Sony Cybershot DSCW170/B 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Black)

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.6 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches ; 6.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0012XZQGC
• Item model number: B0012XZQGC
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (150 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,166 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 18, 2005

Product Description

Color: Black

Manufacturer Description

The Sony DSC-W170 has all the comforts of an easy-to-use point-and-shoot, but its dazzling agility and sleek, compact body pack a powerful punch. It features an enviable 10.1 megapixels, Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens, and all of the advanced shooting functions you expect from Sony. Face Detection and Smile Shutter technology helps elicit stunning detail from special moments, while Intelligent Scene Recognition lets you capture the mood as you remember it. Whether displayed on the 2.7-inch LCD screen or your HDTV, the DSC-W170 conveys your creative vision with precision and style.

Cyber-shot DSC-W170 Highlights

HDTV compatibility High-resolution images can be enjoyed in all their beauty simply by connecting the camera directly to a Sony Bravia HDTV or other compatible HDTV. This provides an excellent alternative to viewing photos as prints or on a computer monitor, and is ideal for users who want to share photos in the comfort of their living room. Optional HD solutions include a Cyber-shot cradle/charger with component cable output, or component cable directly to your HDTV.

15 MB internal memory Even if you forget your flash memory card, you can get the shot because 15 MB internal memory lets you capture a limited number of shots with in-camera convenience, then easily transfer your shots to a PC or optional Memory Stick Duo media.

10.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD More megapixels give you more detail and definition when you make big prints or crop in tight on your subject. The advanced Sony Super HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens 5x optical zoom gives you the power to get even closer to the action -- a real benefit for distant landscape views and dramatic portraits.

9-point Auto Focus Because an off-center subject can make your shot more interesting, a 9-point auto focus measures auto-focus at 9 precision points instead of 5 -- giving you greater creative freedom to compose your image.

2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD display A large, bright 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD display includes an anti-reflective coating that provides for excellent visibility to help you compose, view, and share photos with superb clarity and color reproduction, even in bright sunlight.

Memory Stick Duo media convenience A built-in slot accepts optional Memory Stick Duo media or Memory Stick Pro Duo media -- the compact, high-capacity storage media that make it easily to upload photos to your PC and are compatible with millions of devices worldwide.

16:9 High-Resolution mode In addition to the standard 2-megapixel size, the convenient 16:9 aspect ratio shooting mode for HDTV display can now be shot in 7-megapixels, making it possible to obtain beautiful, high-definition prints with the same aspect ratio as HDTV.

Automatic Macro shooting Standard Auto Focus now covers the macro focus range, eliminating the need to manually change focus modes for close-up photography. The Macro mode has not been eliminated, and enabling it accelerates Auto Focus when shooting at point-blank range.

Burst mode You can fire off three shots automatically at 1-second intervals (VGA standard mode) or 2-second intervals (full resolution mode) -- a great way to capture a child’s first steps or a pet’s best tricks.

Convenient Photo modes To adjust quickly for specific shooting situations, you can choose from several convenient photo modes, including Auto, Program Auto, and Scene Selections such as Twilight, Landscape, Soft Snap, Snow, High Sensitivity, and Beach environments.

Dynamic Range Optimization Powered by the exclusive Sony Bionz high-speed processing engine, Dynamic Range Optimization preserves image data in bright highlights and reveals more detail in shadows or backlit areas -- for great results even in difficult lighting conditions.

Easy image management To help you find the right image among many, Date View mode and Favorites mode have been added to the standard Folder View. Date View mode displays a calendar view, while Favorites mode shows only user-selected images. Furthermore, you can filter photos by face types such as portrait, child, baby, and smile.

Easy Shooting mode A simplified camera environment especially attractive to beginners or digital camera users who want to keep things simple, Easy Shooting provides easy-to-read, on-screen instructions and limits the number of camera settings to help prevent misuse of the camera while still providing excellent results.

Face Detection Face Detection technology automatically controls focus, exposure, color, and flash to help reveal faces in shadows, make skin tones look more natural, reduce red-eye, and eliminate harsh facial glare, so your photos bring out every expression on every face in every shot.

Function Guide This beginner-friendly function helps manage various functions and settings by displaying the description of chosen functions or settings on the LCD screen. The Function Guide can also be switched off.

HD Slide Show with music It’s the high-definition viewing experience that makes photos more entertaining to watch, accompanied by your choice of visual effects and any of four preset musical selections stored in memory or your favorite music downloaded from PC to your camera for use as background music.

High Sensitivity (ISO 3200) mode With high sensitivity of ISO 3200, you can shoot effectively in low light without flash to preserve the mood, while the Sony Clear RAW Noise Reduction system helps suppress the color noise that can degrade low-light shots.

In-camera retouching Add creative effects to photos after you shoot using any of 10 editing functions, including: Trimming, Red-Eye adjustment, Soft Focus filter, Unsharp Mask, Cross filter, Partial Color filter, Fish-eye filter, Retro, Radial Blur and Happy Face. The Happy Face effect uses photo retouching to put a smile on faces, with smile levels adjustable from 1 to 5.

In-Camera Red-Eye Reduction Irritating "glowing eyes" can ruin even the most creative photos, but in-camera red eye reduction corrects your photos at the touch of a button to reduce lingering red-eye effect that other systems might miss.

Intelligent Scene Recognition mode Intelligent Scene Recognition mode automatically detects six different types of scenes and selects the appropriate camera setting: Backlight, Backlight & Portrait, Twilight, Twilight & Portrait, Twilight with Tripod and Portrait. Intelligent Scene Recognition has two different modes, advanced and auto. Advanced mode takes two shots, one with the standard automatic settings and the other with optimized settings. Auto mode takes a single shot, arbitrarily deciding on the proper setting.

MPEG Movie VX Fine mode Capture VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at a high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second), with the length of your video limited only by the capacity of your media.

Multi-resizing function Resize your photos in-camera for virtually any purpose! Standard 4:3 images can be resized to widescreen 16:9 and 2 MP resolution for display on an HDTV. Conversely, high resolution, widescreen 16:9 images can be resized to 4:3 size with VGA (640 x 480) resolution -- perfect for sharing with friends and family via e-mail (internet connection required). A simple 4-direction touch-screen control also makes it easy to trim photos.

Optical viewfinder In addition to the LCD display, a built-in optical viewfinder lets you compose your photos in traditional rangefinder camera style, and also helps save battery power by turning off your LCD display.

Photo Music Expanding the HD Slide Show with Music feature, PhotoMusic combines images with music to produce fun and entertaining slide shows. The five standard visual effects (Simple, Basic, Nostalgic, Active and Stylish) have been supplemented for a total of eight effects. Additionally, the number of music tracks stored in the camera memory has been doubled from four to eight, and music playback time has been extended from three to five minutes per track. More personalized slide shows are also possible by transferring music from a PC to the camera.

Photo TV HD PhotoTV HD compatibility allows the camera to be connected to a PhotoTV HD-capable Sony Bravia HDTV via the optional HD output adaptor, for highly detailed, high-definition color images displayed in unprecedented realism and full HD quality.

Picture Motion Browser software Supplied software makes it easier to upload, organize, and search photos on your PC. When shooting photos using your camera and an optional GPS unit, the software even provides a convenient map view function that lets you sort photos by location and display their origin on a world map.

Simple setup controls A quick press of the Home button opens your user-friendly graphical interface -- and you can select functions by simply moving a cursor vertically or horizontally to the appropriate icon. Function names and the on-screen Function Guide display make it easier to learn camera setup operations.

Smart Zoom feature The Sony Smart Zoom feature intelligently "crops into" the central portion of interest in your photo, helping avoid the image degradation of other digital zooms.

Smile Shutter mode Smile Shutter mode helps you capture smiles automatically as they happen. Used in conjunction with Face Detection technology, Smile Shutter is able to differentiate between children and adults, and can be set to automatically shoot a picture when your subject laughs, smiles, or even grins -- only when focus is fixed. You select the person to watch and the expression to catch -- your Cyber-shot camera does the rest!

Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution The combination of Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization and high ISO sensitivity helps compensate for shaky hands, minimizes blur, and allow flash-free shooting to preserve the mood.

Stamina Battery Power Provides extended battery life and shooting capacity when using a fully charged Lithium Ion battery-- enough to cover a long weekend or a whole vacation.

Super SteadyShot Optical Image Stabilization Super SteadyShot Image Stabilization compensates for shaky hands and minimizes blur with optical sensors that detect camera movement and send correcting signals to a stabilization lens -- so there’s no need to crop in on your shot to reduce blur.

Wide Zoom Display To use the entire image area of the camera’s widescreen LCD and compatible HDTV screens, Wide Zoom automatically expands standard 4:3 images to 16:9.

Product Description

The Sony DSC-W170 matches point-and-shoot ease-of-use with advanced features to pack a powerful punch. The sophisticated, compact body features an enviable 10.1 megapixel resolution, Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens, and Sony s Double Anti-Blur solution for crisp, clear images. For easy viewing and sharing, the large 2.7 LCD displays your shots in vibrant color. In addition, Face Detection technology, Smile Shutter, and Intelligent Scene Recognition elicit stunning detail from special moments. Includes: Cyber-shot DSC-W170 Digital Camera, Black, 1 year limited Warranty, NP-BG1 rechargeable battery, BC-CSG battery charger, A/V and USB multi-connector cables, Wrist strap, Software CD-ROM, Note: No Memory Stick DUO TM Media or adaptors are included

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Camera in Low Light, June 13, 2008

By 

M. L. Chesner "CRCHAIR" (Shelton, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCW170/G 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Gold) (Electronics)

This is a great little camera. It takes very good pictures in all light situations, but is especially good in low light when compared to other digital cameras. I brought this along on a recent outing to New York City and didn't use the flash at all. As with all cameras, not every picture taken in low light is perfect, but this camera does a better job than any other camera I have owned which includes other Sonys. It is about the size of a deck of cards, so although it is larger than some cameras in Sony's lineup, it is still small enough to fit into your jeans pocket without feeling like the whole world knows what you are carrying.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing - another great Sony!, July 27, 2008

By 

DocRWM "docrwm" (Woodstock, GA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCW170/R 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Red) (Electronics)

This is the 6th Sony camera of camcorder that we've owned. My wife wanted a slim camera to carry in her purse for shots of the children at outings and such. We already own the Memory Stick media and NP-BG1 batteries and chargers so a Sony that uses these was our first choice. No one, NO ONE, else had the new DSC-W150 or W170s on discount other than Amazon when we bought ours. The Smile technology and child first choice are AMAZING. The quality of the pictures is terrific but the ease of point and shoot with presets or all auto is great for pull it out on the spur of the moment, turn it on (fast), point and shoot! The quality of the Very Fine movies is also really amazing. I know that its still 640x480 video but 30fps and the speed of the new Mark 2 cards makes this usable footage - its not the same as our Sony DVCs but its good enough and its with us ALL THE TIME! Wow. Great 5x optics, wider angle than the W150 (which is nice as many slim cameras make it hard to do photos of groups unless you are way back), and it uses the NP-BG1 and newer NP-FG1 battery packs so its compatible with our DSC-H7 and its support materials!!

UPDATE: Nov 12, 2008:
Well, we've had it for several months and two big trips. We took over 2000 photos with it during our week at Walt Disney World. I also had my Sony DSC-H7 with us. After the first day and comparing the two sets of photos that evening, I carried the W170 for the rest of the trip. Its SO much smaller, took great photos, and was easier to use (also was easier on the battery) that I took more photos than I otherwise would have with the bulkier camera. The Videos, when converted with Vista to DVD, are AMAZING! Are they as good as our Digital Video tape Sony? No, but then again this camera is 1/10th the size! Just plain impressed with the performance of this little camera.

90 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars poor image quality, but otherwise very nice, August 16, 2008

By 

Ed Sejud (Boulder, Colorado) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCW170 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Silver) (Electronics)

I bought this camera because the consumer reviews were excellent, and my first impression of the camera was very good also, based on size, handling characteristics, and the way photos displayed on the 2.7" screen on the back of the camera. However I had business distractions and didn't display my photos on a full-size screen until after the Amazon return time expired. The image quality of my camera (perhaps I have a lemon) is very poor when compared to my three year old Olympus point-and-shoot. I was shocked at how "soft" the images were when viewed on a 15" computer screen. I took identical comparison shots using a tripod and self-timer to verify that I wasn't seeing motion, but in sunlight or low light, the images are visibly and objectionably soft. Around bright patches, such as sky showing through the leaves a tree in the foreground, there is heavy blue fringing, and some sections of the photos are "foggy" as though a fingerprint was on the lens, but there were no fingerprints or debris on the lens. There are noticeable blotches of off-color (like "noise," but bigger) in shadow areas, even at low ISO. I should have tested the camera better, sooner, and I blame myself and my schedule for not doing that. Here is the lesson: (1) Don't buy a camera unless you can thoroughly test it immediately, including judging the image quality on a large screen, not the screen on the camera. (2) Order the correct memory chip the first time, so you don't get delayed waiting for the correct chip to arrive. This Sony is not compatible with all SD memory chips. (3) Compare the camera against another camera of known qualities, but do in time to take advantage of Amazon's return option. I've shipped my camera to the repair center in Texas and it hasn't returned yet. If they fix it satisfactorily, I'll amend this evaluation to say so.

OCTOBER 17, 2008 UPDATE: The camera was promptly returned from Sony service in Texas with no notation or explanation regarding what repair, if any, was done. The post-return images seem very much like the former ones I complained about. However, I have softened my criticism a bit because I think my original expectations were too high. This is a quite small, light, easily carried and concealed camera with intuitive controls and it has a reasonable optical viewfinder. For it's size, it does the job well enough, so, in retrospect, I think I was expecting a bigger camera's performance from an instrument I purchased on account of it's very small size. That expectation might have been unreasonable in some degree. I also have a Canon G10, which costs twice as much and is two and a half times heavier. The Canon takes lovely pictures, but I find myself carrying around the Sony most often because it is so small and so light (6 oz. with battery), which is a compelling argument in its favor.

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