Sony DSC-W100 Review

Here is the Auto mode screen display. Minimal information is displayed and only a few parameters such as image size or recording mode can be changed. The image size is "8M"egapixels, the image folder is 101, there's space for 63 shots, a graphical icon of the Memory Stick's available space, in the center are the Auto Focus area target marks and the SAF on the bottom indicates Single-AF focus mode.

This is a "P"rogram AE screen. Top left shows the battery level (full). You can see icons for the ISO speed which is set to 80 and we have enabled the realtime histogram. Program mode allows for a wide variety of parameters to be set; see the record menu below.

When you half-press the shutter release the AF marks will turn green indicating the area of focus, it will also show a green dot as well as the selected shutter speed and aperture. The lightning bolt indicates the flash is charged and will fire.

Here you can see "M"anual mode. More for the advanced user, in this mode you choose the shutter speed and aperture values. At the bottom right is an EV (exposure) gauge, you want to be as close to 0.0 as possible.

The 16:9 Wide mode allows you to make pictures that are sized to fit on modern HDTV display screens.

When you rotate the mode dial a "virtual mode dial" is displayed. Select from: AUTO, Program AE, Manual, High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Beach, Landscape, Soft Snap or Movie.

The Image Size menu is called-up by depressing the Resolution button. Options are 8M, 3:2, 5M, 3M, 2M, VGA and 16:9. The selections are accompanied by usage guidelines and an estimate of the number of images that can be stored to memory.

Record options for Program mode:

Color Mode - Natural, Rich, Sepia, Black & White

Focus - Multi AF, Center AF, 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m, 7.0m or Infinity

Metering - Multi-pattern (default), Center or Spot

White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash

ISO - Auto or fixed at 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1250

Picture Quality - Fine or Standard

Mode - Normal, Burst or Multi Burst

Multi Burst - 1/7.5, 1/15 or 1/30 (option appears only when mode is Multi Burst)

Flash Level - High, Normal or Low

Contrast - Default is 0 but may be + or -

Sharpness - Default is 0 but may be + or -

The W100 has an excellent macro focus mode that works as close as 6cm (2.4 inches) from the lens. Use of a tripod is strongly recommended!

The screen in the 640 "VX" Fine Movie mode. Fine mode is VGA resolution 640 x 480 full screen @ 30fps with audio and the length is limited only by the space available on the memory card. A Memory Stick Duo Pro card is required when using this mode.

Movie resolution can be set to 640 Fine (30fps), 640 Standard (16.6fps) or 160 for E-mail (160x120, 8fps), these movies will playback in a smaller window. The advantage is that the file sizes are smaller and more practical for email purposes.

Movie menu options:

Color Mode - Normal, Sepia, Black & White

Focus - Multi AF, Center AF, 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m, 7.0m or Infinity

Metering - Multi-pattern (default), Center or Spot

White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent or Incandescent

Setup - Enter the setup menu