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| Date Reviewed: 12/05/2003 |
- huyones
- Member Since:
Dec 2003
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Reviews
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Strengths: FAST autofocus, crisp pictures, great outdoors OR INDOORS, great low light shooting, 640x480 video
Weaknesses: Battery life is short
Summary: This is the ONE!
Great camera, especially for those with kids. The fast autofocus (in good light or low light) is an absolute must if you are taking pics of kids...they just won't stay still. This camera hardly ever blurs the image because the autofocus and the lens is so quick. At night or indoors, where there is low lighting and other cameras struggle (I returned the Sony P10 because of this), this camera has almost no lag. I turned off all the lights, put it on NightFraming so I could see my kids, and took pictures. They turned out as good as if I had all the lights on...and there was hardly any lag to taking the picture. This fast performance (with great looking, fine detailed, crisp and true colors pictures) made it the choice for me over all other digital camera's in it's price class.
The video mode is GREAT. 640x480 is wonderful. Though it stutters a little bit, the ability to capture full video with sound at regular TV size where you are at without carrying you extra camcorder is much more valuable then one would think.
There's tones of other great things about this camera that is top notch that you can read about on websites devoted to reviewing digital cameras.
 99% of People (104/105) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/21/2004 |
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Strengths: Superior suite of options: ISO to 800, man/auto exposure, night shooting, holographic autofocus, hot shoe, many modes
Weaknesses: Small LCD (standard 1.8 size, but not great), 4x Zoom fair only, wish it had a dock, wish it had a remote
Summary: I waited before giving up my old cannon A-1 SLR a long time. The Sony V-1 has enough power and in a small package that we take more photos now than ever. Great preset options for my wife, who is a novice. I like playing around with different modes, exposures and lighting to be creative. Memory stick pro is fast and you can get good deals on memory through sales on Amazon or CompUSA. I bought a second battery and charger so that I always have a spare. With spare memory & battery, you're set for hundreds of super high quality photos. I do a lot with Photoshop too, and if you don't use too high of a digital zoom setting, you can make terrific enlargements and crop as necessary without losing detail. Also, the colors pop. I added and HVL-32 flash which works with the camera's holographic auto focus to range the flash. It's great. And I got a cool Sony tripod that lets you swap from the camera to a Sony Camcorder and have many functions automated on the adjustment bar of the tripod head. You probably won't use the night modes that much, but it's cool being able to take pictures in the dark (good for pets and kids on halloween). Overall very pleased with this camera. Well thoughtout prosumer camera and great assessories -- very pleased. Take the time to read the instruction book to avoid frustrustration. Good luck!
98% of People (41/42) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/17/2004 |
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Strengths: very high quality pictures, succesfull in low light conditions, manual controls, size
Weaknesses: low battery life, useless software
Summary: I ve been using this camera for 6 months and I m very happy with my first digital camera and my huge picture albums. I highly recommend you to purchase an extra battery and also use Picasa software instead of Sony's Image mixer.
96% of People (48/50) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/04/2004 |
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Strengths: Size, great pictures, manual and automatic control, fast power-up and fast capture
Weaknesses: battery life lasts about an hour.
Summary: This camera is easy to use and has a great lens. I like the manual control- for sports shots you can increase the shutter speed, for night time you can select the night portrait mode and it will allow you to pick up background instead of being blacked out, etc. The video mode is great if you don't want/or can't take along a big camera bag with a video camera and a still camera. The 32mg memory stick is not big enough so I got a 256mg memory stick pro from Circuit City for $90. That was plenty big enough. I would suggest at least a 128mg memory stick. I bought 2 extra batteries from a company on the internet for $42 and charge them before my trip since you charge the batteries in the camera. You can buy an external charger but that costs about the same as another battery. They are not very big and fit in my small camera case I got at Best Buy for $6 and it goes on my belt. Very small and easy to carry with you. I had no problem taking it with me on our trip to Epcot Center and it was never a hassle. I love it.
96% of People (23/24) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/17/2004 |
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Strengths: Image quality, focus speed, size relative to other cameras with the same features, price.
Weaknesses: Small LCD, poor auto white-balance feature, not the best ergonomics, Memory stick media only.
Summary: For me it came down to purchasing either the DSC-V3 or the DSC-V1, which was less than half the price of the V3 at the time of my purchase...I ended up going with the V1, and I'm happy with the decision. The picture quality is great, and auto-focus is fast and sharp in ANY lighting conditions, and for me these are the two most important features of any camera. By not buying the V3 I lose some features such as - CF Card capability, RAW imaging support, larger LCD, 30fps movie mode and 7mp sensor (not really a big deal - 5mp will produce huge prints). The V3 is definitely a better overall camera, but the V1 is a much better value (at this time).
94% of People (31/33) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 11/14/2003 |
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Strengths: speed in writing images, very quick reaction time from pressing the shutter to image capture (much better than any other I tried--no detectable delay!) Great quality pictures. Resolution on MPEG movies
Weaknesses: location of pop up flash, flash recharge is a little slow. Image writing of email size pictures is labeled as .jpe which has presented some problems in using them with other software programs.
Summary: I love this camera. I had a previous Sony that I liked but wanted more resolution. I tried another Sony and Canon before settling on this one. Have been very satisfied with it. Just wish it saved the email size pix in another folder as .jpg like my previous model.
94% of People (16/17) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 10/04/2003 |
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Strengths: superb Carl Zeiss Lens, captures crisp and vivid pictures. holographic focus, very useful when using in darkness. compact and stylish body design. Great vedio quality.
Weaknesses: expensive accessories, comparing with other media storage.
position of bulit-in Flash.
Summary: this is an awesome camera. it has all functions you need. very good design and excellent picture quality. The main complains are: the expensive accessories, e.g., memory stick or memory stick pro; occasionally, you will forget to move you hand off the built-in flash when it pops-up. Overall, I personally recommend this cool babe highly!
92% of People (12/13) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/25/2004 |
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Strengths: Excellent pictures with good color indoor or out. night pics. manual controls.
Weaknesses: camera is difficult to hold because of the location of the pop up flash, but one can get used to it.
Summary: First digital, and I did a lot of research for an amatuer interested in photography. Final hoices included Olympus 410, Canon S1, and Canon A75. I was looking to get into digital with low cost yet good features and durable. Salesperson convince me the DSC V1 was a better value with more features. He was right. Great pictures indoors or outside, including action. Movie mode is great! I got a 256 Sandisk memory stick for $74 with $20 rebate. You have to get more batteries, as the stock holds 87 mins full charge. You can do this on the internet at lower cost than the $60 per Sony battery, although I cannot yet vouch for quality. All tolled, camera($449) (including a 32 mg card, AC adapter, built in charger), 256 card ($54 w/rebate), case ($20), two extra batteries and charger ($61), and I still want another 256 mg card to take on our trip. A lot of money. But for someone like me just getting into digital and wanting lots of manual options, I am very pleased. Hope it will be durable, too. Seems like it will take some knocks.
Summery: Very very pleased with the camera, the pics. the quality so far. Takes a few days to read the manual and get used to all the things you can do so you get good pics. The manual does not teach you how to take good pics, just how to change the settings. Very well built. Solid as far as I can see. The Olympus 410 was attractive because it is "weather resistant" yet it does not have nearly the features as this one. My 15 yr old will be using it, we will take it to the ocean, camping, fishing, etc. Mpeg movies up to storage capacity are very very good. As others have noted, the flash is poorly located for holding the camera, but I am getting used to it. The night shooting modes are incredible. Get this camera. I read the W1 is not as good, but no details.
It does not replace my trusty AE-1 pro with lenses, but it is a good way to learn about digital, wait for technology to improve and eventually get a super digital.
88% of People (21/24) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/30/2004 |
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Strengths: Nightshot,nightframing
Weaknesses: Small LCD screen, poor battery life, location of lift-up flash.
Summary: Nightframing are a feature that every camera manufacturer should add to the mid- high end cameras as it is great for those low light situations. A bigger 1,8"LCD SCREEN would make life more earsier for those whose are half blind. Sony should replace their propriety battery with a rechargable 2100 AA PENLIGHT batteries that can use normal alkaline batteries in case of emergency.
88% of People (7/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 09/15/2003 |
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Strengths: Portable with all great features, Superb image quality, record up to 6+ minutes of quality 640X480 MPEG,fast Zoom
Weaknesses: Poor location of the built-in popup flash
Summary: I have used the V1 varies shooting condition, I am very happy with the superb quality of the images, even in the low light condition. Highly recommend purchase a add-on Flash for indoor shooting. I strongly recommended this Sony DSC-V1 for anyone looking for upgradebility and superb image quality
85% of People (11/13) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 09/25/2003 |
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Strengths: Great image quality, sturdy, many accessories, great price for a 5.0 megapixel camera.
Weaknesses: None so far.
Summary: I thoroughly enjoy using this camera because it is dependable and routinely gives me the shot I am looking for. I like that the camera has many accessories like wide angle and telephoto lenses that are optimized for megapixel technology. Though the camera is compact, it is very easy to use. The manual adjustments can be tricky, but become easier once you get to know this camera. Highly recommended.
83% of People (10/12) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/04/2004 |
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Strengths: Automatic focusing, white balance
Sturdy construction
Manual tweaking
night functions
Ergonomic, intuitive controls
very good lens
Sharp, noiseless, vibrant pictures
Very fast
TIFF
Weaknesses: energy pack is too small for camera
grip is not as secure as with some other camera's especially when one has big hands
Summary: From my first (fully automatic) picture on, this camera produces crisp and vibrant images. The images can be captured in TIFF (100% lossless), but the jpeg compression produces very good results. I experimented, amongst others, with the white balance settings, and it seems that the automatic settings are really well balanced. The same goes for the sensitivity which goes up to ISO 800 (!). Macro pictures are superb with a breathtaking depth of field. Flowers look more beautiful than in reality ! The holographic 'night framing' is precise and the IR nightshot is sensational.
It is also very easy and intuitive to adapt imaging parameters even when you're not a professional photographer.
I equipped my SONY DSC V1 with a 256 Mb Pro memory stick which gives a lot of operational freedom albeit that the power pack is the real limiting factor here. This is the only weakness of this outstanding piece of equipment.
79% of People (15/19) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/04/2004 |
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Strengths: nice auto focus,
Pictures are pretty nice,
Night shot,
4x optical Zoom,
Really nice manual control, and
really Compact size for a professional camera
Weaknesses: Accessory are WAY too expensive,
Battery life is kinda crappy but batteries are small but expensive,
sometimes noisy pictures
Summary: The DSCV1 is a really good camera. 4x optical is hard to get these days for a 5 megapixel. The battery is kinda crappy but the battery's size makes up for it. Although, the batteries are kinda expensive. 32 megabyte memory stick comes with the camera but all cameras come with a small memory card with it. (unless internal memory then they come with none). The Accessories I find are too expensive for the price... seperate battery charger shouldn't cost around 99.99 cnd. Night shot/frame is kinda usefull when you're taking pictures in the dark. The LCD is kinda small and standard which could be improved abit but would drain the battery even more, so Sony probably had to compensate. The thing I love most about this camera is taht it has almost FULL manual control over it. I could tweak almost everything. I do have a complaint though. It's these screws that are clearly visible on the camera taht makes it look really badly designed.( By the dial and zoom and on top of the AE lock and by the ACC). I paid $800 CND for this product and It should be well designed. Other than that its a nice camera. People complain about where the flash is located.. If you think about it.. its better than no flash because there is no where else to put it and Sony knew that people would complain but you'll get use to it.
78% of People (7/9) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/15/2004 |
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 I feel a complete contradiction to what was writte ... Strengths: Occasionaly great photos, better then most of my previous cameras. I really should give it a four stars minus, good manual settings enabling you to get natural lighting shots
Weaknesses: most of manual settings can't be seen in settings cause they are tiny . Too many blurry photos
Summary: 2004-08-22 17:31:11 I feel a complete contradiction to what was written here in a way, and what I get from my camera. I occasionally hear the same complaints from others. On occasion the camera takes great photos, but soo many options to go thru, I have to wonder if experts tried them out. Most of time though the photos especially in manual settings are off a little or blurry but occasionally a great photo comes out. The question becomes why don't others experience the same things? Other reviewers give it 3.5 out of five for noise and poor battery and average photos. I have found it better then my other cameras which had less resolution but you must work to get the great shots and have not tried any newer cameras from other makers. I don't know if this is a quality control issue and I have bad camera or its a user problem so I am torn here. After two cameras I am not sure I want to try again which is why I didn't give it a higher rating The other question I end up asking me is it worth keeping to get the occasional great photo.
77% of People (10/13) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/22/2004 |
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Strengths: Excellent Quality, Features, Speed, Media, Size...
Weaknesses: You can't get the best grip...
Summary: This is an excellent product that has wonderful features and unbelievable media speed when used with Memory Stick Pro. This product is very compact and very portable. The battery life in the unit is a bit lower than the competition, however, it's better than some of the older Sony Cameras. The quality of this camera is what can only be expected from Sony. They have done an absolutely wonderful job with this camera. I would recommend this to anyone who has a desire for top quality pictures without sacrificing durability. This is my third Sony Digital Camera and I will never use another brand.
76% of People (13/17) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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