Just purchased a Sony Cybershot DSC-P150 for use in the field. It is one of the first pocket cameras with 7.2 Megapixels and I found it at Amsterdam Schiphol airport for 270 pounds sterling, 430 Euro. They wanted another 50 Euro for a leather case (no thanks. You must also purchase a 250 MB Sony Memory stick to make any serious use of it (the 32 MB stick that comes with it will hold just a few photos in the "fine" mode). Sony Memory Stick is a bit more expensive than compact flash - I paid 69 pounds for the faster Memory Stick Pro - you need the PRO version if you want to store short movies in MPEG-4. I tried the stills & movie functions on a trip to Chicago - fotos were BRILLIANT. The quality of the MPEG-4 video wasn't bad either - you can only record for a few minutes, but the built-in microphone is terrific. It can also be mounted on a (mini)-tripod for photos that need stability. Battery is an internal rechargable, which shows you to the minute how much "juice" is left. Went out snapping all day and the battery-life was fine - hardly below half way. Is the photo quality noticeably different from the other Sony 5 Megapixel cameras? - yes it is, and some of those cameras are more expensive than this one. I really like the pocket format and the 3X digital zoom. Flash is fine for most instances - and has a red-eye remover.
Now here is something for the journalist who wants good quality JPEGS but doesn't want to be noticed - Doing a photo shoot with a Sony DV-CAM and a tripod in Chicago was different - security guys came out of buildings and asked me to stop filming their private property!
