My rating doesn't reflect the fact that the flash bulb in mine was doa, because that could just as easily happen to any camera... It's just a little annoying that their QC department didn't catch it. Anyways, Amazon is sending me a new one, and letting me use this one until the new one gets here.

The quality is great overall. Using ISO100 mode with a quick shutter speed produces an awesome quality outdoor scenery shot. For indoors, I found that using the automatic shutter settings worked best, and indeed worked well. I took a photo of a $5 bill (fitting the whole bill in the frame), and was able to clearly read the little "united states of america" written in the border around Lincoln's portrait. In fact, I could even see the ink bleed on each of the little letters. For outdoor shots, the 4x zoom doesn't seem to cost the photos any quality, and could even show some details better than i could see them with my own eyes, and I have perfect vision.

With that said, there are a couple points which i don't like about the camera. First, the quality of photos drops dramatically when you use an ISO setting much higher than 100. Don't even bother with the ISO3200, it looks substantially worse than a cell phone camera. I also don't like that it's one of sony's only cameras that doesn't have a Carl-Zeiss lens. I was so used to Sony cameras using one, that I was surprised to find out that mine doesn't. The Sony lens that it uses seems to work very well though, it may not even be noticeably different. I also don't like that you have to remove the battery to charge it. You can buy an additional charger that plugs directly into the camera, but why wouldn't they just give you one in the first place? If i wanted to pay another $20 for that, then i would've just paid an extra $20 towards a more expensive camera to begin with.

Overall I really like this camera, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a very cheap, but decent quality camera. I am using mine with an 8GB Sandisk Memory Stock Pro Duo, which holds 1900 photos at full resolution, or 5.5 hours of video.

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Update: Amazon was out of this camera, so they refunded my money, and I got a Sony DSC-W290 instead, which I am much happier with overall. It's double the price though, so I guess you get what you pay for. I don't think the S950 is the level of quality where you could expect to be happy with the camera for years to come; it's more of an introductory camera that you'd probably plan on replacing a year later. I would change my rating to 3 stars if amazon let me.

I unfortunately agree with the other reviews. My friends had this brand so I purchased this camera as a preorder. It suffers from the following problems:
1) Excessive noise in low light (grainy pics)
2) No video zoom
3) Slow response time. It does not take pics quickly and recover well.
4) Poor focus.
5) In playback, it takes a second for each and every pic to focus from initial graininess.

I wish I could still return this item but alas, 30 days have passed and I threw out the box!

I am one of those typical Sony loyalist but I am very disappointed by this camera. The noise on most photos was terrible especially in lower light. Close up photos in bright sunshine was fine but I could not get a decent photo (with Flash). Surprisingly, I had an issue with the Flash too since its coverage was very less and did not light up the subject(s) well or even uniformly.

It's a great price but poor quality. I am returning this product for another camera.

so many people on here blast things for being cheap--guess what? If you buy the $150 Sony camera instead of the $350 one expect it to be $200 less effective. It is a fabulous camera for the money--I have had numerous photos published with it--and its predecessor--you have to accept limitations--it isn't made for night/low light or for long range work--other than that, it WILL be fine for you if you just like to have a camera handy, but don't want to spend more money. If you DO want more, go up the price line and you will find what you are looking for.

I've been using my camera for a few weeks and I'm very pleased with its performance.
The pictures are clean, the colours are vivid, and it's very easy to use.
I have taken pictures in the dark and can see all the details of the items or persons in the shot.
Uploading and sending pictures or videos are a breeze.
Great camera.

An excellent camera. Easy, understandable directions. Takes beautiful pictures. An excellent price.

Overall I am not happy with this camera and here are the reasons:

1) The USB cord is Sony proprietary. This is a big problem for me. Don't be deceived by the online images, this is NOT a standard cable. I would not have purchased this camera if I would have known this upfront.
2) Bulky: I assumed that this camera would be slimmer so it could fit in my pocket easier. Yes, it WILL fit in my pocket, but it's wide enough that they could have used AA batteries.
3) The face recognition has never properly identified more than one person in the same shot.
4) Flash is weak.
5) Cannot zoom in video mode.

The pictures are adequate, but better than my older digital cameras.

Ok... what are the positives:
1) Screen is a nice size. The lack of a view finder provides an even bigger screen.
2) Zoom is sufficient. About as good as I would expect of a camera this size.
3) Handles red-eye well.

For the money, I'm pretty disappointed. I'm no shutter bug, but it just isn't a sharp focus. My daughter got much better pictures with her Cannon point & shoot.

I purchased this Camera with the delusion that if you pay a decent price for a Sony product you could be assured that the quality of the product will be above average. Well, with the Cyber-Shot DSC-S950 you do not get what you paid for. For starters, you need a Sony only memory card, battery, and USB cables. They have adjusted the size of these items to only fit into thier cameras. So... any previous memory cards, batteries or cables are now obsolete and you have to buy the Sony Brand. The picture quality is very dark and at times very out of focus. Unless you have the perfect lighting you will end up with subpar pics. It also does not let you zoom during video mode and the audio is barely there. When you want to look back at pics it takes a second to focus every time for each pic which makes it very annoying when you want to scan through your photos. My previous camera was about $50 less exspensive and was a much better product. Pass on this one at all costs....

This camera has everything that it said but the picture quality is substandard. The color was dull and the sharpness wasn't there. I returned it the next day. Spend the extra money and get one with a Carl Zeiss Len's. I got the DSC-W230 and love it.............