonusprint online a lot to print recorded images and the colours and clarity are sharp enough for a 45cm*30cm print to be displayed in my hall at home.

All in all a very good camera

well at 270 quid including a free case there's nothing else that comes close to the p92 .
its easy to use and has stunning picture quality . with the 5 mega pixel resolution it has the ability to crop and zoom into your photo before u download it to your pc or printer and without any loss in picture quality .
the 3.2mp resolution is quite adequate for straight printing out of up to 10x8 prints.
do budget for a decent sized memory stick thou , you will only fit half a dozen pics on the supplied 16 mb at the highest resolution so a 128mb stick should be a minimum .
the two AA rechargable batteries last fairly well althou maybe not as well as the lithium ion's which are included in the more expensive dsc p10/12.
occaisionally you can get the odd blurred or out of focus photo but you will be taking far more photos with this camera so it dosent really matter.
if your budget is around 300 quid then this is the one !

The DSC-P92 is a small camera, but the first thing you notice when you pick it up is the surprising weight. This isn't a bad thing: the case construction is considerably sturdier than most digital cameras, particularly at the price, and the lens casing is made of metal. I'd hate to speak too soon, but I don't think it's going to be falling apart on me.

Picture quality is great. Five crystal clear megapixels allow you to get some amazing printouts; the quality can, of course, be reduced for Web work or similar, although I find it's better to take high resolution pictures and bring them down using photo editing software. Compared to most cameras, the time between pushing the button and actual image capture is very small: often a fraction of a second. The videos are also surprisingly large and detailed, with very good sound quality.

However, nothing is perfect, and repeated usage reveals some little niggles. The USB, power and AV sockets all sit behind a rubber panel that can come off in transit if you're not careful. It can be very, very difficult to get a sharp picture in low lighting conditions without flash - although this is true of most digital cameras, and you can choose the brightness level should you choose to resort to flash. (Hopefully, this way you can reduce that lifeless flash photography look.) The colours are realistic, and you can reduce the JPEG compression level to get an even sharper picture.

Unless you're shooting for National Geographic, this is going to dramatically exceed your requirements - which, for the price, isn't bad going at all.