Sony Cyber-Shot W90 (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90)

Member Name: PaulineLees

Product:	Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90
Date:	09/11/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Light Weight, Face Detection, HD Rich Colours, Fast and Good Quality

Disadvantages: Lack of Manual Mode

I purchased this camera the month that it was released in the UK. So having had it a few months what do I think...
Well, for a start it beats my old Minolta hands down. It's light weight and a decent size, so sits in my hand quite nicely. And looks rather fetching in black!
Upon turning it on it becomes pretty clear how you go about using the device. For the less technical amoung us, the selector wheel cycles through the preset options for the general Portraits, Landscapes, Seascapes and now Snowscapes!
The standard setting 'little green box' could be classed as 'simple mode' and is where the new technology of Face Detection comes into play. It's quite novel (sadly the novelty hasnt worn off even after sitting infront of the tv to see if the camera detects people on the box)....(which is does!) and means that most faces within the frame are perfectly focused. Useful for a group photo.
LCD screen on the back is sizable, taking up most of the back so good to view your images on. The only thing I would say about this, is purchase a camera case because I have rather stupidly scratched this already. It doesnt hinder the view, but being a perfectionist and still being rather proud of my new camera it's annoying!
You can of course take videos and they are fabulous, quite a few have been captured, with good sound and quality. You can also watch slide shows of your images either on your camera or on the tv through the cable supplied and the camera has a variety of music to put this too.
I do not have a HD (high definition) monitor to view my images upon but the camera is HD ready, and the colour and contrast captured is real and rich. Beautiful images.
Blinded by the "I must have the latest technology, give me 12.1 megapixels I am greedy", I decided to read some W200 reviews before purchasing. Having read reviews of the W200 and the W90, I got the impression that despite having 12.1 megapixels, the W200 hardly differs from the W90. Unless you plan on enlarging your images to wall sized proportions you shouldnt notice a difference....
However.... in my haste I did not notice the lack of 'M' (manual) mode on the W90 which the W200 does have, and this on my part would have been useful. But not for everyone!
All in all this little camera is fantastic. I am tremendously pleased with it, and if you search around you can get it for under £200! I hope this is of some help!

Summary: it is good

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