The DSC-W90 point-and-shoot digital camera from Sony offers a lot of very interesting capabilities, including strong focusing and image stabilization features. It also offers a high resolution of 8.1 megapixels. With an MSRP of nearly $300, however, it's not quite as good a value as some other point-and-shoot options, including Sony's DSC-W55.

Image quality is fairly good with the DSC-W90, especially for outdoor photography. With good lighting, you'll be able to create excellent prints of up to 13-by-19 inches. Low-light photos aren't quite as sharp or bright; when shooting without the flash, you'll notice some noisy low-light photos. The flash does work fairly well over a short distance for small groups of people. Sony's optical image stabilization (IS) helps prevent blurry photos from camera shake.

You'll find a 3X optical zoom lens with the DSC-W90, which is about average for point-and-shoot digital cameras. For a model that costs nearly $300, however, the DSC-W90's 3X zoom lens lags behind some other models in its price range.

To improve its auto-focus capabilities, Sony has included face-recognition technology with the DSC-W90, which allows it to find and focus directly on up to eight faces. The camera then adjusts its automatic settings to achieve the best results for those faces.

The manufacturer has also included 31MB of internal memory with the DSC-W90, which won't last long when shooting at the maximum resolution of 8.1 megapixels. But you might be able to avoid purchasing a memory card for a little while by using internal memory alone.

Our testing reveals that the DSC-W90's response times are a little above average. You can shoot your first photo 1.5-2.5 seconds after pressing the power button. Shutter lag is not noticeable, regardless of the type of photo you're shooting. Shot-to-shot delays range from 1-3 seconds, depending on whether you use the flash.

The DSC-W90's 2.5-inch LCD could be sharper and brighter, especially in sunlight. You don't have to rely solely on the LCD to frame photos, however, as Sony has included a small optical viewfinder above the LCD. The optical viewfinder is especially handy for following a moving subject or for using the continuous-shot mode.

Like Sony's other point-and-shoot models, the DSC-W90 remains easy to use with intuitive dials and buttons and easy-to-navigate menus. Unfortunately, the DSC-W90's buttons are very small, and some people might have a hard time using them properly. The overall camera body is thin and will fit in most pockets. Sony offers the DSC-W90 in silver and black bodies.

You won't find much in the way of manual-setting options with this point-and-shoot model. Sony designed it to work most efficiently as a fully automatic, easy-to-use camera. There's a lot to like about the DSC-W90, but two problems temper our enthusiasm: Image quality could be better in low-light conditions and the starting price could be a little lower. Additionally, the 8.1 megapixels of resolution in the DSC-W90 might be overkill for most beginners, at whom Sony has aimed this model. Still, it's another good point-and-shoot option from Sony. It would, however, be a "great" option at closer to $200.


Pros: High resolution, good image stabilization, strong auto-focus features, thin camera body, easy-to-use model
Cons: Price is a little high, few manual settings, some images can be noisy, LCD could be sharper

Warranty
1 year, limited