Sony Cybershot DSCW80 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot (Silver) | 
| Brand: Sony
List Price: $199.99
Buy New: $149.99
New (19) Used (9) Refurbished (1) from $129.99
Rating:  163 reviews
Sales Rank: 1991
Color: Silver
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 3
Display Size: 2.5
Maximum Focal Length: 17.4
Minimum Focal Length: 5.8
Maximum Resolution: 7
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 4 x 2.5 x 1
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: DSCW80
Model: DSCW80
UPC: 027242710191
EAN: 0027242710191
ASIN: B000M4KXF6
Release Date: April 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 7.2-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 15 x 20-inch prints | | • | Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens; 2.5-inch LCD display | | • | High Sensitivity Mode (ISO 3200) allows for shooting even in low-light conditions | | • | In-camera red-eye reduction and retouching functions | | • | HD output; HD slide show with music feature |
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Product Description
Recreate the moment with the incredibly lifelike pictures you'll take with the silver DSC-W80 7.2 Megapixel Cyber-shot digital camera. Your friends will be impressed with its combination of high fashion and advanced performance. With features like Face Detection to bring out the most natural tones in faces and HD output for presentation, sharing pictures becomes an experience to remember. The convenient in-camera retouching and red-eye reduction expands your creativity while the double anti-blur solution allows low-light shooting without flash. And the Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoomlens lets you view the action very closely through the large 2.5" LCD screen.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 158 more reviews...
 4th digital Camera June 9, 2007
John D. Dooley (Southern California United States)
116 out of 132 found this review helpful
I was a professional wedding photographer using medium format 120 film cameras. It was a good thing I retired before the digital takeover. The speed of technological improvements both in cameras & computer programs would of broke my bank account. Happily there were & are some good priced consumer digital cameras made for the budget minded.
The 1st digital camera we bought around the turn of the century was the Cannon GS-1 3MP for appox $1000. Even in today standards the camera was easier & faster than the present Sony's because it had an easy set-up & user friendly format. Sadly the camera was dropped while visiting Hearst Castle in August 2004 & stopped working a few weeks later.
After this we decided to buy a semi-professional digital camera & chose the Sony DSC-F826 8MP which has a manual Zeiss 7X zoom lens. The camera is multi functional with infrared night vision & can take after market over head flash units, but it is rather slow in auto focus mode & the format wasn't as easy as the Cannon, too many dials and buttons all over the place. The Sony DSC-F826 takes both CF cards & Sony Memory Sticks. Price was appox $1000 in 2004.
Then my wife needed a smaller digital camera that had to use AA batteries for Eastern European visits so that we could buy batteries anywhere. We bought the Sony Cybershot DSC-W7 7.2MP for appox $400 in 2005. The camera was on sale because most people didn't want an AA battery powered camera. It has a similar format like the Sony DSC-F826 but simplified only because it has less functions. On the back of the camera is a large, bright, & fantastic LSD screen, but again was slow at shooting in auto focus mode.
We bought the Sony Cybershot DSCW80 7.2MP because the speed of shooting in auto focus mode improved & the close up function was amazing, no need of a close up focus lens. You can walk up to any subject, no mater what size, & take the picture. The camera is also half the width of the Sony DSC-W7 & has an ISO rating of 3200 with face detection. Hopefully the advertised long life NP-BG-1 battery won't be an issue in Eastern Europe & we are thinking of giving the Sony DSC-W7 to our Russian relations if the battery life is as promised. If you had Sony digital cameras before, the Sony DSCW80 functions are similar but are no longer mainly in a top dial, but are instead contained in a "HOME" button. When you want to review, you must go to "HOME" then go to "View Images" rather than turning the dial as in pervious cameras. There is also an image review button by the main dial. Great price for the functions & ease, & the Sony Memory Sticks for this model are twice in memory & half in size & price.
Report from vacation: the battery lasted up to 328 shots, very close to the promised listed spec of 340. Camera was set at 5MP & about 10 to 15 pictures were shot with flash at night. Good thing we bought an extra battery because the USA to European transformer dual pins didn't fit the wall sockets in Ukraine. Got great pictures & am very pleased.
Comment from reading other current reviews: Some users of this camera state that they are getting blurry pictures when taking action shoots. I am not a sports photographer therefore I don't have much need for super fast capture, but out of the 400 pictures from our vacation we maybe got around 30 blurry pictures for 2 main reasons:
1. The camera took great pictures when at full power, it even capture people diving into a lake without a blur, but when the battery got low during some outside night pictures is when we started noticing some problems: the people were frozen by the flash but the background showed movement. I still liked the pictures with the pan effect. The camera was set on "Auto" mode & should of been switch to the "Twilight" mode.
2. Later someone somewhere switched the camera to "Soft Focus" mode & a few pictures lacked detail.
My conclusion is that the camera must be kept at a certain power ratio with the battery. Once the pictures become blurry, change or recharge the battery. Remember I was in Eastern Europe & our battery transformer pins didn't fit the wall sockets so there was no way to recharge the battery each day. I went all the way down in battery power before changing to another battery. Not the best way to go. If at night, change the camera mode to "Twilight" or "High Sensitivity" or put the camera on a tri-pod. Also check the "Soft Focus" switch, it may have been turn on by mistake.
Sony Does It Again May 12, 2007
James D. Lytthans (Southern California, USA)
57 out of 60 found this review helpful
I bought the DCSW80 for my wife, to replace an old, slower Sony digital camera. After several weeks I find that I use it more than she does, because of the ease of operatin and portability. I love my Canon Rebel XTi, bt this Sony does 90% of what the Canon is capable of. The macro feature is even better than the Canon. At 7.2 mp, my enlargements are crisp and true to color. Yes, I would like to charge the camera battery while attached to the computer, but the battery life is extremely long, with the small Li-ion battery. The included charger is a bit slow, but I did find an after-market charger online that is faster.
A feature that I really enjoy is the slide show mode, with music and HD quality. Nice touch! I've owned many Sony products over the years, from an early 9" portable B/W TV, a Walkman, through a plasma TV, and have never been disappointed in the quality and features. Bravo Sony for another fine product!!
"I Simply Love It!" July 30, 2007
LaShonda Bates (Augusta, GA United States)
41 out of 44 found this review helpful
That's the easiest way to describe this camera. When I finally decided to join the digital camera genre, I did a lot of research. I wanted a camera that I could just point and take pictures without needing a diagram on how to do it. I also wanted a digital camera that had some pretty nice features. Features that would grow with me, so once I learned how to use different features I wouldn't have to buy another camera so soon. So, for a newbie like me, this was the perfect digital camera. It was so easy to learn how to use and my prints are gorgeous! Even the pictures I took at night with little light came out awesome! The Image Stabilization is great, because I don't know how to hold a steady hand just yet. I chose black, because I wanted another camera color besides the usual silver. So, if you're looking for a camera that you won't out grow too soon and you're new to digital cameras, then I really recommend this one.
 Surprising Sony November 2, 2007
spin_nin (Chicago, Illinois United States)
41 out of 43 found this review helpful
The Sony Cyber-Shot DSCW80 surprised me at first. The "twilight" mode yielded some very nice (hand held) low light shots and almost everything I took (indoors and out) looked nice on my computer's screen. When I had prints of some of the photos made the Bionz image processor reared its ugly head. It blurred all the fine details away leaving me with nothing but noisy images. Keep in mind that this was at all ISO's. After that I decided the Sony and I were incompatible. I found the color representation to be inaccurate as well. Not horribly so, just off a bit too much for my liking. While the size of the LCD was good it was easily washed out in outdoor conditions (at least there is an actual optical viewfinder to fall back on but, unfortunately, it is inaccurate).
Some good traits are that the image stabilization worked very well and that the battery life was excellent. The continuous shooting mode was very fast. Auto focusing was pretty good. Video mode was surprisingly good but I think that a Memory Stick Pro Duo is necessary. This is easily the smallest and most portable compact camera that I tried. I really liked some of the small details like the metal tripod mount and the location of the door (on the side of the camera) so you can swap out the battery or memory card easily while leaving the camera on the tripod.
This truly is a point & shoot camera. It would've been nice if Sony had allowed for some manual controls but, out of all the cameras I tested, it offered the least. To say the menu system is confusing is an understatement. I'm not a big fan of the proprietary Memory Stick Pro Duo that Sony users are stuck with. I'm also wary of the reliability and the customer service associated with this company and their cameras.
In the end I just felt that there are better choices out there when considering cameras this price range.
Great for the price May 8, 2007
jeremy
39 out of 41 found this review helpful
This is a great camera for its price. This might be the best choice for its class because it provides IS (image stabilization for shaky hands and moving objects:anti blur), 2.5 inch lcd, 7.2 megapixels and 3x optical zoom for under $235. You can find different cameras with IS and with more pixels or zoom capabilities but you should also compare their price with this one. I researched alot before buying this camera and could not find any camera with IS under $300 (brand new, not used). Morover, this is very handy, tiny and light that you can carry in your pocket without feeling it. There are cameras out there with 10x optical zooms but you have to hire someone to carry it for you:) I will always prefer a tiny camera over a bulky one because those bulky ones are usually loaded with features that you will never need or use. Additionally, those bulky cameras are also much more expensive. You would end up paying high prices for features that you will never use.
I recommend you to buy at least 2gb of memory from e-bay.Buy from someone with high feedback score. I purchased a 2gb "high speed memory stick pro duo" for $20 (incl shipping) from e-bay. As time passes, as in every technological toy, you will be able to find cheaper and better.
Menus and settings are very easy and clear. Information about the current settings appear on the lcd when you switch or push buttons for example when you switch mode dial to moon (one of the symbols on the dial) "Shoot low light scene without flash" explanation appears on the lcd for about 2 seconds which is very helpful.
I wish you could have been able to charge the battery while its in the camera but you cannot. You need to carry the included charger if you are travelling. Carrying a cable for charging instead of a seperate charger would be better.However, battery life is very satisfying and better than its competitors.
One of my disappointments about the camera (actually it is not a big deal) is you need to press too many buttons to delete an image. This is only case for deleting an image. Other menu shortcuts are great; however, I wish it had also a shortcut or a button for deleting since this is a digital camera and the great thing about these cameras is the ability to erase easily. My previous camera (Dsc-v1) had a button for erasig images on the menu buttons which was very easy and helpful. But with this camera, I had to press 5 times (on different buttons) before I can delete the last image taken.
Overall, this is a very great camera for the price and features. One of the most important adventage is its IS (Image stabilization) feature. One of the best alternative for this camera is Canon PowerShot SD800 IS 7.1MP, in case you do not like DSC-W80, which you can buy around $300. Since I purchased Dsc-w80 for $230, I recommend sony over canon.
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