advice needed - am thinking of sony dsc-w100 (1 Viewer)

[andrew markworthy]

As the title says, I'm thinking of getting a new digital camera (I currently have a 5.0 megapixel Sony Cybershot, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth and it's a bit too bulky).

Okay, here are my needs:

(1) most of the time all I need is a point and shoot digital camera
(2) occasionally I need to be able to take a rather better quality, properly composed picture in connection with my work (if pre-warned I will take along an SLR but once in a while I've got to do a portrait shot or similar on the spot) and the pictures must be of sufficient quality that they won't disgrace themselves if reproduced via a digital projector in a Powerpoint display, etc
(3) the camera should ideally have relatively little shutter lag (though this isn't of paramount importance)
(4) it must have integral flash
(5) it must be small enough to fit in a shirt pocket
(6) it must be reasonably robust (I tend to carry a camera around with me in my briefcase whilst at work) and I'd like a camera where the lens is automatically protected when the camera is switched off (i.e. no messing around with lens caps)
(7) ideally it should be capable of taking different lenses
(8) I'd like to keep the cost down to a sensible level

I've more or less settled on the Sony Cybershot DSC-W100 on the grounds that it fulfills the above criteria (especially the add-on lenses bit - are there other compact digitals that can do the same?) and I'm pleased with the quality of the Cybershot I've got. However, please can anyone suggest alternatives?

Also, if I do get the DSC-W100, do I have to buy Sony conversion lenses, or are there other (cheaper and/or better) alternatives available please?

 

[andrew markworthy]

EDIT: after reading some more, I suspect I will be looking at the DSC-W70 as for reasons best known to Sony, the W100 doesn't take extension lenses.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

In that price range, I'd probably give serious consideration to the Fuji F30 or maybe the newly released F20, if you don't need aperture/shutter priority modes and the better LCD -- the F20's LCD should still be higher res than that Sony W70. There are some caveats though w/ the Fuji subcompacts (as w/ any such digicams), so I'd recommend checking out reviews like this one before taking the plunge:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf30/

_Man_

 

[andrew markworthy]

Many thanks - will look into it.