This is the second digital camera I've owned. It takes great pictures and you can store a ton of them (I get ~300 at 1200x1600) on a cd. It takes great pictures in automatic mode but being able to kick it into full manual (shutter speed, focus, aperture) means you can get pictures in circumstances that the point and click mode would choke on.

The fact that you don't have to worry about uploading images off a memory card makes it the perfect camera for long trips. I took it and a couple cds to Thailand for two months and came back with a ton of great pictures. Best of all I didn't have to take a laptop or ration my picture taking. I also took it on a month long bike trip and it worked great. The long battery life and fast charge time are also strong features in it's favor. It's solidly constructed, a year and a half later it's still clicking away.

One reviewer was complaining about drivers. HE IS TOTALLY WRONG! It sounds like he didn't have a USB port, you don't ever have to take the cds out of the camera. The device is a USB CD/RW drive, you plug it in and it shows up as a cdrom drive. I've used it with Win2000 and 98 and it's fine. No [bad] program to use to get the photos off, you just drag a copy off the cd and onto your computer. With a little poking you can plug it into your computer and actually burn the cds (though they are the little ones).

As I said in the subject the problem with the camera is that it's just too big. The cd drive makes it a funny shape that's kind of a pain. Also the lack of an optical viewfinder [is sort of bad], it's a sacrifice to the cd drive. That said I'd buy this camera again in a minute.

This camera has my vote for one of the best cameras made by Sony, or for that matter anybody! The largest I enlarge my pictures is 8 x 10 and it's perfect for that! When you figure what is the size most people think of for a picture, its 8 x 10, what else! The control of this camera rivals 35mm, and then the camera is adaptable to various filter systems. Who could what anything else!...Julian Gang

As with all products, the use of the camera really depends on what you buy it for; as a consumer model, this is probably somewhat high end, but I wouldn't consider it professional grade. It has a rich set of features that you definitely wouldn't find on less expensive models.

The CD function sold me on the camera, since I am an avid Linux user and didn't want to fiddle with attaching a USB card reader to my system. (Support for them has gotten better in the six months since I purchased the camera, but I have to admit that I'd still stick with the CD's.) The cost to picture ratio is incredibly low--you can buy mini-CD's cheaply (CD-RW's are more expensive), and they can easily hold 300 pictures each (1024x768 resolution, fine). The camera does allow you to take uncompressed images (TIFF format) if you want.

As for endurance, the camera has done very well. I did drop it (from about three feet) once, which broke the UV filter I had on it. The camera itself sustained no damage (it was in a bag). The battery life is around two hours, depending on flash use, how often the power is cycled, and whether you spend more time taking pictures or looking at them on the LCD (which, by the way, is of excellent quality; Sony has done us the favor of allowing us to zoom in on the image while still in the camera, so you can often tell how well you've focused on a shot before you open it up on your computer).

The picture quality is good. Not perfect, but definitely good. I bought it mostly for web work rather than printing my own shots, which aren't anything to brag about. I have found that taking pictures at 1600x1200 leaves the photos a little grainy (I run my monitor at 1024x768). Its automatic adjustments for light and distance are usually pretty good, though I occasionally mangle them a little bit in manual mode. The ability to take movies has been slightly beneficial, but probably isn't a major selling point (I've used it for some analysis in the martial arts for board breaking).

Some problems can arise when taking and recording pictures, which can be a little slow. Recording to mini-CD is certainly slower than recording to a stick, and the focusing process isn't the fastest in the world. (There is a manual focus button, which is convenient.) Depressing the action button down about half way will activate the auto-focus and allow you to take the shot at the right moment, but that does take some getting used to.

For people who are going to take a lot of pictures, this is definitely a camera to consider. I've taken probably two thousand of them without any difficulty since I got the camera. The resolution may not be as high as you could get in a stick model, but smaller prints should help mask that a little bit. It's a little pricey, but comes with a plethora of options that can introduce novices (like me) to manual photography without the expense or hassle of development.

And, if you like the special side gadgets--TV out and a USB connection (if you even need to use it)--this could turn out very well.

This camera takes very good pictures and has a great concept for storage that is by far cheaper per picture than most digital cameras, but it is UNRELIABLE.

My camera has been broken with the same issue THREE TIMES in one year. The issue is a bad power module. Sony Customer NO Service was not helpful in resolving this issue the first time after I had the camera for 1 week. It took them 6 weeks to return the camera, eating up the 90 day labor warranty and causing me to have to purchase the extended warranty so I would not have exorbitant labor charges if it needed to be fixed again.

Do not purchase this camera if you want to be sure to get pictures at those important times in life. If you do, please have another camera on standby so you have another way of capturing the moments.

I purchased this camera for my wife for its ease of use and find that I'm using it more than her. Great pictures, easy menu options, simple point and click. This is not a camera for extreme action pictures, but it can be used for everything else. I personally love the 3:2 ratio format as I print my own pictures and it makes it real easy to print. I also enjoy the MPEG feature at 640 resolution to send mini movies to my mother in-law of our 19 month old boy. Sony has always looked out for the consumer for ease and yet giving great performance with picture quality. I also like the feature for taking night picture with the light focus prior to taking your picture. I recommend this camera to anyone and everyone who wants to look good but really doesn't understand alot about camera's. Beware though you just can't take the cd out and put it in anyone's computer cd-rom without the software. This may be confusing to some, but once you know to bring the software with you, it's great to put the cd in and print. Great Camera!!!!

Overall I have been very satisfied with the CD200. A good camera with 1 major flaw. This flaw was brought up in the exchange between geekysteve and mgoril: finalizing CDs. I feel the need to to comment on this point.

In my experience, you DO need to finalize the CD-RW in order to take it out and read it in a normal CD drive. You DON'T need to finalize the CD-RW in order to read it directly through the camera using the USB connection. I prefer to avoid finalizing because its a risky process & wastes CD-RW space. So this is essentailly the same situation I had with memory stick based cameras. This was always disappointing to me.

When looking for a camera to buy, I preferred the CD design because I take my camera all over the place-when visiting friends, family, school, work. I thought the CD format was pretty standard. This should allow me to take out and use the CD-RWs at any computer. Just like the floppy based Mavicas, right? Wrong. I have to either finalize or set up a USB connection. I avoid finalizing for the reasons geekysteve mentioned. So what advantage does the big, clunky CD design have if CD-RWs essentially function like memory sticks?

I use the USB connection with most computers. But I really don't like setting up a USB connection on someone else's computer. Occassionally you find someone who doesn't have a USB port available. Other times the USB is touchy and causes the entire system to crash. On these occassions I bite the bullet & finalize. The CD Mavica is not quite universal like the floppy models. Though it is still superior to the floppy models which are notorious for low storage space & disk errors.

Portability is always an issue with cameras. If your primary concern is creating photos on a highly standardized & easy to use media, go with the floppy Mavicas. If you want more storage space and a smaller camera, go with a memory stick. The CD200 splits the difference. Comparable to memory sticks in storage space. Though it is a bit too bulky. Can be used on nearly any computer, but don't expect it to be as easy as a floppy.