Sony Cyber-shot W30 and W50 First Impressions Review

Viewfinder
Contrary to many other compact cameras in this category, the W30/W50 includes an optical viewfinder. While it’s tiny and its coverage seems questionable – we’ll test it fully in a forthcoming complete review – it’s nice to see Sony providing it as an option. There are some people who can’t live without an optical viewfinder and in bright settings where you can’t see the LCD, they’re a definite plus.

LCD Screen
The LCD screen sizes on these two models are about average for compact cameras these days, but their pixel counts run below average. On the W50, which has a 2.5-inch TFT LCD, approximately 115,000 pixels fill the screen and produce images that are slightly off and live previews that are sluggish and shaky.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W30

The W30, with its 2-inch TFT LCD and only about 85,000 pixels, produces results that are even worse. Objects in the live preview had a bluish and magenta cast and shots reviewed in playback were mediocre at best. Maybe consumers are still enamored with the size of large LCDs alone; if not, these LCDs will disappoint. Put these low-res screens next to LCDs with some real pixels and we’re sure consumers will take the extra pixels over large screen sizes every time.

Flash
Flash on the W30/W50 at Auto ISO ranges from 6” to 7’10” (0.2-2.4mm). When using the maximum ISO 1000 setting however, flash ranges from 2’7” to 24’ (0.8-7.3m). Overall, the flash seemed adequate for a camera this size though we’ll test its capabilities further in a follow-up full review. Aside from the auto setting, there are several useful flash modes: Fill-in, Slow Synchro, Forced Flash Off and Red-Eye Reduction which uses a pre-flash. There’s also an AF illuminator and flash exposure compensation.

Zoom Lens
Zoom capability on these models is 3x with a focal range of 6.3mm to 18.9 mm, or 38 – 114mm in 35mm equivalent. Minimum focus range is 19.7 inches and Macro focus range goes from 2-30cm. Using digital zoom, which actually “crops” the digital image itself and thereby degrades it, these models can zoom in an additional 6x.

While the lens seemed generally good, there was no way to get a real sense of its capabilities since image playback on these LCD screens was so poor. We’ll look at lens quality in depth in a follow-up full review.