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Sony CyberShot DSC-W1
"Picky Details" for the Sony DSC-W1 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)
Timing
Since they're rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), I measure both cycle times and shutter delay times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Sony DSC-W1:
|
Sony DSC-W1 Timings |
|
Operation |
Time
(secs) |
Notes |
| Power On -> First shot |
1.5 |
LCD turns
on and lens extends forward, then snaps the picture. Very fast. |
| Shutdown |
1.3 - 15 |
First time is time to retract
lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time. Very fast for
shutdown, average for buffer clear. |
| Play to Record, first shot |
0.3 |
Time until
first shot is captured. Very fast. |
| Record to play |
0.3/2.0 |
First time is that required
to display a large/fine file immediately after capture, second time
is that needed to display a large/fine file that has already been processed
and stored on the memory card. Pretty fast. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
0.30/0.60 |
First time is at full wide-angle,
second is full telephoto. Both times are very fast. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus |
0.011 |
Time to capture, after half-pressing
shutter button. Blazingly fast! |
| Cycle Time, max/min resolution |
1.24 /
1.35
|
First number is for large/fine
files, second number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images.
Times are averages. VERY fast, and all shots are this fast (no buffer
memory). |
| Cycle Time, Burst mode, max/min
resolution |
0.80 / 0.71
(1.25 / 1.42 fps) |
First number is for large/fine
files, second number is time for "TV" size images. Times are
averages. In large/fine mode, 9 shots were captured and the buffer cleared
in 8 seconds. In TV mode, over 60 shots clicked off without filling the
buffer, and it cleared in 15 seconds. Pretty speedy. |
| Cycle Time, Multi Burst (16) mode |
0.03
(30 fps) |
Camera captures 320 x 240pixel images, stores
them in 4x4 arrays inside normal 1280 x 960 files. User can set frame
rate to 7.5, 15 or 30 frames/second. Stops shooting after 16 shots, the
buffer clears in 2 seconds, and it's ready for more. Very fast. |
The DSC-W1 is a surprisingly (amazingly?) fast little camera, with really excellent shutter response, shot to shot cycle times that would be the envy of most full-sized cameras, as well as very quick startup/shutdown times. Its shutter lag numbers are virtually identical to those of its slightly smaller sibling, the DSC-P100, but its cycle time performance is positively blazing. The one fly in the ointment though, is that the P100 is a camera that "penalizes" you for pressing the shutter button too quickly after a previous shot. If you mash down the shutter button immediately after capturing an image, the camera will just sit there until you let up on the shutter button and press it again. A number of cameras do this, but I consider it to be a pretty significant design flaw.
Power
The Sony W1 uses a AA batteries for power, and comes with two NiMH
rechargeable 2100 mAh AAs and a charger. Because its external power jack is
a proprietary design though, I couldn't perform my usual exacting power measurements.
The numbers in the table below are Sony's, from the W1's manual. While I couldn't
confirm them through my own measurements, I do think they're reasonable, based
both on my own anecdotal experience with the W1 during my testing, as well as
on my experience with the P100, which seems to share much of the same electronics
with the W1.
|
Operating Mode
|
Battery Life
|
| Still-image capture mode, LCD on |
170 minutes |
| Still-image capture mode, LCD off |
290 minutes
|
| Playback mode |
340 minutes (!)
|
These are excellent run times, particularly for a camera powered by two AA cells, but I still highly recommend purchasing another set or two of high-capacity NiMH batteries. See my battery shootout page for rankings of various batteries, based on actual performance measurements.
Storage Capacity
The Sony stores its photos on Memory Stick or Memory Stick Pro memory cards,
and a 32 MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying
at least a 128 MB card, preferably a 256 MB one, to give yourself extra space
for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on
the included 32 MB card at each size/quality setting.
Image Capacity vs
Resolution/Quality
32 MB Memory Card
|
Fine |
Normal |
| 2,592
x 1,944 |
Images
(Avg size) |
11
2.7 MB |
22
1.4 MB |
Approx.
Compression |
6:1 |
10:1 |
| 2048
x 1,536 |
Images
(Avg size) |
18
1.7 MB |
33
952 KB |
Approx.
Compression |
6:1 |
10:1 |
| 1,280
x 960 |
Images
(Avg size) |
45
705 KB |
82
387 KB |
Approx.
Compression |
5:1 |
9:1 |
|
640 x 480
|
Images
(Avg size) |
181
176 KB |
454
70 KB |
Approx.
Compression |
5:1 |
13:1
|
Download Speed
The Sony connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to a Sony desktop running Windows XP. I clocked it at 2356 KBytes/second. This is pretty fast, even for its USB v2.0 interface. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)
|
