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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S950: manual and user guide

Sony’s 10 MP compact, with 4× zoom and SteadyShot. Its official PDF manual, then the essentials for using it.

The PDF opens directly, served by Sony. Source: its official support page.

Getting started

Charging The NP-BK1 battery is charged outside the camera, in the BC-CSK or BC-CSKA charger: push it in until it clicks and plug in the charger, the CHARGE lamp lights up. It goes out after about 240 minutes (normal charge). Allow 300 minutes for a full charge, ideally between 10 and 30 °C.
Battery Open the battery/card cover. Line up the mark on the battery with the one in the compartment, hold the eject lever down and slide the battery in. To take it out, slide this lever, taking care not to drop the battery.
Card It takes Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo and PRO-HG Duo: slide the card in, terminals towards the screen, until it clicks. Without a card, it records to its internal memory of about 12 MB. A card formatted on a computer isn’t guaranteed to work: format it in the camera, which erases everything.
Switching on for the first time Press ON/OFF: the first time you switch on, the Clock Settings screen appears. Choose the date order, set each value with the control button, then confirm with OK. The language is changed in Settings, on the Language Setting line.
Your first photo Set the mode dial to Auto Adjustment (camera icon) and hold the camera with your elbows tucked in. Press halfway: the green indicator blinks, a beep sounds, then it stays lit. Then press all the way.

A Movie mode on the dial, at 320 × 240 with sound (mono microphone). Press all the way to start, and again to stop. Set the zoom beforehand: it’s locked during recording.
The dial’s ISO mode (High Sensitivity) takes photos without flash in low light while limiting blur. In P mode, you choose from ISO 100 to 3200 yourself.
SteadyShot, set to Auto, stabilises the image when the camera is likely to move, even when zoomed in. It doesn’t work with flash, and EASY mode turns it off.
Face detection sets focus, flash, exposure and white balance, for up to 8 faces. The frame around the main face turns orange.
EASY mode enlarges the text on the screen and leaves only three settings: image size (Large or Small), flash (Auto or Off), self-timer (10 s or Off).

After about three minutes without use, it switches itself off to save the battery. Switch it back on.
A small internal battery keeps the date and time. If the camera goes unused for about a month, it runs down: put in a charged battery and wait 24 hours before switching back on.
In cold weather, the battery weakens: keep it in a pocket, close to your body, and put it in just before taking photos. The flash and the zoom drain it quickly.
Don’t switch off or remove the battery or the card while the access lamp is lit: you could lose your images.
It only accepts the NP-BK1 battery, and the charger only charges NP-BK batteries. It can’t imprint the date on photos.

Sensor: 1/2.3-inch CCD (7.70 mm), 10.1 MP effective, images up to 3648 × 2736
Lens: 4× zoom, 5.8-23.2 mm (33-132 mm in 35 mm equivalent), f/2.5-5.6, focusing from 5 cm at wide angle, 50 cm at telephoto
Stabilisation: SteadyShot anti-blur, Auto or Off
Sensitivity: Auto, ISO 100 to 3200 in P mode (ISO 100 to 400 in burst)
Screen: 6.7 cm (2.7-inch), 230,400 dots
Video: 320 × 240, mono sound, AVI (Motion JPEG)
Flash: 0.5 to 3.5 m at wide angle, 0.5 to 1.5 m at telephoto (ISO Auto)
Battery: NP-BK1 lithium-ion, about 330 shots (CIPA standard), BC-CSK or BC-CSKA charger
Card: Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo, PRO-HG Duo, about 12 MB internal memory
Dimensions and weight: 93.1 × 55.7 × 23.8 mm, about 157 g with battery and wrist strap