The V1 - Complaints ONLY please ..

EJN · Sep 19, 2003

Sorry if this seems a bit odd but please don't post your eulogies or fantastic satisfaction on the V1 - I need to know in a hurry what are USERS complaints..things that you feel unhappy about or you think could be better . Why shouldn't I go for the Canon S400 (Ixus 400 to us in UK) - today or tomorrrow if you can please as I've got one 'under my nose' and ready to shell out if the negatives don't put me off. I've seen some sample pics (user) and they look good - is this common , both in P&S usage for quick shooting, and where you have more time. It SEEMS a bit of a slow starter from 'power-on'...that's about all I've had chance to find so far .. handles nicely once you know what button does what. Is this the one that adjusts even in 'P' mode the shutter/aperture just with the jog dial on the back ?
All helpful comments much appreciated - ta
--
EJN

Gene Miller77510 · Sep 19, 2003

Only complaint I would have on the V1 is that the font size on the LCD screen should of been larger.

EJN said:
Sorry if this seems a bit odd but please don't post your eulogies
or fantastic satisfaction on the V1 - I need to know in a hurry
what are USERS complaints..things that you feel unhappy about or
you think could be better . Why shouldn't I go for the Canon S400
(Ixus 400 to us in UK) - today or tomorrrow if you can please as

I bought the S400 and returned it after two weeks of trying to like the camera. Focusing was hit or miss, picture was too soft for my taste, colors to me was not right. Spent too much time in PSE to come close to producing just a fair picture.

You do can do whatever you think is best, the size of the S400 is great, but the V1 is an amazing camera, and I for one am glad that I returned the S400 and got the V1.

Member said:
I've got one 'under my nose' and ready to shell out if the
negatives don't put me off. I've seen some sample pics (user) and
they look good - is this common , both in P&S usage for quick
shooting, and where you have more time. It SEEMS a bit of a slow
starter from 'power-on'...that's about all I've had chance to find
so far .. handles nicely once you know what button does what. Is
this the one that adjusts even in 'P' mode the shutter/aperture
just with the jog dial on the back ?
All helpful comments much appreciated - ta
--
EJN

--
Life is just a stage and we all have enough pictures to proof it!

EJN · Sep 19, 2003

Gene Miller said:
Only complaint I would have on the V1 is that the font size on the
LCD screen should of been larger.

Yes, this is a point on which I always admired the earlier Oly's - excellent display of just the few things you want..but they all seem to be less district these days. I do seem to have that 'leaning' or 'feeling' for the Vi although only just held it for a few minutes..but that's a good sign as first impressions are often the best you get. Have you seen this site..it was what REALLY got me jumping - no local stocks at the time I read this but one just arrived and it's there right now if I make my mind up..

http://www.photoxels.com/sony_v1_imageQuality.html

EJN

HelenPB · Sep 19, 2003

My only complaint would be that I sometimes forget to move my finger, preventing the flash from popping up. I'm getting better at remembering now, but I still have to think about it. Other than that, I absolutely love my V1; my 717 hasn't gotten any use since I bought it.

Helen

EJN said:
Sorry if this seems a bit odd but please don't post your eulogies
or fantastic satisfaction on the V1 - I need to know in a hurry
what are USERS complaints..things that you feel unhappy about or
you think could be better . Why shouldn't I go for the Canon S400
(Ixus 400 to us in UK) - today or tomorrrow if you can please as
I've got one 'under my nose' and ready to shell out if the
negatives don't put me off. I've seen some sample pics (user) and
they look good - is this common , both in P&S usage for quick
shooting, and where you have more time. It SEEMS a bit of a slow
starter from 'power-on'...that's about all I've had chance to find
so far .. handles nicely once you know what button does what. Is
this the one that adjusts even in 'P' mode the shutter/aperture
just with the jog dial on the back ?
All helpful comments much appreciated - ta
--
EJN

--
http://community.webshots.com/user/helenpb_
http://pbase.com/helenpb

F717, V1, PS7 & PSE2, Epson 820 & 2200

EJN · Sep 19, 2003

HelenPB said:
My only complaint would be that I sometimes forget to move my
finger, preventing the flash from popping up. I'm getting better at
remembering now, but I still have to think about it. Other than
that, I absolutely love my V1; my 717 hasn't gotten any use since I
bought it.

Helen

Helen -

I'm a 717 owner too and since the very first day I think it gave me more satisfaction and a sense of 'quality' that I'd not had from old Rollei/Hass days with Zeiss that certainly showed very similar results. That's why I keep getting drawn to the V1 - small, simple but 'expandable' although frankly I now look for a camera that will P&S yet with 'pro' type quality. Just today the first V1 has appeared locally , would you believe, (UK do lag behind!!!) and on just picking it up for 5 minutes I felt 'right' with it. Being the canny sort I felt I HAD to get some reactions from folk who'd had chance to use it far more than here...but I'm having dificulty finding ANY bad things !!!

Viktoras · Sep 19, 2003

Some shortcomings of V1:
1. V1 flash charging time is too long, about 10 sec, after each shot.
2. Small LCD and playback zoom (x5)
3. In some situations V1 has blue cast:

4. Sometimes V1 pictures have more visible noise and are less sharp than Canon S45 pictures. See samples
V1 sample:

S45 sample:

3. When shooting at infinity V1 shots are some “softer” than Canon S45. See samples.
V1 sample:

S45 sample:

But commonly I get very good pictures with my V1 except some situations.

Viktoras

HelenPB · Sep 19, 2003

Well, I'm pretty sure you'd like it! I still love my 717, but when I get such good quality out of a camera I can keep in my purse and not have to bring my camera bag, I just tend to leave it at home.

This is my favorite V1 gallery, taken pretty much after I bought the camera. I brought the 717 along to this as well but ended up taking everything with the V1. Unfortunately I forgot that I had reduced the image size, so a few of them are much lower resolution than I had intended.

http://www.pbase.com/helenpb/v1_goes_to_the_flightline

Look forward to seeing your V1 pics

)

Helen

EJN said:
Helen -
I'm a 717 owner too and since the very first day I think it gave me
more satisfaction and a sense of 'quality' that I'd not had from
old Rollei/Hass days with Zeiss that certainly showed very similar
results. That's why I keep getting drawn to the V1 - small, simple
but 'expandable' although frankly I now look for a camera that will
P&S yet with 'pro' type quality. Just today the first V1 has
appeared locally , would you believe, (UK do lag behind!!!) and on
just picking it up for 5 minutes I felt 'right' with it. Being
the canny sort I felt I HAD to get some reactions from folk who'd
had chance to use it far more than here...but I'm having dificulty
finding ANY bad things !!!

--
http://community.webshots.com/user/helenpb_
http://pbase.com/helenpb

F717, V1, PS7 & PSE2, Epson 820 & 2200

Kelvin Li · Sep 19, 2003

Like everyone else, I love my V1. The few things I would change are:

1) Like HelenPB mentioned, the location of the Flash is also a bit annoying to me. But I've also learned to not hold it there.

2) Sony Memory Sticks... purely for the fact that they are proprietary (like xD cards). I'd take CF anyday, but its something easily accepted when you consider the feature set of the V1

3) Flash charge - this really bothers me. it takes so long to charge, and is annoying when you are taking pictures of people, and then they must "hold their pose" while you wait for it to recharge

4) Battery life - much shorter than I'm used to, but I just picked up another battery so i'm good to go (though of course i'd still prefer a longer battery in general. but for the size thats something you have to give up i guess, although the pentax 550 apparently was able to circumvent this)

5) Menu - I prefer the setup menu (camera functions, not image settings) to be accessible from the push of a button, rather than having to dial to it. but this is a minor flaw

6) I wish the exposure setting was available in full manual mode.

I think those are my main "complaints" but for what the camera is, I wouldn't give it up. I love my V1, and thats coming from someone who's never been a big Sony Products fan.

WalterB · Sep 19, 2003

I'm new to digital still cameras; the V1 is my first( I've decades of prior photographic experience with film SLR's).

The manual is lousy...the most important diagrams to realize specific functions are so small they benefit from magnification.

The learning curve to use the many buttons/menus with reasonable speed during a shoot is very significant. I'm still learning after ~~1 month of focus.~~

The position of the pop-up flash is a real pain..but you do get used to it.

In the point&shoot mode in anything but very bright light, the camera thinks it's cool to crank down to 1/30th of a second exposures, thereby assuring a high fraction of blurry photos. I avoid this and use shutter priority much of the time...now moving to "P" to assess workable combinations quickly.

I'm used to the heft of full size SLR cameras and occasionally find the V1 too small in my hands.

The optical viewfinder is near worthless; without diopter correction for imperfect vision (me) and some exposure data( as with EVFs) it is very crude for my use..but I do use it in very bright sun conditions for "snap shots". I am definitely missing an EVF like the one in the 717.

The "blue cast" problem with AWB is real, but not major, and requires some post processing only infrequently. I haven't yet learned to alter the balance
on the camera in real time...soon maybe.

I was aware of all of the above BEFORE purchase. Why did I buy it?
I wanted a camera that was smaller than the 717 and lighter than the 717.

I wanted a camera that is with me all the time( in the car glove compartment or coat pocket.)
Oh Yes...the V1 does take terrific pictures beyond my expectations for it.

It's been so much fun, I'm thinking about adding the 828 to my digital arsenal. I'll go traveling with the V1 soon. That experience will tell me how much I miss an EVF.

SteveM · Sep 19, 2003

My only complaints are is that it is not black, it is too small, it doesn't have an RGBE sensor and that it can't produce 8 mega pixel images.

So I'll probably end up getting the F828 instead ;-)

Andrew Mullan

BTW no swivel lens also.

EJN said:
Sorry if this seems a bit odd but please don't post your eulogies
or fantastic satisfaction on the V1 - I need to know in a hurry
what are USERS complaints..things that you feel unhappy about or
you think could be better . Why shouldn't I go for the Canon S400
(Ixus 400 to us in UK) - today or tomorrrow if you can please as
I've got one 'under my nose' and ready to shell out if the
negatives don't put me off. I've seen some sample pics (user) and
they look good - is this common , both in P&S usage for quick
shooting, and where you have more time. It SEEMS a bit of a slow
starter from 'power-on'...that's about all I've had chance to find
so far .. handles nicely once you know what button does what. Is
this the one that adjusts even in 'P' mode the shutter/aperture
just with the jog dial on the back ?
All helpful comments much appreciated - ta
--
EJN

EJN · Sep 19, 2003

HelenPB said:
This is my favorite V1 gallery, taken pretty much after I bought
the camera. I brought the 717 along to this as well but ended up
taking everything with the V1. Unfortunately I forgot that I had
reduced the image size, so a few of them are much lower resolution
than I had intended.

http://www.pbase.com/helenpb/v1_goes_to_the_flightline

Look forward to seeing your V1 pics )

Helen

Helen -

Don't you worry - THAT gallery I've already seen...and it's gorgeous if ever there was one to show what the V1 can do - this has me sold !!! What a situation though... doubt if MY pics would ever be quite the same...but it IS very very excellent.

EJN

EJN · Sep 19, 2003

WalterB said:
I'm new to digital still cameras; the V1 is my first( I've decades
of prior photographic experience with film SLR's).

The manual is lousy...the most important diagrams to realize
specific functions are so small they benefit from magnification.

The learning curve to use the many buttons/menus with reasonable
speed during a shoot is very significant. I'm still learning after
~~1 month of focus.~~

The position of the pop-up flash is a real pain..but you do get
used to it.

In the point&shoot mode in anything but very bright light, the
camera thinks it's cool to crank down to 1/30th of a second
exposures, thereby assuring a high fraction of blurry photos. I
avoid this and use shutter priority much of the time...now moving
to "P" to assess workable combinations quickly.

I'm used to the heft of full size SLR cameras and occasionally find
the V1 too small in my hands.

The optical viewfinder is near worthless; without diopter
correction for imperfect vision (me) and some exposure data( as
with EVFs) it is very crude for my use..but I do use it in very
bright sun conditions for "snap shots". I am definitely missing an
EVF like the one in the 717.

The "blue cast" problem with AWB is real, but not major, and
requires some post processing only infrequently. I haven't yet
learned to alter the balance
on the camera in real time...soon maybe.

I was aware of all of the above BEFORE purchase. Why did I buy it?
I wanted a camera that was smaller than the 717 and lighter than
the 717.
I wanted a camera that is with me all the time( in the car glove
compartment or coat pocket.)
Oh Yes...the V1 does take terrific pictures beyond my expectations
for it.
It's been so much fun, I'm thinking about adding the 828 to my
digital arsenal. I'll go traveling with the V1 soon. That
experience will tell me how much I miss an EVF.

A few interesting points here... the flash pop-up keeps getting mentioned although I'm not sure if the whole flash thing would bother me as I hate onboard flash on this type of camera (am a natural light man anyway) but just done yet another look on Phil's review and STILL cannot see just where is this button that everybody seems to have trouble with. Am I having one of those days ????? It doesn't seem very evident - where is it ? Anyway, is it (or not) the case that if you have Flash 'Off' (as I usually do) then even if it popped up it would not fire or make any difference? Also on one other camera I've got or had, you could set in Menu the Hot-Shoe to 'On' or 'Off'. If set 'On' then no way would the pop-up fire ...that would suit me as if anything I'd use my Metz for special flash shots..If I couldn't get a casual shot without flash (the pop-up) I just wouldn't bother. Would that cover it?

As to the 1/30th sec thing in 'P' - is it not possible to change the shutter to a higher level via the jog-wheel ...assuming of course on second thoughts that you could do so with aperture in hand...maybe that's when YOUR complaint would come in...although you imply that shutter could/should be higher ...not too clear on that

Blue cast occasionally - well, yes, I've found that evident in more than this camera so I think it's likely to be a 'digi' feature that just happens in many cameras if the situation is such to evoke it

--
EJN

Greg Gebhardt · Sep 19, 2003

Andrew Mullan said:
So I'll probably end up getting the F828 instead ;-)

Andrew Mullan

BTW no swivel lens also.

EJN said:

Sorry if this seems a bit odd but please don't post your eulogies
or fantastic satisfaction on the V1 - I need to know in a hurry
what are USERS complaints..things that you feel unhappy about or
you think could be better . Why shouldn't I go for the Canon S400
(Ixus 400 to us in UK) - today or tomorrrow if you can please as
I've got one 'under my nose' and ready to shell out if the
negatives don't put me off. I've seen some sample pics (user) and
they look good - is this common , both in P&S usage for quick
shooting, and where you have more time. It SEEMS a bit of a slow
starter from 'power-on'...that's about all I've had chance to find
so far .. handles nicely once you know what button does what. Is
this the one that adjusts even in 'P' mode the shutter/aperture
just with the jog dial on the back ?
All helpful comments much appreciated - ta
--
EJN

Click to expand...

--
pocket!

Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida

mike bustad · Sep 19, 2003

Very few complaints here but I have a couple. Firswt off throw the flash complaint out the door it is not an issue unless you just bought the camera because within a few days you will rarely have a problem and actually I find it more compfortable to hold the camera the right way anyhow is more stable.

First when using the external or internal flash there is to much time between shots waiting ofr the camera to charge up.

second I wish the LCD screen showed up better in bright light.

Batter could be better but buy a couple extra and it is no longer a problem.

Overall I love this camera and it would be hard to beat

--
Tanglefoot47

mike bustad · Sep 19, 2003

Some might find me nuts but I like my V1 better than the 717 and I sold my 717 and kept my V1. But then again I have a 828 on order.

--
Tanglefoot47

EJN · Sep 19, 2003

mike bustad said:
Some might find me nuts but I like my V1 better than the 717 and I
sold my 717 and kept my V1. But then again I have a 828 on order.

--
Tanglefoot47

mike -

To be honest, that's what I'd had in mind but it bothers me no end when I see nothing so far to give me confidence in the 828 and whilst I believe nothing til I see it (there are ALWAYS complainers) it still would be nice to get SOME sort of good feedback - alas it's a bit thin underfoot so far...will it come up to expectations? ... and I STILL say the weight is going to let it down....it's most definitely not a V1 !!!!! or a 717 for that matter. Anyway, in UK there seems not a hope we shall see it for months yet.

--
EJN

mike bustad · Sep 19, 2003

I am sure it will be a good camera but it will take time until we see some good samples. I would bet in about a month from now we will see better. I think you are right about the weight issue it is a big camera no doubt. But when you think of it it's not all that much more than the 7x7 what about 6oz? I don't mind myself but to others it will be the killer of this camera for them.

Tanglefoot47

denisb178489 · Sep 19, 2003

I buy it because it was small, and I can have it in my pocket.

I was really desapointed of the iso setting. ISO-800 as the sensibility of iso-200 on film.

If you compare the metering with a ligthmeter you have two full stop slower with the V1

rolev · Sep 19, 2003

I don't have a V1 but i played with one for a while and didn't like the zoom switch.

rolev · Sep 19, 2003

Great shots! : ))

The V1 - Complaints ONLY please ..

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