Confued - P200 or W1/W5?

[dmz19]

I had originally decided on the Canon A95 but after the reviews of the SONY products, I had to take a look.

I have a Minolta S414 which is very slow and want a 2nd camera, perhaps replacement, to use for those opportunities that are missed. I use the camera for vacations, family, friends. pets - basic everyday photos - nothing else. I rarely print 8X10's. Don't want anything too small (Nikon 5200, Canon ELPH too small) but want something that is large enough for me to use without having to get my reading glasses.

I am trying the SONY P200 right now and like many of the features - the LCD is large, when I change the mode, it shows on the screen and I don't have to run for the glasses to operate. However, do I really need the P200 with 7MP?? I am thinking the W1 or W5 would do just fine for me - they are 5MP which is the same as the Canon A95 I had "decided" on.

I don't think the Canon shows changes on the screen and is a good size - since the W1 or W5 are more similar than the P200, thinking I should try one of those, instead

Bottom line, is the SONY W1/W5 similar/better/worse than the Canon A95, how does the P200 compare to the Canon - and if I stay with SONY, am I wasting my money on the 7MP when the 5MP will probably be great for my use?

Thanks for any comments - I want to make a decision soon and get this done.

[d48]

I was in a similar situation as you. My digital camera stopped working a few weeks ago. From everything I looked at (and I read all the professional reviews and loads of user reviews), the Canon A95 was my top choice. I considered the Sony W1 because I loved the large LCD, but dismissed it because of all the poor user comments.

Then I started seeing some awesome user comments about the new Sony P200 that recently came out. I had to check it out and I was impressed. I bought it last week. I can't believe the quality of the pictures - the sharpness, the vivid colors, the perfect exposure, the beautiful skin tones, etc. I love it! Also, the shots inside my house are awesome. (I was concerned about inside performance because lots of camera reviews I read said cameras often had problems with inside low-light pictures because of weak flashes, problems, focusing, etc.) I even turned off the lights inside entirely at night and took beautiful pictures with the flash. And I've only had one photo where there was a tiny bit of red eye. The rest of the pictures I've taken don't have any and my family has blue eyes. Even the reviews for the Canon A95 said you'd have to deal with the red-eye with software. I highly recommend the Sony P200. (And I never really expected to get a Sony.) It's too soon to have professional reviews of it yet, but read some of the P150 reviews. They are very good and the P200 addressed some of the negative parts of the P150.

I didn't go looking for 7MP either but I couldn't pass this camera up. Good luck in your search.

[jsethinet]

I own a W1 its a great camera and I would recommend it.

[dimm0k]

It's sad to hear people badmouth the W1 in regards to blurriness. There's quite a number of W1 owners who have not had this issue, me included.

[kimnicho]

I think we will learn that there were a few "bad" batches of the W1 that was manufactured....I really, really, really wanted to love my W1. I read the ENTIRE MANUAL and still at least 15% of my shots were blurry. What I can't understand is how the same user (namely me) could take perfect shots with my Lumix Z20 (only like 2% of the shots were blurry ) and blurry pictures with the W1 on the same day! I was very frustrated by the end of the second week. Maybe I could have persevered but I wanted a point-and-shoot. I am THRILLED with the P200. I get Clear, Sharp Pictures and I don't have to "analyze every situation". I loved the look and feel of the W1 and I sold it on eBay with a heavy heart. I'm being dramatic but I was getting tired of switching cameras(not to mention my husband too)! I wanted the W1 to be "the one". The good news is that I found it (finally) in the P200. Btw, most people don't need 7 mpgs (I have mine set to 5) but the P150/P200 has LESS NOISE than the P100 (different sensors). So, it gets my vote. The A95 is a Great Camera but simply too bulky. I also don't like using "AA" batteries - it adds to the bulk of the camera. The battery on the P200 lasts longer than the one in the P150 - I think up to 350 shots at maximum resolution !

[dmz19]

I tried the P200 but took back because I did not need the 7MP camera and it was a bit small for my taste - shot a few pics using 5MP and they were awesome.

Have the W5 on order and believe I will like it - I believe it is the same internally as the P200?? Someone mentioned the W5 had problems seeing the monitor in low light - any truth to that? The same person told me it did not have white balance control and it actually has 5.

I really like the technology in the SONY - simple, user friendly things like changes made show on the LCD - don't have to squint to read the mode dial - just check the screen!

Let's cut to the chase - bottom line - besides a swival LCD and manual controls, what am I missing by not buying the Canon A95???

[dimm0k]

The LCD on the W5 is shinnier so that might cause some glare... but it does have the option to make it brighter or darker, something that was missing on the W1.

As for white balance, the guy was referring to custom white balance where you tell the camera what white is. The ones you're referring to are presets.

[dmz19]

Actually didn't like the W5 as much as I thought. After all this analysis and research, I am back to the CANON A95 I started with - bought it today and looking forward to using it

[poikkeus]

I think we will learn that there were a few "bad" batches of the W1 that was manufactured....I really, really, really wanted to love my W1. I read the ENTIRE MANUAL and still at least 15% of my shots were blurry.

This is illuminating info, and I believe it's worth investigating. I've had a number of users email me about W1 "blur." I just sent them to my W1 usage blog, and their problems cleared up quickly. That there might have been a batch problem adds a new layer to the controversy.

I'm not quite as optimistic that we'll ever find the culprit, but potential buyers looking for bargains (as I was) may find even cheaper prices for the W1. I've taken 850 picutres so far; only a handful are blurry, and mostly due to my error. I'm glad I got one of the good ones.

Oh, and I think you'll have an awesome camera with the A95.

[dmz19]

Even though I opted for the A95, I have used for a week and not as happy as I thought I would be. It is slow to focus, missed too many photo ops, and a bit cumbersome. I was very impressed with the P200 but just too small for me. I believe I will be returning the A95 or selling on EBAY and getting the W5 - it i basically the same as the P200 except in a different wrapper, correct?

[debtman7]

I was looking at the Canon's too, but the Sony won me over with better MUCH faster performance and smaller size. I got a P100 on closeout, which you can probably still find a great deal on if you can find any around. No problems with blurry pictures except for the time I tried photos at the home and garden show with full zoom and didn't realize a friend had turned the flash off... Not a perfect camera, but it's about the only thing pocketable that takes good pictures with good movies and can take add on lenses. I've been happy, and the improvement in performance over the coolpix it replaced is really nice.

[batkinson1969]

I recently purchased a DSC-P200 and am seeing the W1 “blur” issue. Under easy conditions I am getting 50% of my pics that are out of focus. By easy I mean, outdoors, bright light behind me, full auto, zoomed out and holding steady (free hand) taking pics of stationary objects. My $300 3.1 Mp kodak was 100% in focus under those conditions where my new P200 is only in focus 50% of the time at best. It’s not totally out of focus just not sharp at all. They look ok on the 2” LCD but when uploaded to my PC where I can actually see the detail, they look blurry even zoomed out to 33%. Sony support was worthless and would not acknowledge a problem exisitng with the P200. Please help before I ebay this thing. Thanks,

[d48]

After much analysis, I bought the Sony P200 a month ago and I'm thrilled with it's pictures. Everything is focused great, the exposure is great, the colors are true and vibrant, skin tones are realistic, and there's no red eye! All of my pictures so far have been on the automatic settings and just hand-held.

[jeff31]

The P200 is one of the faster non-dslr cameras.

[joker123]

I recently purchased a DSC-P200 and am seeing the W1 “blur” issue. Under easy conditions I am getting 50% of my pics that are out of focus. By easy I mean, outdoors, bright light behind me, full auto, zoomed out and holding steady (free hand) taking pics of stationary objects. My $300 3.1 Mp kodak was 100% in focus under those conditions where my new P200 is only in focus 50% of the time at best. It’s not totally out of focus just not sharp at all. They look ok on the 2” LCD but when uploaded to my PC where I can actually see the detail, they look blurry even zoomed out to 33%. Sony support was worthless and would not acknowledge a problem exisitng with the P200. Please help before I ebay this thing. Thanks,

I have the same issue, tried to return it, too bad I scratch the LCD a bit so I can;t return it. I have about 10% of my shot out of focus. I now switch it to mofitor AF with spot focus, seems to help. But again I have not taken enough pictures to judge it. Good luck.

[rgonzale]

Regarding the users who have complained of "blur" issues with their P200... I noticed in the DCresource review on the Sony DSC-V3 that that camera produces "soft" photos when the lens aperature is closed down (high numbers), apparently due to diffraction. Jeff Keller was able to get much sharper pictures by using a wider aperature setting. (Which is counter-intuitive.)

Could someone with a P200 with "blur" problems try to see if you can use the same workaround? IE, take an outdoor photo in manual mode, using a wide aperature (f2.8) and small aperature (f5.6) -- I think those are the choices in wideangle. Don't forget to increase the exposure time by 4x for the f5.6 aperature (you quadruple exposure time when you double the aperature to maintain the same exposure).

[grayhair]

I've had my W1 for a year and after experimenting with the different modes I do most of my shooting in "P", with the Focus in Center Focus, the Saturation and Contrast at Normal, and Sharpness at +.
The softness of images was an issue awhile back and I thought I'd got a lemon, but I tried a few things and this seems to work.
Also, maybe check the lens for crud. It's easy to overlook that when it's so small and "covered".
Dick

[calepo]

I chose the W5 over the W1 because of the PictBridge capability. I may not be using that technology right now, but who knows what I'll be doing in the next few months when I buy a new printer. Also, what I liked about the W series was the ability to purchase additional lenses (it has a threaded lens), so I can pick up filters and/or wide-angle/telephoto lenses for it. A nice little 'upgrade' for those times when you want something more than a point and shoot. I LOVE my W5, but I'm having an issue with a consistent 'dark spot' in my images. I contacted Sony and they simply told me to return it to the store and get another one. I bought it at Walmart and they have been very good about this.

[mike62]

[QUOTE=dmz19]I have a Minolta S414 which is very slow and want a 2nd camera, perhaps replacement,


I to have the S414 and it is pitiful on shutter lag. I also am wanting to replace my Minolta. I am running everything from the Canon Rebel, Nikon D70, to now the Sony P200. I don't need to spend the money or have all the ability the dslr's provide but I want a faster capture speed. I have read the info on the P200 and it states the capture speed is very fast. Is this true for those of you that have one? Can I take pics as nearly as fast as I press the shutter on this camera? Also, red eye is a big issue with the S414 and I read it is not really a problem with this Sony? My only concern now with it is all this bluriness talk on this link I read.

[LoopBack]

I believe the W5 is more or less the same as the P200 except that physically it's a lot bigger and it uses AA batteries instead of a special battery. I think using AA batteries are a big advantage for a 'family' camera.

The W5 is a totally new generation of camera comaring the the A95. It is much faster in all aspects (operation, focus etc.), has a much better video mode, has a much larger LCD and, IMHO, much better user interface + a live histogram.

The A95 was a winner, but now it has a lot of competition.

+g