W1 vs. W5 vs. W7

[matts22]

Ok, so I'm going to get a digital camera. I'm not in a big hurry, but I would like to decide what I want to get.

I have seen the DSC-W1 and the DSC-W5 in stores, and I love it. I am just an average college student who wants a feature packed camera (I even like the movie mode).

So anyway, I'm trying to decide what I should get.

Circuit City has a mail-in rebate on the W1 making it $285. I have seen the W5 as low as $315 shipped. The W7 is not available yet from what I can find.

I know I want one of these three cameras, so please help me decide between them.

The W5 and W7 come with internal memory, which would be nice I think. They also have more battery life I think (can someone confirm this?). The W1 is a little cheaper, but not much.

I've pretty much decided I'll either go with the W5 or W7, unless you guys talk me out of it. So I guess it all comes down to if the 7mp is worth it over the 5mp. What do you guys think? Most of my pictures are indoors of people, but I like action shots and if I had a decent camera, I would like some scenic shots (we go on vacation every year). I probably won't make any big prints, but I'm not sure.

Is the W7 going to have better quality on regular 4x6 and 5x7 photos? Or is it just better when the picture is enlarged?

What do you guys recommend? When will the W7 be readily available?

Thanks! :)

[EAP]

Is the W7 going to have better quality on regular 4x6 and 5x7 photos? Or is it just better when the picture is enlarged?

Nope, 7 mp is a waste of $$ if you're only going to print 4x6 and 5x7 photos. It will only make a difference if you are printing very large photos.

[EAP]

When will the W7 be readily available?



The W7 is supposed to ship in March, so should be available within a couple of weeks.

http://www.dcresource.com/news/index.php?date=2005-02&cat=2

[poikkeus]

I've not used the other cameras, but the W1 is one of the best bargains around. I get clear, fully-colored images quickly, and it's a pleasure to use. Indoor images are great with flash, and perfectly satisfactory without. The big LCD screen is an amazing feature unmatched anywhere.

I should provide caveats so you can make an intelligent decision. With the W1, it's important to read the instruction book before taking pictures; those who have complained about "blur" were not conversant wth the W1's various modes. Good news: About 90% of all your shots will be in one mode.

You'll also need to purchase a Pro memory stick, preferably 512MB or so. The prices have gotten very low, and Sandisk offers the best bargain.

:)

[matts22]

Cool, thanks for the input.

So I guess I'll probably get the W5. Seems like a good overall camera, and if I ever start taking pictures that might be blown up bigger, I'll get a new camera. 5MP should be plenty I think.

The W5 is about the same price as the W1, and since the W5 has 32mb internal memory, I might as well get it.

I'll definitely be getting a 512mb memory stick. San Disk UltraII 512MB can be had for about $80, so that's what I'll probably get. Is this good?

Anything else I should know before I buy?

Thanks!

[dimm0k]

You really don't need the Ultra... as long as it's a Pro, that should be good enough.

[gary_hendricks]

The Sony DSC W1 is a great camera. Check out this review (http://www.basic-digital-photography.com/sony-dsc-w1-review.html)

[rlallen]

I don't know how much difference it makes (if any), but note the W1 has 123,000 pixels in it's 2.5 inch display while the W5 has only
115,000 pixels.
Comments anyone?

[poikkeus]

Although you may have decided on a W5, the LCD screen resolution will be somewhat less impressive than the W1 due to the decreased pixels.

This is a tough choice. More pixels, or a better LCD? My W1 takes images that easily print with fine detail on 8-1/2 x 11 photo paper. If you're dealing with even bigger images, or do a lot of cropping, the W5 may be your camera.

[dimm0k]

Although you may have decided on a W5, the LCD screen resolution will be somewhat less impressive than the W1 due to the decreased pixels.

This is a tough choice. More pixels, or a better LCD? My W1 takes images that easily print with fine detail on 8-1/2 x 11 photo paper. If you're dealing with even bigger images, or do a lot of cropping, the W5 may be your camera.

More pixels? I thought the W5 and W1 were the same cameras?

[matts22]

The LCD might be slightly different, but that doesn't affect the quality of pictures. It might increase battery life a little, but that's about it.

Thanks for the help guys!

[poikkeus]

More pixels? I thought the W5 and W1 were the same cameras?

Dimm0k, I apologize for the W1/W5 confusion; I'd confused it with another recent Sony model I'd been looking at. (There are so many!)

:eek:

[dimm0k]

So today I gave my friend his Sony DSC-W5 camera... I bought it for him, but he wanted the joy of opening up the box so I didn't have the opportunity to fully check it out until today.

The LCD screen definitely has a different look compared to the W1. The screen resembles the type of "shine" you'd see on the Sony Vaio laptops. Pretty much everything is the same between the W1 and the W5. Some of the minor changes are on the outside that you can see from pics from the news releases for the W5 and the reviews for the W1. The memory stick is no longer inserted from the side, but instead it's where the battery compartment is. The menus for the W5 are pretty much the same, except there's an extra icon at the end that brings you into the setup mode. Doesn't look like there's a way to get there while in auto mode though... There's some additions to the setup menu, such as the option to change the backlight on/off, but other than that there's not much major differences. I took some pictures with the W5 and they turned out just as good as the W1, but without a tripod I didn't bother making comparison shots. I never had the blur problem with the W1, so I don't see myself going with the W5.

[Paparazzi]

I was just wondering ... most sites say that the internal memory of the W-5 & W-7 is 32MB of which 30MB is available and 2MB set aside for storing the settings and whatever. Would this mean there would be a possibility to upgrade any part of it ... if ever?

Also, does this mean that the W-1 had an internal memory which was not accessible?

Cheers!

[kimnicho]

I am 99% certain that you cannot upgrade the memory - camera makers do this instead of providing a 32mb memory stick (like the w1). It's also nice in a pinch - when you forget to put back the memory stick, you can still take a few pictures.

[City4United1]

Did anyone mention sensor size?
I believe they're both 1/1.8, so more noise with the W7 possibly?

[gary_hendricks]

If you aren't looking to print large format (bigger than 8x10), then I think 7MP is a waste of money. In fact, why does one need so many megapixels in a compact camera? Can't figure that one out .... :rolleyes:

[poikkeus]

If you aren't looking to print large format (bigger than 8x10), then I think 7MP is a waste of money.

I'm afraid Gary's quite right. At 5.1 mpix, I can print 8-1/2 x 11 shots from my W1, and they look well colored and detailed.

If, however, you're planning to do some major cropping (of up to maybe 30% of your image size), the W5 or 7 may be useful. But I personally wouldn't choose the camera simply because of the added pixels.