Sony DSC-W830 is a mid-range point-and-shoot camera with an optical zoom of 8x and 20 megapixel CCD sensor that has a 2.7-inch screen and can make 720p HD videos.
Being a point and shoot, it lacks some features of larger cameras, like manual exposure control, but this camera has a scene detect intelligent auto exposure and it also features a smile shutter that takes shots automatically when it detects a smiling face in its frame, so that’s something.
Its competitors W800 and W810 offer almost identical range of features and specifications where W800 has a 5x and W810 have a 6x optical zoom. The WX Series provides higher quality longer zooms, CMOS sensors, and WiFi connectivity.
Sony Cybershot W830 Specifications
Check price and reviews of the Cybershot W830 on Amazon.
Overall
Pros
Its lightweight and small dimensions are the first things you notice about this camera but it continues to wow you with its 20.0MP high-resolution sensor and 25mm wide-angle lens. Furthermore, it has image stabilization and face detection focusing which are great features to have on a camera.
Cons
The first very noticeable disadvantage of this camera is a lack of viewfinder, along with lack of features such as articulated screen, external flash shoe, manual focusing, manual exposure, RAW shooting, and the limitation of making only 720p HD videos, small LCD screen, low max shutter speed of only 1/1600 and slow continuous shooting of only 1.0 frames per second.
Build & Design
Sony DSC-W80 is a perfect fit for you if you’re in need of a camera that can fit in your jeans or a jacket pocket. It’s that small. It’s a very compact and light camera curved at either end and with a leveled top plate.
Controls
In terms of controls, you can find a recessed on/off button on the top board in a silver color that matches the silver line running down the board.
Next, you can see a shutter release and the absence of the zoom ledge since it’s controlled through the switch that’s located on the back of the board.
On the back of the board, you can see a zoom switch, as I mentioned above, on the right side on the top of the camera.
Under that, there is a control pad that goes four ways and a menu, playback and delete buttons around.
On the right edge of the camera, there is a mode switch that you can set in three ways and it’s the only black switch on the camera. The first position of the switch, the upper one, is for the actual shooting mode, the middle one is for putting the camera into sweep panorama mode and the bottom one is for making movies.
LCD
On the right side of the back, there is a 2.7-inch LCD screen with 230k dots. It is an average screen that can provide a nice view when indoors and not in the bright sunshine, but the image still isn’t very bright.
When set on standard mode W-830 can go up to 210 shots with a fully charged battery.
Battery
As for the battery charging, it’s done inside the camera and you can do either by using a charger or by plugging it into a laptop. You can use any USB cable that has a regular Micro – B connector.
Flash
Sony DSC-W830 has a built-in flash that’s located on the front board on the right upper side of the lens. Having a max range of 3.2 meters when set at the wide-angle, you can say that it’s good but not that good. It can provide an adequate amount of light for close subjects.
Performance
Sony DSC-W830 is a little bit slow since it can take up to three seconds before taking a shot after you pressed the button. But that’s not unusual for the cameras at this price range since most of them would also take a few seconds and to be fair, many users never even notice the difference.
Menu
Its menu system is very simple so it’s not hard to control it. Still, it lacks a quick menu which can complicate things a bit when you want to change some things on the regular like ISO sensitivity, focus mode, etc. But, the upside is that the smile shutter feature has its own button.
Continuous Shooting
Its continuous shooting performance is pretty minimal at 1.0 frames per second, but it still has a consistent speed for up to 100 shots if you’re patient enough to keep your finger on the shutter for more than two minutes.
Sensor, Exposure, and Shutter
W830 has a 20.0 MP CCD sensor that takes still photos at a maximum of 5152 x 3864 pixels size. Photos are saved in JPEG format at a single quality setting that gives makes files of 8MP in size. ISO sensitivity range is 80 – 3200 ISO and a shutter speed range goes from 1s – 1/1600 in program auto mode, and 2s – 1/1600 in intelligent auto mode.
Learn more about the Sony Cybershot W830 on Amazon.
What type of photography is Sony DSC-W830 good for?
Portrait Photography
A very high-resolution sensor allows you more space for cropping so you can print your portrait photos in a larger form with more details.
The presence of image stabilization is also an advantage because it diminishes the effects of camera shake when shooting on long exposures and long focal lengths. Therefore, it provides sharper portraits.
Still, there are a lot of downsides to this camera for portrait photography.
Its small sensor doesn’t allow you to make a very much needed shallow depth of field and a blurry background.
The fact that it doesn’t come with RAW shooting capability makes it impossible for you to get that natural skin tone that you need for portrait shooting.
The lack of the external flash shoe doesn’t allow you to make a lighting that you might want for your shoot.
With the built-in viewfinder missing you have to hold your camera away from the body which makes it very unstable when using live view, not to mention that if you’re shooting in a bright sunlight an LCD screen is very hard to read.
Being unable to use manual focusing makes it very hard for you to determine that focus perfectly, which we know is very important for shooting portraits.
Same goes for the exposure. The lack of manual exposure mode can make your photo end up with a lot of shadows and highlight clipping.
Finally, the not so good ergonomics and handling make it difficult for you to change the camera settings since you’d have to use the LCD menus.
Overall the performance of the DSC-W830 is lacking for portrait photography.
| Image Stabilization |
| Sensor Resolution 20 MP |
| No manual exposure mode |
| Small Sensor 1/2.3 in |
| No RAW shooting |
| No External flash shoe |
| No Built-in viewfinder |
| Ergonomics and handling |
| No Manual Focus Mode |
Street Photography
Live-View is a great feature to have on a camera if you’re into street photography because it allows you to take photos without the use of viewfinder which is great when you don’t want to attract people’s attention.
A face-detection focusing mode is very helpful because it does the focusing for you while you can concentrate on framing and making other adjustments.
Image stabilization also comes very helpfully because of its camera shake reductions. For a street photography, you’ll need to shoot at a long exposure and long focal length so this is a pretty important feature for you in this case.
Sony DSC-W830 has a pretty small body which is important for this type of photography since it can make you fit just right among the people. This camera also features a good wide-angle coverage of 25mm that is very important for street photography.
On the other hand, this camera also has a lot of disadvantages when it comes to street photography, and the first one among them is the lack of the built-in viewfinder for the obvious reasons of using a live view and being forced to keep far from the body, and of course the problem of being in the sunlight which is almost impossible to avoid when you’re on the streets.
Not having a RAW shooting capability and manual focus model are also big problems for this type of photography and a small 1/ 2.3-inch sensor is also a big disadvantage.
Looking at the table we can agree that this camera does have some great features but also some disadvantages so we can say that it is an average fit for street photography.
| Live-view |
| Face-Detection Focusing |
| Image Stabilization |
| 25 mm wide-angle coverage |
| Small Body |
| No Built-in viewfinder |
| No Manual Focus Mode |
| No RAW shooting |
| 1/2.3″ sensor size |
Sports Photography
Having an image stabilization and 200mm Tele lens does make this camera look better, but the fact that it misses a lot of other important features for this type of photography makes you rethink your choice.
The first problem is a slow continuous shooting of only 1 frame per second which is absolutely unacceptable for sports photography. The same goes for the slow max shutter speed of 1/1600s that’s not enough to freeze the motion.
Environmental sealings are very important for this type of photography since sports events are held at all kinds of weather and if your camera isn’t ready for difficult conditions that can be a big problem.
We can conclude that Sony DSC-W830 is a very poor candidate for sports photography.
| Image Stabilization |
| 200mm Tele Lens |
| 1.0 fps continuous shooting |
| Environmental Sealing |
| Max Shutter Speed 1/1600s |
| Unknown Focus Point |
| Ergonomics & Handling |
| No Manual exposure mode |
| No Manual Focus Mode |
| No Built-in viewfinder |
| No External flash shoe |
| No RAW shooting |
| Slow Lens at Tele: f6.30 |
Daily Photography
Having a small body being light-weighted makes this camera great for daily photography since these two factors are very important if you’re going to carry your camera around the whole day.
Another great thing is that it has an 8.0 optical zoom lens that gives you a lot of flexibility.
Still, the lack of the RAW shooting capability and a small sensor are not going to W830’s advantage.
So, overlooking the table we can agree that this camera, with its disadvantages, still can be used for daily photography and it makes an average fit.
| Optical Zoom 8x |
| Compact Body |
| Weight 4.3oz |
| 1/2.3 sensor |
| No RAW shooting |
Landscape Photography
Having a 25mm wide-angle lens coverage is a great thing to have on a camera if you need it for landscape photography since most of the landscape photos are taken wide-angle lenses.
A very high-resolution sensor is also a great advantage and being a 20MP makes it perfect for this type of photography.
But, there are a fair number of disadvantages.
The lack of manual exposure mode in landscape photography is a pretty big downside since it can really make some serious shadows and highlight clipping and that’s not something you’d want.
It also lacks manual focus mode, which makes it hard for you to get a sharp and focused image.
The RAW shooting capability is also very important for landscape photography and not having it means not having a wider dynamic range and option to recover shadow and highlight clipping.
The small sensor is also a problem since it can be difficult to shoot in low light conditions.
Lastly, the lack of environmental sealings means your camera is not prepared for every type of weather and since landscape photography is taken outdoors it can be a very big problem.
Overall, the Sony DSC-W830 is definitely not good at landscape photography and you should look for another camera if this is the type of photography your into.
| 25 mm Good Wide-angle coverage |
| Sensor resolution 20.0 MP |
| No Manual exposure mode |
| No Manual focus mode |
| No RAW shooting capability |
| 1/2.3″ Sensor size |
| No environmental sealing |
Conclusion
Overall the Sony DSC-W830 is a pretty average camera, but you have to remember it is a fairly inexpensive point and shoot, not a full-frame DSLR
If you need this camera for a specific photography type, like landscape or sports, you may want to consider other options. But if you’re an amateur photographer using it only for some special moments with friends and family, then this could be a great fit for you especially since it’s pretty affordable
