[Recovered Thread: 35349]

[CyberShotNut]

There is nothing wrong with the lens on the W1, you can get excellent quality pictures with a tripod. For some reason it seems like the lens lets less light get to the sensor which is the result for the fuzzy/blurry pictures when the camera is not held perfectly still. I compared the W1 and P100 side by side with the P93 and I definitely found slower shutter speeds with the W1 and P100 in the same lighting conditions. In auto-flash mode, sometimes the W1 will fire the flash when the P93 doesn't. Has anyone tried the Sony slave flash with the W1 yet? This may be the answer to get better photo results.

[blr]

CyberShotNut wrote:

There is nothing wrong with the lens on the W1, you can get excellent quality pictures with a tripod. For some reason it seems like the lens lets less light get to the sensor which is the result for the fuzzy/blurry pictures when the camera is not held perfectly still. I compared the W1 and P100 side by side with the P93 and I definitely found slower shutter speeds with the W1 and P100 in the same lighting conditions. In auto-flash mode, sometimes the W1 will fire the flash when the P93 doesn't. Has anyone tried the Sony slave flash with the W1 yet? This may be the answer to get better photo results.

I guess it's clear that it is not an optical problem. What OCJohn suggested is that we sort of provoke Sony via Carl Zeiss to fix their firmware. Other than that the lens is a very decent piece of glass at least when it comes to purple fringing, there is very little to be found. I've also noticed that W1 has a slight tendency to overexpose in certain situations. I've set the exposure compensation to -0.3 EV as default in P mode.

[sdh]

blr - In response to your comment thatproviding a firmware update would take minimal effort (~a day) on Sony's part, I tend to agree, but I think resistance o nthe part of Sony (or any company for that matter) to do an update is based more on marketing than technical reasons. It's basically admitting that the initial design of a product is flawed which can't help brand image.

That being said, I too have thought the pictures from my w1 have been too fuzzy/soft from the beginning. I'd readily sign a petition to Sony.

Now to rant a bit. I can honestly say that if it weren't for the big lcd and 30fps movie mode, I would not keep the camera. As is, Im considering dumping it for a canon s60 (which I recognize is a different field.) <rant off>.

[Deadlock-83]

I have to disagree with you. I don't think Sony or any other company has a problem admitting they did something wrong.

In fact Sony did release upgrades for the T1 and F828 to correct problems that they had. Isn't that admitting?

The reason they might not want to do that, in my opinion, is because they don't want to be commited to making changes anytime people complain about something.

Anyhow, I've sent them a letter about it. While its not a petition I hope they will take it seriously. I've also referred them to this forum and DPReview's Sony talk forum to illustrate this point.

Anyhow, I must say that I do believe that the W1 is an excellent camera overall. I went to a botanic garden today, with 3 months of experience with the camera, shooting mostly at manual mode, occasionally program.

80% of the shots came out wonderful. Only a handful were out of focus. Exposure was great all the time, and the colors turned out superb. As for sharpness, only when viewing the 5M images at 100% you notice that the details are not as distinct as you would like to see them, but in many pictures that is not noticable. When viewing pictures at 70% none of this can be seen.

I believe most people don't get sharp images because of camera shake. I take all my handheld pictures at 1/125 shutter of faster (in wide-angle). At telephoto I don't go below 1/200. This way I assure camera shake in not an issue, and the results are excellent.

I doubt I would have gotten noticably better results on a Canon S60. I compared the W1 and an S50 side by side, and didn't see any particular advantage for the S50 in image quality (it has greater flexibility though).

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sdh wrote:

blr - In response to your comment thatproviding a firmware update would take minimal effort (~a day) on Sony's part, I tend to agree, but I think resistance o nthe part of Sony (or any company for that matter) to do an update is based more on marketing than technical reasons. It's basically admitting that the initial design of a product is flawed which can't help brand image.

That being said, I too have thought the pictures from my w1 have been too fuzzy/soft from the beginning. I'd readily sign a petition to Sony.

Now to rant a bit. I can honestly say that if it weren't for the big lcd and 30fps movie mode, I would not keep the camera. As is, Im considering dumping it for a canon s60 (which I recognize is a different field.) <rant off>.

Yes, I agree with you on the fact that providing a firmware upgrade can't help brand image, moreover if they do it for W1 they should do it for P100 as well. However if they don't do it it can seriously hurt the sales of these cameras and possibly the P150 as well. There is already enough information on the internet regarding the issue and IMO the majority of potential digicam buyers check the internet before a purchase. So far I've counted close to 100 cases where people returned/exchanged their W1 or P100 mainly because of this, surely there are more.How many decided or will decide on another brand after reading these pages is difficult to say, but with such a tough competition nobody wants to lose even a small share. On the other hand, Sony can turn this to their advantage, saying that they listen to their customers and work for their full satisfaction. Other brands has released new firmware versionsbefore with no harm to their reputation, I believe. If they refuse to do it or just ignore us, it wont do them any good. This will come up on the internet. Nobody wants to buy from a company that ignores their customers. I personally will never buy another Sony digicam if they don't fix this

Edit:

BTW I just checked and it turns out that Sony has released firmware upgrade for V1 also. Thus 3 of the most popular Sony cameras at the moment got one, i.e. F828, T1 and V1, so I see no reason why they shoudn't do it with W1 as well. I also checked the firmware of my W1 and it reads 1. The screen looks exactly the same as the V1/T1 screen so I guess it is firmware upgradable. Cmon Sony!

[AurobindoSaha]

Hi,

Just to add to your comment on V1 upgrade firmware. This upgrade has nothing to do with fixing some flaw of V1. THe V1 firmware upgrade was to add some more language (french,Portugese,.. etc etc) to operate the camera. So I think its not wise to count V1 firmware upgrade with this issue.

Thanks

AS

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AurobindoSaha wrote:

Hi,

Just to add to your comment on V1 upgrade firmware. This upgrade has nothing to do with fixing some flaw of V1. THe V1 firmware upgrade was to add some more language (french,Portugese,.. etc etc) to operate the camera. So I think its not wise to count V1 firmware upgrade with this issue.

Thanks

AS

Yes, in fact the upgrade ofT1 doesn't address image quality issues either, but my point is that it can be done in principle and sony is releasing firmware upgrades

[AurobindoSaha]

Off course if the solution comes through firmware upgrade that can be done. Providing these sorts of after sales service doesnot bring down brand image, rather it ensures customers that "Yes we care"

[brads]

I have noticed here in .au that sony's local website is spruiking "cash back" on new p100 and w1. Is this happening elsewhere?

I certaily feel that the sort of firmware upgrade discussed here, perhaps a new 3-level NR setting in the menu, would make a great mid-life upgrade for the camera. It would ultimately be cheaper for sony than discounting...

[cameranserai]

Well, I guess I could post comparisons between my D70 with a macro lens and a P150, but it seems pointless to me. I can't compare apples with pears. But it is still worth considering that Canon refuse to admit the "Error 18" problemswith the Ixus, that the D70 is already on a software update, and that the Rebel had it's problems at the outset too. The D20 too perhaps? We'll see. I had the 5060 Olympus until it was stolen and it was a superb camera, not much different in price to the P150, but the quality was amazing, plus the facility for manual control and of course the wide angle lens. I replaced it with the P150 purely for size and convenience. If I wanted I would have bought another, but already having the D70 it wasn't worth it. Life is a trade off, which I guess is why the super compacts exist to fit in a handbag/shirt pocket. I doubt if any of them are perfect though, but I look at Steve's recommended cameras every time I need to replace. His testing is thorough to say the least and I place confidence in his judgement. Horses for courses.