micrane's Full Review: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W5 Digital Camera
Intro
I purchased W-5 to complement Sony F-717 which we already own. F717 is large and powerful camera, and I was looking for a camera that can be used to carry around at all times and which would take great outdoor pictures but would not require purchase of additional accessories, additional computer setup, or learning a completely different menus. DSC-W5 fits the bill perfectly. I briefly considered the alternatives. W5’s older brother DSC-W7 (which also comes disguised as Sony DSC-P200) had too many megapixels for my taste and was more expensive. Canon SD 400 is a great little camera, but it turned out to be so small it just did not fit right in my hand.
Outside
The camera is a brick measuring 3.5” W x 2¼” H x 1.5” D, it is not the smallest of the bunch, but it does not feel bulky or heavy, in fact I consider the size to be perfect. On the front of the camera there is a small hand grip which does not look like much but nevertheless does its job quite well. This is in contrast with the wrist strap which is not adjustable, and in my opinion is an accident waiting to happen. The rear of the camera houses a 2.5” LCD which seems very large and occupies most of the back panel. The controls are few – zoom buttons, LCD mode button, menu button, and a multifunctional 4-way button. On the top of camera there is a power button, nicely recessed to prevent accidental turning off/on and shooting mode control ring with a shutter button in the middle of it.
Accessories
W5 comes without a Memory Stick, however 32 MB of memory is built in. It is absolutely not enough and buying additional storage should be the first order of business. I use it with old 128 MB stick which fits about 50 shots. 512MB or 1GB Memory Stick Pro should be the most reasonable solution these days. Generic sticks by SanDisk or Lexar are as good as Sony-branded.
Breaking with current trend W5 is powered not with Li-ion but with 2 NiMH batteries. For me this was a huge selling point. I’ve had 4 Sony most common Li-ion batteries, NP-FM50. Best Buy lists them today for $61.99, the best I did on e-Bay was $30. They seem to last 2-3 years. A pair of NiMH batteries costs $2-3 at most, and lasts at least as long. You do the math. Batteries come with minimal charge - 2-3 shots at most in a separate case, which can be used to keep a spare set. Batteries are charged not in camera but instead in separate charger, which is not particularly convenient. As I already have a charger I did not use it. The same goes for the enclosed USB cable – I already have one plugged in but the cable is thinner and not as rigid than my old one – a welcome change
Software disk – I have not used that, as I already have a Sony USB driver installed, and the camera was recognized without a problem at once. A side note: my spare computer running XP sp2 does not have the Sony driver. When I plugged the camera in it was recognized instantly, and an XP driver was installed, however the file transfer was very sluggish. It suggests installing enclosed Sony driver is a good idea.
Manual is split in two parts. Rather large user guide describes in some detail the camera and meaning of the buttons and workings of the menus, while the rather short “read me first” page contains quite a bit of actual info about camera use, in particular as far as I can tell it is the only places where the modes are named and their uses are explained
Picture Quality
Outdoor pictures shot during good lighting conditions come out perfect both in Auto and Program (P) modes, they’re as good I get on F717, sometimes better, because of the faster focus and shorter shutter lag. I haven’t used “soft snap”, “beach”, and “landscape” modes yet. “Twilight portrait” mode seems to do a very good job when the scene is just a bit underlit, with results looking more natural when the subject is at least 5-6 feet away. “Snow “ mode works quite well. There's a fully manual mode which I didn't find particularly useful, since it requires two adjustments to be made simultaneously - quite tedious for a casual photographer. Shutter or aperture priority would have been far more beneficial.
Now, indoor pictures is a whole different story. So far I have not been able to get a good one, nor do I expect my experience to change. The problem here is two-fold. First, you can't fit a powerful flash inside W5 body even if you throw out the camera part. Another, more serious problem, lies in the design. For whatever reason in low light/flash situation the camera lock into shutter speed 40 (1/40 sec), which may be ok when you're shooting vases of the tripod, but not with moving targets such as people, or worse, fast moving targets - kids. Such long exposure times also require a very steady hand, for 1/40 sec is a much longer period than one might think. The end result is a lot non-uniformly lit, smudged pictures. I never expected anything else from a small camera, but my wife is quite heartbroken about the issue.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 150 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W5 Digital camera complete kit + 1 year warranty included BRAND NEW NEVER USED WITH ALL ORIGINAL ACCESSORIES AND BOOKLETS UNUSED -...More at eBay
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