Sony DSC-W50 Review

Overview

Sony DSC-W50 Overview

by Stephanie Boozer
and Dave Etchells
Review Date: 5/10/06

Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-W50 updates the already popular Cyber-shot line with an ultra-thin, compact body built for travel. A 3x zoom lens, 2.5-inch color LCD monitor, and handful of preset Scene modes makes the Sony W50 very user friendly, with straightforward operation that novices will appreciate. The 6.0-megapixel CCD captures high-resolution images, and 32 megabytes of internal memory lets the camera hold a few shots without a memory card. Compact yet capable, the Sony W50 promises to be another winner from Sony. Read on for all the details!

NOTE: The Sony DSC-W50 is a near-twin of the Sony W30, which we have also reviewed. The only noticeable difference is that the W50 has a 2.5-inch LCD display, while the W30 has a 2.0-inch one. We did find some minor differences in the images between the two models though. (Our sample of the Sony W50 tended to produce somewhat warmer white balances than did the W30 we tested.) If you've already read the W30 review, you can save yourself some time here by jumping down to the Test Results section of this review, to see how the W50's images stacked up.

Sony DSC-W50 Overview

Thin and ultra-compact, the new Sony DSC-W50 digital camera (and its sibling the W30 model) updates the Cyber-shot line with convenient portability and fully automatic exposure control in a compact, rugged metal case. The W50 offers the excellent resolution of a 6.0-megapixel CCD and 32 megabytes of internal memory, as well as a large 2.5-inch color LCD monitor and useful range of preset exposure modes. Though the Sony W50 doesn't offer any direct manual exposure control, the camera's extensive LCD menu system does offer quite a bit of creative control with image contrast, sharpness, and color options. The 3x optical zoom lens zooms across a range equivalent to 38-114mm on a 35mm camera, and the camera's Macro focus mode gets exceptionally close at just two centimeters. The Sony W50 boasts an extended ISO range, with equivalent settings from 80 to 1,000. While the 800 and 1,000 settings do allow you to capture brighter images under dim lighting, they also bring with them much higher image noise as a consequence. Still, the wide range of ISO settings is a plus for a point-and-shoot digital camera.

Though the LCD monitor dominates the rear panel, Sony managed to keep all the main functions close at hand and fairly easy to operate. Grab the Sony W50 in your right hand and your middle and third finger naturally grab the raised ridge on the front of the camera. The series of raised bumps on the rear panel provides some thumb traction, though I noticed a tendency for my thumb to slide over the Display and Menu buttons. (However, both buttons require a bit of a firm push, so I had no problems with accidentally pressing them.) Conveniently above the thumb rest is the Mode dial, and below it is the Five-way navigator. I did require a two-handed grip to accurately turn the Mode dial, due to its low-profile design. (Dave can manage it with one hand, but I'd be nervous about dropping the camera if I tried to do so.) The camera's Zoom lever encircles the Shutter button, making it easy to quickly adjust zoom while holding the camera in shooting position.

I also liked little interface niceties, such as the "virtual dial" that appears on the LCD screen when you rotate the mode dial. This display (see the screen shot at right) shows the currently-selected option and a brief explanation of what that mode is useful for.

The Sony W50 is a very responsive-feeling camera: Pressing the Power button on top of the body produces a swift reaction: The LCD comes on, the camera chimes, and the lens assembly bursts out of its silo quickly, letting the camera snap its first picture only 1.7 seconds after being turned on. A half-press on the shutter begins the focus operation. In low light, a bright orange LED illuminates the scene when necessary, so low-light focus isn't a worry. The fast Multi-point AF determines the closest object and focuses quickly, showing brackets around the areas that will be in focus. Shutter lag (the delay between pressing the shutter button and the camera taking the picture) is lower than that of most cameras on the market, with a range of 0.32-0.55 second. Everything about the camera feels like quality and performs competently. Included with the camera is a Sony LiIon rechargeable battery pack and charger, which has a pretty good battery life. I still suggest purchasing a backup battery pack, and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings. The camera's internal 32 megabytes of memory will hold a few shots, but here again, I'd recommend picking up at least a 128-megabyte Memory Stick Duo card, or a Memory Stick PRO Duo card for the Fine quality movie recording mode.

The Sony DSC-W50 is an impressive offering, much like the rest of the W-series in the Cyber-shot line. It is handsomely constructed, with a feel of quality, is uncomplicated to operate, has good battery life, and is compact enough for most pockets or purses. Its ample LCD screen and quality lens should give most users a great experience capturing pictures they'll be proud to display. The one thing I really found to complain about with it was the image noise in high-ISO photos: I really don't know why Sony bothered putting ISO 800 and 1,000 options on the camera, as they're only remotely usable for snapshot-size prints, and even that will depend on the user's tolerance for noisy, muddy images. If you just forget about the ISO 800-1,000 sensitivity settings though, the Sony W50 is a great little camera -- Read on for all the details!

Beginning through intermediate users will be right at home with the W50, and advanced users will enjoy its excellent portability and handful of creative exposure tools. Although the W50 is a point-and-shoot digital camera, it has a lot of creative options and enough image adjustments to handle a wide variety of shooting situations. So, while it's designed to relieve you from complicated exposure decisions, advanced amateurs and business users will appreciate it for its quality, portability, and varied shooting options. Accessory lenses and filters (rarely found for compact cameras like the W50) make it more versatile for wide or telephoto use, and an optional underwater case lets you bring it along to the beach or on boating excursions with confidence. Overall, an excellent "all around" camera, with impressive speed and resolution.

Basic Features

• 6.0-megapixel CCD.
• 3x zoom lens (equivalent to a 38-114mm lens on a 35mm camera).
• Variable digital Smart Zoom (up to 13x at VGA resolution), or 2x Precision Digital zoom.
• Real-image optical viewfinder.
• 2.5-inch color LCD monitor.
• Automatic and Program exposure modes.
• Built-in flash with five modes and an intensity adjustment.
• 32MB internal memory.
• Sony Memory Stick Duo slot (no card included).
• USB 2.0 computer connection.
• Power from one rechargeable LiIon battery pack, charger included.
• Software for Mac and PC.

Special Features

• High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Snow, Beach, Landscape, and Soft Snap modes.
• Movie recording mode (with sound).
• Multi-Burst slow motion mode and Burst continuous shooting mode.
• Email (VGA) modes.
• Shutter speeds from 1/1,000 to 1/8 sec in Auto mode; 1/1,000 to one second in Program mode, and 1/1,000 to two seconds in Twilight mode.
• Aperture range from f/2.8 to f/13, depending on zoom position.
• Creative Color Mode menu.
• Image Sharpness and Contrast adjustments.
• Self-timer for delayed shutter release.
• Macro (close-up) lens adjustment.
• Spot, Center-Weighted, and Multi-Metering modes.
• Multi and Center AF modes, plus manual focus (5 distance presets).
• Auto ISO setting or 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,000 ISO equivalents.
• White balance (color) adjustment with six options.
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) and PictBridge printing compatibility.

In the Box

Included with the Sony DSC-W50 digital camera are the following items:

• Wrist strap.
• Rechargeable battery pack with charger.
• USB cable.
• AV cable.
• Software CD containing Sony Cyber-shot software and USB drivers.
• Quick-guide manuals and registration information.

Recommended Accessories

• Extra battery pack.
• Large capacity Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo.
• Carrying case.

You don't normally think of accessory items like add-on lenses or an external flash with compact digital camera models, but Sony's compact "W" series is a bit of an exception in this area. Here's a complete list of Sony accessories for the DSC-W50, complete with shopping links for them:

Conclusion

Featuring a 6.0-megapixel CCD, 3x optical zoom lens, and well-designed user interface, the Cyber-shot DSC-W50 updates the popular Cyber-shot line with a thin, compact body style perfectly suited for travel. Exposure remains under automatic control, something novices will appreciate, and its seven preprogrammed scene modes help with more tricky subjects. It's a very responsive camera, with low shutter lag in daylight conditions, and excellent shot to shot speeds. It also sports very good battery life, a very capable movie mode, and excellent download speed. Finally, Sony makes a line of accessory lenses, filters, a slave flash, and even an underwater case for it as well, greatly expanding your options beyond what you'd normal expect from a compact digicam model. The bright 2.5-inch color LCD monitor is excellent for framing and reviewing shots, and the overall design and layout of the W50 is user-friendly and hassle-free. If you're looking for a good "take anywhere" camera with great versatility and good color and tonality, the Sony DSC-W50 deserves a close look. (And if you feel you can get by with a 2.0-inch LCD instead of the 2.5-inch one the W50 sports, the Sony DSC-W30 will save you $20 - $30 at retail.) We suggest that you ignore the ISO 800 and 1000 settings on the camera, as the image quality there is really marginal even for snapshot-size prints, but if you look at the Sony W50 as an ISO 400 camera, it competes very strongly, making it a Dave's Pick in its category.

Design

Sony DSC-W50 Design

The Sony DSC-W50 is compact, stylish, and ready to go anywhere, with a very thin body style that's quite at home in shirt pockets and small purses. Its silvery body is about as wide as a typical business card, and about a quarter inch taller, top to bottom. Measuring just 3.62 x 2.37 x 0.91 inches (90 x 59 x 23 millimeters) and weighing 5.4 ounces (153 grams) with the batteries and a memory card installed, the Sony W50 is quite thin and light weight. When not in use, the telescoping zoom lens retracts neatly inside the body, and a small plastic leaf shutter automatically closes over the lens to protect it. Outfitted with the accompanying wrist strap, it's quick on the draw and easy to hold.

Despite its small size, the Sony W50 has just enough room for a good grip up front and one small spot for your thumb on the back. The 3x, 6.3-18.9mm zoom lens (equivalent to a 38-114mm zoom on a 35mm camera) is just left of center (when viewed from the back), with a small and very bright orange lamp on the upper right of it, to help with focusing in low-light conditions. (This lamp also blinks less brightly when the self-timer is in use, flashing faster to let you know when the camera is about to snap the picture.) The flash crowns the top right corner, and a tiny window for the optical viewfinder is upper left of the lens.

The right side of the camera (as viewed from the rear) has a small plastic door that opens to reveal the DC In terminal. Also on this side of the camera is the eyelet for attaching the wrist strap.

The left side is smooth and featureless.

The camera's top panel includes the Shutter button surrounded by the Zoom lever. To the left is the small Power button, surrounded by a green LED that lights when the camera is powered on. Also on the top panel is a raised grill covering the tiny microphone, on the far left side.

The Sony W50's rear panel holds the remaining camera controls and function buttons, along with a bright 2.5-inch color LCD monitor for previewing and playing back images, and the optical viewfinder window. The LCD display reports a variety of camera and exposure settings, including the aperture and shutter speed settings (a nice bonus for those interested in how the camera will expose the image) and a battery gauge. The optical viewfinder is located above the LCD monitor, and has two LED lamps along the right edge of the window, each of which reports the current status of various camera functions. The optical viewfinder has no dioptric adjustment, but eyeglass wearers will be pleased with the fairly high "eyepoint," allowing a little room for an eyeglass lens between the camera body and your eye. Right of the eyepiece is the Playback button. The camera's Mode dial is in the upper right corner, conveniently located right above a set of raised bumps for better thumb traction when holding the camera. Below the Mode dial are the Display and Menu buttons, and a Five-way Arrow pad, with small arrows pointing in four directions (Up, Down, Left, and Right) and a set button in the middle. Each serves multiple functions, navigating onscreen menus scrolling between captured images in Playback mode, or activating different camera functions (Flash, Exposure Compensation, Self-Timer, and Macro). Finally, three tiny holes above the top left corner of the LCD monitor reveal the camera's speaker.

The W50's flat bottom holds the threaded (metal) tripod screw mount, the custom USB/AV Out jack, and the shared Memory Stick / battery compartment. While most users of the W50 probably won't care, it is impossible to change the batteries while the camera is mounted on a tripod.

Sony DSC-W50 External Controls

Power Button: Located left of the Shutter button on the camera's top panel, this button turns the camera on and off. A green LED surrounds the button, and lights when the camera is powered on.


Zoom Lever : Surrounding the Shutter button on top of the camera, this lever controls optical zoom and, when enabled via the Setup menu, Sony's Smart Zoom or Precision Zoom options.

In Playback mode, this button controls the digital enlargement of a captured image, which can go as high as 5x. (Very handy for checking focus or the expressions on people's faces in group shots.) Also in Playback mode, the wide-angle end of the button activates the Index Display mode, which displays nine thumbnail images on the screen at one time, making for faster browsing through your captured images.

Shutter Button (see image above): Surrounded by the Zoom lever, this button sets focus and exposure when halfway pressed, and fires the shutter when fully pressed.

Playback Button: To the right of the optical viewfinder eyepiece on the rear panel, this button enables the camera's Playback mode when pressed. A second press returns the camera to Record mode (as does a half-press of the Shutter button).


Mode Dial : Crowning the top right corner of the rear panel, this ribbed dial sets the camera's operating mode, offering Auto, Program, High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight portrait, Snow, Beach, Landscape, Soft snap, and Movie modes.

Display Button : Below the Mode dial, this button controls the LCD display, cycling through the image with information display, the image with information and live histogram display, the image with limited information display, and no image display at all (in all Record modes). In Playback mode, it cycles through a similar series, but does not disable the LCD display.

Menu Button : Just beneath the Display button, this button activates the settings menu in any camera mode. The Menu button also turns off the menu display.

Five-Way Arrow Pad : Located in the lower right corner of the rear panel, this control features four arrow buttons, each pointing in a different direction (up, down, left, and right), and a Set or OK button in the middle (Sony describes it by its shape: a dot). In all settings menus, these arrow keys navigate through menu options. Pressing the center of the button confirms selections.

In any record mode, the Up button controls the Flash mode, cycling through Auto, Forced, Slow-Sync, and Suppressed modes. The Right arrow turns the Macro (close-up) mode on and off, and the Left arrow accesses the Exposure Compensation menu. The Down arrow accesses the Self-Timer modes (two- and 10-second options).

In Playback mode, the Right and Left arrows scroll through captured images. When Playback zoom is enabled, all four arrows scroll around within the enlarged view, while pressing the center button returns to the normal, 1x display.


Image Resolution / Erase Button: Lower left of the Five-way Arrow pad, this button displays the available resolutions in any record mode. Choices are 6M (2,816 x 2,112), 3:2 (2,816 x 1,872), 3M (2,048 x 1,536), 2M (1,632 x 1,224), VGA (640 x 480), and 16:9 (1,920 x 1,080). Movie resolutions are 640 x 480, and 160 x 112-pixels.

In Playback mode, this button lets you erase the currently displayed image.

Operation

Sony DSC-W50 Operation

Operating the Sony DSC-W50 is very straightforward, as the camera controls the basic exposure at all times. The Mode dial on the rear panel controls the main operating modes, with options for Auto, Program, High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight portrait, Snow, Beach, Landscape, Soft Snap, and Movie modes. In all image capture modes, the DSC-W50 provides an onscreen LCD menu (activated by the Menu button), with a variety of options for adjusting image quality or adding special effects. The four arrows of the Five-way arrow pad are used to scroll through menu options, while the button in the center of the pad functions as the OK button to confirm selections. Outside of the menu, the arrow pad adjusts flash, exposure compensation, macro, and self-timer modes. A separate Image Resolution button calls up the available resolution settings, removing this item from the main menu system, thereby making it much quicker to access when needed. The Zoom control surrounding the Shutter button adjusts both optical and digital zoom (when the latter is activated through the Setup menu).

The Sony W50 incorporates two nice user-interface touches that we liked quite a bit. If the LCD is on in capture mode, rotating the Mode Dial causes a "virtual dial" to appear along the right edge of the LCD display. An optional function guide can also be enabled through the Setup menu, which displays concise help text on the LCD for camera functions. The combination of virtual dial and plain-English explanations of camera modes made for a very friendly user interface. Overall, we were impressed by Sony's judicious use of space, especially with the large number of external controls provided, the larger than average LCD, and the relatively short learning curve the W50's user interface entails.

Record-Mode Display

In record mode, the LCD monitor displays the subject with a fair amount of overlaid information, indicating approximate battery life remaining (graphically), flash mode, focus mode (macro or normal), autofocus mode setting, any currently-selected exposure compensation setting, ISO setting, the current size/quality setting, and number of images that can be stored on the remaining Memory Stick space at the current size/quality. Half-pressing the Shutter button causes the camera to display the shutter speed and aperture setting it has chosen for the current lighting conditions. Pressing the Display button beside the LCD once adds a small "live" histogram display to the information, pressing it again removes the information overlay, and pressing it a third time turns the LCD off entirely. Pressing it a fourth time restores the default display.

Playback-Mode Display

In Playback mode, the default image display shows the most recently captured image, with a modest information overlay present. Pressing the Display button once adds the exposure information and a small histogram to the overlay, pressing it again removes the information overlay entirely, and pressing it a third time returns to the default display. Pressing the wide-angle side of the zoom lever takes you to a display showing images on the Memory Stick in groups of nine small thumbnails. (You can navigate a yellow outline cursor over these thumbnails by using the four arrow keys. Pressing the telephoto side of the zoom lever will bring the currently-selected image up full-screen.) Pressing the telephoto side of the zoom lever when viewing an image full-size on the LCD screen will zoom in on the image, in 17 variable-sized increments up to a maximum magnification of 5x.

Sony DSC-W50 Modes and Menus

Scene Modes: Marked on the Mode dial with corresponding black icons, these modes are for capturing images in specific situations. Seven "scenes" are available, including High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Snow, Beach, Landscape, and Soft Snap. The High Sensitivity mode increases the ISO setting automatically, so you can shoot without the flash in dim conditions. (Albeit at the cost of much-increased image noise.) Both Twilight modes capture images in low light, although the Twilight Portrait mode automatically enables the Red-Eye Reduction flash mode, combining it with a slower shutter speed to let ambient lighting brighten the background as well. Because the camera employs a slower shutter speed in both Twilight modes, a tripod is highly recommended to prevent blurring from camera movement. Snow and Beach modes optimize the camera for bright situations and prevent color loss from overexposure. Landscape mode sets the focus at infinity and uses a smaller lens aperture to capture sharp details both near and far away. Soft Snap mode enhances skin colors while keeping a soft focus for a pleasing glow.

Program Mode: This mode is marked on the Mode dial with a black "P." In this mode, the camera selects shutter speed and aperture, while you control all other exposure variables.

Automatic Mode: Indicated on the Mode dial with a green camera icon, this mode puts the camera in control over the exposure and everything except Macro, Image Size and Quality, Zoom, Flash, and the Self-Timer.

Movie Mode: A filmstrip icon marks this mode on the Mode dial. In Movie mode, you can record moving images and sound, for as long as the Memory Stick or internal memory has space. Resolution and quality choices are 640 x 480-, or 160 x 112-pixels, with Fine and Standard options in 640 x 480 mode. While recording, a timer appears in the LCD monitor to let you know how many minutes and / or seconds are remaining on the Memory Stick, and how long you've been recording, so you'll have some idea of how much time you have left. Recording in 640 x 480 Fine mode is only available with a Memory Stick Pro Duo card.

The W50 offers a Multi Burst mode separate from the movie mode and selected in the menu in Auto, Program, and Scene modes, which captures an extremely rapid 16-frame burst of images, at a selectable rate of 7.5, 15, or 30 frames per second. Multi Burst shots are played back as a slow-motion animation on the camera, but appear as a single large file with 16 sub-images in it when viewed on a computer. (This would be a fun way to catch someone crossing a finish line during a race, or to analyze golf and tennis swings.) A Burst mode is also available, and captures a rapid series of images for as long as the Shutter button is held down. Frame rates and the maximum number of images depends on the image quality and resolution settings, as well as the amount of available memory space.

Playback Mode: Playback mode is accessed by pressing the Playback button on the rear panel. In this mode, you can scroll through captured images, delete them, write-protect them, and set them up for printing on PictBridge-compatible printers. You can also copy, resize, and rotate images.

Record Menu: Available in all three Record modes by pressing the Menu button, the Record menu offers the following options (some options are not available in all modes):

• Color Mode: Offers Normal, Rich, Natural, Sepia, and Black & White color modes.
• Focus: Sets focus control to Multi AF or Center AF, or one of five preset focus distances (0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 7.0 meters, and Infinity).
• Metering Mode: Chooses between Multi-Metering, Center-Weighted, and Spot modes. Spot metering reads the exposure from the very center of the frame (identified by a cross hair target on the monitor). Spot metering is handy for backlit subjects, or any time the subject and background exhibit very high contrast. Center-Weighted also reads from the center of the frame, but from a larger area than Spot. Multi-Metering mode reads the entire frame to determine exposure.
• White Balance: Adjusts the overall color balance of the image, to suit the light source. Options are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, and Flash.
• ISO: Adjusts the camera's light sensitivity. Options are Auto, or 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,000 ISO equivalents. (See our notes below, in the Test Results section: The ISO 800 and 1000 settings are almost unusable, due to high image noise.)
• P.Quality: Sets compression between Standard and Fine.


• Mode: Sets capture mode, Normal (single), Burst, and Multi-burst.
• Interval: When in Multi-burst mode (grayed out otherwise), sets the capture interval between 1/7.5, 1/15, and 1/30.
• Flash level: When the flash is enabled (grayed out otherwise), sets flash power to plus, normal, and minus settings.
• Contrast: Alters the level of contrast in images with plus, normal, and minus settings.
• Sharpness: Controls the overall image sharpness and softness with plus, normal, and minus settings.

Playback Menu:

• Folder: Selects the folder for playing back images.
• Protect: Write-protects the current image (or removes protection), preventing it from being deleted or manipulated in any way except with card formatting.
• DPOF: Marks the current image for printing on a DPOF device. Also removes the print mark.
• Print: Prints the current image.
• Slide: Plays back images in an automatic slide show. You can set the time interval and whether or not the sequence of images repeats.
• Resize: Resizes the image to 2,618 x 2,112; 2,048 x 1,536; 1,632 x 1,224; or 640 x 480 pixels. (When an image is resized, the original image is left in place, and a new copy is made at the selected size.)
• Rotate: Rotates the image 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.
• Divide: Allows you to trim material from the beginning or end of a recorded movie, or to extract an interesting bit of action from the middle of a longer clip.
• Trimming: Lets you crop an image and save it as a separate file from the original.
• Setup: Accesses the camera's Setup menu.

Setup Mode: This mode allows you to change a variety of camera settings, and is accessible through each of the camera menus by scrolling to the Setup icon and pressing the right arrow button.

• Camera:
  • AF Mode: Sets the focus mode to Single, or Monitor. (Monitor is Sony's term for continuous autofocus.)
  • Digital Zoom: Switches between the up to 13x Smart Zoom and Precision zoom, or turns digital enlargement off. (Smart Zoom values will depend on the resolution selected, 13x is the max at VGA resolution.)
  • Function Guide: Turns the Function Guide on or off. If enabled, the guide displays text about camera functions when they are accessed.
  • Red Eye Reduction: Enables or disables the Red Eye Reduction flash mode, affecting both Auto and Forced flash modes.
  • AF Illuminator: Turns the AF Assist light on or off. If on, the light automatically illuminates in dark shooting conditions.
  • Auto Review: Immediately plays captured image onscreen for two seconds.
  
  

• Internal Memory Tool (only available when no Memory Stick is present):
• Format: Formats the internal memory, erasing all files (even protected ones).
• Memory Stick Tool:
  • Format: Formats the Memory Stick, erasing all files (even protected ones).
  • Create REC Folder: Creates a new folder for recording images.
  • Change REC Folder: Changes the folder that images are recorded to.
  • Copy: Copies images from the internal memory to a Memory Stick.

• Setup 1:
  • LCD Backlight: Controls the brightness of the LCD display, with options of Bright or Normal.
  • Beep: Controls the camera's beep sounds, turning them on or off. A Shutter option enables only the shutter beep noise.
  • Language: Selects among Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, or English for the menu language.
  • Initialize: Resets the camera to its default settings.
    
  
  
• Setup 2:
  • File Number: Chooses between Series (continuing the shot number infinitely) or Reset, which resets the frame number by folder.
  • USB Connect: Sets the USB connection type to PictBridge, PTP, Mass Storage, or Auto.
  • Video Out: Sets the timing of the video output signal to either NTSC or PAL.
  • Clock Set: Sets the camera's internal clock and calendar.

Optics

Sony DSC-W50 Optics

Lens

Zoom
A typical 3x optical zoom range, with good performance.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 zooms over the equivalent of a 38-114mm range, which is fairly typical for its class. Overall performance is quite good, with good detail and sharpness at wide angle. The 2x Precision Digital zoom takes it out to 6x total, though detail remains pretty good.

Macro
A very small macro area, but severe blurring in the corners. The flash had trouble throttling down, and produced an uneven exposure.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50's macro setting captures a very tiny minimum area of only 1.09 x 0.82 inches (28 x 21 millimeters). While the macro area is quite small though, details are somewhat soft throughout the frame, with sharp definition only in the very center of the frame. Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode (evidence of the optical characteristic "curvature of field"), but the W50's blurring extends quite far into the frame. Sometimes, severe curvature of field of this sort is evidence of the camera being asked to focus closer than its minimum focusing distance, but a series of shots with the W50 at progressively greater focal distances showed the same phenomena. Shooting at the minimum macro focal distance, the flash had a hard time throttling down, and couldn't cover the frame evenly. (Plan on using external lighting for any macro shots with the DSC-W50.)

Distortion
Moderately-low barrel distortion, though high pincushion.

This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel--usually at wide angle) or inward (like a pincushion--usually at telephoto). The Sony DSC-W50's 0.6% barrel distortion at wide angle is a little less than average among the cameras I've tested, though still fairly noticeable in its images. At the telephoto end, the W50's 0.5% pincushion is higher than average.

Barrel distortion at 38mm is 0.6%

Pincushion at 114mm is 0.5%

Chromatic aberration
Moderate, small effect on images at edges.

Chromatic aberration is moderate at wide angle, showing about 5-6 pixels of fairly bright coloration on either side of the target lines, but decreases to very low levels at telephoto focal lengths. - The chromatic aberration on the W50's lens was a tad higher than what we saw with the W30, further evidence that the lenses on the samples of the two cameras we've tested behaved slightly differently. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness
Some softening in the corners of the frame at wide angle, though less distortion at telephoto. Better sharpness than average overall though.

The Sony DSC-W50 produced slightly soft corners in a few wide angle shots, though at telephoto, sharpness remained more consistent from corner to corner.

Viewfinder

Coverage
Optical viewfinder tight and skewed toward the top of the frame. Very good accuracy from the LCD monitor.

The DSC-W50's optical viewfinder was quite tight, showing only about 82% frame accuracy at both wide angle and telephoto lens settings. However, the LCD monitor showed almost 100% accuracy at both wide and telephoto.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Sony DSC-W50 Exposure

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Slight oversaturation in red and blue tones, and somewhat warm, dark color overall.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located towards the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center.

Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life. The Sony W50 does oversaturate the strong red and blue tones slightly, but undersaturates bright yellows and yellow-greens. We found its color pleasing on a wide range of typical subjects though. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc. Here, the W50 did pretty well, albeit with a bit more warmth than we'd prefer.

The other important part of color rendition is hue accuracy. Hue is "what color" the color is. The DSC-W50 showed small color shifts relative to the correct mathematical translation of colors in its subjects, but overall had more hue-accurate color than most consumer cameras we test.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Warm casts with both Auto and Incandescent white balance settings. More exposure compensation required than usual.

Color balance indoors under incandescent lighting was just a bit warm and reddish in Auto white balance mode, and the Incandescent setting resulted in a more yellow color balance that actually proved more pleasing of the two. The Sony DSC-W50 required a +1.3 EV exposure compensation boost to get a good exposure, which is higher than average for this shot. Overall color is a bit dark and yellow here, making the blue flowers very dark and purplish. (A very common outcome for this shot.) Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulb, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the US.

Outdoors, daylight
Slightly warm color outdoors. Better than average exposure accuracy.

Outdoors, the Sony DSC-W50 noticeably better than average exposure accuracy, although with slightly blow-out highlights. Strong highlights tended to produce slight underexposures, as in the house shot above, with a limited midtone range, but exposure accuracy was still better than average when compared to many other consumer digital cameras. Color balance was typically a little warm overall.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
High resolution, 1,250 lines of strong detail.

Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 1,250 lines per picture height, with extinction at around 1,700. (The camera produced slight color artifacts at lower line frequencies though, visible in the full-sized res target shots.) Actual resolved detail was about the same as with the Sony W30, but the W50's images seemed more crisp with the default sharpening setting. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail. Beware that while you might be able to make out what looks like distinct lines at numbers higher than those we've mentioned here, the camera is just doing its best to continue interpreting the lines. If you zoom in and follow them from the wider portions, you'll see the lines converge and reappear several times, so the lines you see at 1,600 and higher are really only artifacts generated by the camera's imaging system.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Fairly sharp images, with some blurring of detail from noise suppression.

The Sony DSC-W50's images tend to have a slightly soft look when printed large, though high contrast detail like the fine branches against the sky above is well-preserved, with little or no evidence of oversharpening. (Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.)

Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears. The crop above right shows this somewhat, with darker areas of Marti's hair showing only limited detail, even though some individual strands are visible against her cheek. Overall though, the Sony W50 shows less loss of detail from noise reduction than average at low ISOs, but more at high ISOs.

ISO & Noise Performance
Low to moderate noise at the normal sensitivity settings, very high noise and heavy blurring at the higher settings.

The Sony DSC-W50's lower ISO settings produced low to moderate noise, with little impact on detail. (As just noted, better than average in this respect.) As the ISO setting increases though, so do the noise level and the amount of blurring that results. Shots at ISO 400 are a bit soft but still usable, while shots at ISO 800 and 1000 have so much noise and blurring that they're practically useless for printing. (Even at a print size of 4x6 inches, ISO 1000 shots are soft and muddy-looking.)

Extremes: Sunlit and low light tests
High resolution with good overall detail, though limited shadow detail and high contrast. A tendency towards warm casts. Fair low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images under average city street lighting.

Sunlight:
Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 produced high contrast under the deliberately harsh lighting in the test above, with deep shadows and dark midtones. Detail was limited in the deep shadows as well, with some noise suppression blurring any remaining details. The W50 required less positive exposure compensation than average, however, at only +0.3 EV. (In "real life" though, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown above; it's better to shoot in the shade when possible.) Overall color was a bit warm, which darkened the blue flowers and green foliage significantly.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux
Night Mode (ISO 80)	1.3 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8
ISO 80	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8
ISO 100	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8
ISO 200	1/2 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8
ISO 400	1/4 sec f2.8	1/1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8
ISO 800	1/8 sec f2.8	1/3 sec f2.8	1/1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8
ISO 1000	1/8 sec f2.8	1/4 sec f2.8	1/2 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8
High ISO Mode (ISO 1000)	1/10 sec f2.8	1/8 sec f2.8	1/8 sec f2.8	1/8 sec f2.8	1/8 sec f2.8

Low light:
The Sony DSC-W50 had somewhat limited low-light shooting capabilities, with a maximum exposure time of two seconds and that only at its lowest ISO setting of 80. However, the camera is sensitive enough for shooting under average city street-lighting at night, about one foot-candle. (The leftmost column of images in the table above.) Overall color was pretty good with the Auto white balance setting (just slightly pink), and the camera's autofocus system was able to focus on the subject down to the 1/4 foot-candle light level unassisted (about 1/4 as bright as typical street lighting). With the AF assist lamp enabled, the camera focused accurately down to the lowest light level we test at.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) For such applications, you may have better luck with a digital SLR camera, but even there, you'll likely need to set the focus manually. For information and reviews on digital SLRs, refer to our SLR review index page.

Flash

Coverage and Range
A limited flash range, even at the maximum intensity setting.

Flash coverage was somewhat uneven at wide angle, better but still slightly uneven at telephoto. In the Indoor test, the flash on the underexposed our subject at its default setting, requiring a High Intensity boost to get reasonably bright results. Even here, the exposure slightly dim. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced slightly brighter and more even results, though with a stronger pinkish-orange cast from the room lighting. It too required the High Intensity flash setting for bright results.

8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft	12 ft	13 ft	14 ft
1/50 sec f5.2 ISO 100	1/50 sec f5.2 ISO 100	1/50 sec f5.2 ISO 100	1/50 sec f5.2 ISO 100	1/50 sec f5.2 ISO 100	1/50 sec f5.2 ISO 100	1/50 sec f5.2 ISO 100

Even at eight feet, our closest test range, flash intensity is a little low. As the distance from the target increased, brightness decreased, becoming quite dim at 14 feet.

Output Quality

Print Quality
Good print quality, great color, crisp prints at 8x10 inches, usable ones at 11x14. ISO 400 images are soft and noisy at 8x10 inches, acceptable at 5x7, great at 4x6. Higher ISOs are only (barely) suitable for 4x6 inch snapshot prints.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon i9900 studio printer, and on the Canon iP5000 here in the office. (See the Canon i9900 review for details on that model.)

The Sony DSC-W50 produced sharp prints at 8x10 inches, and somewhat softer but still acceptable ones at 11x14. As always though, the real test of print size came at the higher ISO settings. Here, the W50's ISO 400 images were soft and a bit noisy when printed at 8x10 inches, acceptable at 5x7 and great at 4x6. (It's our estimation that most consumers would find 8x10 inch prints from the W50's ISO 400 images acceptable for wall display.) ISO 200 shots were still a bit noisy but better-looking at 8x10. The highest ISO settings of 800 and 1000 were so noisy though, that we really question their inclusion on the camera at all. Even in small 4x6 inch snapshot-sized prints, ISO 800 and 1000 shots were soft and muddy-looking.

Color-wise, the Sony W50 did pretty well, with bright but natural-looking color and good-looking skin tones, although we felt that many of its shots had more of a warm cast than we'd prefer.

Bottom line, low-ISO shots from the DSC-W50 look very good and hold together well at large print sizes, but its high-ISO images leave much to be desired.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance