Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W380
Compact camera, wide lens: another winning Cyber-shot from Sony…
As the smallest and lightest camera on test, the 14-megapixel W380 is the perfect go-anywhere, casual camera , its metal body looks attractive and makes it feel robust, and all controls are perfectly positioned, with a mode dial above the four-way controller and playback buttons, making the w380 incredibly simple to operate.
Powering up in around 1.7 seconds, the W380 is fairly quick to focus though it struggles at max zoom in low light. The 52x zoom lens is Sony’s primo quality G Lens. At 24mm it’s the widest on test, with a wide f/2.a aperture that’s great in low light .
Alongside Program and u scene modes, Intelligent Auto is pretty accurate at selecting the optimum scene for you. It must be said that the W380′s snaps are good rather than great, lacking the sharpness and detail of its rivals. Even so, it musters up strong edges and bright colors and macro shots are excellent; sharp and detailed, they are almost up there with the Canon as the best on test.
Sony’s included some handy additional features. The excellent Sweep Panorama lets you pan round to take massive wide shots and there’s a very good 720p HD movie mode. The memory card slot is compatible with SD as well as Sony’s Memory Stick Pro Cards.
The 2.7 inch LCD is a decent size for such a compact camera, but in bright sunlight reflections make hard to see clearly and it’s not as sharp as its rivals.
With a great lens and some interesting features, this is a fine point-to-shoot, but the classier Nikon would be better choice for all but the most narrow of pocket.
Details
- Lens 5x optical zoom (24-120mm)
- Megapixel 14
- Video 1280×720, 30fps
- Battery 220 shots
- Storage 45MB + MS Duo/Pro Duo, SD/SDHC
- Screen 2.7 inches, 230,000 pixels
- Anti-Shake YES, lens based
- Face Detection YES
- Max ISO 3200
- Connections Multi-out with HD
- Price £200
Love – Easy to use. Versatile wide-angle lens. Very compact and light
Hate – LCD isn’t as sharp as its rivals and nor are the images it produces, Only limited manual controls
We Say – More versatile than average compact, the W380 combines a great zoom with some innovative features
Compact camera, wide lens: another winning Cyber-shot from Sony…
As the smallest and lightest camera on test, the 14-megapixel W380 is the perfect go-anywhere, casual camera , its metal body looks attractive and makes it feel robust, and all controls are perfectly positioned, with a mode dial above the four-way controller and playback buttons, making the w380 incredibly simple to operate.
Powering up in around 1.7 seconds, the W380 is fairly quick to focus though it struggles at max zoom in low light. The 52x zoom lens is Sony’s primo quality G Lens. At 24mm it’s the widest on test, with a wide f/2.a aperture that’s great in low light .
Alongside Program and u scene modes, Intelligent Auto is pretty accurate at selecting the optimum scene for you. It must be said that the W380′s snaps are good rather than great, lacking the sharpness and detail of its rivals. Even so, it musters up strong edges and bright colors and macro shots are excellent; sharp and detailed, they are almost up there with the Canon as the best on test.
Sony’s included some handy additional features. The excellent Sweep Panorama lets you pan round to take massive wide shots and there’s a very good 720p HD movie mode. The memory card slot is compatible with SD as well as Sony’s Memory Stick Pro Cards.
The 2.7 inch LCD is a decent size for such a compact camera, but in bright sunlight reflections make hard to see clearly and it’s not as sharp as its rivals.
With a great lens and some interesting features, this is a fine point-to-shoot, but the classier Nikon would be better choice for all but the most narrow of pocket.
Details
- Lens 5x optical zoom (24-120mm)
- Megapixel 14
- Video 1280×720, 30fps
- Battery 220 shots
- Storage 45MB + MS Duo/Pro Duo, SD/SDHC
- Screen 2.7 inches, 230,000 pixels
- Anti-Shake YES, lens based
- Face Detection YES
- Max ISO 3200
- Connections Multi-out with HD
- Price £200
Love – Easy to use. Versatile wide-angle lens. Very compact and light
Hate – LCD isn’t as sharp as its rivals and nor are the images it produces, Only limited manual controls
We Say – More versatile than average compact, the W380 combines a great zoom with some innovative features
