I got the P100 (for free using Sony Visa bonus points), as a companion to a three-year-old F707, which is a wonderful camera (at the high end of the non-pro spectrum in its time) but sometimes too big to take on a walk with a toddler. I was in some ways pleasantly surprised. In every respect except of taking still pictures, the P100 is better. That's technological evolution at work: much nicer movie mode (excellent quality of video and sound!), a nicer directional pad/selector, a handy stand-alone delete button, faster picture taking, accepts MS Pro cards, nicer LCD. Photos aren't as good, especially indoors, but that is to be expected with the tiny lens and small flash of the P100--but tiny is why I got it, so I have no complaints.

Outdoor pictures can be excellent. Indoor pictures can be quite good if one is careful. As always, some pictures won't come out, but that's my fault as photographer. I am quite happy--for my purposes, the camera does the job quite well. It's not going to produce pictures that a high end consumer camera can (the 5MP spec is certainly not everything--the F707 is also a 5MP camera), but if one wants a small camera that one can carry around in a pocket and quickly fire up whenever something picture-worthy shows up, this is a good choice.

I particularly like the focusing spotlight, because it lets me know what the camera is pointed at without my having to look at the LCD/viewfinder, which for certain shots is nice. I wish it came with some sort of a case, but I guess people might want different ones. (I just use a draw-string little cloth bag that a flash for my F707 came with.)

I'd like to address two complaints in other reviews.

1. Focus issues. Some reviewers complain of focusing problems. My impression is that this is when one is taking pictures in multi-area focus mode, which averages out the data in different areas, and which can ensure that no areas is in focus. This is the only focus mode available in the easy-shoot mode (the one with the "camera" icon). I tend to switch to the program mode (the one with the "P") and set everything on automatic except make the focus be center-area only. Then I point to the part I want in focus, press the shutter half way, compose the picture, press the shutter all the way. One really does need to control which part of the picture is to be in focus--no camera can read one's mind! And outdoor this is a lesser issue because with more light the lens will tend to be stopped up more, and hence have a wider focus range. My impression is that the focus might still not be perfect in low-light conditions, but I haven't tested this thoroughly.

2. Ergonomics. Out of the box, the camera is hard to hold in one hand when taking landscape-orientation pictures. For portrait, I think it's fine, and it's fine for landscape with two hands (which one really should use for optimal stability anyway). For someone like me with big hands, it's easy to cover up part of the flash when holding with one hand, and the weight is inconveniently distributed. But there is a way of fixing the ergonomics: egrips (www.egrips.com). These are very grippy sticky things to keep electronics from sliding out of pockets, etc. If one applies them in the right places on the camera (I put a strip vertically along the rear right and two horizontally along the front, where the right hand makes contact with the camera), my grip became MUCH surer, and I could hold the camera reasonably comfortably without obscuring the flash. It seemed worth the ten bucks plus shipping for the egrips, as it fixed the ergonomic issue. (I have no connection with the people who make the egrips, but they're a good deal, I think. The camera kit comes with a lot more stickies than one needs for the P100 so there may be enough for some other uses, too.)

The overall performance and image quality of the P100 is superb. It's as good and at times better than my Sony Cyber-shot P5, 3.2 megapixels. It has the fastest start up time i've seen on digital cameras, as well as a short shutter lag (0.3-0.5s )also as mentioned at imaging-resource.com. It rivals some of the D-SLR's on these parameters! It has a Carl-Zeiss lens that provides excellent quality iamges. The colors and saturation of images are well balanced. I've played around with imaging software to make them look better. In addition, it's light and thin, and can be carried around without hassle. It has an excellent macro. The battery lasts for a hundred shots. I am satisfied with the P100 and definitely recommend it as a full featured high-quality P&S camera.

I bought this camera last July and could not be more pleased. It is the perfect camera for slipping in your pocket and catching those candid shots thanks to its quick start up. I have taken a lot of very good photos with this camera. Photos I would have otherwise missed.
The battery life is great. As long as I don't go nuts with the pictures, I can go days or weeks between recharges.
I am looking forward to taking several more this summer underwater thanks to the newly aquired underwater housing. The great thing is that I will be able to take more photos with this little camera than I could with my old underwater film camera, because thanks to the 2GB memory stick I put in it I can take about 800 pictures at full resolution bofore I have to empty the memory. I bought that memory stick for my PDA but loved having the ability to take so many pictures so much I left it in the camera. (Anybody got a 2GB memory stick they aren't using; those things are pricey.)
I plan to buy a digital SLR in the near future but I know that this little camera will still always be in my pocket.

I got this camera to replace my Fuji Finepix 3.2MP camera. I wanted a camera that I could use to take photos of my pets, and according to many sources, this camera has great red-eye reduction. Well, when I take pictures of my dogs, they turn out great and the pictures look like they are fresh from a regular film SLR. However, it's about 50-50 when I take pictures of my Ragdoll kitten. It may be because he has blue eyes, but for some reason he always ends up getting more red eye than anyone else. Although this is dissappointing, it is still better than my old camera. It has a lot more features, some of which I still haven't used. Another fault of this camera, however, is the fact that in considerably well lit places, if you do not have the flash on, anything that is moving in the picture will be a blur. This basically forces you to use the flash in all conditions other than extremely well lit places, like the beach. The LCD screen is very easy to see, and is a lot bigger than the one on my old camera. Again, how well it works depends on the situation. In very sunny situations it's IMPOSSIBLE to see the screen. At least there is a viewfinder to help you out. The software that comes with the camera is pretty bad, and I can't figure out how to save pictures to my computer. Much harder to use than that which came with my old camera. The battery is a plus so far, as that it lasts a very long time compared to my old camera. Charging it isn't a pain at all. The memory stick that you must use is a bit of a pain because they are more expensive than a lot of the alternatives that I could have used if it did not require the stick. The accessories, other than the memory stick, are fairly priced. The video taking capabilities on this camera are awesome. Some people have complained about them, but they are SO much better than any I have seen before on a digital camera. It really helps that I can connect the camera to my TV, using the cables provided by Sony (this is one of my favorite features). All in all, I do not think that I regret my decision on buying this camera (yet), but I wish that I would have considered other choices that may have had less of a red-eye problem.

After months and months of research, I have finally found a camera that produces sharp, crisp pictures. I haven't even had to edit pictures with software. Just point, shoot, and print. Of course I have the Epson PictureMate (must have)and no one can believe that a digital camera can produce such high quality images.

After reading many reviews from several different websites, I purchased the Canon Powershot Pro S1 IS. It didn't take long to realize that I wasn't going to get sharp images from that camera. The images were too soft and had to be edited with software. I sold it, took a loss, and purchased this fine Sony Camera. I'm so glad I did.

The camera is so easy to use (unlike the Canon), and produces excellent images. The movie mode is awesome, too. Takes great movies...you need at least a 1G memory stick. I am so happy with this camera, I am going to start buying all of the accessories (lenses, filters).

I suggest that you buy at a store that has a return policy in case you are not happy with your purchase. Staples offers a 14 day return policy. But I won't be returning mine!

Try it...it's worth a cyber-shot!!!

Update 3/13/05

If you're trying to decide between the Sony DSC-P100 and the Sony DSC-W1, maybe this will help make your decision. I have had the recent experience to play with the DSC-W1. The pictures were okay, a little soft, but sharpness can be increased in manual mode. I like the pictures from the DSC-P100 much better. The movie mode wasn't quite as good as the DSC-P100 either. The DSC-W1 produced blurry movie mode scenes without even moving the camera. Thought this may help.

If you are just an amateur photographer that is either finally switching from analog to digital or just want a decent camera to take on family vacations or school projects, this is a great camera. It is small, lightweight, and does just about anything you could possibly need it to do. It won't take pictures of hummingbirds feeding across a forest bed, but it will take a decent photo of the grand canyon. The quality of the 3x optical zoom is really good, but the picture is sacrificed slightly as you try to artifically enhance it with the digital zoom. The battery life is good enough to take on extended trips from your hotel or on a hike without having to carry around a charger or spare batteries. If you plan on taking lots of high quality large photos, you will need to get a larger memory stick (64 MB will work, 128 MB even better), but the memory stick it comes with will be enough to photograph your child's birthday party as long as you download the photos onto your computer afterwards. At 5.1 MegaPixels, this camera will pick up hairs on a persons head and it will even be able to define a flea in the hair. 5.1 MP is enough to make clear 8x10 prints. There are 6+ MegaPixel cameras out there, but at the consumer level there is really no point in spending the money on one (7.2 MP won't come in handy unless you are making 15x20 prints or are a student taking pictures through a microscope or a telescope--it is more of a prosumer level) All around, while Sony's camera lenses may not compare with Canon or Olympus, Sony makes up for it with their superior knowledge of how to make a great consumer digital device and turn it into a decent digital camera. It is a great value for the price.

This is a good entry level digital camera for those on a budget. But if you are a hardcore photography junkie then pass up this one. I bought this camera just for shooting. Film cameras are a dying breed and I could edit my digital pictures on my computer, not to mention how easy it is to send pics on e-mails. Well so far I had no problems with the camera, easy to point and shoot. There are many great features on it, my favorite is the candlelight setting, which makes pictures look soft when taken in a dim room. Overall this makes a great first digital camera, but for experts, not for you.

I wanted to love this camera. But in its most automatic modes, a combination of its physical design (lens at the far left of the body) and lack of high shutter speed tends to result in soft/blurred pictures in any but the most glaring of sunlit situations.

The 5.1 megapixel capacity and quick start-up is of little use if casual snapshots are ruined by image blur.

I've just ordered a Canon Elph to replace the Sony. My first digital camera was a 2.1 megapixel Elph, about 4 years ago. It never suffered from this problem, and I hope its successor performs as well.

I bought this two years before. It works great till now. The size is small and easy to operate. If you want to record video using this, the quality is not very good. The picutre's quality is good.

Only one word comment EXCELLENT

No Problem after using almost one year.

I bought the Sony Cybershot DSCP100 5.1 MP Camera after much researching on the internet about digital cameras because it was my first one.

I like the size and shape of the camera. It can easily fit in a small purse or pocket, which is nice for the price.

However the pictures turn out blurry unless in bright sunlight or with a flash, where I was previously not used to using one.
I also took this camera on a long backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon and it must have gotten bumped, though i don't remember doing such, because now the zoom occassionally has issue coming in and out.

Also I did not find the shutter lag to be very quick.

Reasons to get this camera:
-- It is durable (it has a metal frame)
-- It should last a long time
-- It has a good resolution
-- The MPEG Videos are not limited to a particular length
-- The videos record sound
-- It focuses automatically (easy to use)
-- Uploading photos is quick (no tedious software like with Kodak)

I gave it five stars because it was nearly perfect. The one flaw (at least with my camera) is that sometimes the screws fall out. Fortunately, it is not a serious problem because you can tighten the loose screws, and easily order more from Sony if you lose any of them.

I love this camera, I've had it for almost 3 years and haven't had a problem yet. I still have the original battery in it and it still charges great. It's a perfect camera for first-time digital users because while it does have a lot of different settings, its easy to figure out and they dont get in the way. It also has given me a basic understanding of other camera's, I use my friends camera's and can usually figure out how to use them. It's easy to take wherever because it fits easily into a purse or pocket. I love this camera, it was definitely a great buy.

The Sony dscp100 is such an appealing camera - small, easy to operate - that my shutterbug wife ordered a second one.

The reason to order a second one: little black dots began appearing in both viewfinder and photos - in compositions that had a light background such as a sky. So she found a new old-stock model - both have the Zeiss lens - and was happy for a few weeks. Now the second one has the dots. They resemble human eye floaters. Yes; we're sending the seond one back for warranty work.

Our job requires us to take photos almost everyday, so we have tried and worked with many digital cameras in the past years. We bought the DSCP100 like a year ago, and we have been more than pleased with it. The size of the camera is great, the quality of the body is amazing. Battery life is great too. It takes very good pictures, and starts working immediately, so you will not loose that special scene.... Because all of the above, we simply can't stop using the little DSCP100. Sony got it right with this camera !