Worth the money?

Let's start off by saying that I'm a picky teenage girl. I wanted a camera that was very nice and one of the requirements for this camera was a large screen. I found the Sony Cybershot DSC-T200 online and fell in love. I admit, I didn't do much research on it before I purchased it. It was the giant LCD touchscreen that won me over.

However, after getting it, I fell in love even more. There are many different features on this camera to consider. Color options, such as black, white, sepia, and vivid are available. Other photo settings include special options for snow, fireworks, vivid blue water (beach, pool, etc), and action shot. There is also a video mode that plays back great and picks up sound very well. One of the coolest features on this camera is the "smile shutter": when selected, the camera will only take a picture when it detects a smile or a grin in the frame. You can select the "smile intensity" so it picks up a full smile or just a slight smirk. And yes, it does work! There are many other modes to this camera that even I haven't figured out yet. The macro mode is particularly useful when taking up-close photos, especially of flowers and the like. You are able to change the exposure and ISO settings as well.

The batter life is decent. Of course, it all depends on how many pictures you take! If you're like me and take a thousand (exaggerating here) pictures before you finally get one you like, the battery life will drain faster and will usually only last half a day to a full day. However, if you only take a few pictures here and there at full battery, it will last for days. I've gone two weeks on a charged battery before.

The only "bad" things I have to say about this camera are that the screen does get pretty smudgy at times. It comes with a stylus that will attach to your wrist strap, though. If you use your fingers, you'll need a wipe cloth if you want a very clear screen. Also, it likes to fog up if you leave it in a cooler environment (car with the A/C on) for a while, and the fog takes forever to disappear.

Overall, this camera is great. With 8 megapixels and 5X optical zoom, it takes amazing pictures. I've even been able to win photo contests with the pictures I have taken with the DSC-T200. Worth the money? Maybe, if features and an easy-to-use touchscreen are worth it to you. If you don't need a touchscreen, go with a simpler version.