Product Name:
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120 Digital Camera
Reviewed by: Maria and Brad, mom and dad to Maya (age 1)
First a little history…
For the longest time, I resisted purchasing a digital camera. I was a fan of film, and I loved my Canon with a passion. It wasn’t until about 4 years ago that I finally succumbed to the charms of digital film, purchasing a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, and retired my film camera to a shelf. (It’s quite dusty at this point.)
I found myself attached to the new camera with the same commitment I had previously felt for the old one. When I got married, my husband tried to convince me that we should get something smaller, something easier to tote on vacations, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I couldn’t stand the lag time between pressing the button and actually taking the picture that I found when I used other people’s cameras, not to mention the quality of the resulting pictures, and swore up and down that I wouldn’t ever convert to those tiny little tuck-in-your-pockets.
I was sooooo wrong.
Don’t misunderstand. I checked out lots of cameras, and my husband and his Consumer Reports were always armed with factoids and reasons why I should downsize and upgrade, but I couldn’t get past my hang-ups (see the above paragraph). Until I met the perfect pink little Cyber-shot from Sony… This camera is fabulous!
• First and most obvious, my Cyber-shot is pink. If you’re not a fan of the pink, that’s ok – it comes in blue, black and silver, too. But pink is perfect for me, and it always gets lots of compliments.
• Second, the delay between pressing the button and snapping the shot is minimal. I almost always get the shot, and if you’re a mom, you know how important THE SHOT is.
• Third, speaking of “the shot,” you know how your baby will be grinning from ear to ear, cute as cute can be, but as soon as you try to take the picture, they turn their head and you end up with 16+ pictures of them cross-eyed and looking down? Not with this camera. The Cyber-shot offers something called “Smile Shutter Technology” – but it should be called “Magic Pictures” – that allows you to always capture your child smiling. Don’t ask me how, because I have no idea, but it totally works! We even tried to fool the camera (we were bored, what can I say), and we couldn’t. It only snapped the picture when there was an actual smile. Priceless!
• Speaking of priceless, this great camera (that takes video, too) isn’t even that expensive: around $200, and worth every penny.
Overall Rating:
This camera gets a solid A+.
Final Thought:
This camera rocks. I don’t think I would ever completely give up my Canon, but for day-to-day, throw in the diaper bag or tuck in your pocket, handy, look-how-cute-my-baby-is moments? The Cybershot is pretty perfect. Consider me a convert.