SiamViewer.com

.

Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Good features for the price it offers.

Thumbs Down:

No optical zoom for video recording, photo quality starts dropping after ISO 200.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

DSC-W220 is 12.1 megapixel camera, light sensitivity options include ISO auto, ISO 3200, ISO 1600, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 100. The device has 2x digital zoom, shooting programs include Twilight portrait, High sensitivity, Twilight mode, Underwater, Soft snap, Landscape, Fireworks, Gourmet, Beach, Snow. Maximum shutter speed is 1/1600 second, white balance presets include Incandescent, Fluorescent, Daylight, Cloudy, Flash. Videos are stored in MPEG VX. Images are stored in JPEG format. The device has 15 MB onboard memory and supported flash memory cards are Memory Stick PRO Duo and Memory Stick Duo.

Flash modes include Red-eye reduction, Flash OFF mode, Slow synchro, Fill-in mode, Auto mode. The W220 has Zoom lens ? 5.35 mm ? 21.4 mm ? F/2.8-5.8, focal length is 5.35 mm ? 21.4 mm, minimum focus range is 19.7 inches, lens aperture is F/2.8-5.8, has 4 x optical zoom, lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss, Additional features include Smile Detection technology, In-camera red-eye removal, Dual image stabilization, Dynamic Range Optimizer, PictBridge support, Histogram display, Built-in speaker, Auto power save, Audio recording, Face detection.

The display of the camera is 2.7 inches big, connectors on the device include Component video output, Composite video/audio output, USB. Supported OSes are Apple Mac OS X 10.1 ? 10.5, Apple Mac OS 9.2, Apple Mac OS 9.1, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows XP, MS Windows ME. The camera comes with wrist strap, USB and A/V cable. The device is powered by Sony NP-BG1 Li-ion rechargeable battery ? 960 mAh. Sony gives a 1 year labor and parts warranty for this product.

Razzle Dazzle:

This camera doesn?t look much different from Sony?s typical W-series Cyber-shot models. You get a choice of pink, blue, black and silver for this device. It is lightweight, and easily fits in to the pocket with its compact design.

Inside Dope:

This camera is a trimmed down version of the more expensive W290 which was also high on features. The latter camera had a wider longer lens, larger screen, HD movie capture mode and few other goodies put in. If you are a light photographer we would recommend you to go for this one rather than the W290 because we think it is worth sacrificing the features for the money that you save. For its price, the W220 gives good performance and photo quality. However, if you are photo enthusiast, then go for W290.

The mode dial is crowded with options and it sinks in to the body to prevent any accidental changing. The zoom button is located above the dial. There is a four way navigation circular button for navigation through the menus. You also get settings for timer, display, macro, and flash on the dial.

Sony still hasn?t got rid of those Menu and Home buttons which are quite confusing. Menu button is for context sensitive shooting controls and Home button is for playback options, formatting the memory cards, and setting the time and date. We would like Sony to switch to single button system like H20 and W290.

W220?s Mode dial is a crowded with ten icons. Out of these 10, three are different degrees for automatic modes. Program Auto gives you control over metering, focus, white balance, exposure and ISO. If you are a newbie and are overwhelmed by these, you can select Sony?s Intelligent Auto which picks from eight scenes and turns on image stabilization and face detection. Sony?s iSCN can be set to Advanced or Auto. In difficult lighting, the camera takes two shots in different settings and you can choose which one you want to keep. Easy mode again gives you basic options for shooting and switches off all the advanced options. The camera is also capable of taking VGA mode videos but you cannot use the optical zoom while for shooting clips. Sony?s Dynamic Range Optimizer is used for improving exposure bracketing and shadow detail.

We were impressed by the speeds of the camera, however in bright conditions, the shutter lag could have been better. It takes 1.6 seconds for the W220 to wake up and start shooting. In bright conditions, the shutter lag is 0.5 second and in dim light, it is 0.7 second. Shot-to-shot time is 1.7 seconds which is again good. With the flash on, it takes a second more. Burst performance is fairly fast at 1.7 fps.

The photos have a bit of noise in them across all ISOs. Quality is best at ISO 200 or below. Stills look good till ISO 400 but quality starts to decline from there on. Detail and sharpness start dipping from ISO 400 and above fortunately, the color is consistent. Pictures taken at ISO 800 are good for small prints but anything above here on will get you smeary and noisy photos. If you want to make large prints, keep the ISO as low as possible. Detail and center sharpness on the W220 look really good but it drops off to the sides and hence corners and edges look soft. There is a bit of purple fringing but that is not unexpected for cameras of this class. Colors, though natural looking and nice, are not accurate.

Nitty Gritty:

Considering the price, we would recommend you to buy the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W220 for the picture quality and performance. However, if you want better quality and don?t mind spending more, stick to W290. But remember, if you go for W220, you save $70 and get only VGA capture mode, smaller display and narrower,

Credit http://www.etechreviews.net

Popularity: 1% [?]