ANYONE can use this!

I've had my Sony Mavica FD91 for about a year now and couldn't be happier! The high cost of film and developing pictures was preventing me from taking all the photos I wanted and my kids were growing up fast. Even though the camera seemed expensive when I bought it (about $1000), I knew I'd save on media. Not only are floppies inexpensive, they can be erased and reused; that alone justified the price of the camera. (You couldn't get me to switch to another media, not even cd.)

This camera has gone everywhere with me -- on vacation, to museums, camping and rendezvous activities, weddings, friends' homes, parades, the Iowa State Fair. I've used in in every kind of weather Iowa has; snow, sleet, rain, cold, hot, humid... okay, I've yet to snap a tornado.

My daughter, 15 when I bought the camera, has been exploring and using all of the features since day one. She's the one who plays with the fancy effects -- pastel, negative, etc. and uses it more than I do! I don't mind because it isn't expensive to USE. We use floppies for the computer so they are always available and the lithium ion battery lasts and recharges fast -- we usually get just shy of two hours use between charges.

It's nice to be able to shift between recording modes, quality and image size. Never before have I had a camera where I could adjust FLASH level! It has the clock, file numbers, disk tool and you can turn the beep on or off; nice when you're at a school play. Which reminds me, I can sit in the back row of a school auditorium and get great zoom shots of the actors on stage. The mpeg movie feature is very handy. You don't need to carry a video camera with you to get short movies of the kids. Really, how many of your family video shots are of any length? And these are "talkies," too, I've had good results with the sound. What I'd do without steady shot and available auto focus, I don't know! To get the shot I want I'll climb a tree, stand on the car hood, balance on whatever is handy and take one handed reach shots -- for which the LCD display is indispensable. I wear glasses and have friends with severe vision problems; we LOVE the LCD viewer. I do use the ordinary viewfinder when bright light conditions require it, but it isn't often. Photography aside, this camera makes a great scanner substitute. I do a little desktop publishing with it. I also "take notes" with it. Just take a shot of the page in the book with the information you need; save the change you spend on copiers.

I guess the best thing about having a digital camera is the economy and convenience. Timely results. No developing. Cheap floppies. Idiot proof. E-mailable. Fine photo prints if you care to invest in special papers or printers, however I get great prints on my Canon BJC-6000 without special stuff!

To be absolutely honest, there is one feature I'd improve if I could. I'd put a protective frame of greater depth around the LCD screen. Not only would it shade the LCD screen from bright light and reflection like my old Yashica Mat; it would make it less vulnerable to scratches from buttons as the camera dangles from your neck. That's it. That's my only complaint. I love this camera.