by Hellen Wyeth

Created on: October 31, 2008

The Sony Cyber-Shot W170 Digital Camera should not be underestimated. Small in size and weight it packs a lot of power and is a must have.

An overview of the features and specs include 10.1 mega-pixels, a 2.7" clear photo LCD display, Carl Zeiss wide 5x (28mm) optical zoom lens, smile shutter technology, Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Recognition, Super Steady Shot, HD output and HD slide show. This sweet little camera is also available in red, black, gold or silver.

Smile Shutter Technology, selected, allows you to simply press the shutter button and it automatically detects the smile and shoots. It will take up to 6 shots while in this mode. The Smile Technology can also distinguish between kids and adults in the photo.

Face Detection will detect up to 8 faces and controls the flash, focus, exposure and white balance, giving you accurate and natural skin tones with reduced red-eye. Perfect for those of us who just want a picture to come out right.

The Carl Zeiss 5x Zoom Lens lets you take distant landscape views and dramatic portraits with ease. In combination with the Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution, you won't have to worry about unsteady hands causing your pictures to come out blurry and can even forget about forgetting to use the flash.

When the Sony Cyber-Shot is in the High Sensitivity (ISO3200) Mode, you can shoot in low light without using a flash. Sony's RAW Noise Reduction System suppresses color noise that degrade low-light shots.

Exclusive Sony BIONZ high-speed processing engine, Dynamic Range Optimization Standard and Plus preserves image data in bright highlights and reveals more detail in shadows or back lit areas.

Photo Modes on the Cyber-Shot W170 include Auto, Program Auto and your Scene Selections are Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Fireworks, Smile, Shutter, Underwater, Landscape, Soft Snap, Snow, High Sensitivity and even Beach Environments. All your basis are covered.

Sony's Digital Camera will also take VGA audio video clips at a high frame rate of up to 30 frames per second. Maximum length on video clips are 10 minutes. Storing your videos and photos will not be an issue since the camera is built with 15MB internal memory and has Memory Stick Duo capability.

Image management is simple in camera and on your PC. Pictures can be found and organized with a "My Faves" folder and filtered by faces, calender view and date. When connected to your PC the Picture Motion Browser will automatically convert media to proper size and format for emailing, uploading or burning to disk. You also have the the GPS and Map View feature which allows you to see where an image was taken with GPS Tracking Technology.

This outstanding camera will run you about $280.00. Purchasing information for the Sony Cyber-Shot W170 Digital Camera can be found at sonystyle.com.

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