Manual Control Options
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W30 doesn’t offer serious manual control; it gives users just enough to manipulate the exposure easily. Instead of shutter speed and aperture settings, the W30 has an exposure compensation adjustment accessible from the left side of the multi-selector. Users who need to take pictures in less than optimal lighting (high school drama plays, night clubs, and conference rooms) can also manually select ISO settings, as well as auto focus, white balance, metering, and flash mode.
Focus
Auto Focus (7.0)
 The Sony W30 focuses from 0.74 inches in macro and 19.7 inches normally, and has two auto focus modes: center and multi. Multi doesn’t allow users to choose the exact focus spot, but the 5-point option did well in testing. Almost all of the pictures were in focus; there were a few that had a blurred hand or leg because of movement. The camera did well in low light, largely impart to the orange assist lamp that fired up when the lights were down.. Best of all, the W30’s focus was fast, so shutter lag shouldn’t be a major issue.
Manual Focus (1.0)
There is no true manual focus on the W30, but the recording menu does offer focus selection. Five options are grouped with the auto focus modes: 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m, 7.0, and infinity. Users can guess where their subjects are and make the selection.
Exposure (7.0)
Shutter speed and aperture cannot be manually selected, but it’s possible to control and adjust the exposure in other ways. Users can push the display button a few times to access the live histogram, which shows just how well the scene is exposed. Pressing the left side of the multi-selector also calls up an exposure compensation scale, with a typical +/- 2 EV range in 1/3-stop steps, and corresponding live view.
Metering (7.0)
Like many other compact digital cameras, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W30 has three metering modes: Multi, Center, and Spot. The Multi option, the W30’s default, takes the average of 49 points in the picture to measure the lighting. This is fine for most situations, but can be tricky in high contrast scenes. For the ballerina in the spotlight, users are better off using the Center or Spot metering options; the Center metering option shows brackets around the metering point, while the Spot setting displays a tiny cross in the center of the exact metered area. When users scroll through the metering options, a live view makes it easy to figure out the best option for any situation.
 ISO (7.75)
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W30 offers 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1000 ISO options, a variety above and beyond that on previous W-series cameras and slightly above average for other compact models this year. Many new cameras are including higher ISO sensitivities, but at this price point, the majority still only extends to ISO 400. Users can manually select the ISO setting or choose Auto and let the camera take over. There is even a High Sensitivity scene mode, which uses the ISO 1000 setting and Sony’s Clear RAW Noise Reduction system, for users who want to shoot in low light without the flash. To see how well it performs, check out our noise sections in the Testing/Performance tab.
White Balance (5.5)
White balance options, complete with a live view, can be found in the recording menu. Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, and Flash settings are available. The automatic white balance mode seemed to be pretty accurate, as did the others in their respective situations. Even the flash color balance looked good, preserving natural skin tones instead of producing the glaring white forehead that happens with some cameras. However, the W30 unfortunately lacks a manual white balance setting; a substantial omission when shooting is tough mixed light conditions.
Shutter Speed (0.0)
Shutter speeds on the Sony W30 cannot be manually adjusted. Instead, the camera chooses from a 1/8-1/2000th of a second range for every mode except Program, where the W30’s slowest shutter speed is 1 second.
Aperture (0.0)
The camera also automatically selects the aperture from a nice range. At the lens’s widest focal length, the aperture can come from an f/2.8-f/7.1 range. In telephoto, the range moves to f/5.2-f/13. However, again, users can not manually control the aperture.
|
