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The W50 is the sweet spot in the Sony line for most people

The W50 is the sweet spot in the Sony W series lineup, for most people. You can take it everywhere and get very good pictures. But it’s not that expensive, so there’s no reason not to take it everywhere (except maybe that kayak trip).

If you’re wondering whether to get the W30 or the W50 (especially given the lack of reviews on the W30) - go with the W50. The W50 is a little smaller and lighter, and even with the bigger screen has lower power consumption than the W30 - so you don’t have to worry that having the big screen will cut your shooting time. The W50 also comes with a combination computer / TV cable.

The S600 is somewhat interesting at the price, but a step down in LCD size and features and a little bulkier - as noted below for most people you can get plenty of battery life and a smaller size with the proprietary battery cameras.

In general, you’ll also get better pictures with a W50 than with credit-card type cameras that have a tiny lens system - optics will always make a difference.

If you’ve used an older generation camera, you may have some misconceptions about battery life. Many newer cameras have sharply reduced power consumption, so the powerful proprietary battery can get you through a day of shooting hundreds of shots with no problem. (Be a little wise about turning it off when you’re not using it!) So a lot of the conventional wisdom about batteries is wrong - you probably don’t need a second battery, unless you’re going into the woods for a while, and you don’t need to mess with AA rechargeables. Also, lithium ion batteries don’t have a memory effect, so don’t worry about partial recharging. Just charge the battery each night. So - before getting a second battery, try it for a while and see if you need it.

But a case is a good idea - see the LCS-WF, or LCS-WE, or LCS-CSG maybe - there are a lot of cases out there.

Get a Memory Stick Pro Duo card - Pro cards are faster, and you need the smaller Duo size with this camera. Get at least 512MB, and maybe 1-2GB, especially if you plan to travel for more than a week, or use the video mode - which is surprisingly good, if set to fine, but uses enormous amounts of storage at that setting.

I’ve been using the Sony DSC-P200 for over a year now. Reviewers generally rated it as the best of the compact cameras. The W50 can’t match it in some respects - the P200 has a bigger sensor and a bigger lens, both a fundamental to picture quality. But any reasonable person will be very happy with the pictures from the W50, given the size of it.

And the controls, menus and interface on the W50 have definitely been improved - for example, the W50 has easier access to the various scene modes (twilight, etc), with some explanation on the screen of what those mysterious little icons mean (so you might actually use them). Try the High ISO mode in low light no-flash situations - for nit pickers the picture quality suffers, but most people will find it useful. And again, if you need that often, no ultra-compact camera will work really well - think about something with a bigger lens and bigger sensor.

But the W50 still offers enough control (through the scene modes and the Program mode) to allow a fair amount of control over the pictures, for an automatic camera.

The build quality seems fine to me.

By the way, it uses essentially the same cable as the DSC-P200 for the USB/AV cable.

The charger is fairly compact and rated 100-240V, so while you’ll need a plug adapter overseas you won’t need a voltage converter.

My only real complaint so far - the battery charger is a little slow, though probably OK. Sony isn’t doing itself any good on customer satisfaction by not including the (optional) fast, compact charger to go with the fast, compact camera.

A few common problems and easy fixes:
- All of these cameras will focus on what’s in the center when you press the shutter halfway down. If the center of the shot you want to take is background, and not subject, you’ll get the background in focus. So aim at the subject, hold the shutter halfway down to fix the focus and exposure, then compose the picture and press the rest of the way down.
- Flash pictures rarely look really good on most cameras. The W50 is pretty good, but you might have even better luck using the P mode and setting the flash to the - setting, especially for closer shots (across a table, for example). Or, use the + mode if you’re in a big room.
- Try using the P mode and putting the ISO setting to something very high if you want to force a fast shutter time (for example, for action shots).

But of course good light always gives the best pictures with any camera. There are limits to what you can currently expect from any ultracompact camera.

Most of the complaints are from people expecting a camera to do everything. Be a little smart about it, and don’t expect the (currently) impossible - and you’ll be surprised at how many good pictures a camera like this can get for you.

Update (2/6/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Sony Cybershot DSCW50 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Electronics, was written by snapcrackle.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.