Dsc-w830 Review

[Glauco Schlembach]

BenWaller has been shooting with the Sony Cyber-shot W830 for over 2 years, and has shared his photos and thoughts on the compact Sony Cyber-shot W830. The W830 features a Zeiss branded 8x optical zoom lens, a 20mp CCD sensor, and a compact camera body, making it easy to take with you. The W830 is available from around 95.

The camera has a 20.1 megapixel CCD sensor, 720p (1280x720 pixels) video recording, and 360 panoramic shooting. Intelligent Auto makes it easy for beginners, and there are a number of scene modes. You can adjust the ISO speed, there's face-detection focus and a built-in flash.

The Sony Cyber-shot W830 has a plastic camera body, with a metal effect. The mode switch on the back lets you switch between photo, panoramic mode, and video recording. There's a playback button to switch to playback mode.

From Ben Waller: The camera takes a full-sized SD card - not a huge issue as I have several adaptors but I was expecting it to take a microSD, most smartphones and action cameras do these days.

The camera weighs just 120g with battery and memory card, and thanks to its compact size it will fit into even small pockets, making it easy to take with you anywhere you go. Battery life is rated at 210 shots, which is fairly standard for a compact camera, however charging the camera is easy, as you can simply use the provided USB cable and plug it in anywhere there is a USB socket.

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.

Images: Ben Waller. Noise can be seen in photos with strong blue skies when viewing images at 100%. If you're sharing images on Facebook, then this won't be an issue, as colours look very good, with bright saturated colours. Dynamic range can be an issue when there is a bright sky, however, the DRO (Dynamic Range Optimisation) option can help slightly.

Images seem to only be focused where the green squares [ ] have indicated a focus lock or focusing point, almost as if the detail is being recorded in software with little regard for the rest of the image.

The Sony Cyber-shot W830 is priced around 94 and could make a good entry level point and shoot camera for use on holiday or in good lighting. Alternatives to look at include the following budget cameras:

Have a look at more budget cameras in our Top Budget Compacts around 100 or Top Budget Compacts under 100. You'll also need to buy a memory card and a case or bag to keep your camera safe and protected - have a look at our complete guide to camera bags.

The Sony Cyber-shot W830 doesn't feature Wi-Fi and other connectivity options but is one of the cheapest compact cameras with optical image stabilisation. In good weather, the camera produces images with bright saturated colours, and images will look good when shared on social media websites, like Facebook. If you can avoid using higher ISO speeds, then the camera can produce good results. You'll need to spend quite a bit more to get a compact camera with Wi-Fi, with the Nikon Coolpix A300 (129), or the Sony Cyber-shot WX220 (159) the closest alternatives.

I have been relying on my mobile phone for photography for quite some time now as it offers quick and effortless sharing to my various social media platforms. Whilst it does produce decent quality photographs, I do find myself reminiscing about the days when I used to use a compact camera instead. Not only did it save me from draining my mobile's battery or clogging up its storage, but it also provided me with better photo quality.

Lately, I have been contemplating starting a YouTube channel focused on vlogging. Although I have attempted to make a few videos using my mobile phone, the outcome didn't match the professional and high definition look I wanted to achieve for my channel. This led me to purchase the Sony Cybershot W830 camera, a 20.1MP camera that ticked all the boxes - compact, affordable and well-reviewed - for me to begin vlogging during my upcoming summer travels.

The Sony compact camera's lightweight and small design makes it an ideal vlogging companion, especially when you have to hold your arm up for extended periods. It not only provides comfort during long filming sessions but also makes it easy to carry around. With plenty of space in my handbag, I'm encouraged to use it more often rather than relying on my mobile phone.

These images I am sharing were taken during my first venture into the field with my trusty camera. My main aim was to test its photographic capabilities while taking my dog for a walk. However, due to the website's automatic compression of the images for faster page loading, their quality may have been slightly compromised. I must stress that these pictures have undergone auto brightening in Lightroom.

My favourite feature of this camera is the panorama setting, which I am eagerly anticipating to use during my travels. It is incredibly user-friendly and as it is a point and shoot camera, I found it very easy to operate. I used the 'intelligent auto' setting to capture these images, and I am quite pleased with how they turned out.

In particular, the photos with shallow depth of field are impressive as I did not tinker with the settings at all. I believe that this camera has the potential to produce even higher quality and sharper images, given that it boasts 20.1 megapixels and excellent reviews.

As soon as I have filmed a vlog with this camera, I plan to share it on my YouTube channel to give you a better idea of how it fares when capturing videos. The 720p HD camera is likely to produce great results, as my initial tests have been very encouraging. Changing the mode of the camera between camera, panorama and video is also a breeze as the button moves up and down to achieve this.

All in all, I am very happy with my purchase of the Sony Cybershot W830 camera. The battery life has exceeded my expectations compared to my mobile phone, and it takes far better quality photos than my mobile. So, when picking vlogging gear that is suitable for beginners, this camera undoubtedly presents an excellent starting point.

These following features that the Sony Cybershot W830 has makes it a reliable choice for capturing high-quality photos and videos, especially suitable for vloggers, bloggers and content creators seeking a compact and user-friendly camera.

7. Connectivity Options: Look for cameras with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities for easy file transfer and sharing to your mobile without always needing to use a computer to access files from the memory card.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W380 is a new 14 megapixel compact camera with a wide-angle 5x zoom and 2.7 inch LCD screen. Featuring a metal body, the Sony W380 offers a high-quality 5x, 24-120mm equivalent Sony G lens with a fast maximum aperture of F/2.4 and Super SteadyShot optical image stabilisation. Face and smile detection technologies are joined by a self-portrait mode, and there's also intelligent scene recognition and an Easy mode for complete beginners. The Sony W380 also features a Sweep Panorama mode for extra-wide landscapes, ISO range of 80-3200 and and 1280x720 pixel 720p HD movie recording with stereo sound and HDMI output. Available in silver, black, red and gold, the Sony Cybershot W380 retails for around 220.

The new Sony W380 is heavily based upon the existing WX1 model, so a lot of comments that we made about that camera apply equally to the W380. The Sony DSC-W380 has a conventional 5x extending optical lens with a fast maximum aperture of f/2.4 and 24mm wide-angle setting, instantly making it a serious proposition for more serious photographers. The W380's lens is a joy to use, with the combination of the f/2.4 aperture and maximum ISO speed of 3200 making this camera well suited to hand-held low-light photography. Also, having a 5x zoom in such a small package makes this camera more adaptable than you might first think, with everything from ultra-wide landscapes to candid head-and-shoulder portraits within reach of the W380.

The W380 is quite a minimalist and slender camera, measuring less than 2cms at its narrowest point and weighing less than 150g with the battery and memory card fitted, with a 2.7-inch 230k-dot resolution LCD screen at the rear. As you'd expect with a screen of that size on such a small compact, the W380 has no optical viewfinder to fall back on. Providing the only actual means of gripping the camera is the round mode dial on the rear of the camera which falls naturally under your right thumb - there is no handgrip at all on the front of the rather slippery metal casing. Also located on the front of the W380 is the lens, a small and narrow window for the flash and a porthole for the self-timer/AF illuminator.

Press the small round power button on the top plate and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W380 quickly readies itself for action in a just over a second. The adequately sized shutter-release button has a definite halfway point, determining focus and exposure with a bleep of affirmation, focus points highlighted in green on the LCD. Go on to take the shot and the JPEG images are committed to memory in a single second, the screen momentarily blanking out and then displaying the captured image before the user can go on to take a second shot. The W380's built-in microphone is also located on top of the camera, plus a small activity LED.

A fairly responsive and tactile thumb-operated rocker switch on the rear of the W380 operates the 5x zoom and alternates between wide-angle and telephoto. The action of the zoom itself is leisurely smooth rather than rapid, gliding unhindered through the focal range in a single, steady motion. Underneath the zoom switch is the shooting mode dial, which has a nice positive action and lets you quickly switch between the various shooting modes that the W380 offers.

In addition to the regular Program mode, Sony has included intelligent auto scene recognition in its line-up of shooting modes, accessed via this rear mode dial. This mode works in virtually identical fashion to the intelligent auto modes of Panasonic's and Canon's compact ranges. The user points the W380 at a scene or subject and the camera analyses it and automatically chooses one of 11 pre-optimised settings to best suit. For complete beginners, there's also the Easy shooting mode, which employs the same intelligent auto scene recognition system, reduces the number of features available to a few key ones and simplifies the display with bigger text and icons.

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