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Sony DSC-S50 Sony makes a compact 2.1 megapixel digicam with full movie/sound capability! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet DSC-S50 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 10:Image Storage & Interface Review First Posted: 4/12/2000

Image Storage and Interface
The S50 utilizes the Sony MemoryStick for image storage. A 4MB card comes with the camera and additional MemorySticks are available in 8, 16, 32, and 64MB sizes. Individual images can be write protected from accidental erasure (except through card re-formatting) via the Protect option under the Playback settings menu. The entire MemoryStick can be write protected by sliding the lock switch on the card into the locked position. This prevents the stick from being formatted.
The S50's LCD monitor reports the current number of images captured and shows a small graphic to let you know approximately how much space is left on the MemoryStick. This is a great feature for keeping track of your exposures, but we really prefer the numeric estimate of pictures remaining provided by most other digicams. Granted, such estimates can be off by a few exposures, depending on how well your subject matter compresses, but we find the more quantitative feedback reassuring. Through the Playback settings menu, you can designate whether the camera sequentially numbers each image (across multiple MemorySticks) or restarts file numbering with each new MemoryStick.
Below are the average still image capacity and compression ratios for a 4MB card (note that the uncompressed TIFF setting can only be used with the 1600 x 1200 file size):

Resolution/Quality vs Image Capacity	High Resolution		Standard Resolution		Low Resolution
	Images	Approx. Compression	Images	Approx. Compression	Images	Approx. Compression
Uncompressed TIFF	2	1:1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Normal Quality	4	6:1	10	6:1	57	15:1

The DSC-S50 has a fast USB interface for connecting to a computer. (USB connections are much faster than the older but still common serial ports. With a USB interface between your camera and computer, you really don't need an external card reader for faster file transfers.) We clocked the S50's file-transfer rate at 9.4 seconds for 3.6 megabytes of data, or a net rate of 384 Kbytes/second. This is just slightly slower than average among USB cameras we've tested, but the difference is rather academic: Ten seconds or so to dump four megabytes of photos is quick enough that it shouldn't represent any impediment to your picture-taking!