Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1S Digital Camera [5MP 3xOptical]

I'm extremely glad I bought it. My girlfriend's description of the camera is "addictive". She takes it everywhere and has filled a stack of CD-R's. The movie mode is great little addition.

Overall, pictures are extremely clear and well balanced. Once or twice the picture was a little blurry on a fast snap but changing the ISO setting would probably fix it. The amazing thing is how fast this thing powers up. Its literally possible to turn it on and get a quick shot on a bus ride or in the car. Very cool.

I'd give it five stars except for two things. 1 is the price of memory stick pro. I eventually found something reasonable but still its about twice as expensive as compact flash. 2. The software it comes with isn't very powerful. I'm using GIMP as a substitute but since the pictures are really good I rarely have to do much post processing.

Overall a great buy, especially on Amazon - and its even cheaper now (damn)!

I spent a lot of time deciding between the various Canon and Sony offerings at the 5Mpx segment. This is my first digital camera, so I wanted a something that would be suitable for a novice like myself, yet has the manual functionality that I could grow into. Canon offerings such as the S50 and the S500, do offer a tiny bit more manual tuning (white balance etc.). Yet the Sony comes close for manual options. The Sony also offers a huge LCD screen (very very useful), an amazingly quick start-up time, easy to use, excellent photo quality, 640x480 video, and AA-size batteries.

The pictures are simply stunning at both 5mpx and 3.1mpx. With blue sky's actually looking blue. Objects are crisp. Also the digital zoom feature does not ruin the picture quality.

Battery life also seems superb, I used the camera on and off continually for about 8 hours last Saturday, taking about 70+ pictures, 5-6 videos, with numerous play-backs - and it didn't even make an impression on the battery charge!

Some people may argue the valid point that you are tied into Sony Memory Sticks and that they are more expensive than CF cards. This is true, but my advice is shop around, and maybe go for a Lexar card rather than Sony - it works out cheaper. Although not as cheap as CF. I bought a 256mb card for about £60.

This camera is a fast little thing. It's start-up kicks ass to my IXUS 400. Navigating the different modes is simple and there are 2 modes that could be quite useful, ie Beach mode, Candle mode. The screen is a massive 2.5inch which pretty much takes up the entire back of the unit. The controls on the back are simple to uses, ie delete, preview. Video Recording mode is exceptional.

The unit takes the Memory Stick media, and is only expandable to 512MB, this is a little disappointing as the IXUS doesn't have a limit. I've since purchased a 256MB Sandisk Ultra II Memory Stick as I have the Compact Flash version in my Ixus and it's a quick memory, the best there is. The camera being USB 2.0 compatible means faster downloading to a PC.

The IXUS however, has a better combination of resolution/quality settings, and so can fit more on its Compact Flash media. But still your just going to dump a full Memory Stick onto CD, Format it then continue shooting.

The option to screw a telephoto lens and other lens attachments to the SONY is extremely useful, also an external flash similar to a shoe mount flash is available.

The SONY DSC-W12 is a brilliant camera. Have a play with both the Canon Ixus 500 and the SONY. You can't go wrong with either. The 2.5inch LCD might sway you a little.