This is not just a review on the subject Digital Camera , the write up is also aimed at helping one in the selection of Entry Level DigiCams from thousands of choices available. I am no photographer and my review is loosely based on extensive research I did on the subject.
My purchase is only a week old, but I am thoroughly impressed with its performance. This is a camera, which has weight and looks of a Camera, as against the recent ultra compact S600 and W50/70 from Sony. It feels good to hold and in case of emergency you can use it to hit your adversary with success.
Why I went for it: I had been contemplating buying a digicam for quite sometime. In the meantime the idea struck me why not a digital handycam with the options of stills. So I settled for Sony HC32E lat year Oct (42E is much better miniDV now avlble at almost same price as 32E). Realized soon that the vendors are too smart to allow you enjoy convergence at so low prices. I still believe that you need a phone to talk and a proper camera to take presentable photographs- N-series or No N-series, W550i(or whatever that is) or no W550i).
So I started looking for a Sasta aur Tikao Digicam. First in my choice was the recent S600. It has got 6MP, wide viewing lens, is lightweight, Compact size, but comes with no automatic macro function, no time stamp, no option for extra lenses, and requires Memory Stick Duo and last but not the least has issues with image Contrast. Though the second last factor was the one which attracted me to this one as I already have a 1 GB Duo. But you can use the Duo with adapter in Pro Applications too. I was serious about S600 but abandoned it beacsue of above and as it has lesser manual controls (only Exposure) ( though is has got more ISO ratings options (from 80 to 1000) and 6MP). But no doubt that S600 too is a great value for Money item.
Then I started considering W5/W7. These were launched last year and are upgrades of widely accepted W1. Apart from 7.2MP chip, W7 has got following, which attracted me to this class:
High Speed USB Connection: Comes handy when accessing movie in Camera through PC.
Auto Focus Assist Lamp: This feature helps in Auto Focus in Dark.
Great Movie mode: At 30 FPS Unlimited to the capacity of your storage. Its MPEGs are much better than the Digital movies shot on memory stick in HC32E.
Supports conversion lenses: You can Add wide angle or tele lenses if needed.
Biggest LCD in its class-2.5’ and Decent LCD Res (115000P)”: Very good to see and shoot.
Above Average Battery Life: More than 350 snaps with flash with fully charge supplied 2100mah NIMh and more than 50 with Alkaline AA.
Runs on AA Alkaline batteries: You can never miss those outdoor shots, just because you are short of power!
Fast response, very fast startup: You will never miss any shots as it comes on line in a jiffy (1sec)
Good Photo Quality: Very subjective though.
Excellent Build Quality, Durable: Mazboot hai, Chale aur Chalta hee jaye…
Manual Controls for Shutter Speed, Aperture, Focus, Exposure: You can experiment and enjoy those.
Low Battery indicator: You can timely purchase the Alkalines.
Excellent Grip (with contours on front and back): One hand operation is not very clumsy.
In all W7 is comparable with P200, in prices as well as features. And W5 is 5.1MP brother of W7 with eaxctly similar features except for the no of Pixels and comes at a cheaper price. Now, until a year ago 3MP used to be too big for prints. So I thought 5M is more than my need of Pixels and another 2M would be a waste of Money. So I settled down for W5 which is a great value for money/bang for bucks! The way you like it.
I bought it last week at 1500 less the current e-bay price. Heard that W stands for Worry-Free.
I also weighed Canon PS A520, but its review told that it has a problem of slow startup and response. Otherwise canon PS series has great preset modes and stitching mode, in which you can stitch wide-angle landscapes. I also Considered A430 which was in my budget but abandoned it for 1) I had a memory stick, 2) Its battery life is smaller3) Small LCD (1.8”) with smaller res (77000P). Though I believe that Canon power shot’s latest offerings are equally good or better, especially with the no of of preset modes they come in and their optical zoom is usually 4x. Although they fall short in time lags and battery consumption.
I did not consider Nikon as I feel, Point and shoot are Sony and Canon’s forte’. Kodak did not appeal me because it gulps current. Olympus and Fuji did not appeal me as a brand. I looked cursorily into the FE Series but neither the features impressed me.
My advice to the price conscious is never to go for a just introduced camera. Prices fall within a couple of months. This Camera was launched at $350. Now available at around $220 at US shipping webstores. (Sony is selling it at Rs.10990 with warranty as on 31/03/06).
I hope this review is helpful and have tried to be factually as correct as possible. Corrections/comments by experts are welcome.
Edit17/08/06: After two months of Usage, I want to add some more insights on this one. I have got superb resluts from this camera and the lab from where I get prints approves of that :
1: Photos taken with flash are yellowish and you need a colour balance in the image afterwards. May be the Flash white balance setting needs some attention by Sony.
2: If you want to take natural snaps, without flash in sufficient external lights, be sure to hold the camera firmly or better place it firmly, if possible, on a tripod. Otherwise you may get a blurred image, especially indoors.
3: I was on a pilgrimage to Badrinath/Kedarnath with this Cam as companion(well, one of the). Most of my snaps from this journey are taken while moving like on my vehicle, on the pony during the treck to Kedarnath from Gaurikund. I took these shots in manual mode(M), at the least optimum exposure time, to get a steady unblurred shot. The Exposure Value(EV) has been around (-)0.7 in most of such snaps. I compensated for the level in Photoshop and the results were good and it was hard to say that those snaps were from a moving camera. I am attaching a snap taken from a moving vehicle of ADOBE building in NOIDA. I also have a beautiful snap of snow clad Neelkanth peak at 5:30in the morning from badrinath, which I'll upload later.
PS: Also check out the PowerShot A700
