I owned this camera for several years. The first year it worked fine and I was happy with its performance. In the past year, I 've become completely dissatisfied with it. I always took good care of it, following the instruction manual. I first started to have power problems, the battery would not charge or would quickly discharge. Purchased a new one and now the shutter button does not work. It only goes down to the auto-focus mode but no to the record mode. I contacted Sony tech support and they tell me this is an unknow problem. Right! and I was born yesterday. Their only help was take it to a repair center.

I have had this camera for almost 2 years and have had no problems with it at all. The battery lasts for over an hour and they are so tiny, I always carry a spare. I have been looking for a newer camera and have noticed they are not made nearly as well. The p5 is small and lightweight but feels solidly built and I like the glass protecting the lcd. I have been very pleased with the photos it takes, even the nightshots. My only complaint is that the movie mode does not do well in low-light conditions. The controls are easy to work, very user friendly, and the camera takes great pictures.

This camera [...]. When it takes a picture, it has about a 2 second delay between when you press the shutter and the picture is actually taken. This means that the camera is not at all useful to take pictures of our 2 year old son, because 2 seconds later he has already moved on to something else and the picture is a blur. We have lost more pictures because of this camera.

Tonight when trying to take our Christmas picture, I would press the shutter but no picture was taken. It was as if the camera could not figure out what it had to do. Try again, same result. Repeat, nothing. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, still nothing. When I set the camera down, disgusted that it wasn't taking any pictures, then flash! - took a nice picture of the pavement. Notice that I hadn't pressed the shutter for this picture.

I am in the market for another digital camera and am likely not going to get a Sony.

Here is the shutter specs right from sony:
Maximum shutter speed: .001 seconds
Minimum shutter speed: 2 seconds
So why are people complaining about the shutte speed? Isn't it something that you can adjust?

I love this camera! I have owned my P5 for about 2 years now, and have had excellent results. I have quite a bit of 35mm equipment as well, but haven't touched it since getting this camera. I am quite a perfectionist when it comes to photo quality and have been very satisfied with the quality of images produced by this model. It's very easy to carry around, and the 3.2 MP resolution is sufficient for most of my needs. I would recommend this camera.
The only negative I have noticed so far is with the automatic lens cover. Sometimes it seems to stick, and not open all the way. I simply touch it, very gently, and it opens fully. I may need to get it cleaned to keep it working smoothly. This happens very infrequently, so it's not a major issue, simply a periodic inconvenience.

I purchased this camera about a year and a half ago on eBay, I paid about $220 for it ($160 for the camera, and the rest was on the battery, charger and memory stick). It's a very nice design, with a large screen and a solid feel, and not at all too large. The picture quality was fantastic, I had no complaints. However, I had to give the camera up to my mother because the low-light pictures were AWFUL. The night I bought it, I took the camera to a minor-league wrestling show, and we compared the photos to my friend's four-year-old Olympus camera. The difference was striking- his photos came out much better, mine were either too dark, or terrifically blurry (those were in night mode). Again, if you are going to be taking photos in the light, for a party or outdoors in the daytime, you will love this camera. In the dark? Stay away!

I recieved this camera from a friend not a while ago for free. After reading the reviews, i was surprised at how old this camera was! 2002 was 3 years ago! And yet, this camera does a good job. 3.2 mpx is nothing, compared to the average now (around 4-5 mpx standard) but i must say this camera is good. For a 3.2 megapixle, this camera has very fine pictures. It is well worth it and does not lag as my old camera did. The negative effect of the camera is that after a while (3 years .. :P) the battery was worn out. It barely works for 10 seconds at a time before it says it needs a recharge. Other than that, the camera is good. I like it. But for the 2005-ers, there are much better cameras out there for cheaper prices. And more thin ones.

For 2002, this is a very good camera.