This is a great little camera. It takes very good pictures in all light situations, but is especially good in low light when compared to other digital cameras. I brought this along on a recent outing to New York City and didn't use the flash at all. As with all cameras, not every picture taken in low light is perfect, but this camera does a better job than any other camera I have owned which includes other Sonys. It is about the size of a deck of cards, so although it is larger than some cameras in Sony's lineup, it is still small enough to fit into your jeans pocket without feeling like the whole world knows what you are carrying.
UPDATE: Nov 12, 2008:
Well, we've had it for several months and two big trips. We took over 2000 photos with it during our week at Walt Disney World. I also had my Sony DSC-H7 with us. After the first day and comparing the two sets of photos that evening, I carried the W170 for the rest of the trip. Its SO much smaller, took great photos, and was easier to use (also was easier on the battery) that I took more photos than I otherwise would have with the bulkier camera. The Videos, when converted with Vista to DVD, are AMAZING! Are they as good as our Digital Video tape Sony? No, but then again this camera is 1/10th the size! Just plain impressed with the performance of this little camera.I bought this camera because the consumer reviews were excellent, and my first impression of the camera was very good also, based on size, handling characteristics, and the way photos displayed on the 2.7" screen on the back of the camera. However I had business distractions and didn't display my photos on a full-size screen until after the Amazon return time expired. The image quality of my camera (perhaps I have a lemon) is very poor when compared to my three year old Olympus point-and-shoot. I was shocked at how "soft" the images were when viewed on a 15" computer screen. I took identical comparison shots using a tripod and self-timer to verify that I wasn't seeing motion, but in sunlight or low light, the images are visibly and objectionably soft. Around bright patches, such as sky showing through the leaves a tree in the foreground, there is heavy blue fringing, and some sections of the photos are "foggy" as though a fingerprint was on the lens, but there were no fingerprints or debris on the lens. There are noticeable blotches of off-color (like "noise," but bigger) in shadow areas, even at low ISO. I should have tested the camera better, sooner, and I blame myself and my schedule for not doing that. Here is the lesson: (1) Don't buy a camera unless you can thoroughly test it immediately, including judging the image quality on a large screen, not the screen on the camera. (2) Order the correct memory chip the first time, so you don't get delayed waiting for the correct chip to arrive. This Sony is not compatible with all SD memory chips. (3) Compare the camera against another camera of known qualities, but do in time to take advantage of Amazon's return option. I've shipped my camera to the repair center in Texas and it hasn't returned yet. If they fix it satisfactorily, I'll amend this evaluation to say so.
OCTOBER 17, 2008 UPDATE: The camera was promptly returned from Sony service in Texas with no notation or explanation regarding what repair, if any, was done. The post-return images seem very much like the former ones I complained about. However, I have softened my criticism a bit because I think my original expectations were too high. This is a quite small, light, easily carried and concealed camera with intuitive controls and it has a reasonable optical viewfinder. For it's size, it does the job well enough, so, in retrospect, I think I was expecting a bigger camera's performance from an instrument I purchased on account of it's very small size. That expectation might have been unreasonable in some degree. I also have a Canon G10, which costs twice as much and is two and a half times heavier. The Canon takes lovely pictures, but I find myself carrying around the Sony most often because it is so small and so light (6 oz. with battery), which is a compelling argument in its favor.I just got my Sony Cybershot today to replace my horrible Casio Exilm, that I was so disappointed in. I took this out of the box, and I immediately loved it before even putting the battery in. It is the perfect size. I myself don't like the extremely thin cameras. I find them more difficult to get a good grip on to take a good photo. This is very comfortable to use, and I love how easy the controls are and the handy dial to change the photo settings. It is still small enough to fit in your pocket. The color is so nice. Just so you now it is not really red, it is more of a magenta or deep pink color. So, if you want a deep red color, you might be disappointed. I took some test photos of my cats, and I loved them. They were ten times clearer then they would have been on my Casio camera. The color came out so nice. The video is nice too. I like also you just pop the battery out to charge, and the charger is not big and bulky with a long cord. You just plug the battery in, and the whole charger just plugs into the wall. I have a mac so I didn't need to use the software or install anything for it, so I cannot comment on installation, but I am sure it is not a big deal if you have a PC. It works great with iPhoto. The only thing I was disappointed in, is that you cannot adjust the zoom when filming in video mode. I am so happy with my choice, and I am selling Casio camera on Ebay. Highly recommend!Love this camera. Great low-light capability, zoom of 5x is very useful (and the wide 28mm is good), nice pocketable size, good control layout, fast response for shooting and playback even with the high 10.1 megapixel, good screen clarity, (but wierd slight lag in "focusing" in reviewing why?). Also selected this because one of the last remaining series with an optical viewfinder for when it is very bright outside or when my reading glasses are not handy, (just waitit will happen to you too). I think only Canon still has optical viewfinder models available. Viewfinder is only approximate of real view at various zoom levels, but errors on side of giving more than you see, which is good you can always crop later. But my real beef is that with all of this face and smile detection junk, (come on, do you really need a smile detection with such settings as child vs. adult, etc?), they should have kept some way to choose aperture or shutter priority. As a minimum, there should have been a "sports" or "action" mode and a "near & far focus" mode. Anyway the camera is fast (high EV), so in many cases, action blur is not a huge problem. The shutter button is elongated and you need to be pretty well centered on it for proper actuation surprising quality design slip for Sony. Like I say, love this thing but I give it 4 instead of 5 stars because of of the drawbacks indicated. One of the best choices out there overall.
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