Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 review

Negatives
There's a negative side to all the intelligent technology in this camera. It's not that it doesn't work, but that the controls, permutations and restrictions are complicated. The automatic scene recognition doesn't work if you're using the digital zoom or the Smile Shutter, and the list of ‘automatic' scenes isn't the same as those you can select manually.

The test chart looks super-sharp, but the prominent edge halos indicate the W270 is applying some pretty aggressive in-camera sharpening (click to enlarge)

The blink detection option works in some modes but not others. You can 'register' some faces so that they get priority on group shots, but the camera forgets them when you take out the battery to charge it. It's all incredibly clever, but you're not going to remember how half of this stuff works, or when.

Maybe Sony thinks this will distract us from what the pictures are actually like. They are okay, but they're nothing special. The lens is soft in the corners of the frame, and the W270 starts to smudge subtle detail even at ISO 200. It goes all the way up to IS0 3,200, but the chances are you're going to be somewhat hacked off by the image quality long before then.

The HD movie mode is worth having, even if it is only 720p rather than 1080p. But this is no alternative to a camcorder. The quality is there, but you can't zoom during shooting.

Conclusion
The W270 is a worthy mainstream compact with a wider-than-usual zoom range and state-of-the-art face detection and auto scene recognition, if that's what you like. The picture quality and the movie mode are only so-so by today's standards, but Sony's super-fast AF still gives this camera an edge over other brands.