Review 1 of 2
Price Paid:
$239.00
from B&H Photo Video Summary:
I bought this camera to replace my DSLR/SLRs, which were too heavy for me
to carry around anymore with my medical problems. Being used to fairly
sophisticated cameras I wanted something small but with a feature set
that I could live with. I chose the Sony W100 after considering numerous
other cameras.
The camera is well-made and solid. It kind of feels like a mini-
rangefinder in your hands. The doors are plastic, as are a few of the
other parts, best to be careful with these. I t has an optical
viewfinde. I find myself not using it like I thought I would thanks to
the large 2.5 inch LCD.
Controls are well-placed and fairly intuitive. The menu is not very
intuitive, but is functional once you get used to its quirks. The menu
is monochrome, which is almost incomprehensible for a camera made in
2006. None of the above would be deal-breakers for me.
The lens is simply great. A true Zeiss, made in Japan or not. If you
want the typical color of a Zeiss lens, set the Color Mode to NATURAL.
The BW mode is nice, I use it all the time and then do any other
tweeking in the Channel Mixer in Photoshop. With the Color Mode set to
VIVID you get the typical Sony highly-saturated color. The default is
NORMAL, and is between the two other saturation levels.
I set the sharpness up a notch to the HARD setting to get the most out
of the lens. The NORMAL setting is a bit soft and is probably a function
of the firmwar, whereas the HARD setting gives the normal lens
sharpness. A lot of digital camera manufacturers are doing that these
days.
The flash is more powerful than is reported in some reviews. If you take
photos closer than 6 feet, I recommend setting the Flash setting to the
MINUS setting. If you want the flash set to FORCED OFF, you have to set
it every single time you turn on the camera. That is one of my few major
gripes with this camera.
Battery life is very impressive for photos. I really haven't tested it
with the movie mode yet.
It has a real-time histogram. I find the combination of PROGRAM mode,
using the histogram and the EV settings adjustment bar (easily
accessible with a flick of the thumb) to be a powerful combination. For
more specific requirements, there is a MANUAL exposure mode. There is
no AE lock, unfortunately.
16:9 aspect mode is senselessly limited to 1920x1080 resolution. Which is
stupid. I'm hoping Sony will issue a firmware upgrade to correct this.
But I'm not holding my breath.
As usual for Japanese cameras, the Manual is terrible. And this one is especially terrible.
Strengths:
Great lens, nice build quality, Manual mode very usable, great battery life, powerful flash for a PnS. Weaknesses:
Flash off setting has to be reset when turning on the camera, 16:9 aspect mode only available in low-res, lousy Manual. Similar Products Used:
None, really. I'm used to DSLR/SLRs. This is my first digital PnS. Customer Service:
Haven't had to use it so far (knock on wood)
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