Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DSC-V1 Cyber-shot 5MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

I have two film SLRs that I use when I want to take serious pictures. This is my first digital camera. I wasn't going to buy one until I thought they approached SLR quality.

For the most part this camera takes better pictures than my Canon AE program.

The features are great. You can keep total control of every feature or let the camera do it for you.

Particularly nice is the nightframing shot which lets you set up your shot in infrared and then flash it in normal light.

The hologram mode which paints your subject in a laser graph before shooting to control focus and flash also works flawlessly.

I was worried about picture quality, but at 5 megapixels features remain crisp and clear even when blown up by several degrees.

I'd read online about some color saturation isues, but I've experienced none whatsoever. On full automatic mode the Sony engineers seemed to have programmed the camera to create a true to life portrait. A lot of photophiles like higher saturation, and you can get whatever degree of color saturation, crispness, et al by taking control manually.

The camera is compact and portable. You get about 1 1/2 hours of battery life during daytime use, and about half that if you're using the flash. There's a feature that lets you know to the minute how much battery time you have left.

This looks to have all the features of the 717 without the lensocentric style.

Originally I was not planning on buying the telephoto lens, leaving that kind of work to my SLRs, but after seeing the image quality, fun, and ease of use of this camera, I'm getting it.

Another great feature is that the camera plugs easily into any tv set to review pictures, movies, and even make a slideshow. I was at a family gathering and this feature proved to be a big hit.

As far as I'm concerned, the camera is flawless.

Highly recommended.

In response to comments below: The auto white balance in outdoors indirect sunlight issue is just an idiosyncrasy, not a deal breaker. It's easy to work around. Dpreview.com suggests setting the manual white balance to "cloudy". I set the mode dial to "P", which is program-auto mode. Essentially it's the full auto mode except you can adjust individual settings if you like. In "P" mode, which is just one click from full auto mode on the mode dial, I have the white balance setting always on "cloudy", and let it do everything else automaticly. Thus, when I find myself in indirect sunlight, I simply twist the mode dial one click to "P", and the white balance is properly adjusted every time. Very simple. You can see the adjusted white balance effect on the LCD before taking the photo to decide if you like the manual adjustment....................................All the cameras in this class, like the Canon G5 and Nikon Coolpix 5400 have their own idiosyncrasies. None are perfect. But with the Canon and Nikon, no matter what you do, you can't change the slow auto focus/shutter lag. At least with the Sony DSC-V1, it's easy to correct the auto white balance for indirect sunlight....... just takes one click of the mode dial and you're all set........ This camera does so so many things extremely well, don't let the white balance thing detour you from purchasing it.

I obsessed while shopping then bought the DSC-V1, and I have no buyer's remorse. I'm very happy with it. I wanted a camera that delivered a balance of flexible user control, point and shoot simplicity, convenient size and great image quality.

This is my first digital camera. I wanted to get snapshot results that compete with my film cameras for 4x6 and 8x10 photos. I'm more than a casual camera owner: I own two film SLRs (Nikon 8080s), a land point and shoot (Olympus Stylus) and a weatherproof point and shoot (Minolta Weathermatic).

I shopped online in detail. I fell in love with the Canon S50 on paper because it had great specs and it seemed the right size for my wife to manage conveniently too (she likes her Olympus Stylus). However, I looked at test pictures on the www.dpreview.com site. The bigger digital cameras (and the DSC-V1) seemed to outperform the S50, particularly in image sharpness.

In the store, I made up my mind and decided on the Sony DSC-V1. I pointed the camera all over the store and at many objects, including my squirmy kid. The Sony seemed to focus quicker than the other cameras that I played with. The Canon S50 was not as responsive as the Sony DSC-V1. The low-light focusing aids on the Sony DSC-V1 are impressive. They are cool too: The lasers remind me of the alien weapon aiming device in the movie, Predator.

Biggests Pros:
"It's the lens, stupid" -
Pictures have GREAT color and image resolution! I'm simply amazed. This little camera does a lot with the out-of-the-box, automatic settings. Be careful not to fall in love with all the snazzy, tiny cameras if you are fussy about your images: You must remember that you can't do anything with a zillion megapixels if your lens is just too small or, worse, plain mediocre.
Autofocus Performance -
It feels fast and works rather well even in low light. Errors made so far have been mostly mine. With practice, I'm learning about the camera's limits.

Right Size -
The DSC-V1 is small enough to carry and big enough to handle steadily. I'm clumsy yet this camera is easy for me to use with one hand.
Design & Features-
The camera has great features and specs, and it feels solid in your hands. The little door for the I/O ports is a nice touch compared to rubber stoppers on some other brands. For the most part, the buttons actually do what you expect. The manual is well-written and well-organized. Browsing was enough to get me going. Without a manual, I bet you could play with the DSC-V1 for 15 minutes and accidentally stumble on how to set 80% of the relevant features.

Low Light Sensitivity
I impulsively snapped several landscapes in the dusk and darkness to see what they would be like. They were exposed nicely and displayed little/no camera shake. With a tripod, this camera will do wonderfully.

Cons:
Software - The software that comes with the camera is a little cheesy. After visiting the supplier's Web site and downloading updates, I got the camera squared away with my laptop (Windows 2000) and desktop (Windows XP). Be sure to follow the instructions and download the USB driver for your Windows 2000 machine, first. I did not and had some trouble with my laptop.

Other Image Acquisition Software -
Not everybody has drivers for their software to handle the DSC-V1 camera yet. You may have to fuss a bit to get the camera to work with your software.

Price-
It's high. It could be about $100 less, and it would be more competitive.

Moving up from this compact camera, the next (small) step up would be to an Olympus 5050, a Canon G5 or the Nikon 5400. From there, you would need to move to digital SLRs.

Net: It's a wonderous gadget with great usability features. It's much more fun than my SLRs because I like the instant gratification of seeing results on my laptop. I was slow to go digital. I'm glad I waited for the DSC-V1. In a few years, I may add a digital SLR to my toybox.

I have an SLR that I use for "serious" photography, and a couple of small pocket sized film cameras that I use for "street" photography. This Sony is my first digital camera.

I use it in a digital workflow with Adobe Photoshop 7 and a Canon i950 photo printer.

The color tonality and resolution from the Carl Zeiss lens is spectacular. Prints through the digital workflow easily match the best I've made from my Nikon SLR with prime (non-zoom) lenses. Photoshop makes it easy to edit the pictures, fixing light reflection spots, framing problems, etc.

Drawbacks: the battery life is not great. I quickly exhausted my battery on an afternoon-long shooting expedition. I've since bought a spare battery.

The camera is small and somewhat hard to hold steady. Also, if you are in your 40s or older, it's hard to see the LCD screen without bifocals.

The standard 32MB Memory Stick is a joke. Get a larger Memory Stick Pro - they come in sizes up to 1GB.

But don't let the nits distract you. If you are a serious amateur photographer, this is an excellent camera for you. I can't overemphasize how happy I am with the quality of the prints made using this camera and the Canon printer.

the sony dsc-v1 is a top-notch camera that is more portable than its competition. it offers full manual control, 5MP resolution, and 4x optical zoom. i do have a few nits though...

pros:
- 5MP, 4x optical zoom.
- great image quality.
- above average resolution, good tonal balance, good color response.
- full manual control.
- images exhibit very low noise, even at higher ISO.
- image processing parameter control (contrast, saturation and sharpening).
- very fast auto focus!
- quick startup, fast shot-to-shot times (except when shooting TIFF).
- fast write times to memory stick.
- has NightFraming which allows you to focus and compose your scene in total darkness with the aid of the infrared emitter, then shoot a full-color shot using the built-in flash. very cool.
- better than average movie mode.
- compared to the competition (canon g5 and nikon 5400), the dsc-v1 is more compact: dimensions are 4.0"W x 2.6"H x 2.3"D weighing 10.9 oz.
- solid build quality.
- bright, high resolution LCD monitor with anti-reflective coating that works.
- battery charges in-camera, charger doubles as AC adapter.
- hot shoe for external flash (limited to specific sony flashes, though).
- many optional accessory lenses (telephoto, wide angle, filter lenses) available.
- histogram in Live view, Record review and Playback modes
- USB 2.0 means faster downloads.

cons:
- colors a bit washed out.
- noise levels higher than expected
- some purple fringing.
- mild chromatic aberrations visible.
- higher redeye occurrence.
- RAW format not supported.
- saving a TIFF file locks up the camera.
- continuous shooting capability limited to 3 frames.
- minimum ISO setting at 100.
- zoom control is oriented differently so it will take a few tries to get used to it.
- ergonomic issues: tiny menu and resolution keys, very easy to block the flash and optical viewfinder with fingers, left index finger falls right on top of the pop-up flash, suppressing it.
- lots of key functions are buried in menus.
- below average battery performance.
- no separate user settings.
- like most sony products, you pay a premium, pushing up the price.
- expensive memory stick pro cards.
- uses a proprietary battery so add a few bucks to buy a spare (or maybe two given the battery performance).
- the supplied 32MB memory stick is inadequate - again, more $$ for more memory.
- you'll need to remove from tripod to get to the battery or memory stick.

sony has succeeded in delivering a camera that has virtually the same feature set as canon's g5 and nikon's 5400 but in a more compact package. it's not perfect though. RAW format is not supported and writing a TIFF file still takes way too much time. and there are some ergonomic nits that is uncharacteristic of sony. still, this is a great package and worthy of consideration.

i hope this helps your buying decision. peace.