Product Description

The impressive features of Sony's DSC-W100 Cyber-shot(R) Digital Camera deliver digital imaging to an exiting new realm. Thanks to its rechargeable, high-capacity G Series Lithium-ion STAMINA battery and 8.1 Megapixel Super HAD(TM) CCD, the DSC-W100 offers the power and digital clarity to snap even more amazing images wherever you are. Its enhanced ISO sensitivity and expanded dynamic range work together for remarkable, true-to-life colour reproduction, captured by the precision-crafted Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, the leader in optics technology. With the added convenience of its 64MB internal memory, you can continue to catch every moment even if don't have your Memory Stick(R) Duo media handy. Aperture - Auto (F2.8 - F10)/Program Auto (F2.8 - F10)/Manual (F2.8 - F10) / Shutter Speed - Auto (1/8 - 1/2000)/Program Auto (1? - 1/2000)/Manual (30? - 1/1000) / Slow Shutter (shutter speed of 1 sec. or lower) Hand Shake Alert Picture Brightness Button Light Metering - Multi-pattern, Center Weighted, Spot ISO Sensitivity Setting - Menu, Auto/80/100/200/400/800/1250 Exposure Mode - Auto, Program Auto, Manual, Scene Selection (dial, 6 modes) / Photo Mode - Auto, P-Auto, Manual, High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Movie / Color Mode - Vivid, Natural, Black & White, Sepia PictBridge Built-in electronic-flash Unit Dimensions 3-11/16 x 2-3/8 x1 (94.2 x 60.6 x 24.8 mm) / Weight 5.9 oz (1161g) Body; 7.0 oz. (192 g) including Battery and optional Memory Stick(R) Duo Media J&R advises purchase of optional 1GB MS-Duo memory card for more practical use of this camera, especially in movie mode

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16032 in Camera & Photo
• Color: Silver
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DSCW100
• Released on: 2006-04-13
• Dimensions: 2.50" h x 1.00" w x 3.50" l, .50 pounds
• Display size: 2.5

Features

• Comes with NP-BG1 Rechargeable Battery, Battery Charger, Multi-cable, Wrist Strap, CD-ROM with drivers and software, Sony USA 1-Year Warranty
• 8.1 Megapixel Effective Super HAD(TM) CCD Super HAD(TM) (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCDs allow more light to pass to each pixel
• 3x Optical Zoom - Focal Length f= (35mm conversion) - 7.9 - 23.7mm (38 - 114mm)
• Real Imaging Processor 14-bit DXP Super Resolution Converter
• AF Method - Single AF, Monitoring AF / AF Area - Multi-point (5-point), Center Weighted; Focus Mode - Auto Focus, Macro, Focus Preset

From the Manufacturer
Why Sony? Because Sony combines technology benefits, performance advantages and convenience features in simple, easy-to-operate digital cameras that are ideal for serious amateurs and photo enthusiasts. In the compact Sony Cybershot DSC-W100, that means 8.1-megapixel resolution for more detail in editing, cropping and making big prints--plus manual focus/exposure control for greater creativity and a big, bright 2.5-inch LCD screen for setting up shots and checking results.

Incredible 8.1-Megapixel Detail
With 8.1-megapixel resolution, you'll be able to edit, crop, and make big prints that show more detail--and Sony's advanced Super HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

Big, Bright 2.5-Inch LCD Screen
The DSC-W100 incorporates a 2.5-inch LCD screen that gives you a big, bright view of your subject for setting up shots and checking your results--with a one-touch "Play" button that makes it quick and easy to view your photos.

Function Guide Text/Icon Display
An on-screen Function Guide text/icon display makes it easy to learn the camera functions that give you greater creative freedom to adjust color mode (including "Natural" for subtle colors and "Vivid" for more intense colors), sensitivity, brightness, and image size.

High Sensitivity Mode
A new High Sensitivity Mode (ISO 1000) lets you shoot without flash for more natural results in low-light conditions and shoot at higher shutter speed to minimize blur from unsteady hands or fast-moving subjects--and Sony's original Clear RAW NR (Noise Reduction) image processing technology helps suppress the color noise that can accompany high-sensitivity shooting.

Carl Zeiss 3x Optical/2x Digital Zoom
3x optical zoom helps the DSC-W100 bring distant subjects closer and lets you frame shots for better composition; Sony's precision 2x digital zoom provides an additional 2x magnification to enlarge details without jagged edges.

Creative Manual Exposure Modes
For more creative freedom, the DSC-W100 lets you adjust shutter speed to freeze the action or shoot with long time exposures--and control depth of field with aperture adjustment to concentrate on the foreground or capture "deep-focus" background.

Stamina Battery Power
A powerful Lithium Ion rechargeable battery allows the DSC-W100 to capture up to 290 images--and the compact BC-CSG battery charger is also supplied for battery recharging on the go.

14x Smart Zoom Feature
Sony's Smart Zoom feature intelligently "crops into" the central portion of interest in your photo--avoiding the image degradation of other digital zooms. Depending on picture size, you can extend 3x optical zoom to 4.1x (3 MP), 5.2x (2 MP), or 14x (VGA).

High-Capacity 64 MB Memory
With built-in 64 MB internal memory, the DSC-W100 allows you to capture images without a flash memory card--then transfer your images to optional Memory Stick Duo media, upload to your computer or make prints on your digital printer.

Memory Stick Duo Media
The DSC-W100 has a built-in slot for optional Memory Stick Duo or higher-capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo media--the ultra-compact media for shooting, storing and sharing your photo images.

MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode
The DSC-W100 can capture VGA (640 x 480) audio-video clips at high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second), with length limited only by the capacity of your media.

Customer Reviews

Best Digital Camera I've ever used
To date I have used several digital cameras from several different manufacturers. From old 2 and 3MP cameras, up to a 9MP SLR.

When I decided to purchase this camera my main reason was its' abilities to take low light pictures without the flash. Using a flash in the LA Convention Center for picture taking during the Auto show tends to get too many reflections, without flash you get natural looking pictures, more battery power, but until this camera, i could never even get close to the feeling I wanted with the ease, which means more user friendly for quick on the spot moments, no matter the environment.

I researched many camera's before I decided to get this one. I compared all of the features. For the price the W100 blew away the competition. But that is what is just on paper.

Now I actually have the camera and have taken at least a hundred pictures in different situations testing out all the little options, from full auto to full manual.

Using the ISO at 1250 does result in a picture with noise however, the noise is very little, even compared to my Dad's Fuji 9MP SLR.

Although, this is a compact camera, it is big enough to grab onto, but still small enough to look cool.

Having 8MP allows you to really zoom in on a picture, and once again this is a cheap price for 8.1MP.

My brother's have the newer Kodak 5MP compact camera I think it is the 55 model, and my sister just bought the lower sony DSC-W50, which is about 150 cheaper. But even comparing the DSC-W100 to the W50, you would instantly recognize the higher quality.

After using the camera, its' low light sensitivity and lack of picture noise, enable faster shutter times, which is good for night shots, along with the 42-step, 30 sec max exposure time, which is very fun to use, but the higher sensitivity enables you to take pictures of quick moving opjects as well, and you can program the camera for this, but i do wish it had the pre-programmed option for quick moving shots. Although it is not hard to manually set up the shot with a few tweaks. Most of the changes you make manually the LCD will give show you a basic idea of the what you are changing, along with the on screen explanations of every option, which makes the user manual almost pointless, which is a good thing, in this case.

With the camera's inherent ability to take low light shots, this greatly reduces the chance of getting a blurry picture, unless you are really moving. I hate taking a bunch of pictures and getting blurry shots (rememeber I don't like using the flash) but so far out of the hundred pictures, I would say I have had 5, but they were all forseeable, (ie I knew i was moving at the time or the object was moving) And the camera warns you on screen when the capturing time is going to be long enough that you should try and be more stable.

Today I got a picture of a bird in flight up close outside, and it looked like a low motion capture, you could see the feathers in the wing, it was not just a blurred mass.

I have used mostly the manual and semi-manual features which all are very easy to use and take great pictures, if you know what settings to use where. I have not used the fully auto mode very much, as I have not really needed too, the specialized modes pretty much cover everything, I have also not taken many portraits, except of my own face, on full auto and it looks good 95% of the time, and i would say with all the previous cameras I have used including old 35mm slrs and advantix, this is the best camera i have ever had.

So if you are looking for a camera as good or better than some SLR's in all cases except a detachable lens, for the price and size of a sub-compact camera, I highly recommend this camera, it is what it says on paper. But as with any camera if you aren't sure go to the store where they have 50 million on display, just make sure to look at this one, although it might not be in the store yet.

UPDATE: MAY 6, 2006

In response to Techburn's review, yes it is true you cannot use the lens accesories with the W100 as of now, but I would expect more accessories to come out in the future for this camera, the physical structure is only slightly larger than the lower W-models, and since this is the higher end, brand new model, I say the chance of add-ons is very likely.

64Mb of internal memory is more than most other cameras have, but most people expect to buy a memory card for their camera.
I can pull the Duo out of my camera and view the stills in my PSP. And Duo prices are cheap these days, on the net.

I have experiemented with freeway shots from a moving vehicle taking shots from the oncoming side, and with little practice I was getting nearly perfect sharp pictures of the other vehicles, that would be a vehicle speed difference of 70+70=140mph, plus the shaking from the truck.

I can fit this camera with no case perefectly in my pocket, with slack left; dickies pant size 32x32 5'7" 170 lbs. Although i would not walk around with a 350 dollar camera in my pocket, but I can also fit it in my shirt pocket, that is a medium size dickies work shirt. Before I got the camera I was worried about the size, but its nice, and yes the buttons are small, a problem with all compact cameras, actually all cameras.

The battery has lasted a month on just the initial charge, I have taken almost 300 shots, although not many with the flash, because i didnt need to.

The movie quality is good especially at 30fps, and yes like other sony's it cannot zoom in and out during capture.

Another thing to note, the menu structure using the camera is very detailed and self explanatory, when choosing options, you don't need to go and look up what each setting will do depending on how you adjust it, it tells you what you need to know.

Things I do have complaints about;
Whites can seem very bright, I attribute this to its high sensitivity
there is no "anti-shake" mechanism, most still cameras do not have this, although Panasonic has come out with some which might be worth checking out.

I just ordered some prints from costco, and I will update again on the results from the different sizes.

Just remember to compare this camera to others in its price range and physical size.

The Pocket SLR (Almost)
Photography afficionados have long had two choices when it comes to buying a digital camera: a tiny everything-automatic portable camera that takes decent pictures or a brick-sized everything-manual professional camera that takes fantastic pictures. Almost a decade after the introduction of the consumer digital camera, Sony has finally taken a swing at combining the best qualities of both worlds into one package, and the DSC-W100 is a solid first effort.

Sony has had the tiny part down for some time - dimensionally, the W100 is on par with other recent Cybershot models and competitor brands' offerings, and features the now-common 2.5" bright LCD display with a minimum of buttons on the back. Aside from the attractive mini-diamondplate face and chrome trim, visually there's little to set this camera apart among the others at your local electronics counter.

Initial toying with the camera doesn't dispel any first impressions. All the prerequisite automatic features are there, the buttons are smartly arranged so all the most common functions are right at hand, it's obviously a point-and-shoot camera. But it's when you begin to delve into the features that you realize that the W100 is something entirely different.

The usual mode knob is there on the back with the Auto mode and Scenes modes, but now there's Program and Manual modes - something standard issue on professional cameras but radically new for a point-and-shoot. This means you can use any combination of auto or manual settings on all functions to get a shot. For example, shooting in a dimly lit room, you can use a slow shutter flash to even out lightning, or turn off the flash with a slower shutter for richer colors, or raise the ISO so you can get a steady shot with a higher shutter speed, or just put it in auto and shoot, etc. All the different possibilities previously reserved just for professional cameras are now at your disposal. The camera is as simple or as involved as you want, and it still fits in your pocket.

I've owned several other digital cameras, both portable and pro, and they've all had somewhat manual features, but the W100 takes it to a new level. Mounting the W100 on a tripod, I attempted to get a long exposure shot of the night sky, something all the other digital cameras have done adequately. Manually setting the shutter speed, the camera displayed the overall exposure value as I adjusted - the camera was telling me before even touching the shutter button if the resulting picture would be dark, bright, or even. I set the shutter as slow as it could go and using the two-second timer, fired away. The picture was amazing; though only a few stars were visible to the eye, the W100 caught the light of well over a hundred. I noticed a bit of radial blur on the stars around the border of the image, only to realize later that the camera was pointed North - the shutter speed was so slow that I was actually *capturing the rotation of the Earth*. Now THAT'S manual.

Also of special note is the W100's digital "Smart Zoom". As a general rule with digital cameras, you should disable the digital zoom feature, as zooming in beyond the optical range produces a cropped and therefore lower-quality image. But here again Sony has a trick up it's sleeve, by cropping from an 8.1 megapixel capture regardless of where you have the image size set. If you shoot a 5 megapixel-size picture that utilizes the digital zoom, the image is actually captured at a full 8.1 Mps and then your 5Mp picture is cropped from that. The result is an optically-zoomed clear picture. This also means that at the lowest image size, you can get a full 15x zoom (the equivalent of a 500+ mm telephoto - in a pocket camera!). It's an absolutely brilliant technique that you'll probably see on all future digital cameras.

Sony still has a bit more work to do on the pocket SLR idea. Included with your purchase is an accessories catalog featuring an array of lenses and filters, none of which are compatible with the W100. It's typical of Sony to have a bizarre distribution of features in any given product lineup, but it would seem obvious that the most SLR-like camera should have SLR-like accessories. And W100 owners should disable the Auto Focus Illumination light when shooting people; the blazing red light is great for focusing on inanimate subjects, but could probably be used as a tactical light to blind assailants in a pinch.

Overall, the W100 is a remarkable newcomer that truly raises the bar for what you can expect from a point and shoot pocket camera. Novices are accommodated with full automation, and can learn gradually by trying out individual manual functions while other settings remain automatic. And experienced photogs will be right at home with the Manual mode and wide range of settings. Five stars for what is hopefully Sony's work in progress.

W100, my opinion
Well, unlike "TECHBURN" I took the time to actually study the functioning of this camera and its capabilities before picking it up. After reading his opinion of the camera, I am left thinking that he did not give this camera much of a chance to become a 'keeper'.

After researching many models at [...].

One of the first things I learned, from a very helpfull member at dpreview was to get off the AUTO MODE. Don't let the camera decide what to focus on, you decide. I use the auto-program mode and center autofocus or spot autofocus. These 2 focus modes focus on the center of the picture. No more blurry shots do to the camera 'thinking' of what to focus on. Which is 8 times out of 10. Exactly what you wish it didn't focus on.

Example, taking a picture of a bird on a tree with auto-focus. It will focus on a branch ahead of the bird. Leaving the bird out fo focus. The auto focus has a bad way of picking the wrongs objects to focus on. The other 2 foucs modes greatly reduce this risk.

The second thing to learn is how to hold this camera, and really. ANY small camera. They are small, lightweight and easy to throw out of focus by the slightest movement.

You need to hold it with a firm grip. Not so tight its about to break and you have veins sticking out of your forehead. Just firm. Have each hand push the opposite direction and if you are 'twisting' the camera. This helps the camera focus and stay focused exponentially. Use your finger to push the button, don't use your hole arm. Your pictures will thank you.

In order to get the best picture quality you will want to practice using three things. Aperture, ISO and the FOCUS!! The aperture will help you get the field of vision, the ISO(which I wouldn't use any over 400 for large picture prints)if some pictures are getting blurry and take it off auto. This is what will kill 90% of your pictures. It may mean you need to learn a bit more of the technicals of photography. But you will be happy you did, Ansel Adams!

So far I am very pleased with this camera. It doesn't come with a 16mb card but really, what good is one with a 8mp camera? 2 pictures at its highest resolution? I'd rather have a 64mb built in memory that I don't have to pop in or out of the camera. Its much better in my opinion.

Movie mode, eh. What did you really expect? Its a small hand held camera. I wouldn't expect anyone to think of filming their family christmas with a camera. Thats what cam-corders are for. Its like wondering why my camcorder doesn't take razor sharp 8x10 pictures. Its just not hwat they are meant to do. Atleasr not as well as what the other can do.

Zoom is as good as any other ultra compact in its price range. You may be lucky to get 4x optical. But again, pickins are slim and will not happen in this price range.

Over all it is highly recommended. There is no clear winner out there for the ultra compacts or compacts. So, its not the end all, be all of camera's. But untill then it will make any phtographer or novice happy.