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I’m digitally illiterate, so PLEASE HELP me with a buying decision!I want a relatively small camera, but I hope to be able to use external (studio) flash, which needs manual control and hot shoe. Anyone any knowledge of the Sony DSC-V1? Several others from Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony (CD-500), etc also seem to have what I want but these seem to be bulkier and more costly. Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.
Thanks
Peter
Follow Ups:
It blows everything else out of the digital waters, including the so-called Pro slr's.
By all means,get it, if image quality is your primary concern.
Not recommended for sports or other fast moving events, although you could probably make timing adjustments to compensate.
Zeiss continues to make the best optics in the world, and I am happy that they have carried that tradition into the digital realm and through a mainstream company like Sony.
They also have a digital SLR (D1, or N1, not sure which) but it is extremely expensive. www.contax.com (I am not affiliated with Zeiss Inc.)
Good luck and Happy Shooting!
Digital Camera Review was very impressed, giving it their 'highly recommended' rating, which is their highest. For the small camera catagory, it appears that you couldn't do any better. This is probably the only sub compact you'll find with a hot shoe.
Steve's Digicams review was also very highly impressed so you may want to read his review as well. The only negative comment he could make was that this camera has so many buttens, they get in the way and the camera is difficult to hold on to without accidently touching one. To make matters worse, it has no hand-grip. He advises that you get one in your hands first and see if you can live and work with it.
I would suggest you buy a little larger camera like the Cannon G-3. They are much easier to hang on to. Cannon has lowered their price so they are now about the same price as the Sony, and you will get more for your buck. Of course Sony now has the G-5, but it's $100.00 then the G-3 and the Sony.
I've lately been doing a lot of "research" on the web about the Sony DSC-V1 and so far have been impressed by what this camera can do. I'm sure you've read the review of this camera in Digital Photography Review (www.dpreview.com) which is quite favorable. Even better would be to check out the individual comments and discussion threads (see Sony forum) on the same website. This camera seems to have everything you want and more -- compact size, external flash/hot shoe and manual control. It's only real competitor is the Sony F717 which is a bigger, heavier camera. IMO forget the other Sony cams; however there are several competitive Canon and Nikon models mentioned in the DP review. I suppose you should also check these out, but for me, the DSC-V1 is the one to get. BTW -- check out the DSC-V1 samples in DP's "gallery" -- they're pretty damn good!
Consider Canon Powershot G5, about the same size and resolution as V1 and produces overall better pics.See the review of V1 and comparisions with Nikon 5400 and Canon G5 here
Personally, I wont touch any camera which doesnt have tilt & swivel EVF.
The Olympus C-5050 Zoom. Another highly rated camera for about the same price. It doesn't have the swivil LCD Monitor of the Cannon or Nikon but it can be tilted up or down, so you can hold the camera over peoples head for viewing. This camera actually feels good when you hold it. You can actually get a firm grip on it which I think is very important. I also think it's a little more compact then the Cannon. Here's the comments that a magazine reviewer gave of it: The positive; 'Crammed with pro features, very compact, exceptional bright lens. The negative; 'Limited zoom range and slightly noisy lens, minor barrel distortion. They gave it 5 stars for value for money, 4 stars for quality of results. (I would be looking for 5 stars for quality of results)
excuse my consistent ignorance when it comes to features and options, i grew to hate flash and have been using a Minolta srT201 which is about as stripped down as proper 35mm slr comes, with drugstore film and developing and i've never taken a camera course. K.I.S.S. you know and all that. So in the interest of furthering my education what's EVF and why does it need to swivel & tilt?
> > So in the interest of furthering my education what's EVF and why does it need to swivel & tilt?Simple answer.
Think about it this way. Which one would you prefer, tilting and swiveling your body with the camera anchored to your eye, or position the camera where ever you like and tilt and swivel its view finder?
I think Dominic is asking what an EVF actually is. I think Adi is describing an swivel and tilt LCD monitor rather than an EVF (Electronic View Finder ??).Dominic - the advantage of a swivel and tilt monitor is (for example) you can hold the camera above your head and shoot over a crowd and still see where the camera is pointing, unlike a film camera with its fixed viewfinder. You can also turn it round so you can take a picture of yourself and see your image on the screen. An advantage certainly, but those used to and happy with film cameras with their fixed view finders, are likely to be content with a fixed screen.
Adi - thanks for pointing me towards the good review of the 3 cameras in my short list, the Canon G5, Nikon 5400 and Sony V1. Very thorough and informative. The reviewer's conclusion of his findings and specs reads:
"A quick look down the specs and we can see that features wise its between the Canon G5 and Nikon 5400. Performance and value come from the Sony DSC-V1, it's noticeably faster in operation and some $100 cheaper than the other two, it's also smaller and lighter. Clearly if you're looking for a shutterbug's camera with lots of features then you should be thinking of the G5 or 5400, everyone else should have the DSC-V1 at the top of their list."
As the Canon weigh 481 gm whilst the Sony is just 291 gm, for me it keeps it's place at the top of my list. It's performance is similar, but it's a LOT smaller and lighter and less costly.
It strikes me than the Canon G5 is merely a development of a bulky 3 year old design, but the Sony is a completely new camera and not an update of the earlier S85.
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