Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330 review: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W330

The W330 is available in silver, black, blue, and red versions; its body is lightweight and compact enough to squeeze in most pants pockets or handbags. The front has a thin brushed metal plate on the otherwise plastic body, but it doesn't feel too cheaply made. Those who have hesitated to purchase Sony cameras because of the reliance on Memory Stick media will be pleased that the 2010 Cyber-shots accept SD and SDHC cards. The slot and battery compartment are protected by a lockable door, which you'll have to open regularly to remove the battery for charging. Though internal memory is limited--just 28MB--it does host a small piece of software for quickly uploading photos and movies to sharing sites when the camera is connected to a Windows or Mac computer.

Controls are straightforward. On top are the power and shutter release buttons. They're flush with the body and, though they're easily pressed, they'll require most users to look to locate them. The remaining controls are on back to the right of the reasonably bright, but not great LCD (off-angle viewing is particularly poor). A zoom rocker that some may find finicky sits above the thumb rest; on the right edge of the body sits a vertical slider for moving from shooting stills to movies. Playback, Menu, Delete, and a circular directional pad handle all other tasks. In addition to navigating menus, the directional pad can change flash and timer functions, change display information, and activate smile detection. Sony's menu systems remain fairly logical and uncomplicated compared with its cameras prior to 2009's interface changes.

The W330 is primarily an automatic snapshot camera. That's not to say this Sony doesn't give you some control; the Program Auto lets you adjust ISO, white balance, autofocus points, light metering, and exposure values as well as control the amount of Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization used for rescuing shadow detail. The Intelligent Auto scene recognition mode turns out reliable results without any adjustments, but there are still a couple options available to you like adjusting exposure, activating burst shooting, and setting smile detection sensitivity. An Easy mode takes away all options except for image size (large or small) and enlarges onscreen text. There are 10 scene-shooting options including High ISO, Food, Pet, and Underwater for use with an add-on housing. There's a SteadyShot mode, but without optical or mechanical image stabilization this option simply adjusts ISO sensitivity and shutter speed to help counteract camera shake and motion blur. Lastly, the Movie mode records at VGA quality with a mono mic for audio; there's no use of the optical zoom while recording.

For its class, the W330 is a fairly quick camera, though it's still best suited for stationary subjects. The camera turns on and fires its first shot in 1.8 seconds. The wait between shots is 2.6 seconds; add about another second to that if you're using the flash. Switch to continuous shooting and it's able to capture at 1.1 frames per second. Shutter lag--how quickly a camera captures an image after the shutter-release button is pressed--is 0.4 second in bright conditions and 0.7 second in dim lighting.