The Sony DSC W300 has a whopping 13.6 megapixels. It also has a 3x optical zoom lens. One of the advantages of this number of megapixels is that you have scope to shoot at lower resolutions and still produce large prints. When shooting at lower resolutions extra zoom becomes available. If you reduce the resolution to VGA mode a maximum 19x zoom becomes available. 2x digital zoom is also available.

Another method to increase the available zoom is to add conversion lenses to the DSC W300. The camera has a 74mm filter thread.

The focal length of the lens is equivalent to 35 - 105mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture is f/2.8 - f/5.5.

• Special resolution for 6 x 4 inch prints
• Special resolution for wider prints or reviewing on a widescreen TV
• Image stabilisation
• Self timer
• Smile shutter setting to automatically snap a photo when someone smiles
• CCD size 1/1.7 inches
• Noise reduction setting
• Colour mode - vivid, reproduction, sepia and black and white
• Colour filters - red, green, blue, warm, cool
• Setting to boost detail in shady areas of a shot
• Adjust contrast and sharpness
• Retouch options - including red eye correction

For close up shots the DSC W300 is able to focus from 5cm. Face detection options are available for sharper portraits.

The LCD screen is 2.7 inches in size and is made up of around 230,000 dots. An optical viewfinder is also available.

The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 5.5m. This falls to 2.8m when the zoom lens is fully extended. The flash modes are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Syncro and No Flash. Red eye reduction can be turned on and off via the menu. The power of the flash can be adjusted. There is also a red eye correction tool available to clean up any red eye after a photo has been taken.

The scene modes available are Twilight, Twilight portrait, Soft snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, High Speed Shutter, High Sensitivity, Smile shutter and Underwater.

Movies with a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels can be recorded. These can have a top recording speed of 30 frames per second. Zoom can be applied before recording starts, but not during shooting. Sound can also be captured.

Advanced features include:

• Exposure Compensation - +/- 2.0 EV, 1/ 3 EV step
• White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent1, Fluorescent2, Fluorescent3, Incandescent, Flash, One Push
• Metering - Multi Pattern, Centre weighted and Spot
• ISO Sensitivity - Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
• Burst mode - Up to 100 shots
• Bracketing - 3 shots. +/- 1 step.

Shutter speed are set automatically and work in the range ¼ - 1/2000 seconds.

Sony supplies all the required software and cables to connect the DSC W300 to a computer, television set and compatible printer. Sony DSC W300

Description:	13.6 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens
Ease of Use:	9
Features:	9
Colour:	8
Macro:	7
Indoors:	8
Value for Money:	8
Style:	8
Movie Mode:	8
Image Quality:	7
Build Quality:	8
Total:	80
Verdict:	"There are plenty of megapixels and also extra features compared to other similar digital cameras. Picture quality just falls short of being top drawer, but if you are looking for megapixels and features to play with this is well worth closer inspection."
Review Date:	May 2008
Click for:	Specification Sample Images Features

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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 W300