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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. .................................................. ............... Posted via TITANnews - Uncensored Newsgroups Access at http://www.TitanNews.com -=Every Newsgroup - Anonymous, UNCENSORED, BROADBAND Downloads=- |
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