Supa-Snaps! (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W110)

Member Name: NinjaBaz

Product:	Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W110
Date:	30/03/09 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: May be available cheap now, 4x optical zoom, Super compact size

Disadvantages: LCD screen could be bigger/clearer, Discontinued

I bought the Sony DSC-W110 to replace my rather bulky, 5 year old Fuji 5mp camera. It set me back around £89 from Comet at the back end of 2008.

The camera itself is very compact indeed, which is just what I was looking for. Something that could easily be slipped into a pocket as opposed to my previous camera which needed its own carry case.

The dimensions are 8.8cm wide, 5.7cm high and just 2.3cm deep, so easily concealable about your person. The W110 is also fairly lightweight, weighing in at just 123g. For such a small package, I was delighted that the camera features a 4x optical zoom. Most cameras of this price and size can only muster a 3x optical zoom so that was a particularly good selling point. To partner this, there is an 8x digital zoom (not 'as' important as the optical zoom) and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. I'm not a massive digital camera expert, only to say this is a better lens than those used in a lot of other similarly priced cameras.

The W110 might only be a 7.2mp camera, but in a 'point and shoot' camera such as this it is more than enough to produce excellent photos. In fact I've heard that more mega pixels may sometimes produce worse photos, especially in darker conditions....don't ask me why, but I'm sure an expert will be around shortly to explain all (or correct me!). I think it's more to do with the aperture or shutter speed but those things are slightly above my head!

The camera is extremely easy to pick up and use for the beginner, with plenty of preset shooting modes ready to use. A dial on the back of the camera can be used to select between Automatic Settings, Movie (record movies), Twilight (low light, recommended tripod use), Twilight Portrait (low light with flash), Landscape (with distant focus), ISO (high sensitivity, low light blur reduction without flash), Smile Shutter (smile recognition) and Soft Snap (shoot subject with a soft background).

Other features of note are the 2.5" LCD screen, not the biggest around but functional none-the-less. The W110 also contains a viewfinder which is a rarity on similar specification cameras these days. The macro feature takes good close-up pictures, and shows more than enough definition and detail for me to be happy with. The battery is a Lithium-N which comes with its own AC charger. Battery life seems good and it has been used through several different events before a recharge was required. The quality of the video camera function is acceptable and is output at a resolution of 640x480. This does the job well enough, although the actual display on the LCD screen can suffer from motion blur during recording when moving the camera around quickly. I see the video recording function as an extra rather than a necessity on a digital camera so won't mark it down for that.

The only negatives I can think of for this camera are that it will only use Sony's own memory media. So if you've come from a Fuji, Canon or other top brand, it's likely that you'll have to spend another £10-£15 on a decent sized Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo. The other issue is that the on/off button is recessed below the surface of the camera ad can be difficult to press at the first attempt and can sometimes be mistaken for the 'shoot' button (and vice versa) if you're not careful!

**Overall**

I'd recommend this camera as an excellent value for money 'point and shoot'. Although this model is generally discontinued now, I'm sure you could find it on ebay or refurb websites for well under £100. As an alternative I'd recommend the similar DSC-W130 which retails at around £100 but has an 8.1mp sensor, or the W150 retailing at around £125 which has 8.1mp sensor, 5x optical zoom and a bigger 2.7" LCD screen.

Summary: Expensive looking and great value for the money

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