Well, by analogy, that is precisely my situation. It's not worth getting my FD-87 repaired this second time around, having already shelled ... 20% of the camera's original retail price tag, the first time around. I discovered the hard way that Sony charges an obscene amount of money for labor, even though it's still within the one year warranty. (Sony's one-year warranty covers parts for the whole year, but labor is covered for ONLY 90 days!!!).

I admit that I, too, was originally impressed by the FD-87's ease of use and the convenience of floppy disk storage. However, quality issues aside, the size and sheer bulk of the camera is also a major drawback; smaller is really better. And the floppies -- they just don't hold enough photos. Even at the lowest resolution (640 x 480), I'd get maybe two dozen pix on a disk, and in no time, I had accumulated a huge pile of disks. Now that the price of smart or compact flash media has come way down, it makes more sense to get, say, a 64 or 128 MB smart card, which store a lot more photos and are so tiny in comparison. Even if I knew the FD-87 would never break down, I still wouldn't buy it, not in today's competitive digicam market. It's just not a good deal...


Sony MVC-FD87 Digital Camera   January 21, 2002
Thomas M. Couto (West Warwick, R.I. United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

This camera was on sale for 350 dollars at Christmas time when is it going on sale again. If they can do it once they can do it again.


Great camera- no memory cards needed!   January 10, 2002
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The thing that attracted me most to this camera was the fact that I didn't have to buy one of those $100 memory sticks. I can, if I were planning to take a great deal of photos and don't want to carry extra disks around, but it's greta for people like me who just want to use it for recreational purposes.
I was at first turned off by the size, but this is part of the beauty of being able to save the files directly onto disk which inserts into the camera itself (which means the camera has to be the size of a floppy- which roughly it is). Besides, The size is a good fit to the hands and makes shaky hands less of a problem.
The zoom is great. You can really get close-up shots from a distance without compromising image quality or color. The display screen on the back of the camera is larger than on most, which makes it easier to choose which photos I want to keep/delete without popping the disk into the computer to take a closer look.
This camera has plenty of fun features to keep anyone entertained for a long period of time, and the battery life is great. The charger reharges the battery quickly when it does need to be charged.
The photo quality is great both indoors and out, night and day. There are differet settings for landscapes, people, etc, as well as light, and they do make a pleasing difference. This camera can be used in any situation.
Overall, I am very happy with my purhase. Sony is a terrific brand, after all.