Sony Cyber-shot W · on sale 2014 · a retrospective
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830: the $120 CCD compact with an 8x zoom
Sold under the same name worldwide; we found no regional alias.
In early 2014 Sony put a 20-megapixel CCD sensor and a stabilised 25–200 mm zoom into a 120-gram body and sold it for about $120. Reviewers found a camera that did well in sunshine and struggled in low light and toward the edges of the frame.
Release date and launch price: launched January 2014; launch price About US$12023.
Quick answers
- Sensor
- CCD, 1/2.3", 20.1 MP source
- Lens
- 25–200 mm equivalent, 8× zoom source
- Memory card
- Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick Micro, SD, SDHC, SDXC, microSD. Largest, in the maker's words: Memory Stick PRO Duo media and SD memory cards of up to 64 GB tested and proven to operate; Memory Stick Micro up to 16 GB; microSD up to 64 GB Maker-stated source · card guide · all cards
- Battery
- NP-BN source
- USB / A/V cable
- See our Sony cable page
Meet the camera
It is an ultra-compact, described by two sources as plastic-built,67 that measures 93.1 by 52.5 by 22.5 millimetres and, by Sony's CIPA measure, weighs 104 grams alone and 120 with battery and card.1 Cameralabs thought it looked and felt a little more compact than its rival, Nikon's Coolpix S3600, though less stylish, with a flat top plate and a protruding lens bezel.4 Les Numériques doubted the plastic construction, calling the shutter and power buttons far too soft; Chip.de, by contrast, found the build surprisingly good for the price.65 It came in black, silver, pink or purple.6
Imaging Resource called it the follow-on to the W730, with a new sensor as its most noticeable upgrade, and said it would be available from February 2014 in silver, pink or black at about US$120, roughly $20 less than the year before.2 DPReview also lists a $120 MSRP.3 Chip.de put the street price at about €100;5 ePHOTOzine listed it at about £95 in 2018.7
Why this one was interesting
A CCD at a budget price
Sony's specification page gives the sensor as a Super HAD CCD.1 By 2014 most pocket zooms were moving to CMOS, and Cameralabs noted that Sony's CMOS-based WX series offered better, longer zooms and Wi-Fi at higher prices.4 For what a CCD means, see our glossary entry. Cameralabs also saw the CCD's usual flaw in the camera's video: purple streaking in a backlit pan, and poor handling of bright highlights.4
A real wide angle and a stabiliser for the money
The 8x lens starts at 25 millimetres and ends at 200.1 Cameralabs said that range copes with the vast majority of situations.4 A reader who owned one for over two years called it one of the cheapest compacts with optical image stabilisation.7
Sweep panorama, up to 360 degrees
Cameralabs liked the panorama mode, with a 360-degree option that produces a strip 11,520 pixels wide, and noted that Nikon's S3600 had no equivalent.4
An earlier Sony in the same line is our DSC-W55. The ePHOTOzine reader review lists Canon's IXUS 185 (20 MP, 8x zoom) as a rival;7 our nearest Canon is the PowerShot ELPH 180.
What was missing
There is no Wi-Fi, which three sources noted,467 no touch or tilting screen,56 no manual exposure control4 and no 1080p video.46 Les Numériques also found no separate macro mode: close focus only happens in automatic mode when the camera detects a near subject.6 Sony's list shows 4 picture effects;1 Cameralabs called them meagre next to the Nikon's 12 filters, and Chip.de counted 16 filters on this camera, so the sources differ on what to call an effect.45
The dark: its weak point
Reviewers measured the noise and mostly agreed. Cameralabs shot ISO ladders against the Nikon S3600: noise was visible at base ISO 80 only when pixel-peeping, was strong enough at ISO 200 to break up medium-sized text, mottled at 400 yet usable at small sizes, and dominant by ISO 1600; ISO 3200 left little detail.4 Les Numériques put its usable ceiling at ISO 400: very good to ISO 200, noise from 400 and smoothing at 1600.6 Chip.de said noise, a lack of detail and colour fringing were always visible.5
The flash is not powerful. Sony gives about 2.8 metres at wide angle with Auto ISO;1 Cameralabs quoted 3.2 metres but said that figure applies at a high ISO and that at ISO 100 the range is under a metre.4 Chip.de still recommended the flash indoors, calling results quite respectable for the price.5 Les Numériques found low-light blacks too dense, losing detail.6
A night photograph taken with this camera. Credited under the picture.
On eBay right now
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The little wins
Daylight colour
A reader found bright, saturated colour that looks good on social media,7 and Les Numériques found accurate colour and sharp images up to ISO 200.6
Charges in the camera
The battery charges in the camera from a USB cable, Cameralabs said, and listed that among its good points.4
The back of the camera: screen, rocker and mode switch. · Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Video done efficiently
Cameralabs found the H.264 video visibly better than the Motion JPEG on the Nikon S3600 and said it takes less space, with continuous autofocus that mostly held its subject in low light.4
Smile and self-timer tricks
Cameralabs liked a self-timer that fires when one or two faces appear, and a smile shutter with three sensitivity settings.4
How it drew the picture
Cameralabs found the detail at low ISO fairly respectable for 20 million photosites yet still soft, with stonework smeared, and said it beat the Nikon S3600 at ISO 80 to 200.4 It called the corners the weakest part, with a little red fringing.4 Chip.de measured sharpness falling by up to 54 percent toward the edges, with colour fringing over four pixels thick in wide-angle shots.5 The ePHOTOzine reader also saw soft corners and a soft right side at wide angle, and noise in strong blue skies at 100 percent.7 Les Numériques found the picture losing precision at the telephoto end.6
Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture.
Where it let you down
Cameralabs found the flush shutter button hard to find and the half-press travel so short that it is easy to take a shot by accident; Les Numériques made a similar complaint.46 The screen is small and weak: Les Numériques saw flicker and poor viewing angles, Cameralabs a narrow vertical angle.64 Cameralabs called it slow to wake, well over three seconds, with no sleep mode and an auto power-off after two minutes.4 Continuous shooting is 0.8 frames per second;1 Les Numériques measured more than two seconds between frames and a long wait between shots because the post-capture preview cannot be switched off.6 Chip.de found autofocus at full zoom a touch slow.5
Battery life is where the sources disagree. Sony and Cameralabs give 210 shots;14 Chip.de reported at most 320 shots or 78 minutes of 720p video and called that below average.5 The reader who owned the camera also lost shots to a flat battery after the camera stayed on while connected by USB to a computer that had shut down.7
What the reviewers said
| Outlet | Date | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Imaging Resource (preview) | 6 Jan 2014 | A budget camera with a useful zoom and very high resolution on paper; lab results were still to come.2 |
| Chip.de (English edition) | 22 Apr 2014 | An affordable automatic camera; do not expect much, but it is adequate for everyday pictures. Likes: handy, daylight quality. Dislikes: telephoto autofocus, edge sharpness, screen, battery.5 |
| Cameralabs | 17 Nov 2014 | Cameralabs Recommended: decent still quality for a 20 MP compact, a good 720p mode, 360-degree panorama; fiddly shutter, weak screen, no Wi-Fi.4 |
| Les Numériques (French) | Page updated 1 Jun 2016 | A basic 8x compact that does its job, with satisfying images but missing features and slow response; praised for value, marked down for 720p-only video and no Wi-Fi. Its sub-scores were not in our saved copy.6 |
| ePHOTOzine reader review (Ben Waller) | 23 Mar 2018 | An owner's view, not a lab test: features 3, handling 2.5, performance 3, value 3.5 out of 5; good for bright, saturated shots in good light.7 |
We found only Cameralabs as a full English-language review with image-quality test shots. Chip.de and Les Numériques are shorter tests, and the reader review is one person's experience.
The timeline
- 6 January 2014Imaging Resource previews the W830 at about US$120, due from February.2
- 22 April 2014Chip.de publishes its test.5
- 17 November 2014Cameralabs publishes its review.4
- 1 June 2016Les Numériques updates its test page, now marked as an archive.6
- 23 March 2018ePHOTOzine publishes a reader's review after over two years of use.7
Should you buy one now?
Buy one if you want a very light CCD pocket zoom with a wide 25 mm end and a stabiliser for sunny-day snapshots, and you do not mind a basic feature set. It launched at about US$120;23 what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. Before you bid, check these:
- The battery. It uses an NP-BN;1 a fresh one is on Amazon ↗. Battery life was only average even when new.4
- The card. The door on the underside carries an SD marking (photo below). Imaging Resource and Les Numériques say SD, SDHC and SDXC cards work, and Imaging Resource adds Memory Stick Duo; Sony's Canada page lists only Memory Stick types, so check before you buy a card. See our memory card guide.
- The cable. Sony lists a Multi (AV/USB) terminal and ships a Multi USB cable.1 Cameralabs calls it a standard Micro-B connection, while Les Numériques says mini-AB and says no mains charger came with its unit, although Sony's box list includes an AC adaptor.461 The photo of the underside shows a wide, multi-pin socket marked A/V OUT USB. Check the connector before you buy a cable, and see our Sony cable guide.
- The shutter and power buttons. Reviewers found them soft or fiddly, so check that they respond.46
- The lens. Check that it extends and retracts cleanly.
If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card.
See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗NP-BN battery ↗
Sources
- Sony Canada, DSC-W830 specifications (sensor, lens, CIPA battery life, weight, box contents, terminals)
- Imaging Resource, Sony W830 preview by Mike Tomkins (6 Jan 2014; launch facts and price, lab results were promised)
- DPReview, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830 product page (MSRP $120)
- Cameralabs, Sony Cyber-shot W830 review by Gordon Laing (17 Nov 2014; four pages)
- Chip.de, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830 test by Moritz Wanke (22 Apr 2014). Chip is a German site; we read a saved copy of its English edition, a translation, and did not record the article address, so the link goes to the site
- Les Numériques, Test Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830 by Céline Nebor (in French; archived page updated 1 Jun 2016, marked as no longer current; we read a saved copy and did not record the article address, so the link goes to the site)
- ePHOTOzine, Sony Cyber-shot W830 READER review by Ben Waller (23 Mar 2018): an owner's view after over two years, not a lab test
Camera photos by Raimond Spekking (CC BY-SA 4.0); other photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.