Apr 08, 2005 11:40 AM
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(Updated Apr 08, 2005 11:40 AM)
I was looking for a small, compact, handy digital camera. Being an ametuer photographer, I did not want a high end camera with all those confusing controls :-).
I considered Canon and Sony as the candidates and finally settled down with this small beauty called Sony DSC W1.
This is a wonderful camera for an amateur like me. The features which attracted me the most were the placement of the controls on the back of the camera and the extra large LCD for easy viewing of your target. The Carl Zeiss lens with 5.1 Mega Pixel of resolution given crisp images comparable to the professional ones.
The back panel of the camera is designed so well that you can operate all the controls with your right hand thumb only while your right hand index finger can take care of the shutter. Thus, this camera can be operated with your right hand only. The large LCD next to all the controls provides enough details of the image. The menu system is very easy to operate and navigate.
The image quality is excellent. The only problem which I found in the camera is with Red Eye reduction. The Red Eye reduction is not so effective in night time flash photography. However, the video quality is not that great. This is acceptable as this is not a video camera after all.
The next good thing I liked about this camera is the ability to attach external tele-photo and wide angle lenses. Although, I do not have these lenses at this moment, bu I strongly feel, it will definitely add more fun in taking pictures using this camera.
The response time of the camera is very low, which means you are very unlikely to miss any precious moments. Switch on the power and the camera is ready to take pictures in around 2 sec. The battery life is very good. I don't have to worry about carrying extra batteries if going for a day long outing. Just recharge one set of batteries fully, keep enough memory and here you go.
The image download is pretty fast with the USB connectivity. However, the Picture Package software bundled with the camera is not so good. It is a very basic Image editing software. This has lot of scope for improvement.
I would recommend this camera for beginners, for those who are shifting from a point and shoot kind of film cameras or the amateur photographers who like to play with the images...
