Front
The Sony W100 comes with the brand name emblazoned on the top left corner and the Cyber-shot logo in the bottom left. Its front face is fairly flat, with only a slight step to the 3x optical zoom lens. Much like lenses on other compact digital cameras, the W100’s Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens is positioned just right of the center. The brand appears on it, as do other specs: “2.8-5.2/ 7.9-23.7.” A plastic lens door snaps open and closed to protect the glass beneath.
A built-in flash is located directly above the lens, in the very top of the shiny rim surrounding it. The built-in microphone, comprised of four holes, sits to the left of the flash. Below the microphone are a circular auto focus assist and a noticeable self-timer lamp which shoots out a ray of orange in low light. To the right of the lens is a tiny square window: the traditional optical viewfinder. The front face plate has a fine imbedded fishnet texture which renders the camera less flat and slippery.

Back
While the front of the SonyW100 is made of metal, its rear panel is silver-colored plastic. It is contoured, with the LCD, viewfinder, and controls on a flat surface. The top edge reclines to the top side of the camera, and the optical viewfinder sits at the left edge of the back. To the left of it are the built-in speaker and indicator LEDs; below it, and slightly left of center, is the LCD screen, which displays the Sony logo and model name on its bottom. Above the top right corner of the LCD is the playback button, which is on the reclining surface. The mode dial is directly right of this feature and protrudes upward so that its top edge is exposed and theoretically easy to rotate. A textured edge, similar to that on traditional film camera mode dials, is also helpful in this regard.

Below the dial is a thin strip of control buttons. Two small circular buttons sit just below the mode dial; the LCD display button is at top and the Menu button on the bottom. The multi-selector below these consists of a central selection button and a surrounding ring. Like many compact digital cameras’ navigational controls, it has dual functionality. When it isn’t scrolling through camera menus, it can call up features in recording mode: the top switches the flash modes, the right enables the macro mode, the bottom turns on the self-timer, and the left adjusts the exposure compensation. Below the multi-selector is a small button, identical in size and shape to the two buttons above the selector. This bottom button selects the image size in recording modes and deletes images in the playback mode.

Left Side
The left side is fairly boring, although it shows the contoured edge and camera construction. Here, a shiny silver highlight joins the textured metal front panel to the plastic back panel. The camera also boasts “3x Optical Zoom” on this side.  An unlabeled door, with a thumb grip for easier access, is on the bottom right of this side. This sturdy door opens to a single port, which accepts an included wire that connects to computers or televisions.

Right Side
A large square highlight on the right side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100 facilitates a wrist strap attachment. This side also has the same visual treat as the left side; a shiny silver band that connects the metal front to the plastic back. Above the eyelet is a sturdy door labeled “DC In,” which must be pried open to reveal the obvious jack.

Top
The top side of the W100 shows the same shiny metal band in the center. The front textured metal panel is quite flat, with a slight beveled edge, but the back plastic panel is contoured, with a wider edge around the optical viewfinder. “MPEG Movie VX” is engraved on the left side of the silver central band. The power button, also on the band, sits in a crater just right of the camera’s center; a green LED ring in the crater also shows when the camera is on. To the right of this is the shutter release button, which is surrounded by a tiny zoom control with the switch protruding from the front.

Bottom
The bottom of a camera is never that exciting. A door, which must be pushed down while sliding to the left edge, opens to reveal the memory card slot and battery slot. There is a standard tripod socket in the center of the bottom, and all kinds of legal information surrounding the socket and door.

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