Average to above average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup and shutdown times are on the slow side of average.

Mode switching times are about average for this class.

Shutter response is very good at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.36s and 0.40s respectively. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in an impressive lag time of only 0.008 second (among the fastest on the market).

Shot-to-shot cycle times are about average, at about 1.64 seconds for large JPEGs, and the camera appears to capture shots continuously in single-shot mode without having to slow down to clear the buffer. Oddly, when capturing low resolution JPEGs, the cycle time slows to 1.92 seconds, unusual for this test. Continuous mode performance is about average (perhaps slightly above for a 10-megapixel model), at 1.62 frames-per-second, and the camera was able to maintain that pace for over 20 large frames. The flash takes 11.62 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is very slow indeed, especially considering the flash is not very powerful and the battery is a lithium-ion type.

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are much faster than most digital cameras on the market today.

Overall, the Sony W170 is above average in terms of speed; fast enough for most family and travel photo opportunities, but flash recycling is markedly slow.

Battery
Above average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

The Sony W170 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Though battery life is pretty good, we still recommend picking up a separate battery and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Sony W170 accepts Memory Stick Duo or Duo Pro memory cards. Though no card is included, the camera has about 15MB of internal memory usable for storage. The table below shows the approximate capacity of the internal memory at each resolution setting. (The Sony W170 does not have a compression level option.)

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity Memory Stick Pro Duo card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 2 or 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)