The Sony Cybershot DSC W270 has 12 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens. The lens has wide angle capabilities and zoom can be increased when shooting at lower resolutions. Sony has also included High Definition movies, image stabilisation and a 2.7 inch LCD screen.

This is a reasonably priced digital camera. It has some useful features and takes a decent snapshot.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
With the lens zoomed in to around two thirds of its capacity the Cybershot DSC W270 handles the scene well. The sky looks a little grainy on super sized prints, but anything below that looks good.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
As I see with so many digital cameras with a wide angle lens a compromise is made when it comes to the overall sharpness of the photos when zoom is not being used. How much of a problem this will be to you depends on the size of the prints you plan to make. The softness of the shots is only likely to become an issue if you blow the photos up to a larger size.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
With the zoom fully extended focusing also falls below what I like to see. In this case the whole shot lacks that extra bit of crispness.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
Based on my tests the Cybershot DSC W270 produces its best results when the zoom is either not fully zoomed in or out. My first test shot and this one are much sharper than the second and third test shots. As with the first shot I am happy with the level of sharpness in this shot.

Outdoor Portrait
You should have no problem producing sharp portrait shots from close in. The camera is able to handle this challenge well.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
Flash is handled well by the camera. The level of light emitted by the flash is about right and the picture is lit evenly. The picture is also pleasingly sharp.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
This picture is dark considering the lighting levels. It suggests to me that you are likely to have to resort to using flash with the Cybershot DSC W270 as soon as the lighting is anything less than perfect.

Colours
I like the colours produced by this camera. They are well balanced and do not overpower the pictures.

Macro
The Cybershot DSC W270 needs to be 10cm away from the subject before it is able to focus. This can be a little limiting if you are looking to take lots of really close in shots. The quality of my test shot is o.k., but there are a lot of cameras out there that are better for close up shots.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
Even at ISO 400 photos can struggle a lot in darker areas of a shot. Looking at these tests and my indoor portrait without flash I can see this is really a camera for bright conditions or for when you are within the range of the flash unit.

Overall
The pictures I have taken with the Cybershot DSC W270 fit somewhere in the middle when it comes to picture quality. There are one or two areas where I think the camera could do better.

Shutter lag times were good. A single shot timed 0.27 seconds and five 12.62 seconds. Turning the flash on made little difference to the times. Times with flash were 0.4 seconds for a single shot and 12.75 seconds for five photos.

To turn the camera on and take the first picture took 2.8 seconds. This is a good time.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

This is an unfussy digital camera. It has a typical rectangular look. It is available in red, silver, black and gold.

97.6 x 56.6 x 27mm

135g

Lithium ion (NP-BG1). Sony suggests you should be able to take up to 330 shots between charges. I struggled to get near this amount.

Sony has only built 11MB of memory into the Cybershot DSC W270. This is only enough for a couple of photos. It can use Memory Stick™ Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo™. Memory Stick PRO Duo™ High Speed (No Speed Advantage), Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™ memory cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Very good. There are a few extra features to find out about, but all in all you should find the Cybershot DSC W270 easy enough to use.

Ease of use - shutter lag times with flash

Macro mode could get in closer - one or two of my test shots were soft

The Panasonic Lumix DMC FS15 is another mid range digital camera worth looking at. I found the picture quality to be a bit better than with the Cybershot DSC W270.

There is not a lot wrong with the Sony Cybershot DSC W270, although one or two of my shots could have been sharper. It puts in a fair performance and has some useful features. Even so it is difficult for me to come up with reasons to buy this camera over and above other models.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

Description:	12 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens
Ease of Use:	8
Features:	8
Colour:	8
Macro:	7
Indoors:	7
Value for Money:	7
Style:	8
Movie Mode:	9
Image Quality:	7
Build Quality:	8
Total:	77
Verdict:	This camera does not really stand out from the crowd. It takes a decent enough snapshot and its features include a wide angle lens and High Definition movies. It is just lacking that killer reason for making me say, go out and buy this camera.
Review Date:	May 2009
Related Pages:	Sony DSC W270 Specification Sony DSC W270 Sample Images Sony DSC W270 Features

	GBP 168
	GBP 173.61
	GBP 174.81
	GBP 177.43
Click a flag for prices from other countries:

Camera	Rating
Panasonic DMC FS30	85
Panasonic DMC ZX1	83
Panasonic DMC FX550	83
Olympus MJU 7040	81
Nikon Coolpix S630	81
Fuji Finepix F200exr	81
Sony DSC W270	77

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Sony DSC W270