Sony DSC-W50 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. Upper left is the zoom lens gauge which is displayed momentarily whenever you change the focal length. The image size is "6M"egapixels, the image folder is 101, there's space for 317 shots, a graphical icon of the Memory Stick's available space, in the center are the Auto Focus area target marks and the S AF 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 the selected shutter speed and aperture.

The new 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, High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Snow, Beach, Landscape, Soft Snap or Movie.

Record options for Program mode:

Image Size - (select with Resolution button) 6M, 3:2, 3M, 2M, VGA, Wide

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, 1000

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

Saturation - Default is 0 but may be + or -

Contrast - Default is 0 but may be + or -

Sharpness - Default is 0 but may be + or -

The W50 has an excellent macro focus mode that works as close as 2cm (0.74 inches) from the lens. Use of a tripod is strongly recommended!

The screen in the 640 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.

Movie resolution can be set to 640 Fine (30fps), 640 Standard (16 fps) or 160 for E-mail (160x120, 8.3 fps), 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 - 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 or Incandescent