Sony Cybershot DSC-W55, DSC-W35, DSC-S650, DSC-S700

[Darren Rowse]

Sony announced four new Cybershot compact cameras today:

Sony CyberShot DSC-W55 (http://www.livingroom.org.au/photolog/reviews/sony/sony_cybershot_dscw55.php)
Sony CyberShot DSC-W35 (http://www.livingroom.org.au/photolog/reviews/sony/sony_cybershot_dscw35.php)
Sony CyberShot DSC-S650 (http://www.livingroom.org.au/photolog/reviews/sony/sony_cybershot_dscs650.php)
Sony CyberShot DSC-S700 (http://www.livingroom.org.au/photolog/reviews/sony/sony_cybershot_dscs700.php)

All have 7.2 megapixel CCD sensors, 3x optical Zoom, ISO of 100-1000 and shutter speed of 1-1/2000. Fairly entry level stuff but not bad considering it was only a couple of years back that entry level was 2-3MP.

[erephas]

I own Sony DSC W-55. The quality is quite good, pictures look very colorfull and rich (although not everyone will like it). There's a great drawback - the camera doesn't have any stability control, so shots come almost always blurry in dark backgrounds, especially without flash - or it's me who can't hold my arms steadily :).

[Sime™]

It is crazy to think that these days my compact is an <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FCanon-IXUS-960-Digital-Camera%2Fdp%2FB000V9D6GK%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectro nics%26qid%3D1198893655%26sr%3D8-1&tag=wwwgtvonecom-21&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=6738">ixus 960, 12.1mp</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=wwwgtvonecom-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> ...and my DSLR is an 8.2mp... BUT the compact is just that... a compact... the glass will never be the same and therefore the little sucker will never take the same quality of shot. I sitll love it, it's good for having with me at ALL times... mind, i've usually got the 30D close to hand anyways... Thanks for the info D... Like new stuff, i'll check em out...

[erephas]

I wish there were more aperture controls too - because it's almost impossible to shoot an interesting photo with manual focus :(. However, it's still a pocket-size camera.

[mrodgers]

Just wanted to jump in here with my experience with the DSC-S650. Do NOT buy this camera! My wife went shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving and both her and her mother bought one. She gave it to me 2 weeks before Christmas so I could use it at my daughter's Christmas program at school.

I messed around with it quite a bit and out of 175 shots around the house I took, not one of them was any good. I have a Fuji 2650 2 mp camera I bought in 2002 and it took better pictures than the Sony. Every shot was extremely noisy and out of focus.

I had been asking my mother-in-law if she had tried her's out. I was curious if it was that particular camera or that model. She finally had tried her's out and said the same thing, it would not focus at all.

I took the Sony back and was going to get a Canon SD1000. But then I picked up the larger bodied Fuji S700 and decided that was a better way to go than with an ultra compact. I'm not disappointed.

If I'm not mistaken, the DSC-S700 is the same as the S650, only with a larger LCD screen. The W models seem to be real nice cameras. My sister-in-law has the DSC-W55 and seems to like it.

Just don't bother with the DSC-S650. It was a piece of garbage.

[katia]

I wish there were more aperture controls too - because it's almost impossible to shoot an interesting photo with manual focus :(. However, it's still a pocket-size camera.

i have the sony cybershot DSC W55 as well, is this the model you are talking about? i am VERY new to all this stuff, and i've been reading a bit about aperture, however, the cybershot seems to have NO aperture controls? is it maybe called something else on the sony cybershot?

[pearlgirl]

I own one of these and it has been a great absolute beginner camera. It also helps that it was only $90. I hope to own a DSLR someday, but for now this works for me since my pictures are mainly for practicing composition.