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Digital Camera Reviews and Ratings By manufacturer:
Canon | Casio | Fuji | HP | Kodak | Minolta | Nikon | Olympus | Panasonic | Pentax | Samsung | Sony | Misc. | Accessories | Lenses
The Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 has a 3x Optical zoom, 5 megapixel sensor and large 2.5inch LCD. It will be offered in both silver and black and is a 'rangefinder' style camera.
Steve's Digicams writes about the DSC-W1 saying 'The Cyber-shot DSC-W1 is an affordable yet high-performance 5-megapixel digital camera that offers a Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens, large 2.5-inch color LCD, automatic simplicity and advanced features that you can "grow into" later, housed in a very compact, stylish and durable metal body about the size of a deck of playing cards.
The Cyber-shot W1 is the perfect camera for photographers desiring to step-up to a higher resolution and faster performing camera or for those who are just beginning to explore the wonders of imaging in the 21st century. '
DC Resource - writes 'While not as small as its main competitor (the Canon PowerShot S500), the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1 is a very impressive compact digital camera. It packs a 5 Megapixel CCD, 3X optical zoom lens, and large 2.5" LCD into a stylish, all-metal body.
While the S500 is a point-and-shoot camera, the DSC-W1 offers a handful of manual controls, including shutter speed, aperture, and focus (though the last two are limited). The one control missing from the W1 that the S500 has is manual white balance, which is quite useful. The W1 is a very responsive camera, with a near-instant startup time, and fast focus and shot-to-shot speeds. The AF-assist lamp helped it focus in low light, though you'll have to rely on the optical viewfinder in those situations, as the LCD will be too dark. Photo quality on the W1 is quite good, and is comparable to the S500, though redeye is bad on both cameras.'
CNET review the Sony DSC-W1 and gives it a rating of 7.2 (Good).
Megapixel reviews the Sony DSC-W1 and rate it highly giving it 8.6 for functionality and 9.4 for photographic qualities.
DCRP reviews the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 and writes - 'The F88 has a fairly compact body with a lens that can rotate 300 degrees. While it may sound like a gimmick, it's a really nice thing to have. Most folks will find the camera easy to hold and operate, despite its unconventional design. In terms of performance, the camera is above average in most areas. Startup time is very quick, with the camera ready to shoot by the time you have rotated the lens into position. Shutter lag was short and shot-to-shot speeds were good. Thanks to its AF-assist lamp, the F88 focused well in low light. The camera has a fair amount of manual controls, though it could use more. It features selectable shutter speeds ranging from 30 - 1/500 seconds and three aperture choices. The F88's movie mode is good, but not as good as other Sony cameras with the MPEGMovie VX Fine mode.'
Lets Go Digital reviewed the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 and writes - 'As far as we are concerned the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W1 is a direct hit. From the beginning of the test until the end there has not been a dissonance and we can only ascertain that the W1 is an excellent digital camera, highly recommendable!'
Digital Camera Info reviews the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 and writes - 'Point and shoot users will revel in the superior imagery the DSC-W1 provides. With room to grow into the camera, beginner users can expand without being overwhelmed. There are advanced options present on the DSC-W1, however, the basic camera functions are as simplistic as any for the true point and shooter.'
PC Mag reviews the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 and writes - 'In general, however, the pictures were quite good. In addition to crispness, the colors—a bit on the warm side—really popped, though we noticed some minor posterization in some highlights. In our flash-invoked shots, illumination was very strong and well balanced, and the image was sharp with excellent color reproduction.'
Popular Photography has a review of the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 and write - 'With extremely high color accuracy and resolution, and very low noise at ISO 100, the W1 delivers great shadow details and smooth skin tones. We miss the choice of RAW or TIFF formats (only JPEG options) for direct access to the 14-bit color data. Otherwise, it's an exceptional camera in its class, at a great price.'
Camera Hobby reviews the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 and writes - 'What more can I say? I think the W1 is a fine little camera and while it has now been superceded by the DSC-W5, it appears the changes are not dramatic and the basics of the W1 have been carried forward.
Certainly I would have like a little change here and there in terms of accessing manual controls and the video quality could be better, but geez, we are talking about a CAN $400 camera. Another minor beef is the somewhat optimistic battery life Sony purports the W1 being capable of. Maybe if you only ever did ambient light photos in bright light and never used the LCD you might be able to squeak out the 300 or so image captures per fresh battery charge, but in everyday practical use in good light, low light, flash and rare movie mode use, it’s more like 100 or so images per charge. Also remember that rechargeable Ni-MH cells lose about 10% of their power for every day that they aren’t being used, which is another contributor to my low image capture per charge figure.'
Read more about the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 in the following press release from Sony or at:
- C-Net - Sony Cybershot DSC-W1
- Imaging Resource - Sony Cybershot DSC-W1
LAS VEGAS (PMA 2004, Booth M30), Feb. 11, 2004 — Once you play with Sony’s new five-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1 camera, you will realize the adage of not judging a book by its cover also applies to digital cameras.
Available in May for about $400, its small size (a little larger than a deck of cards) belies the performance within, which is largely attributed to the inclusion of Sony’s new Real Imaging Processor circuit. Designed specifically for the special tasks of digital cameras, the new processor aids in fast camera response times and extended battery life with up to 340 shots between power charges.
Either as a step-up model for those who have tried digital photography or those who are looking to cross-over from film cameras, the Cyber-shot W1 camera allows users to explore the possibilities of photography digitally.
“As digital music improved music, the new Cyber-shot W1 is an example of Sony’s way of improving photography digitally,” said Greg Young, Sony Electronics’ director of digital camera marketing.
`Turn the camera on and the telescoping Carl Zeiss® Vario Tessar® 3X optical zoom lens fully extends in about a second, and the large 2.5-inch color LCD screen comes to life—signaling that the camera is ready-to-go. For those wanting to frame a shot at eye-level, the optical viewfinder is also available.
Once on, the Cyber-shot W1 camera focuses and shoots full-resolution images in a little over one second intervals, and can capture TV-quality resolution video clips up to the capacity of an optional Memory Stick PRO™ flash media card.
Sophisticated Yet Simple
The W1 is built for photographers who want to capture great images through a host of automatic features to help balance light and exposure, but who also want the option to manually control the picture-taking process. Among the appealing features are:
Five-area Multi-Point Auto Focus: The camera evaluates five separate areas of the frame and intelligently focuses on the subject, displaying the selected focus point.
Multi-Pattern Measuring: Independently meters the light in 49 points of the frame to establish the optimum exposure, even when highlight and shadow aren’t centered in the frame.
Manual Exposure Controls: Flexible exposure control in which shutter speeds from 30-1 1/1000 seconds and apertures of f2.8 – 5.2 can be selected.
Live Histogram: The live histogram displays number of pixels at each luminosity, making it easy to evaluate correct exposure for each shot.
Auto Fill Flash: When the subject is backlit or in shadow, the fill flash automatically fires to provide optimum exposure.
Preset Scene Modes: With 6 scene modes, parameters can be matched to the shooting conditions, including: Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, Snow, Beach and Candle.
Conversion Lens Adapter: The outer ring of the camera’s lens can be removed so that the camera can accommodate various conversion lenses.
Posted by Darren in our Sony category on February 12, 2004