Front (8.0)
The front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1 is based off of a straight, rectangular form. The entire face bows forward slightly towards the center, where the lens is placed to help with grip while optimizing handling without obscuring visibility. The central element of the front of the W1 is the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 3x optical zoom lens. There is a large, grooved circle surrounding the lens that provides the opportunity to change or add accessory lenses. Above the lens, to the left, is a self-timer and AF illuminator lamp. This small circle is positioned out of the way of the user’s right hand and is close enough to the lens to provide a fairly accurate illumination point for focusing. Likewise, above and to the right of the lens is a small optical viewfinder window. While this may never be utilized in a point-and-shoot camera, particularly one with a 2.5” LCD, it is still a useful novelty that can only improve the visibility of the scene and an awareness of framing. Directly above the lens is a thin, rectangular flash. To the left of the flash, just alongside the “Sony” name, are seven small holes that lead to the camera’s built-in microphone.

Back (8.5)
The back of the DSC-W1 is dominated by the oversized 2.5” LCD. Taking up slightly over two-thirds of the back face of the camera, the LCD monitor on the W1 is set to provide adequate viewing and framing options. The controls reside in a vertical rectangular segment along the right side of the back of the camera. At the top of the control section, along the right portion of the back face, are the zoom toggle controls. There is a “W” (wide angle) button on the left and a “T” (telephoto) control at the top of the right portion of the back of the camera, below where the shutter release and control dial are placed on the top of the camera. These controls will move the lens through space when shooting, moving toward and away from the shot. When in playback mode, the zoom toggles double as magnification controls, enabling the user to zoom in or away from a pre-recorded image. Below the zoom toggle buttons is the display LCD on/off control. Press this button once, and a histogram will appear in the lower right segment of the frame, indicating the tonal values within the composition. Pressing the display button a second time will erase the histogram and cause shooting information to appear in the upper right portion of the frame. Shutting off the display information will clear the frame of information and allow the user to focus on the shot itself. When the display button is depressed a third time, the LCD screen is shut off. This is intended to preserve battery life for those users who decide to use the optical viewfinder. To gain access to the LCD image again, the display button just needs to be pressed once more.

Below the display button, along the right third of the back of the DSC-W1, is the Menu button, through which most of the DSC-W1’s shooting options and settings can be accessed. There are five buttons just below the menu button that are arranged in a square with a single button in the center. The center button is the control button, which acts as the “enter” button does on many other cameras, making selections from among the menu options.

The one in the northern position is the flash/up-directional button. In shooting mode, the flash button will scroll through the camera’s flash options each time the button is pressed. However, once the menu or selection mode is entered, the flash button becomes the “up” button when scrolling through menus. Likewise, the “down” navigational button also doubles as the self-timer button; the countdown begins once the shutter release button is depressed. The left and right navigational controls function much the same way. The left control doubles as the photo review button. This allows users to review a recorded image without having to enter into playback mode. The right navigational control doubles as a macro button. The macro button, marked with a flower, will help aid in close-up shots. As with the other controls, macro mode is disabled when the button is pressed twice.

The one button below the directional pad layout is the image size/delete button. When in shooting mode, pressing this button will activate a menu so the user can select the quality and size desired for the shot. When in playback mode, the image quality button becomes a delete control, erasing the selected shot to make more space available on the media card. The only drawback is that the delete button applies only to a single selected frame and cannot be used to erase a series of images or the entire card.

Left Side (8.0)
The Cyber-shot DSC-W1’s left side is relatively sparse, with only a hinged door and a noble reminder to recycle. There is a small rubber flap on the outside of the hinged segment, with doggie-door like actuation, that protects the DC in port. The W1’s DC adapter can be inserted and external power can be utilized without opening the entire hinged door. When the hinged segment is open, a vertical slot for the memory stick is exposed. Next to this opening is the DC port, as well as a yellow A/V out jack, available in mono.

Right Side (8.0)
The right side of the DSC-W1 is pretty bare, containing just a single rubber flap leading to the USB port. The rubber flap closes snugly into the side of the camera for clean concealment.

Top (8.0)
The top of the Cyber-shot DSC-W1 contains the small, round power button that turns the camera on and off. Next to the power button is a mode dial that contains the essential shooting modes. These are accessed by rotating the mode dial until the desired icon lines up with a rectangular power lamp. At the center of the mode dial is the shutter release button. The shutter release button is sufficiently elevated above the dial to provide easy access for the user and avoid possible problems when shooting.