Customer Reviews

Sony Cybershot DSCW70 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I wanted to buy a compact slim d-camera. Those with larger zoom are quite bulky, you can't carry around all the time. I think a slim camera is a better choice. I slip into my pocket while wondering around and come across something nice and take a picture of it. You can't do it with a huge camera.
After I made up mind about a slim camera, my choices were either Casio Exilim or Sony DSCW series. Casio Exilims are very sexy. They have a lot of mode scenes. They also function as voice recorder. You can take pictures of book pages etc. They have anti-shake capability which is said to reduce blurred images. I was almost buying a Casio Exilim. Being a diligent person I wanted to search more and more.
I found out that the so-called anti-shake feature is a bogus. Many people found it useless. That was a good reason to choose Casio. Then I found the picture quality of Exilim is not really good.I found some pictures taken with Exilim. They were soft, not crisp colors. Search the web reviews made by photo professionals. Casio Exilim is rated significantly less than Sony in picture quality. With ISO 200 noise was still detectable in most reviews . Those same reviewers however found Sony DSCW doing a better job . There was no noise with ISO 400 which means even in lower light condition Sony did a better job (less granularity in pictures with low light). Big difference!.
One feature of Sony that made it very attractive was its strong macro. It is 0.74 inch which means you can bring your camera 0.74 inch (2 mm) close to an object (say a bug) and still take a brilliant picture of it.
Now comparison of Exilim and Sony to summarize:
Casio Exilim
Anti-shake (it's a bogus)
Slim
Lower macro (2.5 inches)
Lower picture quality (detectable noise at ISO 200)
A lot of scene modes
Quick shutter
Sony DSCW Series
Slim (in fact it is slimmer)
Higher macro (0.74 inches)
Higher picture quality (No noise in ISO 400)
Not a lot of scene modes
Quick shutter
So.....I purchased a Sony DSCW 7 Mp. I took lots of pictures.
They are all brilliant, detailed and crisp, true colors.
I tried macro and took pictures of bugs. You can see the hairs on the legs of bugs. Absolutely no noise whatsoever, no blurry.
It's a marvel of technology. I took pictures of fireworks in July 4th using high ISO setting. They came out brialliantly like professional pictures.
It also uses a different kind of battery that you can't buy at your grocery which can leave you vulnerable. So you may wanna buy a spare one (about 40 bucks). But you can always recharge it. And it lasts much much longer than AAA or Nimh batteries.
It was a perfect choice. I highly recommend it.

I've had this camera for a week and taken a plethera of pictures and little movies. The 7.2 pixels and zoom work great. It's about the size of a deck of cards, but has all the big camera features. Use it in automatic mode, or adjust to manual for you camera pros. I put in a 1 Gig memory stick and haven't run out of room yet! Downloads are easy or you can print directly to the printer. If you have big fingers you might find the buttons a little difficult. Too many features to mention, I'm still finding them. Want something small enough for a little purse or pocket with all the big camera features? This is it!

I absolutely love this camera. I've told everyone I know to buy it. The picture quality is amazing. There are so many options with this tiny little camera! You can edit pictures before you even print them. Zoom in on a picture already taken and save it that way, and so much more. I take pictures of everything!

I charged the battery when I got the camera, which was about three weeks ago, and it's still going. I have 7/8th of battery life left. I haven't had to charge it again.

I am so happy with my purchase! I hope this helps you.

PROS:
- The picture quality is very good, but a 7.2 megapixel picture is about 3mb wich is pretty big and thats a reason you might want to buy a bigger memory card.

- Big 2.5" LCD that can get you some attention from bystanders around you.

- The video mode in High Quality is very good! This feature impressed me, and i use it the most ( depening on the occasion ). This camera has better resolution than my brothers sony camera recorder. For some reason my baterry seems to drain a little faster than taking pictures.


( I own a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, wich is enough to record and take pictures for a day, but i don't think the battery will hang in)

CONS:
- There isn't that many cons for me, becuase i was looking for a point and shot camera with a 2.5" LCD or 3"

- The only thing i didn't like about video mode is that you can't zoom while recording, other than that this camera is a nice and great pocket camera.

- Pictures come out blury at times when you are really shaky but sony does a pretty good at image stabilization.
(This is also a great sport camera wich you can capture pitures of a fast moving object.)

I originally had the Sony DCS W50 but returned it to get the W70.

Pros
7.2 Megapixel
Small and Light
High Quality VGA Video Recording with sound
3X Optical Zoom
Optical Viewfinder, you'd be surprised how many companies are doing away with the optical viewfinder
Great Battery Life
Big LCD Display

Cons
Non-Standard USB port on the camera
Pro-Duo Memory Card, come on Sony! SD Cards own the market
No QVGA Video mode. VGA (640x480) is really nice, the low quality mode 160x112 is also a good feature to have but why not QVGA (320x240), it would of been a nice to have that extra feature.

Sony I am very impressed The negatives of the camera are negligible in the long run, sure I would of liked an SD card slot, but Pro Duo cards are coming down in price. The quality of the photos are incredible. The camera is small and sleek. This camera also offers several different photosizes. 7 MP, 3:2 (6 MP), 5 MP, 3 MP, 2 MP, VGA, 16:9 (2 MP). All the standard features, Macro (which is incredible), red-eye reduction, low light, etc. There are three other camera's in Sonys W Line. The DSC W30 and W50 which are both 6 MP cameras, and the W100 which is an 8 MP Camera. As I stated before I originally had the Sony W50, the 6 megapixel version, but decided that I should of spend the extra $50 for the 7 MP one. The LCD is prone to fingerprints, but they are easily wiped off. For the price and the quality this camera is a steal all other 7 MP cameras are currently much more expensive.

This camera is very slim like the Canon Elphs but costs much less. It has very high resolution and is easy to use. The battery lasts a long time and the 2.5" LCD screen is very clear and big. It has a lot of different shooting modes, including a custom mode where you can set specific parameters like infinity lock or ISO speed. For convenience, every time you switch modes, the screen tells you what the mode should be used for, so you don't need to carry around a manual to figure out how to shoot your pictures.

i have another camera w/ 12x optical & tons of features but i wanted something compact & ready to take quick snaps. this fits the bill. on my recent vacation i was impressed with how quickly it booted up and focused in to get those unplanned shots. the x-large screen makes it really easy to see if you got a good one and the image stabilisation seems to work better than on my previous camera (canon A80)...either that or my hand is steadier. last but not least - the battery life was impeccable. I took a nearly 200 photos, plus spent a lot of time reviewing and showing off pics to friends with no need to recharge. the battery is a 'custom' one which concerned me but the charger is VERY compact and travels well. it has integrated prongs that fold flat when not in use - no cables :)

I purchased this camera to take on a family vacation to Disney World. I needed something small to fit in my purse. I chose Sony because I'm a proud owner of a Sony Mavica MVC-FD95. I've been using it for about 8 years, and I think it takes the best digital photos indoors and out. It's only cons for me is the long processing time between photos, and it's just too large to bring on vacation. Anyway, I found this Sony Cybershot DSC-W70 to take very nice pictures during the day in natural sunlight. But was disappointed with the overall brightness of the shots when used indoors in a low-light setting -- specifically indoors with no natural sunlight. Every picture just seemed too dark. I tried every reasonable setting on the camera to try and force the flash when I wanted a well exposed photo, but I never did figure it out. With my trusty old Mavica, just pop open the flash and it will go off. My old camera also has a great zoom lens. I didn't think I'd miss it so much, but I did. I decided to return the Cybershot DSC-W70 to Amazon after taking a whole bunch of indoor photos (taken in the evening) at Christmas time. Again, I tried several different settings, attempting to get the brighter exposure I wanted, but every picture wasn't worth developing. That was such a huge disappointment for me. I took the time to take so many photos of my extended family and not one was decent. For now, I will continue on with my trusty old Mavica. Maybe my next camera will be the Sony Cybershot DSC-H5. It's not tiny, but I think it's the next best thing to my Mavica. My opinion of the DSC-W70 camera is it is a nice slim camera for natural sunlight photographs. It served my needs for my vacation, but was not serving my needs in my every day life. My main use for the camera was not to take pictures of landscapes, etc, but to take photos of my young children and family.

My beloved Cybershot 4.0, purchased in 2000, was on its last leg, so I purchased the Cybershot DSCW70 7.2MP yesterday (with a 1 gig Memory Card). I love it! The salesperson said that if I was ready for a new camera, but not a slew of new-fangled upgrades, this is a great, inexpensive choice. It's very similar to my older model, though smaller, and, of course, my old Memory Stick is completely obsolete. My favorite features are 1) when you turn the dial to select different shooting options, a succint explanation of the feature pops up on the LCD screen. So, the little icons on the dial are no longer mysterious! 2) There is also a separate Review button, making editing and deleting faster.

Overall, this is a basic, quality camera with simple use and editing tools. Love it!

This little camera has it all. Large view finder, all of your favorite 35mm menu options. Easily fits into an evening purse or pocket. The functionality is great. Picture quality is excellent. Easy to use, download pictures quickly and admire your results.