anyone know about sony's w1 or p100?

[ting kong]

hi all,

i'm new to this site and i've been using my old fuji finepix 4700 digicam for the past 4 years. i'm now in the market for a new digital camera and would like to get some advice from you people. Does anybody know anything about the sony cybershot W1 or p100? i'm truely impressed by the high resolution capability...5.1 megapixels sounds crazy or is it just me? are there any other cameras other than sony that offer 5.1 megapixels for the same price? ($649cdn)...any info or advice would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! thanks!

[wxwax]

ting, I'll respond more fully later. First a question, though: do you print a lot of your pics? Just wondering if 5mp is more important than other features.

[ting kong]

ting, I'll respond more fully later. First a question, though: do you print a lot of your pics? Just wondering if 5mp is more important than other features.

5mp is a very attractive feature for me because i've been using my fuji finepix 4700 (2-2.1mp?) for too long now and i want a more powerful camera.

yes, i do print my pictures quite often.

thanks wxwax!

[cletus]

There are several 5MP cameras on the market right now and several more just coming to market. Also there are a bunch of very, very good 4MP cameras out there.

There are so many choices that it's tough to suggest a camera without knowing more about what you want.



What size camera do you want? Cigarette pack to small dog, we'll find a camera the size you want.
Do you want manual control?
Do you want external flash support?
Do you have a preference on storage media? - Memory Stick (Sony), SD, CF, CD, etc...
Do you have a preference on battery style? - For example, do you want to be able to run the camera on AAs?
FWIW, here are some of the cameras that people really seem to like:


Canon G5 (http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/g5/index.html) - This is what I have. It's a great camera that will do just about anything. It's not the most compact thing in the world though. A warning... Even though the G5 is on Canon's website, I think it's being phased out so it will probably be tough to find.


Olympus C-5060 (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?l=1&p=16&bc=2&product=936) - I think there are a couple folks around here that have these. I don't know a lot about them, but I've heard good things!
Canon S400 (http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s400/index.html) - This is a tiny 4MP camera. You'll really have to dig to find someone with something bad to say about this camera. There are two new versions of this camera the S410/500 (http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s500-410/index.html) which I don't know much about.

[SavannahMan]

Pardon my interruption, lol. Just a newb here, but recently I had to upgrade from my old 3.1 mp. (A horse stepped on it) and found a few 5mp's i could afford. Bought one that Kodak had out (DX4530 @ $300 USD) and immediately returned it for a DX6440, which is only 4 MP. Took me one whole week to realize I was never going to forgive myself for taking that extra MP over all the manual control and slightly better processing speed, burst feature, optical zoom, etc. that I found in the DX6440. I know I'm talking P&S, but I think the moral is that MP aren't everything.....and unless you actually plan on having 20" x 30" prints made, or cropping down to 1/10 of the original image, maybe its not that important at all?

[cletus]

I know I'm talking P&S, but I think the moral is that MP aren't everything.....and unless you actually plan on having 20" x 30" prints made, or cropping down to 1/10 of the original image, maybe its not that important at all?
A very good point :thumb

[ting kong]

thanks for all the insight. i didn't realize that a 5mp really doesn't come to use if i'm not going to be blowing them up in size. very good point. so, would you say the canon or sony w1?

[wxwax]

Full circle, that's why I asked my original question. Good deal, ting, now on to the purchase. A Canon G5 (5mp) can be had for a relative bargain. As a G3 (4mp) owner, I can say that it's a very good camera.