- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 19 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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18 out of 19 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"Returned camera for a Canon"
Pros: Excellent 720p videos
Cons: Poor indoor pictures (blurred),
Summary: Love CNET reviews; but do not agree with the W290. I tested/lived with Sony W290 and Canon SD960. Both 12MP with same chip size; wide-angle, 720p video and compact. I tested each camera and combed various camera websites and compared pictures at 100% crop. See digitalcamerareview.com and Steves-digicams.com The Canon SD960 wins with sharper pictures, better colors and 16:9 screen.
Picture quality. Accurate colors; though I prefer the slight oversaturation seen with Canon cameras giving subjects more "life". Macro is good; however when pixel peeking at 100% crop the pictures are a little blurred with flowers looking "painted". The Canon SD960 if life-like with fine detail and textures.
** BAD indoor daytime pictures**. W290 has very poor shutter speed. If the camera moves a little or the subject moves; the picture will be very blurred/useless. Taking birthday pictures of my kids was impossible. Even with forced flash I could not get the subject to "freeze"...still came out with blurred moving subjects. My friends SD880 took GREAT pictures.
Video...Great for on-the-go 720p videos; prefer my Sony CX-12 for videos. The digital zoom does work during record (not optical) so the image gets grainy past 2x zoom. One great thing is that the macro adjusts during record so that focusing is an active process. SD960 focuses once when the shutter is pressed, but will not adjust focus (on macro) during that clip.
Bottom line. CNET is right about most things; but not the W290.
Best Camera...Get a Canon SD880 because 10MP has less noise inherent to these new 12MP cameras, has wide-angle (very useful) and ALL the reivew across the internet rave about the SD880.
If 720p video is what you want as well, get the SD960. Also has wide-angle, slightly less noise (DIGIC IV processor), GREAT pictures (color/sharpness) and sports a 16:9 monitor. With HD plasma, computer monitors, camcorders all moving toward 16:9, I would not be suprised if cameras slowly moved this direction.
I happily returned the W290 and am very satisfied with Canon SD960.
Richard
- 4 replies to this review
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You are wrong about CNET Reviews. They don't test photos of people indoors with or without flash. Some months ago several users complained about dark, blurry out of focus pics in a room with several Sony models.. I bought the Sony W150 and the photos indoors in good light using flash were rubbish and could not even produce a decent 4 x 6 print. I got rid of it quick. I am still using my 6 year old Sony W1 (5 megapix) which is excellent indoors with flash because the Lumix TZ5 which i bought was not too good indoors.
Camera makers are putting in all thse gimmicks like Smile and Face detection but are putting a Flash which is too small to take a full length shot of a person. -
Thank you, Richard, for your thoughtful evaluation. I was on the fence between the W290 and the Canon SD 960 and you pushed me over to the Canon side. Also doesn't hurt that my daughter and son-in-law take great photo's with Canon compact digitals and rave about Canon with great enthusiasm. I also appreciate Mr. Goldman's response to this review. Even though the Canon was rated only three stars, he states here that it takes better photo's than the W290. Um, after a terrible experience with a Nikon Coolpix that produced mostly grainy images, what I really wanted was a camera that would take good photo's! The HD videos are pretty great too! And, I really like the Canon's controls and how balanced it feels when using it. All around a better choice for me.
Again, thanks ver much! -
In the review I said the photos from the W290 are soft and I said its low-light performance--photos above ISO 400--were not great. The Canon SD880 is superior to both the W290 and SD960. I even said so at the end of the SD960 review. The problem with comparing these two cameras is that there is nearly a $100 difference in price ($329 for Canon compared to the Sony at $249). And though you're correct about the SD960 IS taking better photos, the W290 is an all-around better camera for the money.
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I agree 100% with this review, Thank you for taking the time to write this Richard. This camera takes great outdoor pictures and the video is quite good but the indoor pictures are blurry. I set-up the camera with a timed shot in a well lit room and placed it on a sturdy desk. As you zoom in on the shot all lines that should be a distinct line are not, they blur into their surroundings. I too will be returning the W290 for a Canon. Matt
Where to buy
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290 (blue):
$197.00 - $229.99
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