Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W610 First Impressions Review

Lens & Sensor

Strangely, Sony uses three (slightly) different lenses on its new Cyber-shot cameras. The DSC-W610 has an f/2.8 lens with a 4.7 - 18.8mm focal length and a 5x optical zoom. The DSC-W620 and DSC-W650 each offer 5x zoom lenses, but the focal length ranges are a tiny bit different on both. The differences probably aren't significant enough to make a huge difference, but it does mean that the quality of the lenses could vary between the models (they are three different lenses, after all).

The image sensor is a 1/2.3-inch CCD with a total pixel count of 14.5 megapixels and an effective pixel count of just over 14 megapixels. This appears to be the same sensor as what Sony includes on the W620, while the W650 uses a sensor with 16 million effective pixels.

LCD

The screen is a 2.7-inch LCD with a limited 230k-pixel resolution. That's a tad smaller than the 3-inch screen you'll find on the DSC-W650, but it's the same screen you get on the W620. We don't care about the screen size all that much, however, as we'd rather have a better resolution so we can see more detail in the photos being shot with the camera. The meager 230k screen simply doesn't do your photos justice when you view them in playback mode

Flash

Sony calls the W610's flash a "natural flash", which seems to be a reference to the fact that the camera uses a flash white balance setting to accommodate for the change in color temperature established when using a flash. The flash also includes red-eye reduction, a slow synchro setting, and an automatic function.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

There's a single port on the side of the W610 that works with the camera's mult-USB cable for USB output to a computer or for AV output to a television. There's no HDMI output on the camera, but that's OK because you can't shoot HD video with the camera either.

Battery

The battery compartment is on the bottom of the DSC-W610, and the camera comes with an NP-BN rechargeable battery pack as well as a battery charger.

Memory

The camera works with Memory Stick or SD-type memory cards (in the same card slot). The card slot is located inside the battery compartment and the W610 also functions with new, higher-capacity SDXC memory cards.