Sony DSC-P150 Review

The P150 employs a high-quality F2.8-5.2 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 7.9-23.7mm optical zoom lens with 38 to 114mm coverage (as compared to a 35mm camera.)   This is an all-glass lens consisting of 7 elements in 5 groups with 3 aspheric elements. The lens retracts into the body when powered down and is protected by a built in lens barrier.

Optional wide angle VCL-DH0730, telephoto VCL-DH1730 and super telephoto VCL-DH2630 lenses as well as 37mm filters can be attached using the VAD-PHB conversion lens adapter.

The P150 employs a 5-point Multi-point auto focus system, with automatic or user selectable AF point. The center AF target area can be wide or narrow. The working range is from 19.7 inches to infinity in normal mode and in Macro the coverage is from 2.4 inches to infinity. You can also manually select one of five focus distance presets from 0.1m to infinity.

The P150 features an AF Assist beam designed to achieve accurate focus on subjects with little contrast in dark conditions. It also brightens the LCD screen momentarily to aid in framing.

The eyelevel optical real-image zoom viewfinder has a field of view of approx. 80-85% (80% in wide and about 85% at tele) of the captured image. There is no diopter adjustment. The LEDs indicate card activity/Self-Timer, Autofocus/Auto Exposure Lock and Flash status.

The built-in flash has modes for Auto, Forced On, Forced Off, and Slow Synchro. Red-eye reduction can be enabled or disabled via the Setup menu. It uses a pre-flash for precise metering of the exposure. It also has auto daylight synchro fill flash for backlit or shadowed subjects as well as dynamic flash white balance for greater color accuracy. The working range for the flash is approx. 8 in. - 11 ft. (0.2 - 3.5 m) Wide and 1.0 - 8.3 ft. (0.3 - 2.5 m) Telephoto, when using ISO Auto.

On top is the Power button and Shutter release

Controls on the back: Top right is the zoom lens controls, in playback the Tele button magnifies the image and the Wide button displays the thumbnail index. The Mode Dial with positions for SETUP, Movie, Playback, AUTO, Program, Manual and SCeNe. The Monitor button turns the color LCD on and off and controls the amount of information (and histogram) that is displayed.

The MENU button calls up or dismisses the onscreen menus. The 4-way selector lets you navigate through the menus or select images during playback. Pressing it in the center accepts selections. In record it lets you select the flash mode, macro focus mode, self-timer and Quick Review mode. The button on the bottom right lets you quickly change the image size in record mode and acts as the image delete button in playback.

The only I/O port is on the bottom, it is a single connector designed to plug into either the supplied USB 2.0 / AV cable or the optional Sony Cyber-shot Station docking cradle. The basic camera package includes the dual-purpose cable for transferring images to the computer and displaying images and movies on a TV. The video signal can be set for NTSC or PAL standard.

Located on the side with the battery is the Memory Stick card slot. The P150 comes with an 32MB Memory Stick and can use any capacity Memory Stick or Memory Stick Pro card. The use of a Memory Stick Pro card is required for recording high quality 640x480 VX Fine mode movie clips.

Power is supplied by a rechargeable Sony InfoLithium NP-FR1 3.6v 4.4Wh battery. Sony includes the AC-LS5 AC charger / power adapter, the battery is charged in-camera. It may be small but the NP-FR1 packs enough power to capture up to 310 shots per charge.