Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130 review

Image quality
Pictures taken with the W130 look good, though noise and softness can hinder picture quality and limit printability for photos taken at ISO 800 or higher. At lower sensitivity levels, fine details appear clearly, despite some slight softening around the edges of pictures.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (typical)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90

1.3

1.8

0.4

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130

1.4

1.8

0.4

Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS

1.6

0.9

0.4

Fujifilm FinePix F40fd

2.5

1.1

0.5

Nikon Coolpix S51c

3.4

4.1

0.9

Noise, and Sony's noise reduction, begins to lower sharpness noticeably at ISO 400, though colours stay vibrant and the effect on prints is minimal. Noise becomes prominent at ISO 800, and at ISO 1,600 grain consumes the picture. At the camera's maximum of ISO 3,200, photos look like they were painted on to felt, with heavy fuzz ruining all fine lines.

The W130's lens showed just the slightest amount of pincushion distortion -- bending toward the center of the frame -- at the telephoto end, but wide-angle shots have noticeable barrel distortion. The camera's automatic white balance does a good job of neutralising colours in fluorescent or incandescent lighting, though it leaves a subtle warmth to the latter. Our extremely yellow tungsten lights flummoxed the system; however, that's not out of the ordinary even for much more expensive cameras.

Conclusion
With a quick shutter and a shiny, attractive shell, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130 makes a very good pocket point-and-shoot camera. Its 4x lens gives it a slightly longer reach than most other compact cameras in its price range, and its onboard editing and slide show features are helpful when you want to tweak and share your shots. Its photos aren't quite as sharp as they could be, but they're more than suitable for respectable A4 prints, emailing, and posting on the Web.

Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday