Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 A

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 digital camera is based around a 1/2.3"-type 12.1 effective megapixel Sony SuperHAD CCD image sensor with RGB color filter array, coupled to a Sony-branded 4x optical zoom lens. The Sony W310's lens offers a 35mm-equivalent range from a useful 28mm wide angle to a moderate 112mm telephoto. The lens has a two-step aperture which offers either F3.0 or F4.3 at wide angle; at telephoto the maximum aperture is F5.8, and the minimum aperture isn't stated. Autofocusing is possible to a minimum of just five centimeters at wide angle, or 50 centimeters at telephoto. The camera can capture 4:3 aspect ratio images at up to 4,000 x 3,000 pixel resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio images at up to 4,000 x 2,248 pixels, or 30 frames-per-second video at VGA (640 x 480 pixel) resolution or below with monaural audio.


Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 A


On the rear panel of the Sony Cyber-shot W310 is a 2.7-inch TFT Clear Photo LCD panel with 100% coverage, and a resolution of 230,400 dots. This serves as the only method of framing and reviewing images, given that the Sony W310 doesn't feature an optical viewfinder. The Sony DSC-W310 has a 9-point autofocus system, and does include a face detection system, capable of detecting up to eight faces in a scene. This capability is used to provide a Smile Shutter function that automatically triggers the shutter when your subject is smiling. There's no blink detection feature in the W310, however. The W310 offers three methods for determining exposures - multi-pattern, center-weighted or spot metering. Shutter speeds from 1 to 1/2000 second are possible under automatic control, and sensitivities ranging from ISO 100 to 3,200 equivalents are on offer, with ISO 100 to 800 available under automatic control. 2.0EV of exposure compensation is available, in 1/3 EV steps. The DSC-W310 doesn't offer any form of optical image stabilization.


Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 A


Eight white balance settings are available, including auto and seven presets, but there's no manual white balance setting in the Sony W310. As well as Intelligent Auto and Program modes, the W310 offers a selection of eight scene modes - High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow, and Gourmet - which offer a modicum of control over the look of images. There's also an intelligent scene mode which can automatically select from a subset of seven scene modes - twilight, twilight portrait, backlight, backlight portrait, landscape, macro and portrait - as appropriate. The Sony W310 includes a four-mode flash strobe with red-eye reduction capability. Flash range is stated as 0.5 to 3.0 meters at wide angle, or 1.5 meters at telephto, when using automatic ISO sensitivity. A two- or ten-second self timer allows the photographer to get in the picture themselves, or to avoid camera shake caused by pressing the shutter button when shooting on a tripod.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W310 A


Images and movies can be recorded on Sony's proprietary Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo, PRO Duo High Speed, or PRO-HG Duo cards, as well as the more common Secure Digital and Secure Digital High Capacity cards. A nearly useless 6MB of internal memory is also available, enough to capture a handful of test photos should you forget to purchase a flash card along with the camera. The Sony W310 includes NTSC / PAL standard definition video output connectivity, as well as USB 2.0 High Speed data connectivity. Power comes courtesy of a proprietary NP-BN1 Infolithium battery pack.