Product: Sony Cybershot DSC-V3 Price: $5,490 Pros: Superb pictures, accurate colour reproduction and fast performance. The infrared photography mode is great Cons: Close, but not SLR calibre
The successor to Sony's Cybershot DSC-V1, strangely, is not the V2 but the DSC-V3. Don't ask me why the marketing geniuses at Sony chose to skip a number. Perhaps the message here is that the DSC-V3 is such a huge improvement over the V1 and not just a run-of-the-mill update.
The DSC-V3 represents a significant redesign of the earlier model, which I was not wild about. Although I was quite impressed with the DSC-V3, I would not feel compelled to buy it either.
The new Cybershot digital still camera provides 7.2-megapixel resolution, which makes it geared for digital photography enthusiasts who are not quite ready to handle the more professional digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras.
Its chief competitor is the Canon PowerShot G6. Some reviewers call this market segment the 'pro-sumer' category. I think it's a silly categorisation which will be forgotten when the prices of low-end digital SLRs, such as the popular Canon EOS 300D, fall below $6,000.
Still, the DSC-V3 will appeal to a small group of users - people who want a full-featured camera with a decent zoom lens but are not ready for a digital SLR.