SONY w150 or Olympus 1010?

hi, i am looking for a camera so i can take graduation pics and use it for editing photos on photoshop. I have narrowed it down to two cameras. The first is the Sony W150 and the other is the Olympus 1010. From what i have read both are really good cameras. The Olympus seems to be getting slightly better reviews and has 7x's zoom verses 5x's zoom. But at the Store the Lady told me the sony will have better picture quality. Which one should i get. I need to get it tommorow. thanks

Thats an excellent question. Looking at the specs they both have some good qualities and I've had time to play with them. Lets compare some specs

Image size & quality: Olympus: 10.1mp Sony: 8.1mp
Megapixels really doesn't matter if you are only printing pictures up to 8x10. Sony has a larger image sensor, therefore, quality will be SLIGHTLY better. Mostly you will notice the better quality in dim lighting at a high ISO setting with the Sony. Remember, the higher the ISO, the more discolored or noisy it gets!


Lens zoom, & focus distance
Olympus: 7x Optical 37-260mm @ F3.5 to F5.3
Sony: 5x Optical 28-140mm @ F3.3 to 5.2

The Sony shows that its slightly better as a wide angle lens but as you know, the Olympus has a better telephoto lens. Something I did notice, the Olympus has a little bit better construction.

Heres a cool website to show a comparison of focal length and follow my directions below.

http://www.tamron.com/lenses/learning_ce...
First click on "35mm film" below the picture, which is above the zoom slider
Next Slide the zoom to 140mm, for the Sony
Then slide it to 260mm for the Olympus
(If you don't first click on the "35mm film" button, you will get the wrong results)

Still not too sure? Now consider other features of each camera.

Flash working range:
Olympus: 15.6 feet @ 800 ISO
Sony: 21 feet @ Auto ISO (up to 1600)
Its hard to find good comparison guides. I have found a couple reviews saying the red-eye reduction is less to be desired but with a little software editing, it really isn't a big deal on the Sony. With the Olympus you will still get some red eye. The Olympus has a wider flash for group picture, the Sony has a greater distance. Hard call!

Shooting modes:
Olympus: 23 (1. PORTRAIT, 2. LANDSCAPE, 3. LANDSCAPE+PORTRAIT, 4. NIGHT SCENE, 5. NIGHT+PORTRAIT, 6. SPORT, 7. INDOOR, 8. CANDLE, 9. SELF PORTRAIT, 10. AVAILABLE LIGHT PORTRAIT, 11. SUNSET, 12. FIREWORKS, 13. CUISINE, 14. BEHIND GLASS, 15. DOCUMENTS, 16.ACTION, 17.SHOOT & SELECT1, 18. SHOOT & SELECT2, 19. BEACH&SNOW, 20. PRE-CAPTURE MOVIE, 21. UNDERWATER WIDE1, 22. UNDERWATER WIDE2, 23. UNDERWATER MACRO), Movie

Sony: 10 Beach, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Fireworks, Smile Shutter, and Underwater.

If you like playing with setting, it seems Olympus gives you more options. Also I noticed in some specs, showing the Olympus gives you a better range of shutter speeds.

It does seem the Olympus does win in features in this regard. They are both solid cameras.

Honestly with all the extras, better zoom and more megapixels, the Olympus does stand out to be better to me for the price. Video recording & low lighting pictures does show to be better quality with the Sony. IF this is not a concern, the Olympus is a great camera.

Here are a couple sites showing image quality. I couldn't find one for the Olympus earlier but here it is!

Sony:
http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/defau...

Olympus: (look at page 5-7)
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-ca...

Image quality on tight close ups and image stablizers shows the Sony to be the better. Standard everyday, wideangle and landscaping shots they both seem to do well.

Hope this additional information helps!

Sony w150 better image quality, better shutter response, wide-angle lens. I feel youll get a better value