Sony DSC-W12 (a.k.a. W1) - First Impression

Bought this camera today from Jessops (UK) on a price match with
Amazon for 245GBP. Then I spent another 70 GBP at PC World for a 512Mb
Sony Memory Stick Pro. Been testing the cam all afternoon indoors and,
though now somewhat skint, I'm delighted.

DSC-W12 is a special edition of the DSC-W1. For the extra money you
get a very nice little leather case and two additional NiMh batteries.
Also, the camera itself is black instead of silver. Otherwise,
functionally the two cams are identical.

I thought long and hard before getting another digital camera, looking
at the Sony DSC-V3 and DSC-P150 before deciding on this one. Namely
because:

1. I don't really need 7.2 megapixels (DSC-W12 is 5.1).
2. DSC-W12 is very small. Incredibly compact. Wife loves it already.
3. DSC-W12 has a very large LCD (2.5 inches). Wife likes that too.
4. The operating system is almost the same as the old DSC-P72.
5. For me the stills are excellent - especially indoor ones without
flash.
6. Like the other cams above, DSC-W12 does 30fps 640x480 movies.

However, potential owners should note that the hi-res movies can only
be written to a MS Pro card - NOT a normal MS (which is fine for
stills and the other video modes).

What REALLY, in the end, swayed me to this particular cam were the
sample pictures and MPEG movie available for download towards the
bottom of this page (at the end of the review):

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_...1_samples.html

I can't say much more about the camera on a technical level because
I'm no expert. But in terms of build quality and results I think
you'll find it very hard to beat at this price point. I wanted
something simple that would do good stills and good short movies. A
lot of cams I looked at did the stills bit okay, but fell short on the
movie side, by only allowing a preset movie length, irrespective of
the size of the installed memory card. I might well have bought a
Canon if it hadn't been for this restriction on many of their
products.

I wanted ONE SINGLE device to take on trips, which could do everything
acceptably well. I can't be bothered anymore taking a stills camera
AND a camcorder on holiday. It's just too much hassle. Moreover, some
air stewardesses insist on putting your pricey kit up in the overhead
luggage compartments, along with rucksacks, booze bottles and all
manner of other gear that could cause serious damage to electronic
equipment.

Whereas, now - with the Sony DSC-W12 - seems my problems are solved.
The small leather case slides onto one's belt and…bob's yer uncle. No
wurries.

I know Memory Sticks are quite a bit more expensive than other types
of flash media. But IMHO they work well and I also notice that Sony
now does another device (basically a 40Gb hard disk with memory card
slots) into which you can dump your material to free up space on your
installed card. Model number is: HDPSM11U1 and it can be seen on the
Sony Style Europe web site (the exact link is excessively long to
quote). But start he

http://shop.sonystyle-europe.com/

Okay - I've heard it said that Mr Sony can be a tad expensive -
especially if you buy directly from him (as you sometimes have to when
his more esoteric devices are unavailable in the local shops).

However - after many years with his company's products I have yet to
be disappointed with either the build-quality, performance or
longevity. In my opinion the gear does what it says - very well - and
keeps going, on and on and on. Looks like all that stuff will see me
out for sure.

In conclusion, and in case you're wondering, I don't work for Sony and
never have. I'm just a pleased customer hoping to help others like
myself in search of a first class digicam, (for not a lot of cash),
that's versatile and eminently portable. I think the DSC-W12 fits that
bill jolly well.

You should check it out - OR the slightly less-expensive DSC-W1 (but
then you might have bother finding a snug-fit case. I didn't want that
inconvenience).

Hope this info is of use to some.



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