Sony Cybershot DSCW200 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot
by Sony
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: SonyRelease Date: 2007-05-24
Model: DSCW200
Product features:
- Included Accessories - NP-BG1 rechargeable battery, BC-CSG battery charger, A/V and USB multi-connector cables, Wrist strap & Software CD-ROM
- 12.1 Megapixels, up to 640x480 VGA at 30 fps MPEG VX Fine with Audio - We recommend purchasing an optional 4GB Memory Stick(R) Pro Duo
- 2.5-inch (115K Pixels) TFT LCD Screen
- Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens, 3x Optical Zoom, 2.0 (Precision) Digital Zoom
- Lens Construction - 6 Elements in 5 Groups, 3 Aspheric Elements
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony Cybershot DSCW200 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot
Customer Review: Seems to be good for Under Water use
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this camera about 3 weeks and I've taken a number of photos with it. Initially I was disappointed in that the on line liturature (including from Sony) all says Macro down to 2 CM, when its actually down to 5 CM (2 inches) and that (5 CM) is stated in the book that comes with it. I use macro a lot in underwater photography and some on land. My previous Sony camera (and yes I flooded it, hence the new one) did go down to 2 CM but the fact is I seldom got that close because (a) it tends to scare the daylights out of any creatures that can move and (b) the depth of field becomes almost 2 deminsional - that's just optics and photography. So I usually get further away to increase the depth of field and crop to what I want. So while that was a disappointment the fact is it's of little actual consequence.
I've taken quite a few photos with it primarily getting the feel of it and learning to use this particular one. My previous camera was a Sony F707 so the small size of this one is a pleasant change. The menus are intuitive and easy to use. Key functions like macro and flash are not menu driven but button driven so changes can be made quickly. It takes good photos. The colors are good and the detail is good. The more I use it the more I like it. The battery life is very good as was my old F707. I like the ability to delete one, selected photos or everything on the memory stick (or internal memory). For macro (and other modes) the focus mode can easily be changed, via menu, to a spot focus (it has to be in the P setting though to get to that option) and that is a good feature. Other features such as photo size and exposure mode are similarly easily set. The screen is large and can be turned off to save battery life. The optical view finder is small and would suffer from offset if used close up. The difference in battery life when using the screen isn't that much. The view finder is most useful when bright light makes the screen hard to see - pretty much true for all of them.
Lag time, while not that of digital SLR's is OK, not outstanding but good. Start up time is very good and it has about a 3 minute time out period so it's not off everytime you get ready to take a photo (very important U/W) and if it is off it comes on very quickly.
The camera comes with a summary booklet which covers the basics. The full booklet is a .pdf file. The book is OK to good, not great. The info is there just not alwasy that easy to find.
I also bought the marine pack underwater housing to go with it. It's good down to 40 meters and is very compact. Every feature on the camera can be accessed while it's in the housing. I'm a scuba instructor and this past weekend I took it to an old quarry that we use as a training facility for diving. The visibility ws OK, not great by any means, somewhat green - the usual freshwater stuff. I got there early and got in with the camera and housing before the students had a chance to kick it up worse and took some underwater photos - not expecting much considering the visibility and light balance. I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the photos. Other shops pros commented on the photo quality considering where they were taken. The shop owner asked for copies to put on the shop web gallery. I'll be taking it down to Cayman Brac the first of next month so I'm certainly looking forward to using it there. Incidently the housing is very useful for photography when it's raining or any chance to get wet such as boats, rafting and the like. They're even used in industrial environments because the housing removes any small possibility of the camera being an ignition sourse.
And as was previously mentioned, even the battery charger is compact. The battery is charged outside the camera, good so you have a battery charging back in the room while you're using the other one. It is a propritary battery so a spare is a good idea.
I'm happy with the camera. The more I use it the more I like it. It's very small, it's very easy to use and takes very good photos.
1/3/08 I've used this camera in the underwater housing for dive trips to Cayman Brac and Panama City Beach, FL. I have not got the color balance underwater to be quite as good as I would like. In all fairness I have not gotten a good strobe for this camera so my experience is using available light or the on board flash. There are times I would like a bit more sharpness for macro shots. I think I was spoiled to the huge lens on the old Sony 707 this replaced. It did great on the above water shots.
More Sony Cybershot DSCW200 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot reviews:
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Description of Sony Cybershot DSCW200 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot
Sony Cybershot DSCW200 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady ShotDigital Cameras
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