The Cyber-shot DSC-W5 is an affordable yet high-performance 5-megapixel digital camera that offers a Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens, large 2.5-inch color LCD, automatic simplicity and advanced features that you can "grow into" later, housed in a very compact, stylish and durable metal body about the size of a deck of playing cards.
The Cyber-shot W5 is the perfect camera for photographers desiring to step-up to a higher resolution and faster performing camera or for those who are just beginning to explore the wonders of imaging in the 21st century. Sony's new Real Imaging Processor was specifically designed for fast camera response time and extended battery life. The Cyber-shot W5 is powered by two AA type cells with an average life of up to 380 shots when using the supplied high-capacity NiMH rechargeable.
Capable of capturing full-resolution images in a little over one second intervals, you'll never have to worry about missing any of the action. Burst mode lets you capture nine Fine quality shots at 1.1fps or up to 100 shots in VGA quality. An even better way to capture the action is to use the W5's motion video recording mode. The VX Fine mode records full VGA (640x480) resolution with audio at 30 frames per second when using Memory Stick Pro media. The VX Standard mode records 640x480 video at 16fps on regular Memory Stick media. The length of video capture in either mode is limited only by the amount of available space on the memory card.
Beginners or anyone can capture a picture quickly using the Auto or Program AE exposure modes. For those wanting complete control over the photographic process, the Manual exposure mode has shutter speeds from 30 to 1/1,000 seconds. And the six pre-programmed Scene modes set the camera to capture optimum images in difficult lighting situations. Other advanced features include five-area auto focus, multi-pattern metering, auto fill flash, live histogram, USB 2.0 speed and connectivity and the ability to use high-quality auxiliary wide angle and telephoto lenses.
With the optional Cyber-shot Marine Pack (MPK-WA), the Cyber-shot W models become underwater cameras with water resistance to a depth of up to 132 feet. For those who want greater flexibility, the W5 and W5 models can both be used with optional telephoto and wide-angle conversion lenses.
DSC-W5 Major Features:
- Sony 5.1 Megapixel effective CCD image sensor
- Carl Zeiss 3x Zoom (38-114mm equivalent in 35mm photography)
- MPEG Movie: 640x480 VX Fine w/audio at 30fps (Memory Stick Pro required),
640x480 VX at 16fps, length limited only by media - Auto, Program AE, Full Manual plus 7 Scene modes
- 9-shot Burst (100 at VGA quality) at 1.1fps
- Live histogram display in capture and playback
- 5 Area Multi-point AF; auto or selectable Spot AF point
- 2.5" TFT color (115,000 pixels) LCD Screen with Auto Brightness
- ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 100, 200, 400
- Adjustable color saturation, contrast and sharpness
- Noise Reduction: Automatically cleans up long exposure images
- 14bit A/D Conversion - allows a wider dynamic range from highlight to shadow
- Built-in flash with Auto Fill, Red Eye Reduction and Slow Synchro
- USB 2.0 Auto-Connect to host computer
- Powered by two standard AA type batteries, NiMH rechargeable batteries and charger comes with the camera.
- Memory Stick & Memory Stick Pro compatible, 32MB internal memory
- DPOF and PictBridge direct-print USB compatible
The Sony Cyber-shot W5 is available now for about $350
Physical Views
The 7-megapixel Cyber-shot W7 and the DSC-W5.
Features & Controls
 The Cyber-shot W5 features a Carl Zeiss 3x Zoom, 7.9 to 23.7mm (38 to 114mm equivalent), F2.8 - F5.2 zoom lens. It is constructed of 7 elements in 5 groups with 3 Aspheric elements. When powered down, the lens retracts into the body and is protected by a built-in shutter, no lens cap is necessary. Equipped with a low-light AF-assist lamp (effective range up to 11 ft / 3.5 m Wide, 8 ft 2 1/2 in. / 2.5 m Tele), the 5 Area Multi-point, contrast detection autofocus system has a range of 19.7" (50cm) - infinity in normal mode and from 2-1/4" (6cm) - infinity in Macro focus mode. There is a 5-step manual focus adjustment with infinity available as well.  Conversion Lens Compatible with the optional VAD-WA adaptor, you can add telephoto or wide-angle conversion lenses for greater magnification or wider field of view, as well as protective and special effect filters. Compatible with the Sony VCL-DH0730 0.7x Wide Conversion Lens, the Sony VCL-DH1730 1.7x Telephoto Conversion Lens and the Sony VCL-DH2630 2.6X Super Telephoto Conversion Lens.  The speedlight has modes for: Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Fill-in and Slow-sync. The working range at ISO Auto is ~7.7" – 14.75 ft. (0.2 – 4.5m) in wide angle and and 1 – 8.2 ft. (0.3 – 2.5m) in telephoto. The flash squelches down nicely for macro exposures and has 3 power output settings.  Brighten up your photographs like never before with the optional HVL-FSL1B slave flash from Sony. It is designed to operate in sync with your Cyber-shot digital camera’s internal flash without having to connect a cable. The HVL-FSL1B is equipped with a light control switch and is compatible with the red eye reduction and pre-flash functions of your digital camera. It includes a bracket to make installation a snap.  The eyelevel optical viewfinder provides ~85% frame coverage but lacks dioptric adjustment. The two LEDs indicate flash and focus status.  Controls on the back:
 Top controls: The Power on/off button. The shutter release button is in the center of the Mode Dial. The Mode Dial has positions for: AUTO, Program AE, Manual, Scene Modes (Night, Night Portrait, Candle, Snow, Beach, Landscape, Portrait) Movie and Playback.
The I/O ports on the side provide an A/V output, video is NTSC or PAL, audio is monaural
 The W5 stores its data on ~32MB of internal memory and optional Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO Cards. Memory Stick PRO (up to 2GB max) media is required for capturing the MPEG-VX Fine mode 30fps motion video clips. Number of Storable Photos (approx.)  The W5 is powered by two AA batteries, alkaline or NiMH type. Sony's Stamina technology provides up to 380 shots with LCD turned on or 500 shots with the LCD turned off when using the supplied NiHM rechargeable batteries. And up to 70 shots with the LCD turned on or 130 shots with the LCD turned off when using alkaline batteries. Check out our Rechargeable Battery Page for info and prices on high-capacity NiMH AA cells. Sony specifically states to NOT use manganese, lithium or Ni-Cd type batteries.  Take your Cyber-shot W series digital camera to the depths of the ocean with the MPK-WA marine pack from Sony. Designed to be water resistant to a maximum depth of 132 feet, it helps keep your digital camera safe from damage in a variety of elements. The MPK-WA features bright yellow highlights that make it easily visible in murky water. The included hand strap keeps your camera close at hand, even while swimming.
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Record Mode Screens & Menus
Here is the Auto mode screen display. Minimal information is displayed and only a few parameters such as image size or recording mode can be changed. Upper left is the zoom lens gauge which is displayed momentarily whenever you change the focal length. The image size is "5M"egapixels, the image folder is 101, there's space for 46 shots, a graphical icon of the Memory Stick's available space, in the center are the Auto Focus area target marks and the S AF on the bottom indicates Single-AF focus mode.
This is a "P"rogram AE screen. Top left shows the battery level (full). You can see icons for exposure compensation set to "-0.3EV", the ISO speed is set to 100; white balance, sharpening, contrast and saturation parameters are at other than default values.
When you half-press the shutter release the AF marks will turn green indicating the area of focus, it will also show the selected shutter speed and aperture.
Here's the screen when using Manual mode, it allows users to select both the shutter speed and aperture value, and displays the Exposure Value to inform you if you are about to take an under or over-exposed picture.
The realtime histogram can be toggled on/off by the Monitor button.
When you rotate the mode dial a "virtual mode dial" is displayed. Select from: AUTO, Program AE, Manual, Scene Modes (Night, Night Portrait, Candle, Snow, Beach, Landscape, Portrait) Movie and Playback.
Record options for Program or Manual mode:
Exposure Compensation - Override the metering by +/- 2.0EV in 0.3EV steps Focus - Multi AF, Center AF, 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m, 7.0m or Infinity Metering - Multi-pattern (default), Center or Spot White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash ISO - Auto or fixed at 100, 200, 400 Picture Quality - Fine or Standard Mode - Normal, Burst or Multi Burst Multi Burst - 1/7.5, 1/15 or 1/30 (option appears only when mode is Multi Burst) Flash Level - High, Normal or Low Picture Effect - Off, Sepia, Black & White Saturation - Default is 0 but may be + or - Contrast - Default is 0 but may be + or - Sharpness - Default is 0 but may be + or -
Press the 4-way controller "left" to see a quick Review of the last image captured. For full review options you need to turn the Mode Dial to Playback.
The screen in the 640 Fine Movie mode. Fine mode is VGA resolution 640 x 480 full screen @ 30fps with audio and the length is limited only by the space available on the memory card. 
Movie menu options:
Focus - Multi AF, Center AF, 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m, 7.0m or Infinity Metering - Multi-pattern (default), Center or Spot White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent or Incandescent Picture Effect - Off, Sepia, Black & White |
Playback Mode Screens & Menus
Playback screen has icons for battery condition, image size, picture number / total number of pictures. Across the bottom is the folder name, image file number and time and date.
Pressing the Monitor button toggles the display of the exposure compensation, aperture, shutter speed and the histogram graph. Press it again to clear all of the overlay information for playback on the TV screen.
While viewing a picture fullscreen you can toggle the telephoto zoom control and zoom-in to the image in multiple steps up to 5x. Once magnified you can scroll around inside of the image using the 4-way selector.
Playback index mode, nine thumbnail size images are displayed per page. You can quickly search through the stored images and display one full screen.
Movie clip playback screen, audio is replayed through built in speaker.
You can also Divide a movie in playback. This allows you take a larger movie and separate it into two or more smaller ones, which is very useful when wanting to send them via email.
Playback menu options:
Protect - Protect/unprotect images from accidental erasure DPOF - Attach DPOF printing information to image(s) Print - Print All In This Folder, DPOF image, Select, or This image Slide - Start slideshow, set interval time between images Resize - Resize image to 7M, 5.0M, 3M, 1M or VGA Rotate - Rotate portrait mode images for TV display Divide - Divide MPEG movie clips
Images can be resized to smaller resolutions.
SETUP options - CAMERA 1 / CAMERA 2:
Digital Zoom - Choose from Precision (8x) or Smart zoom Date/Time - Enable date or time+date stamping on the image Red Eye Reduction - Enable/disable the flash Red-Eye mode AF Illuminator - Auto or Off Auto Review - On/Off, allows you to view an image immediately after it has been captured Enlarged Icon - Enlarge onscreen icons when selected
SETUP options - Memory Stick Tool:
Create Rec. Folder - Creates the folder in which captured images will be stored Change Rec. Folder - Allows you to change from created folders Copy - Copy files between Memory Sticks
SETUP options:
Beep - Camera "beep" sounds: Shutter, On, Off Language - Set the Menu language Initialize - Reset to default File Number - SERIES (sequential auto number) or RESET USB Connect - USB protocol: PTP, Normal, or PictBridge Video Out - NTSC or PAL signal timing Clock Set - Set the internal clock |
Conclusion
| The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W5 is 2005 upgrade of the very popular DSC-W1 from last year. It offers many of the features found on its predecessor, like a Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens, 5-megapixel imager and 2.5-inch LCD display. This compact and durable model can be easily used by anyone, simply rotate the Mode dial to either the Auto or Program AE exposure mode for point-n-shoot simplicity. When you want to be a little more creative, it offers 7 scene-specific exposure modes that help you capture great images in a variety of shooting situations. And for anyone who wants to take control over the entire process, the full Manual mode gives you access to more advanced settings like Aperture and Shutter Speed values. With the ability to choose from five different image sizes, the camera offers a great deal of versatility for all types of applications. There's a 3:2 aspect ratio mode that is perfect for capturing images without having to worry about cropping before creating 4x6-inch prints. Its 1MP mode is great for sending pictures via e-mail or posting listings at online auctions, where file sizes need to be as small as possible. We were pleased with the ergonomics of this model. The controls are well placed and the menu system is logically organized. I especially like the size of these models, small enough to fit in a average sized pocket, yet large enough for a comfortable feel in your hands. The "finger grip" located on the front makes one-handed shooting easy and gives a more secure feeling. When you look at the back of the camera, the first thing you'll notice is the massive 2.5-inch TFT color LCD. It performed well when shooting outdoors, the menu screens were legible and framing was no problem, even with the harsh sun beating directly on it. It also does very well in low-ambient light. The LCD does not "gain up" when shooting in these situations, but it is very sensitive, and will allow you to frame even with the slightest amount of light. Also when the focus-assist lamp fires, it illuminates your subject for a brief moment. The Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens helped produce sharp images throughout its 38 - 114mm (35mm equivalent) range, that are virtually free from any signs of chromatic aberration. At full wide angle there is a mild amount of barrel distortion, but not enough to cause any major distortion of your subject. Sony offers three conversion lenses for the W5 when using the optional VAD-WA adaptor. The VCL-DH0730 0.7x Wide angle lens is perfect for landscapes and large group portraits, while the VCL-DH1730 1.7x Telephoto and VCL-DH2630 2.6X Super Telephoto lens will bring distant subjects up close and personal. Its 5 Area Multi-point autofocus system is very quick and thanks to the focus-assist lamp, we had few problems focusing on subjects in low-light conditions. When using Macro mode, we found that the flash does an excellent job of "throttling down" to ensure that it doesn't overexpose the subject. The W5 is a robust performer. Power up to first image captured was a fast 1.5 seconds. Shutter lag was less than 1/10 of a second when pre-focused and only 3/10 of a second including autofocus. In Normal record mode, the shot to shot time is about 1.4 seconds without the use of the flash and 1.5-2.5 seconds with the flash, depending on subject distance. You can choose between two burst modes (Burst, Multi Burst). The number of images you can capture when shooting in burst mode depends on the image size and quality settings. Burst mode captured 4 frames in about 1.9 seconds. It takes about 6-7 seconds for the W5 to process a full buffer and then you can continue shooting. Shooting in Multi Burst mode, with the interval set at 1/30, captured 16 images in 3/10 of a second. When using Multi Burst mode, the image size is locked at 1MP and all 16 images a recorded within a single animated frame. The LCD briefly displays the last image captured when using either burst mode, making it difficult to follow a moving subject; this is when the optical viewfinder will come in handy. All of our test were done using the camera's 32MB of internal memory, with the image size/quality set at 5M/Fine mode, Program AE mode, preview off and all other settings at default (unless noted.) All times may vary depending on lighting conditions, camera setting, media, etc. Like many of Sony's models this year, the W5 features three recording size choices for Movie mode. You can use the 640x480 "VX" Fine mode (30fps) for high-quality movies that can be displayed on your television or choose 640x480 Standard (15fps) to conserve space on your memory card. When using the "VX" Fine mode, a Memory Stick PRO Card is required because of its faster read/write speeds. There is also a 160x112 mode that is great for sending clips via email or posting on the web. Overall the 640x480 Standard movie mode captures good-quality movies. The autofocus system did a good job of keeping up while panning, and there is average amounts of compression noise, but then again a 10 sec. movie is only 4MB compared to the "VX" Fine mode's 14MB. I was pleased with the overall image quality when using its 5M/Fine mode. For the most part our samples were well saturated and properly exposed. Users can control the saturation, contrast and sharpness, which allows you to "dial in" just the right look for your images. I found that the automatic white balance did its job well, even when shooting in very mixed lighting conditions. Our outdoor images were sharp and showed good color balance, with very little noise in both high and low contrast areas. You can see for yourself by taking a look at our Samples page. The flash has an above average range of about 14.5 feet, which works great for all types of indoor situations. You can't illuminate large open rooms like gymnasiums, but portraits of individuals and groups are no problem. If you need some help illuminating your subjects, the optional HVL-FSL1B Slave Flash unit (about $100), is designed specifically for use with Sony Cyber-Shot models and includes a handy mounting bracket. I did notice an average amount of redeye in our indoor flash portraits, even when using the Redeye Reduction flash mode. We felt this is due to the poor position of the flash (directly above the lens.) Bottom line - the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W5 is a durable and stylish digicam that offers great image quality and robust performance. With 5-megapixels of resolution, you can create photo-quality 11x14-inch or larger prints; just make sure you spend a few seconds correcting the redeye in your flash portraits. With a great deal of versatility and price tag of only $350, we feel it offers an excellent value, and should make a great choice for the family, tourist or business user. |
