I bought a black Sony DSC-W12* recently, after selling a Nikon CoolPix 3700: I'm simply learning digital photography and needed a more powerful and manual camera, yet compact so that I had not to get "bored" bringing a reflex with me.
Now, before I can start to send real fluffy photos, the question is: do you know about firmware update and reprogrammin techniques for this specific camera? I think all the Sony CyberShots (DSC) can be reprogrammed using the same software and assember, but couldn't google any sources of info.
* Well, dpreview.com has not published full technicals about the W12 yet, which is a software- and CCD-revised version of the W1. So I'm actually linking to the W1 specs.
I don't think you need to do anything like that before you can start posting fluffy photos, just point, and shoot. Only do firmware updates to solve a specific problem that you are actually experiencing.
Of course I was joking by telling I *needed* the firmware upgrade to post fluffy photos.
Many cameras can be indeed enhanced by using an "unleashed" firmware. As it often happens (for the Canon EOS models for example), cameras of the same family have really few hadrware differences, yet some software-driven functions are just "disabled" in the firmware of minor submodels.
It's kinda like CPUs of the same family but different clock speed: they are all the same in the inner inside. When microchips are produced, they got tested for reliability at increasing speeds. Those failing at the highest clocks get down-clocked and sold at a lower cost as a lower-clock CPU.
