I bought this camera to replace my Sony DSC-W7 in 2008. The W7’s biggest flaw was it’s performance in low light. Any time you wanted to take a photo indoors and it wasn’t mid-day with big windows, you would need flash. At least had settings to alter flash power! What I needed was something with image stabilisation and a larger ISO range.
I went for the W300 as it was capable of up to ISO3200 (ISO6400 at 3MP) and 3fps (5fps at 3MP). These met my requirements and the camera is also a pocketable size. The handheld W300, in my opinion, performs better in dark conditions than a handheld Canon 450D (see comparison examples). The highest ISO settings are reasonably noisy and produce strange looking textures over your image. However, it is possible to take ‘cameraphone quality’ images in situations that would normally require a tripod and SLR to capture properly. This might be handy on holiday when it’s all you have and you need something to capture the moment.
Quick Stats
- 13.6 Megapixels
- ISO3200 (ISO6400 at 3MP)
- 3fps (5fps at 3MP)
- 3x optical zoom
- Carl Zeiss lens
- Titanium case
Example photos
