Sony DSC-W300 Performance

Blazing fast to sluggish timings, depending on the action.

Slightly sluggish times here, particularly start-up.

Mode switching times are also slower than average.

Shutter response is better than average at both wide angle, at 0.42-second, and also pretty good at telephoto, at 0.54-second. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of only 0.008 second, which is excellent. Good results here.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are on the slower side, at about 1.77 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, though the camera does capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) Surprisingly, the lower resolution, 640x480-JPEG setting results in an even slower 2.01-second cycle time. Continuous mode is pretty good, at 1.92 frames per second for large/fine JPEGs, and the camera captures more than 20 frames this fast. The High Speed mode is blazing fast for a consumer digital camera, capturing 4.96 frames per second for more than 20 frames, though it is limited to the 3-megapixel resolution. The flash takes 9 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is on the slower side.

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are excellent.

Overall, the Cyber-shot DSC-W300 is a bit of a mixed bag, timing-wise. Its startup and mode-switching times are a little slow, and shot-to-shot cycle times are also on the slow side. However, shutter lag is pretty good, and the High Speed continuous mode is blazing fast, as are download times. Thus, the DSC-W300 should handle most shooting situations well. And though the High Speed Continuous setting is limited to the 3-megapixel resolution, we think it's an excellent option for capturing fast-paced action.

Battery
Average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Battery life is about average, so we definitely recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 accepts Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo memory cards, and includes about 15MB of internal memory.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo at least a 1GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)