Sony W190 Review

The Sony W190 is closely related to the W180 model, alongside which it was announced, the only real difference between the two being that the W180 has ever so slightly lower sensor resolution. The Sony W180 is based around a 1/2.3"-type Super HAD CCD image sensor with twelve megapixel resolution coupled to a Sony branded 3x optical zoom lens. The Sony W180 offers equivalent focal lengths which range from 35 to 105mm - a rather tight wide angle to a moderate telephoto. Maximum aperture varies from f/3.1 to f/5.6 across the zoom range. The W180 forgoes any optical viewfinder in favor of a 2.7" LCD display with 230,000 dot resolution.

The Sony Cybershot W180 offers ISO sensitivity ranging from 100 to 3,200 equivalents, but forgoes true mechanical image stabilization in favor of Digital Image Stabilization, which functions by raising the camera's sensitivity (and along with it, the noise levels) so as to achieve a higher shutter speed and reduce motion blurring. The Sony W180 also includes face detection capable of detecting eight faces in a scene, which allows the camera to take into account the locations of subjects when calculating autoexposure and autofocus variables. In addition, the Sony Cyber-shot W180 features in-camera retouching capabilities, including both red-eye correction and in-camera trimming functions on offer.

Other features of the Sony DSC-W180 include seven scene modes, a 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA) 30 frames-per-second video mode, and both USB 2.0 / and video output connections of unspecified types. Power comes from an NP-BK1 InfoLithium rechargeable battery, and storage includes a not-so-generous 12MB of built-in memory plus a Memory Stick Duo / PRO Duo card slot. The W180's body is available in a choice of two colors - red or black. Pricing is in the region of $170.