Sony Stylin'

After months / weeks / days of consideration, we finally bought our new digital camera tonight using our Yodobashi points. It's a Sony DSC-W1 Cybershot. When the T1 first came out, we were enchanted by its small size and its 5 megapixel resolution, but we kept an open mind about what we'd buy. After all, we were still saving up Yodobashi points to cover our new camera. Then we considered the Kyocera / Contax camera that twists, but my dad has it and doesn't love it.

When it came down to it, I was interested in a few specific things in my new digital camera (I say "my" because Matt got the rangefinder for his birthday):

• Relatively small size, but not at the expense of picture quality or other desired features
• Good ergonomics
• Different pictures modes
• The ability to easily take self-portraits, because Matt and I usually forget to take photos of ourselves
• An integrated cover of some type for the lens so I don't have to worry about (1) remembering to take it off, and (2) losing it

This led us to consider the Sony DSC-F88, which I've personally always liked this design because the swivel of the lens lets you see yourself in the LCD while you frame the shot (this is the first model of this type available in the states but the 3rd in Japan), as well as the Canon PowerShot A80, which has a swivelling LCD that would serve similarly to the swivelling lens on the F88.

I had a successful conversation (in Japanese!) with a helper person yesterday about which was better and he took me to the Kyocera camera. Kawai! (cute) he said. I guess 'cause I'm a girl. Then he took me to the Contax one which is the same except with a better lens, but my dad's not thrilled with his and I thought it would be weak to get the same camera. So even though we had a good communication experience I had to pass on his advice.

In the end we decided on the W1. The A80 is only 4 megapixels, it's a little chunky, and the LCD is small (I do like the A80's choose-your-focusing-point function). The F88 is too new yet to have reviews in America, the power button seems too easy to hit accidentally, and, well, it was the most expensive of the three. The W1 is smaller than the A80, has the largest (read: huge) LCD, the best ergonomics (IMHO), and good scene modes (read the review). Ok, it doesn't have a swiveling lens or LCD. We'll still have to hold the camera out in one hand and guess on the composition of the shot. Still, it didn't seem worth it to pay the premium for the F88 just for that capability, and lose other features in the meantime. So, the W1 it is!

I'm charging the batteries now. We'll let you know how it goes. I expect to buy some accessories, like maybe the wide angle lens and the extra flash.

[Sorry for the lack of updates here. Things have been busy... Japanese class is now every day for 4 hours. It's a great class, but I've been tired.]