REVIEW: Sony DSC-W170

About four and a half years ago I bought a Sony DSC-T1. The T1 was a revolutionary sub compact camera. It took 5 megapixel pictures using a 3x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens with a 2.5” LCD monitor. All this came a in tiny 3.6 x 2.4 camera. Only 0.8 in thick and 180 grams. This was a great camera that could fit into your pocket without even feeling it. The best thing about the T1 was the speed – Sony gave a new meaning to point-and-shoot, since the camera was ready for operation as soon as you open it and there was no delay at all like in other small cameras back than. After the T1 was released all the other manufactures followed and you could get this size of LCD in all cameras and the same body type. I’ve seen the cameras getting better throughout the years, with better resolution and features but had no reason to replace my T1 since it was great and provided everything I needed – until last month when it died . I’m not sure what happened to it but everything is blurry so it seems as if I damaged the lens or something like that. In any case, it’s not worth trying to even fix it with the prices of cameras today so I decided to go shopping for a new one .

I started reading reviews on the Internet to see what I should buy. I wanted to still get a small camera like I had so I can carry it anywhere without the need to carry another bag and get as many features as I can. This type of camera exists now from all vendors so the decision was even harder. On one hand, I have a lot of good experience with Sony products, and on the other hand it is annoying that they have their own memory card formats and don’t use the same cards as the rest of the industry so I seriously looked at other cameras in the same category from Canon and Nikon. After a lot of reading, comparison and customer reviews I decided to stay with Sony and get the Sony DSC-W170.

I decided to move from the T series (ultra-slim point-and-shoot) to the W series (compact point-and-shoot) for one main reason: Optical Zoom 5x! Although it is a little thicker (0.9 inch versus the 0.8 inch my T1 was) the optical zoom is the most important feature that the small cameras are lacking when compared to the bigger once (in my opinion…). The main specifications of the W170: 10.1 MP, 2.7" LCD display, Carl Zeiss wide 5x (28mm) Optical Zoom lens, Smile Shutter technology, Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Recognition, optical image stabilization. Camera dimensions: 3.7 x 2.3 x 0.9 inch and weighs only 173 grams including the battery. The maximum shutter speed is an impressive 1/1600 sec which is also very important and typically the main difference between a good and a bad compact point-and-shoot.

I’ve been using the camera for the last couple of weeks and I must say I love it! It is very easy to use (the dial buttons are so much better than touch screen navigation!), the new features for face detection and smile detection are pretty cool and work nicely. You can even prioritize smiles of adult, child or infant! The camera has also the capability to do some photo editing in the camera itself which is a nice add-on. The camera retails for $299, but when I bought it Best Buy had an online special for $269 only, so I went to their store and they matched the online price since I needed the camera and couldn’t wait for the shipping.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a compact camera I think the W170 is a great option!