Sony DSC-W1 vs Fujifilm E550 vs Canon A95

[meng-chieh]

I'm on the market for a entry-level digital camera that still allow a high degree of customization as I grow in experience. My previous camera is not digital (Canon EOS-10) so I have no experience in that sense. However, I do consider myself at a moderate level of experience when it comes to photography, so I need my digital camera to refrain from behaving simply as a point-and-shoot type of camera.

With that in mind, I've got the following cameras as candidates.

Sony DSC-W1
vs
Fujifilm E550
vs
Canon A95

Specs-wise the Fuji is the most impressive, featuring 6 MB as well as a variety of advanced features.
Sony, on the other hand, has a very good lens, while the Canon is being considered simply because it received good reviews (specs-wise it's the least impressive).

So which camera should I get?

Also, if you've got suggestions, please do feel free to share them (I'm looking for a camera in the $500-600 CDN range)

Thanks!

[Newbie]

Hello,

I consider myself as much less experienced than you... Also about to buy my first digi cam. I never really owned a film camera before, but I did used my faher's old EOS 650 in the past.

I was also considering between the Sony W1 and Canon A95. Now my choice tends towards the Canon.

The reason for that is because the canon allows more manual features which become useful when you get more experienced. It also has a rotating LCD which is smaller than the Sony's BUT which is visible in dim light. Finally, when I tried them, the canon was easier to hold steady.

On the other hand, the W1 has a strong noise reduction system... Its also what people found the most annoying, some were claiming it was too aggressive and that they would lose some details in their pictures. For my part, I found that there was very little differences between the 2 cameras, but that I prefered the colors of the canon a bit.

As for Fuji, well, I do not know very much, haven't read any reviews, haven't tried it either. But if I remember correctly(I could be wrong), The super CCD sensor will not produce 12MP images, but rather 7.5MP, I believe I read somewhere that it was not quite doubling the MP, but increasing them by about 25%. Besides that, there is the RAW feature which could be quite interesting to modify pictures afterwards, but I do not know how that works. It seems to have good manual controls. So without seeing any review, it does look like an interesting choice.

Well, what I said may be worth nothing as I am a total newbie who tried to learn as much as possible in the past week or so. Now, people will come here and suggest you some panasonic cameras(something like FZ3, FZ20). This is something very present here and I admit I would have tried them if they had the ones that could interest me.

Edit: I looked a bit and perhaps I will give a better attention to the Fuji E550 before buying my camera. Of course, this thread will also be quite important

PS. I'm also in Canada and I find it hard to find cameras at good price, except a few(among those, the W1 and A95).

[meng-chieh]

Originally Posted by Newbie

Hello,

I consider myself as much less experienced than you... Also about to buy my first digi cam. I never really owned a film camera before, but I did used my faher's old EOS 650 in the past.

I was also considering between the Sony W1 and Canon A95. Now my choice tends towards the Canon.

The reason for that is because the canon allows more manual features which become useful when you get more experienced. It also has a rotating LCD which is smaller than the Sony's BUT which is visible in dim light. Finally, when I tried them, the canon was easier to hold steady.

On the other hand, the W1 has a strong noise reduction system... Its also what people found the most annoying, some were claiming it was too aggressive and that they would lose some details in their pictures. For my part, I found that there was very little differences between the 2 cameras, but that I prefered the colors of the canon a bit.

As for Fuji, well, I do not know very much, haven't read any reviews, haven't tried it either. But if I remember correctly(I could be wrong), The super CCD sensor will not produce 12MP images, but rather 7.5MP, I believe I read somewhere that it was not quite doubling the MP, but increasing them by about 25%. Besides that, there is the RAW feature which could be quite interesting to modify pictures afterwards, but I do not know how that works. It seems to have good manual controls. So without seeing any review, it does look like an interesting choice.

Well, what I said may be worth nothing as I am a total newbie who tried to learn as much as possible in the past week or so. Now, people will come here and suggest you some panasonic cameras(something like FZ3, FZ20). This is something very present here and I admit I would have tried them if they had the ones that could interest me.

Edit: I looked a bit and perhaps I will give a better attention to the Fuji E550 before buying my camera. Of course, this thread will also be quite important

PS. I'm also in Canada and I find it hard to find cameras at good price, except a few(among those, the W1 and A95).

I've actually decided to stay away from the A95 due to its 30 seconds limit in the 640 resolution movie mode. And like I said before the Fuji looks better than the Sony, which is being considered because of its good lens.

[Newbie]

Personally, I find the 30 seconds thing to be very stupid. But it is a camera and you do not want it specifically for film. I admit it is nice to film a little thing to keep special memories. But if you are looking for a camera with good filming capabilities, I suggest looking at the Canon S1 IS, on top of having a nice telephoto(and a more average wide angle), the camera has an amazing movie mode which enables the zoom, which has better than average sound and normal high resolution, without time limit.

But as I said, when do you need to film a movie longer than 30seconds with your compact digital camera ? Of course that is me.

[meng-chieh]

Originally Posted by Newbie

Personally, I find the 30 seconds thing to be very stupid. But it is a camera and you do not want it specifically for film. I admit it is nice to film a little thing to keep special memories. But if you are looking for a camera with good filming capabilities, I suggest looking at the Canon S1 IS, on top of having a nice telephoto(and a more average wide angle), the camera has an amazing movie mode which enables the zoom, which has better than average sound and normal high resolution, without time limit.

But as I said, when do you need to film a movie longer than 30seconds with your compact digital camera ? Of course that is me.

True. However, that is from your point of view. For me personally it's often nice to have a digital camera that is capable of producing both movie and pictures. Furthermore, if Canon is going to bother pushing out a camera that's able to shoot movie files, then at the very least they should put in an effort; 30s is simply too short to be of any use.