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147 of 150 persons found the following review helpful.
Very happy with this camera
By Greg Sumner
This is our 5th point n' shoot camera over the years, intended for go-everywhere pocketability. Our former two pocket cameras were Canon's (SD300 and SD600). The Sony is a little larger but improves on them greatly.
The Sony DSC-W370 operates underneath the premise that humans want the camera to be easy. Not just easy but dead simple. So much so that it includes an "easy mode" and "smile sensor" to mechanically take the shot when the camera sees a smile. All of the modern controls are hidden, altho easy to get to if you want them.
What mattered most to us:
- Speed. The camera starts up, focuses, zooms and shoots very quickly. The auto-mode, which we use most of the time, is very smart. I haven't been competent to fool it yet.
- Easy. You in truth don't need to do anything but keep the camera in Intelligent Auto mode. It will sums up what you're attempting to shoot and pick the right mode quickly. My 5 year old took galore photos today, he could use the camera with no instruction.
- SD/SDHC memory card. Sony in the end quit attempting to lock us into their memory sticks.
- HD movies. We used the movie mode in the Canons more than we ever thought we would. So this time 720p movies was important.
- High quality. At any zoom length the shots are crisp. I tested Fuji, Olympus, Canon and Nikon at the same price range - the Sony beat them all.
Negatives -
Only a few and they're minor. The zoom buttons are smallish, and it's easy to go past 7x optical zoom and right into digital zoom, which as a rule I don't use. You are capable to disable digital zoom. I also disabled the musical menu jingles. You will too I bet.
There are very few available buttons on the rear of the camera. This was plainly deliberate - this is supposed to be an Easy camera. But the buttons are smallish and the wheel is likewise rather small. There are only a few consecrated keys and they're for the most basic of functions - flash, screen luminance and smile mode. That's it.
If you're an progressed photographer and you want quick access to functions like ISO, EV or shooting modes then this camera may not be for you. Those functions ARE available with a few more key presses.
Smile Mode seems foolish to me. The camera may be set to mechanically take the shot when it detects a smile. I may tell when someone is smiling, altho to be reasonable the Sony might in truth be better at it than a humane is. I haven't tested this yet.
I wasn't capable to test the Panasonic ZS3, the W370's nearest competitor. At the time I purchased the ZS3 was a full (...) more expensive, but they'll probably drop the price now that this Sony is out.
99 of 101 humans found the following review helpful.
A KEEPER: Almost Returned it after Reading Reviews
By T. Swanson
While out in the desert I dropped my Canon SD870 for with regards to the third time in 3 years on a rock and the mirco-gears were no longer in alignment--camera would no longer focus at all. I was heading out on a week trip to exceedingly remote areas so I necessitated to buy a camera in one day to take with me. Not having a lot of good value options, I settled on this model and then came home and read the reviews. It was too late to take the camera back and get another one, so I had to live with this choice. So I read the manual and experimented by taking pictures around my house. The following are my thought after using the camera for a few weeks on dissimilar trips.
SPEED: Since I am an electrical engineer, it did not long to discover that all of the intellectual smile, red eye and other detection algorithms were taking a lot of processing time decelerating down the camera. After turning them all off the seed bettered a lot. Next I put in a 4GB Sandisk Class 6 SD memory card and that helped a lot of more. In fact the speed to take still shots was with regards to the same as my old Canon. However, when using the flash it does take with regards to 2-3 seconds to recharge and be ready for taking the next photo, but I may live with that. The camera mechanically uses the flash outside more than I like, so I turned it off and it the camera operated faster. All of the intellectual detection algorithms in truth slow down the camera. With all of them shut off the camera is ready to take a picture in when it comes to 1-2 seconds depending on the solution of the picture your taking. That is in regards to 1 second for a 5M versus 2 seconds for 14.1M of resolution. That is just the time it takes to write the effigy to the SD card. If you get the class 10 SD cards I am guessing it will be closer to 1 second to write the effigy to memory.
BATTERY LIFE: There are dissimilar modes you may set the camera to operate that control the amount of current used to operate. Because of all of the bad reviews, I set it to the "Stamina" mode as I was going to be away from power roots to recharge the battery and was planning to take lot of pictures. On a trip to Chevelon Canyon to take pictures of Petroglyphs I employed it continuously for 3 hours and took 291 5M solution pictures. I turned it on and off regarding 50 times that day and after doing this for when it comes to 3.5 hours and 291 images later, the battery showed 2 of the 4 bars of still available battery life. I turned it on the next day and took another 100 images and there was still one bar of battery life available. I did not use the flash for any of these pictures. Using it the way I did, would concede taking 400-500 5M solution pictures which is more than I got with my Canon.
BATTERY CHARGING: My canon took with regards to 30 -45 minutes to charge, but I now think it used a higher current than the Sony and so it gives a quicker, but not as deep of a charge. It was shocking to learn the Sony took when it comes to 3 hours to charge. It must be a low current slow charge method which normally makes batteries last longer and hold their charge better.
PICTURE QUALITY: I am not a professional, but people have told me I take good pictures. With that in mind I could not see distortion around the edges and corners as I read in other reviews. Maybe galore or one of the automati detection algorithms does compensation that messes up the images? With the camera setup in a minimal automati mode as described above, the pictures I have take are of the same quality as those I took with my SD870--VERY GOOD!
WIDE ANGLE LENS: It does not have the digital zoom lens feature the SD 870 does and it is fantastic equated to the fixed zoom of the W370, and the wide angle is not as wide, but if you move closer or further back a few feet it gets the occupation done. When your truing to take a picture of a cliff dwelling located on a ledge that is difficult to get closer to, digital zoom is missed.
PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE: It comes with a scaled down function NERO photo editor. They only concede sure functions to get you to buy the package. NERO will not even grant a person to delete a photo from their computer unless they buy the upgrade. Well you may go to where your photos are stored and delete them yourself or just use a good inexpensive photo editor and forget using NERO. I tested the results of the NERO editor versus the FREE editing capability in PICASA (free by Google online) and I could not see any difference. I just transfer the images and then use an editor to do the croping, etc.
CONSTRUCTION: I checked out a couple of the canon model for a similar price and they weighted when it comes to half as much as the W370 and did not feel like they were built very solidly. This camera is as sturdy as my old SD870. While taking pictures the firstborn day I had to jump from rock to rock over a flowing creek and when I landed on the far side the camera went flying and landed on a huge flat & smooth boulder and slide when it comes to 6 feet before stopping. I cringed as I picked up the camera hoping at least the pictures were good, since it was such a remote place. After attempting the camera it worked fine and I have not found any negative issues with it since. It is a rugged well built camera.
REVIEWERS: I think reviewers oftentimes do not read the manual and accordingly do not set things up correctly, work for the contest or work for the manufacturer and so there may be a lot of dis-information to sift through. The middle ground reviewers are in all probability most precise (LOL)?
OVERALL: This camera is solidly built, has a big 3" diagonal viewer that is easy to read, takes good pictures and a lot of them with one battery when the automati detection features are turned off. It is just what I need and a good value in my opinion for the price. Now, if I had to buy a camera again and had two weeks to get it, recognise what I now know, I would buy it again.
158 of 165 humans found the following review helpful.
Good
By the-movie-guy
Let me say, I've owned assorted Sony digital cameras over the years. First a DSC-P50 circa 2001, then a couple of random ones I purchased new and wound up syndication because they had poor picture quality. Then in 2005 I purchased a Sony DSC-W7 (7.2 mp) point-and-shoot. This is a good little camera but the PQ has always been a little hit and miss. I would say I got one or two good shots out of each 100.
Some difficultnesses with the W7 were autofocus that didn't focus the right way (especially in indoor, low-light conditions), redeye was pervasive (even with the redeye reduction feature turned on), and shutter lag time. (One feature I liked in regards to the W7 was the inclusion of an optical viewfinder, which it seems most of the makers have now abandoned on these little digital cameras.)
Most of these difficultnesses seem to be addressed with the most recent (2010) generation of Sony DSC point-and-shoots. I decisive this was the time to replace the W7, and it came down to a choice amid a DSC-W330 and DSC-W370. After taking a good deal of test photos in the store, and sending those photos to my personal computer at home for analysis, I decisive to buy the W370.
The W370 does not have an optical viewfinder, but it has everything else, and does everything right. The low-light, indoor shooting that the W7 could not handle is not an issue at all for the W370. Each indoor shot has been clear and well-focused, with exquisite background detail in shot after shot. In 10 test shots, only 1 came out bad, whereas with former Sonys there might be 4 good shots and 6 bad.
The quality is light years in front of the W330. I was attracted initially to the W330 because of it is sleek look and little form factor (the W370 does not have this sex appeal), but the W370 blew the 330 out of the water in terms of photo quality, in particular autofocus (always sharp) and redeye reduction (no redeye or hint of redeye at all in shot after shot).
In sum, I purchased the W370 and haven't looked back. This is an splendid little camera and everything a digital camera will have to be. Takes splendid photos whether indoors or out, natural light or artificial, bright conditions or low, etc. I highly commend this product.
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