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Overall Rating

Just Because It’s Big…!
There was a little piece of advice I always gave people upon choosing their first digital camera, that being: 1)Take the megapixel count you are interested in, and 2)Multiply it by 100 3)If you spend within 50 dollars of that, you have basically gotten a good deal. If you pay less, you are probably missing some fundamental feature (a zoom is often the first thing to go) and if you pay more, you are getting more than you probably wanted (some special lens made from a glass that NASA uses to make the microwaves on the shuttle or something like that). With the Mavica FD series, the extra 100 or 200 dollars is going to its method of storing pictures, on simple, inexpensive floppy disks. If that still does not seem to justify the price, consider this: a floppy disk drive runs anywhere from 40 to 60 dollars, now take that drive and stick it on the back of a digital camera (thus making it self-powered).And then there is the media itself: Smartmedia and CompactFlash cards are down in price (averaging less than a dollar per megabyte) and are available in sizes in the giga-range. That all seems fine and dandy, until you consider the phrase “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The cards are like any other data storage media, and thus prone to corruption and electromagnetic interference. So, because of a simple error in the camera (it is a computer like any other, and thus prone to all the same weaknesses), a whole 64+ megabytes of memories can be lost forever. And, to add insult to injury, that card was really expensive! Meanwhile, a box of 40+ floppy disks (at about 1.44MB per disc) costs a little less than 10 dollars. Now get out your calculators….Okay….PENCILS DOW–I MEAN, CALCULATORS DOWN!Of course, the problem with floppy disks is that there are so many of them that lugging them around your vacation spot can be a complete pain. Fortunately, unlike the FD-75, you have the option of using Memory Sticks. In fact, if you take someone’s picture on the MemStick, but want to give them one of the photos, simply insert a floppy disk and copy (just like in a computer) the picture to the floppy and give them that disk. Beats making them wait for a print.Also, Sony’s sensibility guided them toward making the FD Mavicas out of HandyCam parts, meaning that some of the accessories you got for/with your Handycam (if you have one)can be used with the mavica, namely the battery (that little crummy one that came with it that you have probably not used since you got that even better 8-hour one!) which is exactly the same as the battery that comes with the FD! So, out of the box, you have doubled the battery life of the camera. Also, the camera has a 37mm filter thread, which allows you to attach neat accessories like color filters and fisheye lenses.Final word: a little pricey and not much for resolution, but for Handycam owners, it is a new lease on life for those old batteries!

Overall Rating

A Great Gadget, and it’s Easy to Use!
Well, thought it was time for me to get with the times so I finally got myself a digital camera. I’ve always wanted one, but just really never had the money for one. I was able to get my hands on the Sony MVC-FD100 Digital Camera a couple of weeks ago, and I can say that I am very pleased with it.You don’t have to be a computer wiz to know how to operate it, which is one of the best qualities. It is VERY easy to use and I seriously think that anyone can learn to use it in a matter of minutes. It’s a little bigger than most cameras, but this is because it allows you to save pictures to a floppy disk (which means that you really never have to hook up the camera to your PC to view or share your pictures). You can also use memory sticks as well (they’re expensive, but can hold lots of memory and is more convenient than switching floppies non-stop).There’s a lot of neat things you can do with the camera. You can zoom in and out with ease, change the effects to make your pictures look different, and you can make short MPEG videos (with no audio). All of these features are very easy to use and are easy to learn.A main drawback to this digital camera is the price. It is rather costly, but I think it’s worth it. If this seems to be out of your price range then you should look at some others. There are plenty of others that are less expensive.All in all, I am very pleased with the Sony MVC-FD100 Digital Camera. It’s easy to use and is very convenient. If you’re looking for a high quality digital camera that can be operated by just about anyone, then I highly recommend that you check this one out.