Series highlights: 13.6 megapixel, 2.7" Clear Photo LCD Display, 9 point auto focus, Intelligent Scene Recognition, Smile Shutter™ technology, Super SteadyShot® and HD output

Product Features


• 13.6 MP Super HAD™ CCD
• Anti-scratch Premium Titanium body
• Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution
• Intelligent Scene Recognition Mode
• Carl Zeiss® 3X Optical Zoom Lens
• Face Detection
• Smile Shutter
• Super SteadyShot® optical image stabilization
• Dynamic Range Optimization Standard & Plus
• MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode
• Convenient Photo Modes
• 9-Point Auto Focus
• Color Mode “Real”
• 15 MB Internal Memory
• EXTRA High-Speed Burst Mode
• EXTRA High Sensitivity (ISO 3200) Mode

Product Specs

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W300s Review

digitalcamerareview.com

10/06/08

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 is a good case in point. The W300 is Sony's W series flagship model, an elegant retro-chic digicam with a scratch-resistant titanium shell. The compact little W300 is about the same size as it's predecessor, the Sony Cyber-shot W200, but it has More Megapixels (13.6 versus 12.1), a larger LCD screen (2.7 inches versus 2.5 inches), a very good 3x (35mm -105mm equivalent) Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom, the ability to interface with the latest generation of Sony High Definition TVs, and an enhanced feature set.

The W300 was designed to appeal to both casual users who want a compact or ultracompact digicam with lots of point-and-shoot features and automatic operation, and to photo enthusiasts who value tweakability, pocketability, ease of use, very good optics, and DSLR-like resolution.

FEATURES OVERVIEW

The W300 features Sony's Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization, 12 user selectable scene modes (including a new underwater scene mode) and an intelligent scene recognition mode – the camera automatically recognizes five popular scene types. There's also a new Extra High Sensitivity mode (ISO 6400) plus an Extra High-Speed Burst mode – 1.9 fps (for up to 100 images) at full resolution, or 5 fps at 3 megapixels.

In addition the camera provides five color modes, including a "real" color setting (for less in-camera processing and more accurate colors), and an improved AF system with automatic macro shooting. Sony's new Dynamic Range Optimiser (much like Nikon's D-lighting feature) which allows users to tweak brightness and contrast over the entire image frame or area by area to recover image detail lost in highlight areas or boost shadow detail without losing highlights.

The W300 is a natural choice for those who like to shoot portraits – the camera's Face Detection AF can not only identify and isolate faces, it can also distinguish between adult faces and the faces of children and it can detect when a face is smiling and then trip the shutter automatically. The W300 can reduce red eye at exposure or post exposure, and offers in-camera cropping and/or adding retro-style portrait touches like feathering or shadowing the borders of the image frame.

The W300's menu system is clunky and unnecessarily complicated – there is both a Menu button and a "Home" button (both of which lead to essentially the same place) and that seems a bit redundant. In my opinion users of any enthusiast-level digicam should have direct access to the exposure compensation mode and the ability to immediately delete an image immediately after review: with the W300 both actions require a trip to the menus.

Basic shooting modes on the W300 are as follows:

* Easy: Basic point-and-shoot mode designed for beginners, with LCD screen instructions and severely limited (image size and flash on/off) user input.
* Auto: An more advanced point-and-shoot mode with more user input, Face Detection control, Scene Recognition, and red-eye reduction.
* Program: Point-and-shoot operation with expanded user input – access to sensitivity, white balance, flash options, Dynamic Range Optimizer, color modes, and IS.
* Scene: Scene options include beach, extra high-speed burst, extra high sensitivity, fireworks, landscape, snow, Soft Snap (portrait), twilight, twilight portrait, high sensitivity, Smile Shutter, and underwater.
* Manual: User controls exposure settings (shutter speed and aperture) and all other options.
* Movie: The W300 can record video clips at 640×480 at 30 fps (requires Memory Stick Duo Pro card), or 640x480 at 16 fps or 320x240 at 8.3 fps with regular Memory Stick Duo cards. Video clip duration is limited only by memory card capacity.

CONCLUSIONS

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 is a pretty impressive little digital camera. While it is clearly targeted at photo enthusiasts, with lots of user input into the exposure process and features like full manual exposure and in-camera editing (cropping, fisheye lens and unsharp mask filters, and a Real color mode), this camera also features plenty of auto mode picture making options that will appeal to neophytes and casual photographers. In short, the W300 should appeal to a broad range of users, from beginners to advanced amateurs.

The clunky menu system is somewhat irritating, but most users will quickly learn to use the camera's dedicated controls and avoid the menus whenever possible. Where the W300 really shines is as a portrait, informal portrait, environmental portrait, candid photo, and street shot picture taker. If you've ever fantasized that you were Henri Cartier-Bresson or Robert Doisneau, the W300 may be the compact digital camera for you.

Pros:

* Compact
* 13.6 megapixels
* Excellent images with fairly neutral color
* Simple operation
* Broad appeal

Cons:

* Expensive
* Clunky menus