Sony Mavica MVC FD71 Review

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Sony Mavica MVC FD71
3.3 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.3 out of 5

From 0 ratings and 5 reviews

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Godrot.'s Review of Sony Mavica MVC FD71

27th May 2000

Overall Rating

1 stars
  • Value for money
    0 stars
Good Points

10x optical zoom, excellent screen


Bad Points

Resolution, huge size, slow floppy drive, price


General Comments

I was amazed at first that a digital camera had been built around a floppy drive. That impressed me. Until I saw how much Sony expect you to pay for this.

Basically, the Sony FD-71 has a 350,000 pixel CCD, the same size as the £160 Agfa ePhoto 780, but costs twice as much. Why? Presumably because the miniature floppy drive is expensive to manufacture.

Problems with this camera;

The low resolution means that unless you are running a website, image quality is gonna be low. Very low. Unacceptable for even 6x4 prints, unless you get a rare shot.

The floppy drive is sluggish, so you cannot just keep your finger on the shutter and shoot away.

Floppy disks can be heavy to carry around with you. Combine this with the very considerable weight of the camera, and you will sweat if you carry this about on holiday.

The 10x optical zoom is superb, as is the quality of the screen on the rear of the camera. But don't forget, this is a budget quality camera with a mid-range price tag. For the same price you can have a Kodak DC240 (1.3 megapixel), or a Canon Powershot A50 (1.3 megapixel again), or, if you really push the boat out, spend a few pennies more on a Nikon Coolpix 700 (2.11 megapixel).

I suppose there is the argument of the convenience of floppy disk storage. But let me tell you, it is a wrong argument. Floppy disks need to be stored someplace, they are big, they deteriorate with age. A CompactFlash or SmartMedia card reader will set you back £50 at best, and means that a camera using these memory cards becomes just as convenient to use as a floppy disk based camera. And cheaper. Buy a Kodak DC215 and use the money you save from not buying this camera to buy a card reader instead

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