Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-S800 point-and-shoot sports 6x optical zoom

While it may be getting tougher to not only smuggle a decent digicam into a decent concert, but to get even remotely close to the action, it's good to see a few camera manufacturers cranking up the optical zooming abilities of their point-and-shoots. Sony's latest Cyber-shot DSC-S800 proudly joins the currently-lacking clan, and features an 8.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD, ISO rating up to 1250, metallic frame (backside snapped after the break), 2.5-inch LCD monitor, Direct Playback mode, 54MB of internal memory, MSPro / MSDuo compatibility, and the reported ability to handle 390 shots before calling it quits. Moreover, users can enjoy the two-centimeter macro mode, 16:9 playback, PictBridge support, and variety of on-screen language choices, but the Motion JPEG video mode isn't apt to cause any gleeful celebrations. Of course, any Americans who were already working their credit card out of the wallet can stop right there, as this sucka won't be available until May at the earliest, and only to Europeans (at least initially) at that.

[Via RegHardware]

[Rick Lyon @ Apr 27th 2007 9:46AM]

6x optical! Now that's refreshing to see when nearly everything thing else compact is still 3x times (or my 4x times canon). Kudos Sony.

[Dan @ Apr 27th 2007 10:49AM]

Already several 7x zoomers and a few 10x zoom compacts too so 6x is nothing new. Still welcome, though. BTW - random intro to this story or what? We need longer zooms so we can take photos at concerts because of that well documented problem of not being able to get near the front these days. Um, yeah.

[Mike @ Apr 27th 2007 9:57AM]

That has way too many buttons for a "point-and-shoot" but 6x is great. I'll stick with my FujiFilm FinePix V10 and its one button operation.

[DAZA @ Apr 27th 2007 10:58AM]

All 'point-and-shoots' I've seen have at least this many buttons. Maybe the exception being the zoom which is sometimes a toggle rather than buttons.

[Manuel @ Apr 27th 2007 10:05AM]

I prefer Lumix TZ3 , 10x zoom and widescreen 7mp

[Dan @ Apr 27th 2007 10:23AM]

Too many buttons? Al the most important buttons you need are there, with no extras. Sure there are other camera with even less buttons, but who wants to fumble around 20 menus everytime you want to set the timer, or change the exposure?

This camera has a great zoom, good job Sony for that. Only downside is it is not a Carl Zeiss lens, just a generic Sony lens.

[Rick Lyon @ Apr 27th 2007 11:01AM]

7x and 10x ultra compacts as small as the Sony? Which models? I searched high and low and settled on Canon, which I favor, but could only get 4x zoom in such an ultra compact size. Sure I could get 10x zoom if I went bigger, but I thought the CyberShot was small like Canon's Elph series? I'm talking shirt pocket size.

[Manuel @ Apr 27th 2007 12:28PM]

try lumix tz3 fits on large t-shirt pockets

[FT @ Apr 27th 2007 1:23PM]

Ricoh R6 is an ultracompact with 7x zoom. Also has 28mm wide angle and OIS (long zoom is useless without this), which I'm not sure if this Sony has as the specs are not posted.

[Dan @ Apr 27th 2007 1:25PM]

I've got the tiny Casio Exilim EX-V7 in my hands right now with a 7x zoom. Even smaller is the Ricoh R6 which has a wide angle 7x zoom lens, while the smallest 7x zoomer currently available is the Samsung L77.

For a shirt pocket sized 10x zoom try the dual lensed Kodak V610. Panasonic's Lumix TZ1 and TZ3 and Nikon's S10 also have 10x zooms but are a bit bigger (still compact).

[sLm4ever @ Apr 27th 2007 12:09PM]

would be the perfect cam for me if it was a "wide-angle" cam ...

[Rick Lyon @ Apr 27th 2007 1:31PM]

I saw review of the Panny Lumix and decided against it. I had no idea there were a handful of 7x zoom + on the ultra side.

[Shredsled @ Apr 27th 2007 1:39PM]

Where'd the Carl Zeiss lens go?

[L.Rawlins @ Apr 27th 2007 2:00PM]

FAO: Sony.

Optical zoom. My next cam phone. Puh-lease.

[Dan @ Apr 27th 2007 3:04PM]

Consumers shouldn't settle for a 3x optical zoom anymore. I'm supporting those adding better zoom to their lens, like Sony, Casio, and Panasonic. Sony has the T100, a sweet 5x optic ultra compact with stablization. While the Panasonic TZ3 10x wide angle isn't considered compact, its still nearly small enough to fit in a pants or coat pocket. Now if only Canon would join the party.

[AA @ Apr 27th 2007 3:42PM]

It looks like Sony's using their own leneses on 2007 S series models instead of the superior Zeiss Vario-Tessar as found on the 2006 S600 model (which I own).