In summary
A smart metal body and large LCD screen combine with a high-resolution sensor to make Sony’s DSCW1 Cyber-shot an attractive camera, and its competitive price and ease of use will contribute to its success. So, too, will the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, although its wide-angle coverage may not be ideal for all photographers. It’s hard to fault the W1’s overall design as all controls and fittings are well placed and easy to use. The W1 mixes point-and-shoot functions with controls to appeal to serious photographers. . . [more]
Full review
A smart metal body and large LCD screen combine with a high-resolution sensor to make Sony’s DSCW1 Cyber-shot an attractive camera, and its competitive price and ease of use will contribute to its success. So, too, will the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, although its wide-angle coverage may not be ideal for all photographers. It’s hard to fault the W1’s overall design as all controls and fittings are well placed and easy to use. The W1 mixes point-and-shoot functions with controls to appeal to serious photographers. It includes six scene settings, an adjustable flash and manual exposure control, plus selectable shutter speeds from 30 seconds to 1/1000 sec. A live histogram is also available.
The test camera’s focusing was fast and, in most cases, accurate. The centre AF setting performed better than the default Multipoint AF mode for close subjects and the Monitoring AF setting was marginally faster than the default Single AF mode. Powering-up and shutting down took less than 1.5 seconds and the camera was generally quite responsive. Overall imaging performance was well above average, although the default contrast was slightly high. We found little noise in night shots, even with the ISO 400 setting.
Strengths
- Impressive video capabilities
- Excellent skin tone reproduction in low contrast lighting
Weaknesses
- No custom white balance
- Flash position tends to produce red-eye [BG05]
Specifications
Image sensor: 7.6 x 5.7mm primary colour CCD with 5,255,000 photosites (5.09-megapixels effective
Lens: Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 7.9-23.7mm f2.8-5.2 zoom (equivalent to 38-114mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 3x optical, up to 6x digital
Dimensions (wxhxd): 91 x 60 x 36.3mm
Weight: 250g (without batteries and card)
Retailers
CamBuy
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The largest speciality photographic retail chain in Australia.
Camera Pro
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Australian owned and run company based in Brisbane.
Camerasdirect
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Retailer of digital camera equipment and more.
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Camerastore.com.au
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Camera-Warehouse
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174 Canterbury Road 367 High Street
Canterbury Northcote
NSW 2193 VIC 3070
Ph: 1300 365 220
Electronics Warehouse
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1300 801 885
Australian retailer of Vapex rechargeable batteries offering factory direct prices and fast, free shipping Australia wide.
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Ted’s Cameras
1800 186 895
Big range of cameras and photographic products with stores in most states and online.
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