I bought this camera in Oct 2006 and it is about a year old and I have taken about >20GB of photos and videos with this camera. Well this is a still camera and therefore video capability is an added feature for me. The set is great for ’aim and shoot’. There is an advanced model W55 which may be little improvement on this. Since W55 has anti-vibration in the camera and this one doesn’t. Vibration/shake is a big problem for any digital camera. In low light this becomes pretty evident. This camera can go upto ISO 1000. But the grains start showing much before. As you increase the sensitivity of the camera, the image quality is compromised. But at this price definitely we can’t ask for more. ISO 1600 and up suits SLRs that comes above 35k Rupees. Anyway, the main feature of this camera is (which made me choose this one and not Canon A560) its speed. Be it the focussing or the recycle time. The video by Jassa28 clearly shows how fast the device can focus. In low light this feature is much better than the cameras of similar catagory. When I compared the Canon A560 and Sony DSC-W50 after clicking a photograph, I found a big difference in the recycle rate. Sony was way faster than the Canon. But remember that this test was using the Pro-Duo memory stick and not Duo.
Next thing why I am writing this review is that... this set is TOUGH!! I dropped it several times. My son threw it!! and now I keep it without cover in my bag since I lost the cover!. The camera has got dents and scratches after pretty rough use and still works excellent. Only problem was that the internal tiny blue battery lock broke! The main lock is fine though. I bought an extra battery and a 1GB Pro-Duo memory card and this helps me shoot whatever I want till 1GB of memory is full. I suggest that if you buy a camera with a propreitary battery set, then invest on a spare battery. This will save a lot of frustrations when the battery runs dry in the middle of shooting! I bought this set for 12k Rupees. The price would have come down now.
Well if you are buying this kind of camera, please look for the latest models as digital cameras are ever changing. So the moment you buy one you will know it will be old in few months. That is the status of any electronic device. So dont wait if you are planning to buy one. Only thing you should take good note while you buy any such device is that it shouldn’t be made in China. Even though it is from a reputed brand. I faced this issue in a hard way. My Sony DSC-W50 is made in Japan. Maybe that is why it is running fantastic. My Sony portable all in one audio system has gone bad within a year which was bought in the US and this was made in China. So simply don’t buy any Chinese manufactured stuff. They are of poor quality.
Happy Shooting!