W-1: Soft pics?

[BlueDevil]

In my quest to find the perfect camera, I've looked into the W-1.

I have heard that the W-1 creates a soft picture. Can anyone agree with this?

[Murky]

After reading a number of professional reviews, I had decided on purchasing the Sony W-1. Just to be sure, I visited a number of forums which made me think twice about the W-1. Here is a forum to look at. I did a search on the canon S500 at this forum and reviewed most of the messages on this and other forums. You will note many references to the W-1 as well as photo postings worth looking at.

Go to http://www.dpreview.com/
Click on Search...Forum...then do a search using keyword 'canon s500'

I compared on-line postings of Sony W-1 to Canon S500 pictures. I am no expert but I clearly noticed a difference in image quality between the pictures. The Canon S500 photos were so crisp. Blades of grass etc. were very defined. None of the W-1 photos quite matched up.

It's discouraging to me that professional reviewers do not make a more honest distinction in the image quality of the W-1. It's not terrible, but it's a noticeable difference. I am primarily a point and shoot camera user, and having said that, still expect clear crisp images from my compact digital camera. 'Soft' images are not ok.

The W-1 has some great features, don't get me wrong...like the LCD, great battery life, video capabilities etc. But at least for me, image quality is #1.
I changed my short list to the Canon S60 or the Canon S500, and finally decided on the Canon S500 for my needs.

[BlueDevil]

Thanks murky.

The point you bring up is extremely valid. While the "pros" review these cameras, they rarely hold them side by side others.

The Canon S410 is on my list, and noting the same issue you saw, I am leaning towards that or the Panasonic FX5.

[rfuerman]

According to the review of this Sony on this web site, the camera has settings for
Sharpness (Low, normal, high)
Photos in the review gallery are taken at 'default settings' which would be normal (?) for sharpness setting. It would be interesting to see the same photo with three sharpness options. boB
== edit:
There also is a setting for Photo Quality (Fine, standard) which looks like controls image compression. And the image size can vary. All of these will have an impact on the photo.