Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W350

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W350 digital camera is based around a 14.1-megapixel sensor, coupled to a Carl Zeiss 4x optical zoom lens. The Sony W350's lens offers a 35mm-equivalent range from a generous 26mm wide-angle to a moderate 105mm telephoto.

The Sony W350 can capture 4:3 aspect ratio images at up to 4,320 x 3,240 pixel resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio images at up to 4,320 x 2,432 pixels, or HD movies at 1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 frames per second. In addition, the Sony W350 includes Sony's unique Sweep Panorama function for the first time in a CCD-based Cyber-shot camera, allowing automatic creation of up to a 268-degree panorama in-camera by simply sweeping the lens across the subject.

On the rear panel of the Sony Cyber-shot W350 is a 2.7-inch LCD with a resolution of 230,400 dots. This serves as the only method of framing and reviewing images, given that the Sony W350 doesn't feature an optical viewfinder. The Sony DSC-W350 has a 9-point autofocus system, and does include face detection capable of detecting up to eight faces in a scene and differentiating between children and adults. This ability is used to provide a Smile Shutter function that automatically triggers the shutter when your subject is smiling, as well as both anti-blink and blink-detection features.

Shutter speeds from 2 to 1/1,600 second are possible under automatic control, and sensitivities ranging from ISO 80 to 3,200 equivalents are on offer, with ISO 80 to 800 available under automatic control. 2.0EV of exposure compensation is available, in 1/3 EV steps.

Images and movies can be recorded on Sony's proprietary Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo (Mark 2 only), PRO Duo High Speed, or PRO-HG Duo cards, as well as the more common Secure Digital and Secure Digital High Capacity cards. 45MB of internal memory is also available, helpful for capturing a few of the most important photos should you forget to bring a flash card along on a day trip. The Sony W350 includes NTSC / PAL standard definition video output connectivity, as well as USB 2.0 High Speed data connectivity. Component HD connectivity is available via optional proprietary cable. Power comes courtesy of a proprietary NP-BN1 Infolithium battery pack rated 240 images.

Lens.

As big fans of wide-angle lenses, we're happy to see manufacturers embrace this feature in their latest digicam line-ups. The Sony W350 starts out at a nice 26mm and the 4x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens hits 105mm on the tele end. Would we like more? Sure, but this is a very compact and light camera so there are the inevitable tradeoffs. The lens features six elements in five groups (including three aspheric elements). Apertures range between f/2.7-f/8.0 in iAuto or Program mode. There are no individual aperture adjustments, other than those made by the camera via specific scene modes--so if you're looking for that feature, try another model.

Corners are pretty soft at wide-angle and there's noticeable chromatic aberration, but nothing out of the ordinary for compact wide angle point-and-shoots. At telephoto there was almost no CA and some flare and no significant softening. There's essentially no barrel or pincushion distortion.

As a plus the Sony W350 has Optical Image Stabilization which does a good job eliminating blur at wide and telephoto settings; it's a real benefit with Sweep Panorama. As with any camera you should still try to hold it as steady as possible when pressing the shutter.