No Fluff or Mumbo Jumbo - "Just The Basics" on Digital Cameras

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Review

Sony DSC-W5

5/28/05

Intro:

These days, potentially bad cameras are usually reserved to off branded or lesser-known brands you see in office supply stores and on Ebay auctions.   We’re at the point in digital camera design that pretty much any camera you buy from a major manufacturer (Canon, Sony, Fuji, Minolta, etc.) today is going to at least be “good”.  A camera must then offer something out of the ordinary in either features or photo quality in order to stand out from the rest of the cookie cutter pack of models available.

Enter the Sony DSC-W5.  With an aluminum body and large 2.5 inch LCD monitor, it gets your attention at first glance.  At only roughly 3.5 inches long and 2.5 inches high, it’s not a large camera by any means, and fits in most adult’s hands comfortably, with the exception of a curved metal grip on the front which is meant to “steer” your finger into a resting place (more on that later).

For the asking price of $349.00 at the time of this writing, you get of course the W5 camera, a basic wrist strap, USB 2.0 data cable to transferring your images to your computer, video cables for TV viewing, and the usual quick start guide and user’s manual.  CDs include basic imaging software and drivers for photo downloads.  The camera runs off of a pair of AA size batteries, and unlike many manufacturers who include alkaline batteries which quickly die, Sony does include a pair of their “Stamina” AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries, as well as a battery charger (way to go, Sony).  Unfortunately however, Sony is joining many makers lately in that they do not include a memory card with the camera, but instead have built in 32 megs of memory within the camera itself.  While this is better than nothing, it only allows for 5 photos at the highest resolution, so you will have to factor in the cost of a “Memory Stick Pro” card if you want more storage.

  Features:

Ok, so Sony gets points for including rechargeable batteries, but loses points for not including a memory card.  Do any of the other features put them above the pack of most other cameras?

The W5 is a 5 megapixel camera, offering a top image size of 2592 x 1944 pixels – more than enough for good prints up to 8 x 10 inches in size.  There is also a “3:2” ratio mode, which crops off the top and bottom of the photo to a 2592 x 1728 pixel size so it will fit perfectly to a 4 x 6 inch print size, to avoid the “head chopped off” results many people complain about with their cameras that do not offer this feature.  Lower resolution settings are available for smaller prints or web uses.

Being square(ish) and all metal, the camera does feel solid, with one exception – a thin metal band which goes around the top and sides, that feels a bit tinny when tapped.  Otherwise, you don’t feel like you’re holding a plastic toy.  There is a standard 3X optical zoom on the W5, in this day and age where 4X and higher zooms are becoming more common.  Sony utilizes a “smart zoom” digital zoom feature however, which might help out a bit.  Most digital zoom features visibly degrade image quality to unacceptable levels.  On the W5, their zoom works a bit differently, and simply reduces the resolution of the camera to allow for more zoom with less degradation of the image.  For example, you can use the optical + digital zoom together to achieve a total 12X zoom, but by this point you will only get a 640 x 480 pixel image from the camera.  The image will still be of usable quality for the Internet or email however, as opposed to other brands of digital zoom that would at that point render the image as total mush.

The W5 has a top-notch movie mode, which offers movies at 640 x 480 images, and at a fluid 30 frames per second - with a catch.  As touched upon earlier, there is no included memory card with this camera.  If you own older Sony models you may already have the older “Memory Stick” cards laying around, and the W5 WILL work with these, however, they are not fast enough to store the 30 frames per second movie clips.  In order to be able to use this feature, you will have to invest in the more expensive “Memory Stick PRO” sticks, which offer both higher capacities, as well as greater storage speed.  You can still use the movie mode at a lower frame rate of around 16 frames per second, or at smaller sizes using the older original Memory Sticks.

One feature that stands out is the auto focus assist light (AF assist for short).  Many camera makers are STILL not including these on many of their models, and those who do (such as Canon with their A-series) usually make them so weak that they’re not effective past 3 or 4 feet at most.  The W5’s AF assist is very bright.  When in a darker room, the bright orange light shoots out like a small flashlight, illuminating the subject enough for the auto focus to get a positive lock.  I stood as far away as 10 feet or more and the AF assist did its job, even in rooms that were almost completely dark.  I applaud Sony for this, and it will come in handy for those who take shots at parties, or otherwise dimly lit environments.

The mode dial on top has a fully automatic setting for those who want to let the camera do all of the thinking, or program mode which opens several settings in the menu system such as white balance, saturation and sharpness settings, flash control, and more.  A few basic scene modes are also on the dial for things such as snow and beach shots, candle light conditions, and landscapes.  For more advanced users, there are shutter speed and aperture controls, but they are done at the same time under “M” mode.  While you have a full range of shutter speeds, apertures are limited to only a few setting and only at various levels of the zoom control can you access certain ones.

The tripod mount is pretty much centered on the bottom of the camera, and next to it is the speaker (odd to be on the bottom).  The microphone for sound for movies is on the front of the camera.  Around the lens assembly is a threaded ring.  With this ring you can attach Sony’s adapter that allows you to use 30mm sized filters, or accessory lenses for wider angle and telephoto shots.  A wide-angle lens is recommended if you like to take wide sweeping landscape shots, as the 3X zooms range of 38-114mm isn’t exactly “wide” at the wide-angle end.  The battery compartment flips open from the bottom and also houses the Memory Stick cards – a little flimsy feeling, but once closed it doesn’t wiggle around any.

OK, enough techie stuff – for the more advanced users reading this, you may visit the Sony site page on this camera for a full list of specifications and features -  HERE.

  Image Quality:

So far, the W5 has all of the standard features, is just a little backward (backward aperture controls), but innovative as well (AF assist lamp, large LCD, etc).  How does the photo quality stand up?

  A very welcome surprise!  Sony cameras have always taken good photos, but in the last couple of years they sort of fell behind some other makers such as Canon, and “good” just did not equal “excellent” anymore when compared to some other maker’s models.  I’m very happy to report that the W5 excels not only among its peers, but also when compared to many cameras that cost more.  Colors are nicely saturated and correct, sharpness is about right  (controllable in the menu as is the color saturation and contrast), and I was especially impressed with the camera’s light metering ability.  Many times when you take a shot that has larger areas of shade and brightly lit areas in the same frame, most cameras will favor one or the other, resulting in a somewhat dark photo to favor the light areas, or an overly bright shot that favors the shadows.  The W5 on nearly every tricky shot got it right – bringing a good mix of details out in both the darker areas while not burning out areas of sky or sunlit areas of wood, etc.  VERY impressive for a consumer camera.

The ability to control the built-in flash is a plus as well, with three levels to choose from.  This allows you to better use the flash for fill in shots (people in shade on a sunny day, etc.) without burning them out, or, using it at full strength for indoor shots in larger rooms. 

Sharpness and clarity are very good as well.  Sony tends to compress their images just a bit more than some other camera models out there, so even on “fine” setting there is just a little loss of fine detail in things such as hair or foliage.  This doesn’t seem to be as bad as on some other Sony models I’ve seen however, and overall, the image details on the W5 will still allow you to get good 8 x 10 prints  – larger if you’re knowledgeable on the right combination of tweaks to use in an image editor to get the best results from your printer or the photo lab.

The dreaded "purple fringing" effect which plagues so many consumer level cameras to varying degrees seems to have been well controlled by Sony on this model.  If you have seen my review page for the Canon A20 which shows a sample of this problem with one of its images as well as one from a Fuji E550, then you'll appreciate the W5's ability to control it better. 

  Complaints:

No camera is perfect.  There are a couple of minor issues to talk about with the W5.

First of all, while the camera body is metal, the metal band that goes around the top and sides of the camera just feels cheap to me.  As a matter of fact I’m doing a review right now on a $39.00 camera that has a very similar band (in both looks and feel) around the top of it as well.   It’s not that the W5 feels like it’s about to fall apart – again, overall build quality is good.  It’s just when you feel or tap on the top of that metal band it just has that real cheapy tinny feel to it.  Likewise, the battery and memory stick door on the bottom of the camera is a bit cheesy, so take care not to force it or open it harshly.

On the front of the camera body is an attached piece of metal that has a slight curve to it that “steers” your middle finger, basically a hand grip.  I think it wasn’t wise for Sony to assume everyone has the same sized hands and fingers, though.  I allowed a good number of people to hold it and comments ranged from “comfortable” to “cramped” to “awkward” due to this metal piece.  It’s not the end of the world, but my advice is to go to a local store and handle one yourself to make sure it will be a good fit for your own hand.

Last, I don’t like the fact that you must use the more expensive Memory Stick “PRO” cards in order to use the movie mode at it’s full 30 frames per second best quality, or the fact no Pro stick (even a small capacity one) is included with the camera.  You can still use the movie mode as mentioned earlier with a reduced frame rate with older Memory Sticks, but it would have been nice to not have to immediately go out to buy a PRO card to use the feature at it’s best - including even a smaller 32 meg PRO stick would have been a nice touch by Sony instead of going the internal memory route.

Who Is This Camera For?

The W5 is a versatile camera that will suit the needs of novices looking for a fully automatic point and shoot, all the way to enthusiasts looking for a second camera to perhaps supplement a Digital SLR or bulkier camera they may not wish to always carry around.  Advanced users might be a little turned off by the way the camera handles manual shutter speed controls and limited f-stops along the zoom range, but overall there are enough manual options for the advanced user to get the most out of the camera.  Image quality is certainly good enough for both casual and semi-pro uses. 

The 3X zoom could be a problem for those into wildlife photography, so if this is your thing, explore models with higher optical zooms.  Using AA sized batteries is a convenience when traveling, where you may not have access to a battery charger.  If your Ni-MH rechargeables die on you, I found the camera could take around 25 or so shots using a standard pair of alkaline batteries, with heavy LCD use and a couple of flash shots.  Not too shabby as digital cameras and alkaline batteries usually HATE each other, and I've seen some other models die after only TEN shots when using alkalines!

Conclusions:

Initially going by physical appearance and handling, I was expecting “just another” digital camera from Sony.  After using it, I’m very please to be able to recommend the camera as a step above the new "just another cookie cutter" cameras which seem to hit store shelves these days on a weekly basis.  The zoom may be pretty standard but the image quality and metering are superior to comparable cameras in the same megapixel and price range as the W5. 

So long as you don’t try to compare the W5 to much higher priced prosumer models such as the Canon G6, Sony 828 or Minolta A200 in terms of LCD quality, features, and so on, you’ll be fine – but the image quality from the W5 might well come close enough to rival some of those more expensive cameras in many ways, so for $349.00 for less, it is well worth foregoing their swivel LCDs, and other more advanced features.

UPDATE: (8/27/05):  I was a bit hesitant to take the time to mention this, but two days ago my W5 developed a fault where the lens barrel mechanism will no longer retract into the camera.  This is after actually very little use.  Sony answered their phones quickly and arranged for me to send my camera into a 3rd party camera repair shop (shipping charges at my own expense GRRRRR).  I was informed the camera would be repaired, or I would receive a "refurbished"  replacement.  Now, I have not received any number of emails from readers that would indicate this model has this as a common problem, so I'll assume for now it's a fluke and report it as such.  However, if your W5's lens conked out prematurely, email me  HERE  and let me know, so I'll be able to report later if this is a flaw in this camera's design.  For now, it will not effect the overall camera grades below, unless I determine this is a design flaw.

My grades are when comparing the W5 to other cameras in the same megapixel and price range of $349.00 retail (U.S. as of May 2005).   The camera loses just a bit for some of the above mentioned build issues, but gains it back quickly for a superior image quality.  Battery life is good considering the size of the LCD screen and the fact it only uses a pair of AA batteries, so points are gained there as well.  While the W5 is certainly not perfect, when compared to other consumer level models in the $350.00 range, its positive features do stand out a bit above the crowd - more so, if you take into account sales here and there where I’ve seen the camera sold for as little as $313.00.  Recommended.

Build Quality  =  8

Design  =  7

Image Quality  =  9

Features  =  8

Battery Life  =  8

Movie Mode  =  7.5 (quality high, but requires PRO card to use at top quality)

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