Sony Cybershot DSCW5 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

I bought the Sony DSC-W5 few weeks ago, so far I'm quite pleased with it. The choice was between this one and the Canon SD-400, both are 5MP as I think that's the optimum resolution for my use. Looks like both cameras have similar picture quality with a slight edge for the Canon.

So what decided me for the Sony? Mainly these 4 reasons:

I have a Canon G2, which is slow and bulky, but most of all, after 3 years of use the image quality is degradating. Paid $800 for it 3 years ago, one would expect a longer product life.

-Battery. Canon does not know how to measure battery power, it goes from full to empty in 5mn, that's very frustrating as you have to fully charge the battery the day before you're going to use your camera. Sony gives you a detailed view of the charge left, and even in the case you run out of it, you can plug in 2 plain AA batteries.

Sony is fast, very fast.

Sony has a large bright LCD, it's a pleasure to take shots and look at the pictures on the 2.5' lCD.

I found the sony very easy to use, the settings are easily accessible and are memorised through power ups (which is sometimes bothersome as you have to check all your settings before using the camera at the begining of the day)

About blurry pictures, on something like 100 pictures I only had a few that were blurry. Mainly if you press the button half way and wait for the camera to autofocus, you'll get a good picture. Also the flash is required as soon as the luminosity dims a bit. The only defect I could find is on the autofocus, I believe the balanced autofocus feature gets confused on some situations, even simple ones like a mountain landscape with no tree in front.

Setting the autofocus to center may solve the problem. Also Sharpness should be set to "+" otherwise you get very soft images.

Conclusion: A great product for the price, picture quality is fantastic (most of the times), the LCD is a charm to look at.

Just a clarification of the negative reviews below the "little waving hand" does not mean that the camera is moving. Instead, it means that you are trying to take a photo with a setting that would require a very steady hand to get a sharp result. That is why the hand doesn't go away when you put the camera on a table and you can still take good pictures under these conditions, if the camera is held steady enough. This is a great little camera that I have been totally satisfied with so far. And, just as an aside, this information is in the user's manual, it might be a good idea to read this over before writing bad reviews on this site.

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Just to be clear: this is a great camera. It feels solid, starts up instantly, takes good pictures, and has manual controls. It takes AA batteries, has an optical viewfinder, can take expansion lenses, has a huge LCD, and has an AF-assist lamp. Great!

I really like the manual controls. It takes a little while to get used to if you've always been a point-n-shooter like me. But having the controls means that you can take shots that a regular automatic camera in this class would never be able to get. There is actually a 30 second exposure mode, which is very unusual in this class of camera. Read the manual and you will be able to take photos in all lighting conditions.

Unfortunately, even with manual controls this camera suffers in low-light. All cameras without image-stabilization are going to tend to be blurry in low-light. But for some reason, Sony has made their cameras (even the P series cameras) especially sensitive. We were touring around cathedrals in Europe and it is very difficult to get a clear shot because you can't use the flash and the lighting is always a little dark. The solution is to use a tripod, which will give you fantastic pictures. But without one, you have to be creative.

But even so, when you set things up right this camera takes beautiful pictures well-saturated colors, not much graininess. But it will take some learning. If you just want a camera you can leave on Auto all day, you may want a different brand.

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We took over 350 pictures in Walt Disney World, two were blurry, the speed of this camera is incredible. I cannot believe how quickly we were able to shoot pictures. I am totally impressed with this camera. We have had a digital HP and Cannon and this is worlds above! I would reccomend this to anyone with children. The cannon took good pictures but the timing was awful. It could take 20 seconds for the camera to be ready for another picture. The Sony was ready in 3 to 5 seconds every time.

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I got this camera after passing on a 4 mp Olympus to my daughter and having my new 5 mp Canon stolen. I ended up almost glad that the Canon was stolen, because my new Sony is so much better. It is easy to use and fast (my husband is a track and cross country coach, and this camera is quick enough to get each runner as they pass during a race) and produces great pictures.

I also like it's size. I'm not a fan of the itsy-bisty, super-thin cameras; I like to have something to hold onto. This is still small, but not credit-card small. I love the big view-screen, though, and it works well in the bright sunlight.

I researched a lot of cameras, then took a chance and bought one I hadn't even looked into. I am so glad I did.