SONY DSC-W800 camera, or busting stereotypes

I often see comments along the lines of “brands don’t need advertising.” So today I’m taking a quick look at a branded camera from a very well-known company. In this case, I received the product for review.
Inspection, tests, conclusions—all after the jump.


First, I should probably say that this really will be a short review. In fact, there won’t even be the usual teardown. That’s because, in my opinion, the tests will tell us more.

Here’s another stereotype I come across: people who write lots of reviews use either DSLRs or expensive cameras. That’s a misconception. For example, almost all the photos in my reviews (at least for the last 3.5 years) have been taken with a compact point-and-shoot Canon IXUS 100IS. Read up on it sometime to see what it’s like and how far it is from a DSLR. And when I first started, I was taking photos with a camera that had a resolution of 1600x1200 :)

Since I write reviews, especially electronics reviews, I have to:
1. Take lots of photos
2. Use macro mode often
3. Shoot handheld.

My Canon has taken tens of thousands of photos, and I’ve started to feel a little sorry for it, so I decided to find a replacement. In this case, that meant the camera under review. But it turned out not to be so simple.

This is where the technical specifications should go, but there are so many that they’d take up half the review, so here’s a link to the full description instead.

The camera comes in a compact box wrapped in film bearing the store’s logo. Everything—or almost everything—is in Chinese.


The package contents are nothing special:
1. Camera
2. Battery
3. Power adapter
4. Wrist strap
5. USB cable
6. Manual and warranty card.


The manual is entirely in Chinese, which is already a little concerning...


1. From the manual, I figured out that you can take pictures of cats, which buttons to press to do it, and which memory cards to use so you can fit more cats :)
2. There was also a warranty card with a list of service centers, but it doesn’t apply here. Still, the camera registered on Sony’s website without any problems using its serial number.
3. The cable has a standard USB plug on one end and a proprietary Sony connector on the other. Here’s the catch: I have a similar camera at work, and it has the same issue. It’s a good manufacturer, but why not use a standard mini- or microUSB connector...
4. A wrist strap—nothing special, but unlike the USB cable, it’s universal.


1. The charger has a folding plug and a standard USB port on the other side, so you can charge it from pretty much anything, even a computer. Interestingly, the “European” version comes with a mains cable.
2. From the markings, we can tell that the output is 5 V, 500 mA.
3, 4. NP-BN battery, 3.6 V, 600 mAh.


And here’s the point-and-shoot. It comes in two colors, black and silver. Since I already have a silver Canon, black works just fine for me. The body dimensions are roughly the same as the Canon’s, but the Sony is a little thicker. Also, the Canon’s body is beveled at the top and bottom, which makes it unstable when standing upright. That’s not a problem here.


I didn’t test the material, but judging by everything, the body is plastic, unlike the Canon’s, which has a metal body.
On the front are the flash, an LED to assist autofocus, the lens itself, and the microphone openings (to the left and below the lens).


Most of the back is taken up by the 2.7-inch screen. Unlike the Canon, there’s no optical viewfinder, although I never used it on that camera anyway. The screen here also has no protective glass, which is a shame.
To the right is the zoom rocker (in/out), with a maximum zoom of 5x, compared with 3x on the Canon. Below is the video recording button. On the Canon, it works differently: the shutter button handles this, and the operating mode is selected with a switch. I like Sony's approach better.

Below that are five buttons, four arranged in a circle: View photos/videos, Flash control, Delete photos/videos, and Timer.
The button in the center switches the autofocus mode: Normal, Tracking, Tracking off.

And at the very bottom is the button for opening the settings menu.


On top are the power button and shutter button. The controls are standard: a light press focuses, and a firmer press takes the picture.
It doesn't turn on instantly; you have to hold the button down for about 0.5-1 second. It's really annoying after using a Canon, but I suppose it's just a matter of getting used to it.


The right side has an attachment point for the strap, as well as a USB port. The Canon also has a microHDMI output, and both connectors are covered by a protective flap.


On the bottom are the battery and memory card compartment cover, and a threaded hole for mounting the camera on a tripod.


The camera weighs 108 grams, the battery 14 grams, and the whole thing with a memory card weighs about 125 grams. The Canon feels noticeably heavier, but the actual difference is only 8 grams.


Let's open the compartment cover. Here's an immediate advantage over the Canon. It has the same kind of slot, and the battery and memory card go in the same way, but you have to take the battery out to charge it! If you don't use your camera often, I don't think you'd even notice the difference. But when I'm taking hundreds of photos for a review, honestly, doing this over and over gets old, not to mention the wear on the compartment cover. On the other hand, Canon gave it a standard miniUSB port, which can't be used for charging.


Let's install the battery and memory card. Unlike the Canon, the Sony doesn't have a compartment-cover sensor, so it can still be turned on and take pictures with the cover open.


First startup: a brief shock of “what, this again?”, brought on by the Chinese version of the Xiaomi TV box. But no, I got lucky: there are plenty of languages, including English. Unfortunately, there's no Russian. For some people, that will be a dealbreaker. Personally, it doesn't matter to me, since I'm even more used to English.
The rest is standard: time zone, time, date, and so on. There's also a choice of display resolution, standard or high; I chose high. After that, it prompts you to visit the Sony website, naturally from a computer (at least in this case), not the camera :)

You may have noticed that one photo was taken differently—the one showing the time zone. The screen is harder to see at an angle, and only the selected time zone was visible. That's one quirk of the screen, but I'll come back to that later.


Now the camera has finally deigned to extend the lens.
The lens has the following specifications:
Aperture: F 3.2 (wide angle) - 6.4 (telephoto)
Focal length: f=4.6-23 mm
Angle of view (35 mm equivalent) (still photography): 80°–19° (26–130 mm)
Focus range (from the front of the lens): 5 cm to infinity (wide angle), 0.6 m to infinity (telephoto)
Optical zoom: 5x
Digital zoom (photos): up to 40x (VGA)
Digital zoom (video): approx. 10x
Super HAD CCD sensor, type 1/2.3" (7.76 mm)
Pixel count: 20.1 MP

There's no optical stabilization, only digital. Canon claims to have optical stabilization, but honestly, I can't see it. I can clearly see the stabilization while recording video on the Sony, though.


Options for viewing, deleting, and printing images, and so on. For some reason, it offered to walk me through these before I'd even tried taking a picture.


The settings menu has several operating modes, each with its own list of available settings. I'll try to show them all.
1. Standard photo and panorama.
2, 3. Several operating modes: Auto, Program, Intelligent Auto, and so on. I usually use Program; I tried Intelligent Auto here too, but didn't notice a huge difference.
4. Easy mode. There are only two settings here: photo size, A3 or 10x15. Nothing else can be changed. It asks you to confirm when switching to this mode.
5. Image resolution and aspect ratio. I immediately set it to 20 MP, 4:3.
6. Exposure compensation. I tried different settings and ended up leaving it in the middle.
7. Single-shot or burst mode.
8. Face detection for focusing on faces in the frame.
9. Video recording resolution, up to 1280x720.


1. Go to the basic settings: time, time zone, and so on.
2, 3. White balance setting. Since I mostly shoot under incandescent lights, I usually leave the corresponding mode on. Sometimes I switch to Auto, but Canon's auto white balance often acted up, so I mostly use the manual setting.
4. Autofocus using multiple points or a single point
5. Automatic exposure metering, three modes: Multi, Center, Spot.
6. Sensitivity; I usually leave it on Auto.
7. Automatic image tone correction. Three modes: Off, Standard, Plus. I tried them in different situations, but it depends heavily on the subject, so it's hard to say which is best.
8. The flash has four modes in Program mode (Auto, Always On, Slow Sync, Off) and three in Intelligent mode (Auto, Enhanced, Off). When you switch the flash to Enhanced mode, the camera warns that the image resolution will be reduced: instead of 20 MP, you'll get only 5. I think this mode boosts sensitivity by combining four pixels into one.
9. Self-timer.
10. Autofocus with subject tracking.
11. Standard focus mode.
12. Subject tracking off.

The last three modes aren't entirely clear to me. In tracking mode, the camera first focuses on an object, then automatically keeps it in focus even as it moves around the frame.


Next, I'd like to move on to the test photos, but first I'll spend a little time describing the screen. In the section about the first startup, I said I'd come back to this.
The camera has a 2.7-inch screen with 230,400 pixels and a 4:3 aspect ratio. Canon's screen has the same resolution but measures 2.5 inches, so the difference is insignificant. Canon's screen does have fairly sturdy protective plastic, though.
More important is the viewing angle. When I started trying to take photos at home with the Sony, at one point I couldn't understand why it was "seeing" so poorly. It turned out the camera was seeing just fine; the screen simply has practically no viewing angles.
This isn't so important in normal use, since you usually hold the camera in front of you. But when you have to raise it high to properly light objects on the table with the flash and end up looking at the screen at a very oblique angle, that's when the problem shows up.
Here are four photos. I hope they make it clear what I mean.
1. Looking straight at the screen.
2. Slightly from above, just about 15-20 degrees; the contrast starts to wash out.
3. Slightly from below, the same 15-20 degrees; the contrast shifts the other way.
4. From below, at an angle of about 25 degrees; the image is clearly inverted.

Yes, I'll be honest: I never expected this kind of "gotcha" from a well-known brand. I understand it's a budget model, but still, it shouldn't be this bad.


A few "field" tests.
Outdoor photos

Autumn.
SONY DSC-W800, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/1500


SONY DSC-W800, ISO 160, shutter speed 1/125, 5x zoom


Canon IXUS 100IS, ISO 80, shutter speed 1/320


Canon IXUS 100IS, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/160, 3x zoom


In general, you could say the results are roughly similar—but only until you take a closer look.
A crop from the full-size Sony image, with no enlargement


And the Canon. You can see from the roof that the image is sharper here. You could of course say that the Canon has a narrower field of view and therefore effectively "zooms in" on the image, but it also has a 12 MP sensor, not 20 MP like the Sony.


Another comparison.
SONY DSC-W800, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/160


SONY DSC-W800, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/100, 5x zoom


Canon IXUS 100IS, ISO 80, shutter speed 1/125


And here are crops from the full-size images, without zooming in.
SONY


Canon. In my opinion, the image is noticeably better.


SONY DSC-W800, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/400


Canon IXUS 100IS, ISO 80, shutter speed 1/320
It's interesting how warm the image looks. Throughout all the tests, and even in everyday use, I often noticed that the Canon's images tend to have a warm, yellowish cast. When preparing photos for reviews, I often have to correct the colors to bring them closer to the original.


But with this kind of scene, the Canon's sharpness turned out to be worse. I took several shots, and they all came out the same.
SONY DSC-W800, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/125


Canon IXUS 100IS, ISO 80, shutter speed 1/125



And a few "just photos" from the SONY DSC-W800
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/250


Four roads.
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/800


The city.
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/640



I happened to spot a bird perched on a thin branch and tried the maximum zoom handheld.
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/160


To give you an idea of the scale, the bird was perched at the top of the tallest tree. I had to walk several meters away to take the photo.
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/1000


Road, fog, city.
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/320


A couple of panoramas. In this mode, the camera can only rotate through 90 degrees, so you can't take a full 360-degree panorama.
The panoramas' original resolution is 4912x1080



A couple of winter photos. It's overcast, but even in these conditions the image seemed darker than I expected.
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/400


ISO 250, shutter speed 1/60



In my opinion, the photo quality outdoors is what you'd expect from a camera in this class. It's not bad, it's not good—it's simply budget-level. I think that's perfectly adequate for a lot of people in everyday use.
But when I tried it for the tasks I actually bought it for, that's when the problems showed up.

First, the flash. Honestly, I can understand that Sony couldn't come up with a decent diffuser, so the flash ends up firing as a concentrated spot. That's fixable, and you can get used to it easily enough. But who came up with the brilliant idea of putting the flash on the same side as the shutter button, practically right underneath it, is a mystery to me. You can see the result in the photo.
With the usual grip, if you're not used to it, you'll probably partly cover it with your finger. The Canon's flash is on the other side, so I've never had this problem with it.


Also, using the flash produces a kind of excessive contrast, most likely because the automatic exposure doesn't work very well and the diffuser is weak.





And of course, macro mode—what would an electronics review be without it? Let's see how it performs here.





And now for the conclusions.
Judging by this camera, it’s a very ordinary budget model. It takes pictures, requires almost no skill to use, and even has a separate mode for really simple operation. It’s fine for photos like “Us at a barbecue,” “Me at the beach,” or “We’re celebrating Aunt Valya’s birthday at home,” but a smartphone can do much the same thing—usually worse, admittedly, at least because it lacks optical zoom. I liked the electronic image stabilization when shooting video, but 1280x720 is already a bit dated. It records in AVI format and uses storage very generously—about 200 MB per minute. For comparison, my smartphone shoots in 4K, and the bitrate is only one and a half times higher.

Drawbacks. The screen: the image looks good only when viewed straight on. The flash is powerful, no doubt about it, but that’s exactly why it’s unsuitable for taking photos on a table. The flash placement is a whole other story; just look at the photo above. The power button has a delay, which is simply something I’m not used to. It has its own USB connector—SONY being SONY, I suppose, though it’s not clear why.

What I found more interesting was comparing two cameras in a similar class. Both models have roughly the same features and capabilities, but the Canon is more convenient to use because you can switch on Macro mode manually. The Canon’s sensor has a noticeably lower resolution, but that doesn’t show up in the actual photos—and if anything, the Canon comes out ahead. The Canon also has optical image stabilization, while the Sony has only electronic stabilization. The Canon is noticeably faster: you can take the first photo 1.75 seconds after pressing the power button (I didn’t time it myself); with the Sony, it takes about 4 seconds.
The Sony is better for video: it has electronic stabilization and autofocus, while, for example, even optical zoom is disabled on the Canon in this mode. But to me, this is first and foremost a camera, so I didn’t spend much time on video mode.
To charge the Sony’s battery, you just connect a cable; with the Canon, you have to remove the battery.

In short, I like the Canon much more. More importantly, it’s a better fit if you make reviews, especially at home and when photographing small components. The Sony is better suited to outdoor photos or close-ups, since the flash will probably ruin shots taken from a relatively short distance, and macro photography isn’t its strong suit either. All in all, the Sony was a big disappointment :(

That’s all from me. I hope you found the review useful.