Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200

I couldn't have asked for a better example of the evils of sensor-resolution specmanship than Sony's 12-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-W200. This top-of-the-food-chain addition to the otherwise sensible W series--not exactly budget cameras, but reasonably priced compact models with the occasional amateur-friendly feature--shares the attractive, compact design and midrange feature set of models like the W80 and W90, although Sony doesn't offer a black alternative.

There's little to complain about with the 6-ounce camera's design. There's no dedicated area to rest your thumb, which I thought would pose a problem, but the slightly indented mode dial fulfills this purpose without incident. The buttons are a bit small, but manageable.

Likewise, its feature set supplies the capabilities we expect from a premium-priced snapshot camera. Among them you'll find Sony's Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization, 9-point autofocus, and face detection. Here, Sony makes some odd choices. For example, you can only enable face detection in full Auto mode; it's not even available in Program mode. Also, the W200 provides a Manual exposure mode--a fairly limited one, in which you can select from only two or three aperture settings, depending upon zoom, but manual nonetheless--without providing a shutter-priority choice.

I also expected more from the 2.5-inch LCD. It's the same coarse, 115,000-pixel model we see in cameras half the price, with poor off-angle viewing. It's almost impossible to view in bright light, and the Brightness Up setting is practically indistinguishable from its standard state. There's a surprisingly large, if somewhat distorted, optical viewfinder to supplement the LCD, however. The narrow f/2.8-5.5 35mm-105mm-equivalent 3x zoom lens is also a bit limiting.

As we've seen in other Sony models, the W200's face detection works pretty well, recognizing multiple faces in a scene--as long as it can see both eyes. It tends to be inconsistent, however; in a three-headed test setup, it would usually choose one, sometimes three, occasionally two faces, and a couple of times none, all under identical conditions.

The model fares moderately well on shooting speed. From power-on to first shot takes a zippy 1.6 seconds, and in high-contrast light it snaps photos in a reasonable half-second. In dim light, under harder-to-focus conditions, it takes a so-so 1.3 seconds. Unfortunately, the W200's typical shot-to-shot time is a sluggish 2.2 seconds, and when you enable flash, that almost doubles to a seriously shot-impairing 4.4 seconds. Its 2fps continuous-shooting rate compares better to its classmates, though.

However, when it comes to image-related performance and image quality, the W200 tanks, mostly because of that unnecessary 12-megapixel sensor. Though it's physically larger than the 8-megapixel sensor in the W90, the pixels still must be insanely small. That's the only reason I can think of for the W200 to be such a light vampire, simply incapable of exposing shots at ISO 100 that most snapshot cameras can handle without problem. I too often found it necessary to boost the ISO setting to at least ISO 400 in order to use a reasonable shutter speed--even with SteadyShot enabled--while shooting in very bright sunshine. In theory, Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization, which is enabled by default, should automatically expand the midtones to fix the exposures, but I couldn't find any situation in which the DRO helped either underexposed or high-contrast photos. In fact, I took a variety of DRO/no-DRO test shots, and saw no affect whatsoever.

None of this would be much of a problem if the W200 produced exceptional low-noise photos at high ISO settings. It doesn't. Images become smeary at as low as ISO 200, with detail smudging and brush-stroke-like artifacts, in addition to the typical splotchy-color noise. Combined with increasing focus problems heading out to the right side of the lens, plus aggressive 8-plus-to-1 compression (at minimum) to keep those 34MB files under control, and it's simply too hard to get a sharp, artifact-free photo. In order to get some decent shots, I ended up shooting at ISO 200 and bringing up the exposure in Photoshop. Once adjusted, I got a few nice 12.5x16.5 prints. But that's not exactly the point-and-shoot experience most people are looking for, and I certainly wouldn't have cropped in and blown them up, one of the few reasons you'd want such a high-resolution camera.

On the bright side, the W200 does capture some very nice 30fps VGA movies, though you can't operate the zoom while you're shooting.

In a camera with a really good low-dispersion lens, limited image compression, and really great noise suppression algorithms, the 12-megapixel sensor could possibly yield some excellent photos. The W200 is not that camera. If you derive emotional sustenance from knowing you've got the highest-resolution camera on the block, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200 might help fill that gaping void in your soul. But if you're looking for a compact snapshot camera that will provide great photos at a reasonable price, any model on our list of top ultracompact cameras will deliver better photos for the money.