Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W370

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W370 digital camera has a 14.1-megapixel Sony sensor and a Sony-branded 7x optical zoom lens. The Sony W370's lens offers an equivalent range from a rather tight 34mm wide-angle to a useful 238mm telephoto. The lens has a two-step aperture with ND filter, which offers either F3.6 or F7.1 at wide-angle; at telephoto the maximum aperture is F5.6, and the minimum aperture is F11. The W370 includes Sony's Sweep Panorama function for the first time in a CCD-based Cyber-shot camera, allowing automatic creation of a 243-, 167-, 127- or 88-degree panoramas in-camera by simply sweeping the lens across the subject.

On the rear panel of the Sony Cyber-shot W370 is a 2.7-inch TFT Clear Photo LCD panel with 100% coverage, and a resolution of 230,400 dots. This serves as the only method of framing and reviewing images, given that the Sony W370 doesn't feature an optical viewfinder. The Sony DSC-W370 has a 9-point autofocus system, and does include a face detection and recognition system, capable of detecting up to eight faces in a scene and differentiating between children and adults. This capability 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. The W370 offers three methods for determining exposures - multi-pattern, center-weighted or spot metering. 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 1,600 available under automatic control. 2.0EV of exposure compensation is available, in 1/3 EV steps. The DSC-W370 also offers Sony's Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, useful for combatting blur caused by camera shake without adversely affecting image quality.

Nine white balance settings are available, including auto and seven presets, plus a manual white balance setting. As well as Intelligent Auto and Program modes, the W370 offers a selection of ten scene modes - High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow, Gourmet, Pet, and Sweep Panorama - which offer a modicum of control over the look of images. There's also an intelligent scene mode which can automatically select from a subset of eight scene modes - twilight, twilight portrait, twilight using a tripod, backlight, backlight portrait, landscape, macro and portrait - as appropriate. The Sony W370 includes a four-mode flash strobe with red-eye reduction capability. Flash range is stated as 0.2 to 5.0 meters at wide-angle, or 0.5 to 3.2 meters at telephoto, when using automatic ISO sensitivity. A two- or ten-second self timer allows the photographer to get in the picture themselves, or to avoid camera shake caused by pressing the shutter button when shooting on a tripod.