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General discussion

Help buying a nEW digital camera Please

Mar 14, 2005 2:41AM PST

OK so i have around 350 to spend.... i dont want a super camera just something totake pictures with and take to parks and beach and school... any suggestions? i was looking at the w5 from sony and the casio selection? any help would be nice thanks

Discussion is locked

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New Digital Camera.
Mar 14, 2005 9:47AM PST

The Sony W5 takes very sharp photos.
Another camera similar to the W5 is the Canon S500.
It is about the same size and price and also takes sharp photos.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=sony_dscw5%2Ccanon_s500&show=all

I have not seen any reviews on the W5, but it appears to be an updated W1. I would assume that it would perform about the same. There should not be an big surprises.

Some people have complained about the W1 always defaulting to a shutter speed of 1/40 second on flash shots and on low light situations. I understand that they choose that speed to help light the background on flash shots.

It does present a problem to some people, who have difficulty in holding the camera steady enough. There are complaints of blurred photos - most likely from camera movement while snapping the photo.

It can be overcome by switching to manual mode and setting a higher shutter speed.

From what I have read, the W5 reacts the same as the W1.

Hold the camera steady and you will get excellent shots in all lighting conditions.

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NEW Cam
Mar 15, 2005 2:40AM PST

anyone elsE? please

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Some othe choices
Mar 15, 2005 1:29PM PST

Canon A95

- 5 Megapixels
- Manual Controls
- Swivel out LCD
- Uses CompactFlash

If you are looking for an ultracompact I would recomend the SD300

- 4 Megapixels
- 2" LCD
- Uses SD
- 640x480 movies
- 60 fps 320x240
- 2.4 fps burst mode

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what do you think about??
Mar 17, 2005 1:12AM PST

what do you feel about the sony w5?

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w5
Mar 17, 2005 4:15AM PST

The W5 is would be a good choice but I would choose the Canon A95 over the w5.

The A95 has manual controls that you could possibly grow into to. It is about the same size of the w5 but it is cheaper. You also get a pull-out and swivel LCD. And an other important thing is that the A95 uses compact flash which is a whole lot cheaper than MS Pro.

If I were you I would choose the A95. Better Features, Lower Price. What more could you ask for?

Steves-Digicams Review
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/a95.html

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Help help
Mar 17, 2005 6:18AM PST

so the w5 does not have manual feautures?

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W5 Manual Features
Mar 17, 2005 8:03AM PST

The W5 does have manual features.
You can manual adjust focus, white balance, and +/- exposure.

You can manually adjust shutter speed and f/stop:

It has a Manual position on the dial on the top of the camera.
This Manual Exposure Mode provides extended control with 46-step adjustable Shutter speed (30 ? 1/1000 sec.), and 2-step Aperture control.

It does not have the more gifted "shutter priority and aperture priority".

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if you still haven't decided, read some reviews
Mar 17, 2005 8:59AM PST

at this one site, http://www.whosave.com, they have an editor choice page for cameras with prices, so you can match your budget with the best known cameras according to popular reviews. from what i see, you can get
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1
Pro: Slim and stylish, huge LCD, simple menus, speedy boot time

Con: Image quality more in line with a 5MP camera with some exposure problems, slow recycle times.

hope helps