Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200
Review Date: October 24th 2005
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 7M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around 2.5Mb - 3Mb.
Noise
There are 3 ISO settings available on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 which you can select at any time if the camera is in either the Program or Manual exposure modes. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
ISO 100 (100% crop) |
ISO 200 (100% crop) |
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ISO 400 (100% crop) |
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The noise levels look fine at ISO 100, but there's already some noise starting to appear at ISO 200 and the image quality has deteriorated quite a lot at ISO 400.
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are quite soft at the default setting of Normal and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively you can increase the in-camera sharpening.
Original 100% Crop |
Sharpened 100% Crop |
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File Quality
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 has 2 different file quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
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7M Fine (3,043Kb) |
7M Standard (1,567Kb) |
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Chromatic Aberrations
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 handled chromatic aberrations extremely well during the review. Only very high-contrast situations like those shown below caused any problems, with very limited purple fringing present around the edges of over-exposed parts of the image.
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Example 1 |
Example 2 |
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Macro
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 6 cms away from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject in Macro mode (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
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Macro Shot (click to view full-sized image) |
100% Crop |
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Flash
The flash settings on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Synchro, No Flash and Red-Eye Reduction. These shots of a magnolia coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Flash Off - Wide Angle (38mm) |
Auto Flash - Wide Angle (38mm) |
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Flash Off - Telephoto (114mm) |
Auto Flash - Telephoto (114mm) |
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And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, both the Flash On setting and the Red-Eye Reduction option caused a tiny amount of red-eye.
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Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Flash - Red-Eye Reduction |
Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds, aperture of f/5.2 at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like. Note that the camera automatically applies noise-reduction for long exposures.
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Night Shot (click to view full-sized image) |
100% Crop |
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Overall Image Quality
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 produced images of above average quality during the review period. The 7 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or increasing the in-camera sharpening level. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 dealt very well with chromatic aberrations, which hardly appeared in any of the test shots - limited purple fringing effects could only be seen in very high contrast situations. Macro performance is about average, allowing you to focus as close as 6 cms away from the subject. The built-in flash worked very well indoors with only a tiny amount of red-eye and good overall exposure. The night photograph was very good too, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and automatic noise reduction offering lots of scope for creative night photography. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200's main drawback in terms of image quality, however, is noise. ISO 100 looks fine, but there's some noise starting to appear at ISO 200, which isn't exactly a quick speed. ISO 400 is something of a last resort as the image becomes almost painterly in appearance.
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PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.