Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 – 14 MP resolution but below par quality
Sum and Substance:
Thumbs Up:
Simple interface, supports SDHC and SD cards, big three inch screen, 26mm-equivalent wide-angle lens, auto shooting mode is reliable.
Thumbs Down:
14-megapixel resolution tag doesn’t do justice to the poor photo quality.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 is a 14.1 megapixel camera. ISO options include ISO auto, ISO 3200, ISO 1600, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 100, ISO 80. It also has 2x digital zoom, shooting programs include Backlight portrait, Twilight portrait, High sensitivity, Twilight mode, Portrait mode, Back light, Soft snap, Landscape, Gourmet, Beach, Snow.
Maximum shutter speed is 1/1600 seconds, minimum shutter speed is 2 seconds, white balance presets include Fluorescent light (warm white), Fluorescent light (cool white), Fluorescent light (daylight), Incandescent, Daylight, Cloudy, Flash. Images are stored in JPEG format. Video capture resolution options are 320×240, 640×480. Supported flash memory cards are Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick Duo, SD Memory Card. Flash modes include Red-eye reduction, Flash OFF mode, Slow synchro, Fill-in mode, Auto mode.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 has Zoom lens – 4.7 mm – 18.8 mm – F/2.7-5.7, Focal Length is 4.7 mm – 18.8 mm, Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera is 26 – 105 mm, Lens Aperture is F/2.7-5.7, optical zoom is 4x.
Additional features include Intelligent Scene Recognition (iSCN), Motion Detection Technology, Smile Detection technology, Self Portrait Auto Shutter, Dual image stabilization, Digital noise reduction, USB 2.0 compatibility, In-camera red-eye fix, Progressive scanning, PictBridge support, Cropping an image, Built-in speaker, Date/time stamp, Auto power save, Audio recording, Face detection, Direct print, DPOF support. The display of the camera is 3 inches big.’
Connectors on the camera include HDMI output, Component video output, Composite video/audio output, USB. Expansion slots include SD Memory Card and Memory Stick PRO Duo. Sony gives you a one year warranty for this product.
Razzle Dazzle:
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 is available in red, blue, black and silver exteriors. It is compact, lightweight and easy to squeeze in handbags or pants pocket. The front of the device has a metal plate which is brushed and thin. It doesn’t have that typical cheap plastic body.
Inside Dope:
When we looked closely at the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330, we found that the bells and whistles have been cut down to bring down the price to less than $170. Sony’s other offering, W350 priced at $199 and comes with optical image stabilizer. The W330 instead comes with VGA quality movie mode which doesn’t let you use optical zoom. Other turn offs include lower quality noise-reduction, less internal memory, no unsharp masking option in playback, no manual white balance, no autofocus illuminator light, and child and adult priority are detached from the options of face detection. There is no Sweep Panorama mode or any other panorama mode. This product doesn’t have the Bionz engine which might be responsible for the lack of aforementioned features. We would recommend you to go for the W350 which offers a lot more in features and costs only $30 more. The only advantage that the W330 has over the W350 is the bigger screen. However, if you are ok with the lack of options and are just a light user, you can go for the W330.
One thing that we are really glad about Sony cameras is that these devices will now accept both SDHC and SD cards. Battery and slot compartment are locked under a door, you will have to open this a lot for charging the battery. Internal camera memory is just 28 MB but there is a software which lets you upload movies and photos directly to sharing sites when the device is connected to a computer.
Controls on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 are straightforward. You get shutter release and power button on the top. These buttons are comfortable to press but you will probably have to look at them while pressing. Rest of the controls are located on the back of the camera next to the LCD. The screen is big but the quality is poor, off-angle viewing could have been better. The zoom rocker is located above the thumb rest and there is a vertical slider on the body’s edge for toggling the movie and photo mode. The directional pad, Delete, Menu and Playback buttons are responsible for other tasks. The directional pad not only navigates through the menus but also changes timer and flash functions, activates smile detection and changes display information. Sony has revamped the menu systems and we welcome the new user-friendly and uncomplicated interface.
W330 is principally an automatic snapshot camera but you do get some control like exposure values, light metering, autofocus points, white balance and ISO adjust. You also get to control Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimization amount to rescue the shadow detail. The Intelligent Auto scene recognition mode gives you good results and you don’t have to make much adjustments. But it still gives you options like setting smile detection sensitivity, burst shooting activation and adjusting exposure. Easy mode will take away all the options, all you get is onscreen text enlargement option and image size (small or large). There are ten shooting options for scene which include Underwater, Pet, Food, and High ISO. There is also a SteadyShot mode but you don’t get mechanical or optical image stabilization. This options will just adjust the shutter speed and ISO sensitivity to make up for the motion blur and camera shake. The movie mode records VGA quality videos and you cannot use the optical zoom for video recording.
W330 is a quick camera but it is better suited for subjects that are stationary. The camera takes 1.8 seconds to wake up and start shooting. Shot-to-shot timings are 2.6 seconds and it goes up by one more second if the flash is turned off. In continuous shooting mode, the speed is 1.1 fps. Shutter lag is 0.7 second in low light and 0.4 second in bright environment. Photo quality is good on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 but that depends on how much you expect from a $170 camera. Photo quality below ISO 200 is good but after that the subjects start to get fuzzy, there is lack of definition and detail loss begins to creep in. If you are taking small prints, photos will be good up to ISO 800 but after that, the colors start shifting. Photo quality at ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 is out of question.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 has 14 mega pixel lens but large prints don’t have much high quality. The photos on this device are lack in fine detail and are soft. Sony recommends photos prints up to 13×19 inches on the W330.
When it comes to wide-angle lens, the barrel distortion in checked by Sony and we didn’t find any signs of pincushioning at the zoom’s long end. There was a bit of purple fringing but that is not unexpected in camera of such class.
Colors on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 are accurate, natural and bright. But the blues look a bit pumped up. Auto white balance and Flash setting looks a bit warm.
Video quality of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 is OK, you can use it for Web sharing. Remember, you don’t get to use optical zoom while video recording.
Nitty Gritty:
You save on $30 if you go for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 instead of W350 but we think there is too much to lose. We would recommend you to put that extra money and get the latter camera. The extra investment will pay your rich dividends with better photo quality. W330 has a bigger screen but that is the only advantage it has over the W350.
