sony-cybershot-dsc-w220The Sony Cybershot DSC W220 is a simple, straightforward, compact pocket sized digital camera with a good 12 megapixel sensor and a 4X Optical zoom lens and also fits in your budget. The camera has some extra features like image stabilization and ability to add conversion lenses to increase the capability of the lenses. These features aren’t available in other cameras at this price range. But is it a good overall digital camera? Find the answer in our review.

Design

The design resembles fairly typical rectangular camera. With the dimension of 95.2 X 56.5 X 21.8 mm, the camera should fit all standard sized pockets. The weight of 118 g feels feels very light and easy to take pictures with single hand. There are four models available with different color options of black, blue, silver and pink.
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Lens

The system comes with a Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar Lens with 4X Optical Zoom and is quite good at capturing sharp images even from distance with its full zoomed state. In the macro mode natural objects looked very fine and accurately focused but some reflective objects showed purple fringes.
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Image Stabilization

The device is equipped with optical SteadyShot Image Stabilization feature which uses a built-in gyro sensor to detect the camera shake and automatically shift the lens to prevent blur resulting from the camera shake. The optical image stabilization is also accompanied with the digital image stabilization systems and it does provide some fruitful results.
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Sensitivity

The camera has options for ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 for taking pictures at night without flash, but pictures starts to show noise artifacts after ISO 400. So I would advise you not to shoot with more than ISO 400. ISO 100 or ISO 200 should be ideal and there is no noticeable noise in those sensitivity options. However, the overall image quality was not at par with the other competing cameras. The images show pixelated when you get a full size printing and there is also a general lack of sharpness noticeable at the same time.

Speed

The BIONZ Image processor delivers fast performance that you expect from a Sony Digital Camera. I was able to take five shots in 12 seconds without flash and in 16 seconds with flash turned on. When the camera is ready to take a shot, the shutter lag seems to be nearly 1/4th of a second which is quite fast for a budget digicam. To turn on the camera and take the first photo it takes about 3 seconds.

Other Features

There are also some other features which have become common in nowadays modern digital cameras. These include face detection technology that detects upto eight individual faces and has red-eye reduction technology to eliminate the flash artifacts. There is also the popular smile shutter technology that captures smiling faces.
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Battery

It comes with a Lithium Ion NP BG1 battery which they say is able to take 370 shots between. I did not test it but it seems that the claim is an honest one as the battery drained only little after a couple of hours of use.

Memory

The system is compatible with Memory Stick™ Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo™. Memory Stick PRO Duo™ High Speed(No Speed Advantage), Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo. It has an internal memory of 15 MB which is enough to take only a couple of photos.

Price

It was introduced with a $199 price tag but it is now available from Amazon at a price of less than $150. This is really a bargain price for a camera with 12MP, 4X digital zoom and image stabilization capabilities.

Pros

  • Ease of Use
  • Speed of capturing photos
  • HD Movie capability

Cons

  • Overall Picture quality not up to the mark
  • Macro Shots not interesting

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Conclusion

The Sony Cybershot DSC W220 is a good digital camera for the budget buyers. The camera is easy to use, has decent speed and good range of features. But the overall picture quality was not impressive enough to make it a champion in its category of mid-range digital cameras. It’ll have to face a tough competition to make a good market share from its competitors.