
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W110
Smile, or else
Pros
- Easy to use, very small, smile shutter works... sometimes
Cons
- Pictures look soft, needs a manual setting, no image stabilisation
Bottom Line
The DSC-W110 is simple to use and perfect to take to parties, but it's a very automatic camera and its pictures tend to look soft.
-
Price
$ 229.00 (AUD)
Cameras don't get much more automatic than the Cyber-shot DSC-W110. It's so automatic it'll take a picture as soon as your subject smiles; you won't even have to press the shutter button! Sony calls this the Smile Shutter, and it's one of the many modes that make this camera so easy to use.
There's not much to play with on this camera apart from its rotary dial, which allows you to select between fully automatic, semi-automatic, pre-set scenes and 'program' modes; it's very much the camera to go for if you don't want to have to think about fiddling with any settings. The best part is that it's also very small.
That's good news for tight pants wearers, and for pretty much anyone who wants a light and simple unit to take to a nightclub or dance festival. It weighs only 150 grams and it's only about 1.5cm thick. However, you shouldn't expect too much in terms of image quality.
At the best of times the camera's images looked soft. This was particularly evident when looking at 100 per cent crops of the 7.2-megapixel test images. Edges, in particular, looked feathered and lacked definition. The camera's saving grace was its colour reproduction: colours looked vibrant yet not overly saturated. Tones were neutral, but still had plenty of life in them.
Focusing was a hit and miss affair as the camera often focused beyond the main subject in our photos. Sometimes the camera would focus on a point away from our intended point, in which case it was easier to just move the camera so that our subject entered the focused area. Using the 2.5in LCD screen, it's also difficult to focus precisely when taking shots in broad daylight.
At night you'll be able to take decent shots using the flash, as long as your subject is not too far away. If you leave the camera in easy or auto modes then it will also boost the sensitivity of the sensor (most of our shots came out at ISO 400 in auto mode), which will make your shots look grainy. Program mode is a good one to use if you want to use a manual ISO setting to ensure that the sensitivity doesn't get too high. The exposure and aperture can't be manipulated, even in program mode.
Despite not being able to change the shutter speed to create long exposures, there are a couple of fun modes to play with when shooting at night, including twilight portrait, which lets the shutter stay open for a couple of seconds. If you want to get creative, try taking shots in this mode while moving the camera just after the slow synchro flash fires.
The most interesting mode is the Smile Shutter, which actually does work — sometimes. Once in this mode, if you focus on your subject and press the shutter the camera will take photos automatically when the subject smiles. This worked well in some cases. It was able to track the subject in the viewfinder and keep it in focus, but it didn't always take a picture when the subject smiled. It seemed to work best at close proximity to the subject. Nevertheless, it's a useful feature for taking pics of stubborn kids who refuse to smile. Sooner or later they'll get sick of standing in front of camera waiting for it to go off and will give in.
Overall, this Cyber-shot has two things going for it: portability and simplicity. It doesn't have any fancy features, such as image stabilisation, nor can you change many of its settings. And while its colours looked good, pictures did look too soft. But if you only want a point-and-shoot camera for casual occasions, it will suffice.
Brand Post

Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Miofive 4K Dash Cam review: This friendly road watcher is ‘here for you!’
- 2 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 3 Netgear Nighthawk M5 mobile router review: Probably too expensive, but nice
- 4 Asus TUF Gaming VG28UQL1A review: This 4K monitor plays nice with consoles
- 5 Firewalla Gold review: Powerful home network security in a tiny box
Latest News Articles
- GoPro delivers Quik solution for videos and photos
- Canon embolden mirrorless offering with EOS R5 and R6
- GoPro spin off their lighting mod into its own act: the Zeus Mini
- Canon adds a new heavyweight to their DSLR lineup: the EOS-1D X Mark III
- New D-Link home security cameras feature onboard AI
Resources
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers

Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world

Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles

PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- 100 Great PC Games You Should Play Before You Die
- Best Click Frenzy mobile and Internet plan deals
- Microsoft’s iconic browser Internet Explorer is being killed off in June
- Which flagship TV is best? Sony 4K HDR Bravia 2016 versus LG 4K HDR OLED 2016
- 10 Blu-ray movies / Best looking Blu-ray movies