Sony launches two new Cybershot digital cameras

by Stevie Smith - Feb 26 2008, 15:10

If easy-to-use digital cameras with a distinctly point-and-shoot delivery are your thing, then consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. has just what the photographic doctor ordered to fill that gap on your technology shelf.

Sony unveils two new entries to its popular Cybershot digital camera range. Credit: Sony.

Enhancing its popular Cybershot range, Sony has this week unveiled not one but two freshly branded entrants built for those looking for high zoom, high resolution and speed (the DSC-H50) and pocket-sized, point-and-shoot digital niche performance options (the DSC-W300).First up is the 9.1 mega pixel Cybershot DSC-H50, which utilises a powerful Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom lens with Super SteadyShot optical image stabilisation to capture action at a distance. The DSC-H50 also offers users a 3.0-inch, scratch-resistant and tilting LCD display screen to shoot comfortably and clearly from almost any position.

Credit: Sony.

Specific features include: an improved “advanced sports” shooting mode for speedy focus and fast-moving subject capture with minimal shutter lag; a versatile, long-distance flash that powerful enough to illuminate subjects more than 55 feet away (when using ISO 3200 on wide angle); and user-selectable noise reduction for even greater image control.Other features included on the DSC-H50 are a D-Range Optimiser (DRO) plus mode that adds a high image correction algorithm to secure more picture details when in bright or dark environmental conditions. Then there’s NightShot technology, which assists in capturing photographs when the subject is in almost no light, along with infrared remote access, five colour modes, in-camera editing features, advanced in-camera image management, improved slide show functions, longer audio files, and an HD component output for viewing imagery via an HDTV.The Cybershot DSC-H50 will ship to retailers in May for approx. $400 USD.

Credit: Sony.

Then we move on to the Cybershot DSC-W300, which integrates an ultra-high 13.6 mega pixel CCD imager alongside a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 3x optical zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD display screen and an eye-level viewfinder in an attractive, ultra-hard titanium coated compact casing.Offering enhanced features for better performance, the DSC-W300 includes an “extra high-speed” burst mode capable of shooting three mega pixel photos at five frames pers second (5fps), which is described as “ideal for fast-action shooting of sports, pets or children.”As with the DSC-H50, the Cybershot DSC-W300 comes complete with noise reduction and the blur-reducing benefits of Super SteadyShot while also including “extra high sensitivity” mode (up to ISO 6400 in this mode only) to further reduce the effects of blur when shooting in extreme lighting conditions -- even without the assistance of a flash.

Credit: Sony.

Arriving as the upper-tier model in the Cybershot range, the DSC-W300 also bundles in Sony’s Smile Shutter and improved face detection technology, which prioritises the faces of children or adults in order to capture the exact moment the subject smiles and also prioritises children or adults in order to apply focus, exposure, white balance and flash colour controls for as many as eight in-frame faces.Other features include five colour modes, 12 scene selection modes (with a new “underwater”mode), Sony’s new D-Range Optimiser Plus, improved auto focus, viewing and image management, in-camera search by face or date, improved slide show features with longer audio files, and a high-definition component output for HDTV viewing.The Cybershot DSC-W300 will launch in May for approx. $350 USD.