Editorial Review:Product Description:Sony's first ruggedized and waterproofed camera, the Cyber-shot DSC-U60 digital still camera goes where most cameras cannot. The DSC-U60 has a rubber body, fully weatherproofed with O-ring seals, making it watertight while submerged to depths of 1.5 m (5 ft). Designed for one-handed operation, the buttons are easily thumb-accessible with seven different scene modes including an underwater setting to adjust for the Blue hue of the water. The DSC-U60 adds compatibility with the next-generation Memory Stick PRO media and comes with Ni-MH rechargeable 'AAA' batteries and an external charger. The DSC-U60 is truly a 'go-anywhere' camera for the active adventurer.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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4 years experience with DSCU60
I have had the camera since 2004 and it still works. I use it like most people for outdoor activities. I don't do anything special to prevent it from getting wet. However, on my last kayak trip I noticed condensation behind the LCD. Based on what I have read in the other reviews the end may be near.
Its a great design, the one handed shape. It tucks into a life vest or a ski pocket. I never put it in a case, its always at hand. It was inexpensive and the pictures can be great. Its best features in order are, water proof, small size, and easy to deploy. That puts the camera in play in more situations than a SLR or even most point and shoots. That makes for some good pictures.
The video is a joke and there is no sound. The lack of a zoom is fine. Most zooms are pretty anemic. The resolution when you blow it up is lame by today's standards. It eats batteries so carry a bunch of rechargeables and a charger or use lithium disposables (but recycle them!!!)
I believe they don't make the camera anymore, but I really would like Sony to update the thing pretty much as is but with a sharper lense (skip the zoom though), more resolution, better water proofing, and better quality of construction. If they could produce it for less than $150 bucks I bet they could sell a bunch of them.
Rating: 
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the fun lasts only ONE YEAR
I'm an outdoor type of guy and had a great time taking my camera hiking and swimming and everywhere my friends couldn't bring theirs. unfortunately it only lasted about 1 week under a year. and even THEN, under WARRANTY, it would've cost $150 to fix (when i bought it for around $300).
It broke as other people have explained it...works perfectly fine and then all of a sudden, without misuse or trauma or water leakage, either black pictures or pictures like a tub of vaseline. Sony's "flat rate" $150 service fee didn't even gaurentee it would be fixed for that price because that only covered certain things (and they didn't know what was wrong with it and wouldn't even look at it 'till i paid). i said screw it, and i don't think i'll ever buy another camera from them again which is unfortunate, because years ago i loved sony. now i just keep getting dissappointed with everything but their audio equipment.
fun camera, but sony isn't standing behind their products anymore. if they don't trust them (and won't fix them), why should you?
Rating: 
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Awsome camera perfoms perfectly never leave home without it
I purchased this camera as a cheaper option to any other camera with a $400 marine housing as I dont intend on diving 40 metres the u60 is perfect for my surfing pics and a bit of reef photography. I bought this 7 months ago for $380 and its the best money I've ever spent taking fishing and surfing and everywhere wet the images are crystal clear and I dont see any differnce in image quality between this and my 5 megapixel camera.
Rating: -
Great....until it died.
This camera took 1407 photos before is stopped working. The problem is the viewfinder never shows what the camera is looking at and any photos taken will be black. It is as if the camera has a lens cap on it (this camera has no lens cap). The camera turns on, the screen show the menus, all buttons work and you can take a photo. (you'll see the green light flash on the display as it debates on using the flash and finally the camera will take the photo (including the flash going off))
I called Sony and was told the camera carries a 1 year parts, 90 day labor warranty. I was thinking "great the sensor is covered" The bad news was that the labor was a flat rate charge of $148, which seemed quite excessive since we paid $150 for the camera new at a mall retail store.
Just for the record, there is no water damage on the camera. Great care (on the verge of paranoia) to makes sure the seal was clean prior to using the camera in the pool. (typically just under the surface of the water)
Here is the details of the life of the camera....
This camera was a Christmas gift (2004) Other than taking a few test pictures early this camera sat around until April or so before I got a chance to really use. At this time the rechargable batteries that came with the camera would only take a handful of photos before they'd loose their charge. After about a week of daily draining/recharging the batteries they started to hold a decent charge.
Most pictures with it out of the water were quite good for such a basic camera. I was also very please with many of the underwater photos. (the only water the camera was ever in was a pool) My only complaint about the camera when it was working was the hand held form wasn't a natural to take pictures "blind with". With my other sony digital camera I am quite good a taking photos without actually looking at the camera, but with the U60 I seemed to cut off my subject surprisingly often.
The last time I had used the camera at the pool it worked great. I removed the batteries to charge then and the memory stick to move the photos to my PC and all was great. Two weeks later I decided to grab the camera because I was playing in a golf tournament. The camera remained in a camera case in a padded side section of my golf bag. I never used it. When I got home I brought the camera back in to my office where it sat on my desk until last Sunday. I wasn't in the pool yet when I turned on the camera and found the black image in the view finder.
Even at the great deal of $150 purchase price, the camera had a price of over $1 per 10 photos. (many of which were from the taking of photos just to drain the battery during that week where I tried to get some life in the batteries.)
I have some great photos of my son playing the pool... and a lot of frustration.
Rating: -
Perfect for what it is.
Although the DSC-U60 has almost none of the features one has come to expect on a digital camera, it does what it does flawlessly. What it does is snap simple, hi-resolution photos in any environment without fail.
It has no zoom lens. What you see in the viewfiner is what you get, period. You point, you shoot, that's it.
It is (or at least mine is) really, truly waterproof. This is an absolutely essential feature for me, and is the raison d'etre of the DSC-U60. If you don't need a waterproof camera, look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you kayak, canoe, fish, or camp, it's really cool to have a camera you don't have to worry about getting wet. I've killed a number of cameras on river trips, and probably lost some great photos as a result. This puppy has been in rivers, lakes, and hot tubs, and hasn't skipped a beat.
The lens is great, the electronics are great, and the resolution is superb. Although 5 or 6 MP is becoming standard these days, the DSC-U60 takes extremely sharp, clear photos, good for printing or viewing on-screen.
If you need anything more or less than a waterproof point-and-shoot, you will be disappointed. This would be a really poor choice for a general-purpose camera. There are better, sharper, and easier-to-use cameras out there with way more features for much less money.
On the other hand, if (like me) you really need an indestructable camera for simple, high-quality snapshots, you couldn't ask for more.