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09/27/2005 11:43:43 PM · #1 |
hi is this camera any good as a minor upgrade to what i'm currently using? thanks all.
edit: i have used 2 other sony cybershots, but neither uses carl zeiss lenses, do they make a big difference? because the previous sony experiences I had, the images came out rather soft.
Message edited by author 2005-09-28 00:07:09. |
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09/27/2005 11:53:35 PM · #2 |
| If your wanting another small point and shoot, this is a good camera. It has 3x optical zoom, and I'm guessing your X31 only has Dig. zoom. The lcd is nice and large, and is very bright. I'm not sure if you were looking at the 5 mp, but there is also a 7 mp. I think it would be a good upgrade if your looking for something small. |
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09/28/2005 12:49:48 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by hailstorm86:
If your wanting another small point and shoot, this is a good camera. It has 3x optical zoom, and I'm guessing your X31 only has Dig. zoom. The lcd is nice and large, and is very bright. I'm not sure if you were looking at the 5 mp, but there is also a 7 mp. I think it would be a good upgrade if your looking for something small. |
Thank you for the reply. Yes, I'm aware the specs are better than my little x31 (actually it has x3 optical zoom hehe) but like I mentioned, I'm concerned about the photo quality because my past experience with the 2 cybershot cameras, the photo quality isnt so good, and are too soft. |
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09/28/2005 01:08:08 AM · #4 |
Can you post your price range and what you like to take pictures of most? Maybe there are some other options in that price range that might suit you better.
Special names for lenses in P&S cameras tend to be somewhat subjective. They aren't always as good as they ought to be and they tend to be matched with tiny sensors. Oftentimes the lenses outperform the sensors anyhow. |
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09/28/2005 01:41:27 AM · #5 |
| I dont know too much about the DSC-W1, but I've got a DSC-S75 that has a Zeiss lens, and I'm pretty happy with it as far as a point and shoot goes. I think the quality of the lens is pretty good. Feel free to check out the portfolio for examples...I don't generally do too much editing and all shots were taken with the Zeiss lens. |
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09/28/2005 01:58:13 AM · #6 |
eschelar, thanks for your info. you're right, the sensors play an important part too. But then, if it comes to sensors, is it true the Fuji CCD technology allows a better dynamic range between shadow details and highlights? I know they have it implemented into their P&S range of cameras as well. maybe I should look at that direction?
ladyhawk, your photos look wonderful, but I guess they are a bit too small to really see the quality :p i love that photo of yours called "purge", its amazing, what shutter delay did you used? 3 seconds? hmm...did you use sharpening or unsharp mask on any of the photos? |
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09/28/2005 11:30:59 AM · #7 |
ladyhawk, your photos look wonderful, but I guess they are a bit too small to really see the quality :p i love that photo of yours called "purge", its amazing, what shutter delay did you used? 3 seconds? hmm...did you use sharpening or unsharp mask on any of the photos? [/quote]
Well, I've got in camera sharpening on....and I didn't even learn about USM (I'm a newbie!) until about 2 or 3 months ago....so lots of mine only have minor sharpening. If you want, I can try to email you a pic at full size so you can see the detail.
If you're looking to do more research, check out //www.dpreview.com
It's an AWESOME resource with all KINDS of information, including photo samples and you can compare cameras side bye side. |
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09/28/2005 01:10:21 PM · #8 |
Hi Shadow. I took the liberty of perusing some of the information on the Fuji line of P&S cams. I noted that one of my coworkers has been rather unhappy with her fuji cam that was recommended to her by her "photographer" friend.
I only did research on dpreview.com.
I only found two cams that actually use this technology, the more recent of the two being over a year old already. The F700 and the newer F710. They do look interesting with aperture ranges right up to F11 or f14 compared to most other cams which have f8 minimum aperture.
There was no review of the F710. I read the F700 review. It did not compare well against a Canon A70 in it's claims of having increased dynamic range. It is true that the physical technology is there in the camera, but it appears that it doesn't help much.
That having been said, the Fuji S3 uses this system and it DOES work. Unfortunately, you have to use RAW and use it properly to make it work well for you. There was nothing of this mentioned in the DPreview review. It is possible this is because the S3 was reviewed much later than the earlier P&S. This entails a lot of work and when using an older bunch of technology likely leads to a rather significant slowdown in use, having to shoot 12MB RAW pictures all the time to get the camera to perform right. Regardless, it certainly seems that the advantages to that camera were poor when it came out. I can't see them holding up to today's digicams much. The Fuji Lens seems to be really good on those P&S's, but is let down by the sensor. This type of CCD is ONLY present on those cameras that have two photo diodes per pixel, hence they will have a photosite number double the basic pixel number. Other sensors do not use this technology. It seems that Fuji is moving to more traditional CCD's. Personally, I find this a little disappointing.
Please note that the F710 could be a super-amazing improvement, I just couldn't find anything said about it at DPReview.
Dynamic range in a sensor can actually be increased with other factors than merely adding extra sensors. It has been reported that the 20D has much better dynamic range than the 300D. I can't verify that, but there is no real physical reason for that, considering pixel size on the 300D is better than the 20D when considering physical reasoning alone.
This brings me back to my original question. How much money were you hoping to spend and what do you want to do with your camera? |
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09/28/2005 03:51:03 PM · #9 |
I have one that I've been using for over 9 months!
It behaves really well. I think it's pretty good P&S camera!!!
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09/28/2005 10:31:24 PM · #10 |
Thanks to all for the insights, its informative.
ladyhawk, thanks but its alright. I found some sample photos from //www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/w1.html and their in-depth review of cameras is very good. maybe you can bookmark this site and use it for your future camera reviews too :)
eschelar, thanks for your time! Yes I do agree with the sensor part. I guess for my case, it doesnt really count much to consider about dynamic range, huh? since I'm going for yet another P&S camera.
Anyway, I've got a sweet deal for the DSC-W1 so I think I'm going for it. I'm optimistically sure (is there such a word?) that its going to out-perform my tiny Dimage x31. Besides, I've out-grown this camera and there isnt competition in DPC for the dimage x31 at all, so its a bit lonely being the only one still using it. |
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09/28/2005 11:00:39 PM · #11 |
Scuds. Thanks for your hands on report.
Please note that my comments on the Fuji cameras is merely a summary of the review on DPReview.com in the context of what modern cameras and other cameras in that range are capable of.
Shadow. You already make some exceptional pictures with the little x31. I'm sure you will do great with the little sony.
The only other thing to watch out for that I forgot to mention earlier is memory card prices. Fuji uses XD cards which are TINY and have rather slow turnover rate. The largest card I've seen is a 1GB and that was pretty recently seen and quite expensive. You would probably end up with a 256MB and hope that it would not cost too much.
Sony's cameras also use proprietary memory cards. However, they have more than one type and suffer some compatibility issues with a tendency to obsolescence. Sony memory cards are at best 50% more than other cards. At times, they have been priced at nearly 3 times more than other cards.
Check pricing for the whole package before you buy. |
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09/28/2005 11:30:41 PM · #12 |
| Thanks eschelar, I'm so excited already! :) |
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