Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W650 16.1 MP Digital Still Camera

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W650 is a slim and compact digital camera that offers quality, simplicity and convenience.  With up to 5 times zooming capability and impressive picture clarity, this digital gadget comes with many useful features and at an affordable price.

Main Features

Super HAD CCD Image Sensor –The pictures are of high resolution and clarity due to the 16.1 Megapixel Image Sensor which records finer image data. Its capabilities are maximized in combination with the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens and a speedy BIONZ Image Processor.

Still Image Modes – Offering ease of use, the camera comes with an intelligent Auto mode and 8 preset image modes. The Auto mode, along with intelligent Scene Recognition, selects the right exposure and scene settings without having to manually change to the preset modes. The advanced scene mode takes 2 pictures with different exposure settings for you to decide the best shot. The picture effects are creative additions which elevate the mood and give a personal touch to your photos.
Smart Recognition Features – A host of smart features are included, aimed at capturing people the best way. This includes Face Detection to set optimal exposure to faces, Smile Shutter to capture a beautiful smiling moment, Anti-blink to ensure no squinted eyes in frame and Soft Skin mode to smooth out the imperfections detected in facial skin. Apart from these, there is a self-portrait timer, which combines face detection to click a picture two seconds after a face comes into view.
Sweep Panorama Mode – When it comes to capturing breathtaking natural scenes, the Sweep Panorama mode helps you reach up to 360 degrees. A simple act of pressing down the shutter button and sweeping the camera around is all that is needed. This takes continuous shots and joins them together to produce a single panoramic shot.

Movie Mode – The DSC-W650 shoots high definition video up to a resolution of 1280 x 720, at 30 frames per second. Each recording is limited to 29 minutes. This video quality is ideal for editing in a personal computer and sharing online.
Dynamic Range Optimizer – This is a refined technology which helps to optimize the lighting for different parts of a picture to render a more natural and realistic image. Using this feature gives good results when it involves capturing backlit portraits or scenes with bright and shadowy areas.
Optical SteadyShot Image Stabilization – The blurs often caused in shaky hand-held shots can now be managed and eliminated with the help of Sony’s unique image stabilization technique.
Natural Flash – For retaining natural colors when flash is used, this mode captures a shot for reference without flash to correct the colors in the image that is taken with flash. This renders more real-worldly look to the objects in the pictures.

Negative Aspects

In the Cyber-Shot DSC-W650 model, apart from the AUTO and predefined modes, there is little control over advanced settings such as aperture, ISO and shutter speed. This results in low image quality, especially while taking pictures indoor or in dark surroundings. Also the scene settings are limited and not great for low-light photography. The 5x zoom is not very far-fetching and the clarity reduces when digital zoom comes in beyond the optical zoom.

In a nutshell

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W650 is quite a package and it clicks excellent pictures in daylight and outdoor environment. With high resolution levels, the details are finely captured when the subject is close by. For an advanced user, this product has only limited capabilities. For a casual user, this is a quality compact camera that is delightfully easy to use and fits well within the budget.