Digital cameras: Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93
Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93
by cdelancey - 5/18/04 5:42 AMI am looking to purchase either a Sony DSC-p92 or DSC-p93.
I owned a p92, but dropped and broke it. I want to replace it with a camera where i can still use my peripherals (batteries, memory stick) I loved that camera, but decided to look at the p93 as well since it may be slightly better.
I've read the reviews and there is conflicting information concerning the zoom. Both have a 3x optical zoom, but different digital zooms. according to sony - the p93 has 2x precision zoom and either 3x or 12x smart zoom (it's not clear which is true) - also some sites claim that there is only a 6x total zoom, but sony boasts 0-12 smart zoom. what's up with that - which is true?
the p-92 has 3x optical and 4x digital.
Which one is better as far as zoom is concerned?
I know that digital zoom isn't ideal and these are equal on optical - so just give me the answer in terms of digital zoom. I want to know if the extra $50 is worth it.
Thanks!
Cheryl
Re:Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93. Digital Zoom on camcorders is ...
by R. Proffitt
- 5/18/04 6:22 AM
In reply to: Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93 by cdelancey
Very different than on digital cameras. Let me try to explain why.
In a digital camera (DCAM for short) you want all the pixels you can muster to get enough to rival flim technology. However in video cameras, you can't add more pixels (or more correctly "lines") since you have to create NTSC or PAL video which has strict limits on such.
For a DVCAM with the newer 1 and up megapixel sensors, one can now do a digital zoom and keep the number of sensor pixels required without resorting to interpolating.
An example of a 2X zoom without interpolation would be if we had an 1.33 MegaPixel sensor. At 1X (digital) we only needed 1/4 the sensors to get the needed NTSC line count. To go up to 2X, we just read every other pixel.
Clear as mud, but there it is.
In closing, digital zoom on camcorders can work. But for digital cameras is just a bad idea. I simply disable the digital zoom on the camera and if I want to slice out a small area of a photo, I do that on the PC.
Bob
Re:Re:Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93. Digital Zoom on camcorders is ...
by cdelancey - 5/18/04 7:15 AM In reply to: Re:Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93. Digital Zoom on camcorders is ... by R. Proffitt
Um, I appreciate the info, but that doesn't really answer my question. I basically want to know which one of these two cameras has more digital zoom. For what I use it for, I'm not super concerned about how it does it or if it's a little bit fuzzier. with my p92, the 4x smartzoom (dig) works just fine in conjunction with the 3x optical - i just wanted to know what the real deal with the p93 was. since it has 2 types of digital - 2x prescision and up to 12x smartzoom (but some places post it as only 6x total) I want to know which of those two digitals are better - i KNOW that digital zoom is the "bad" zoom, but for my purposes - that's okay.
You can digital zoom on the PC, so it matters not what's in the camera.
by R. Proffitt - 5/18/04 7:41 AM
In reply to: Re:Re:Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93. Digital Zoom on camcorders is ... by cdelancey
As such, ONLY the optical zoom is worth paying for.
It's that simple.
Bob
Re:You can digital zoom on the PC, so it matters not what's in the camera.
by cdelancey - 5/18/04 7:51 AM In reply to: You can digital zoom on the PC, so it matters not what's in the camera. by R. Proffitt
yes, but that takes more time and i'm a graduate student - the more i can do in the moment, rather than after the fact, the better. Which is why i want to know which camera can do more of the digital zooming! I was mostly inquiring about which information about the camera was correct, which i still don't know.
Information is...
by R. Proffitt - 5/18/04 8:00 AM
In reply to: Re:You can digital zoom on the PC, so it matters not what's in the camera. by cdelancey
On their web site. You can read that as well as check http://www.dpreview.com to see if they reviewed it.
Right or wrong, why duplicate Sony's web content here.
Bob
Re:Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93
by snapshot - 5/18/04 8:10 AM In reply to: Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93 by cdelanceyA visit to the Sony site reveals the following:
For the P92:
• 0 - 4.0X Smart Zoom (at VGA Size)
Smart Zoom intelligently uses the full CCD to let you zoom into the portion of interest by cropping the image size—thus avoiding the image degradation of Digital Zooms.
For the P93:
• 3X Optical/2X Digital/6X Total Zoom
3X Optical Zoom helps you frame your shots for better digital pictures. And Sony’s Precision Digital Zoom provides an additional 2X magnification without the jagged edges of other designs, resulting in smoother images.
Their explaination of Smart Zoom tells me nothing.
It leaves me wondering if digital zoom is truly 2x or is it 4x. The term "(at VGA size)" really throws a curve since VGA means 640x480
You will probably have to ask Sony what that means.
Sounds like something made up by a Salesman.
Here are the Sony details about each camera:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=DSLIZ6flKyHIe-dPLTnCbOj1OHj3QWfK8cU=?CategoryName=pr_p_campricedropDI_dcc&ProductSKU=DSCP92
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=CnrEI5SILUbEM9QiKCvOKNuZxQ9AZhjUYnQ=?CategoryName=pr_p_campricedropDI_dcc&ProductSKU=DSCP93
I don't understand the $50 difference in price since Sony shows the "suggested retail price" to be
$330 for the 92 and
$350 for the 93
..
Steve's Review P92
by snapshot - 5/18/04 8:27 AM In reply to: Re:Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93 by snapshotI checked Steve's Digicam review for the P92 and he does not explain what Smart Zoom really is.
His review is here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/p92_pg5.html
..
Price difference
by cdelancey - 5/18/04 10:28 AM In reply to: Re:Sony DSC-P92 vs. DSC-P93 by snapshotSears carries the P92 for 299.99 (sale this week) and I haven't found the P93 lower than 349.99. Anyway, thanks for your help. Sony's page was the first place I looked myself - but like you said - it's not very informative. I'll have to actually go ask Sony.
Thank you!
Cheryl
Sony DSC-P92 5-Megapixel 3x 1.5" 2xAA 640/U
by arbeit4u - 3/19/07 10:37 AM In reply to: Price difference by cdelanceyI received this camera for Christmas a couple + years ago. The quality of the images have never been good. Nothing like the review -
Recently I sent it to Digitech for repair - after a $140 repair - the quality is still not what I would expect of Sony. Any other experiences with the P92?
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