Japanese camera maker Sony truly knows how to write the right sales script for its digital imaging products in the country. Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone is famous not just only for her acting skills ? she made her Hindi film debut in Om Shanti Om, for which she earned the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award ? and modeling career, but the daughter of badminton player Prakash Padukone also has a passion for photography. To get a feel for what the product is, how it works, and how it should be used, Sony did the right thing by choosing Deepika as its brand ambassador to promote its digital still camera range in the country.
First, a few facts: Sony India witnessed a tremendous growth rate of 45% in the digital camera market in FY11, beating the industry growth rate of 40%. The digital still camera segment in India stood at 33 lakh units in FY11 and is expected to increase to 42 lakh units by FY12. Sony India aims to capture a very dominant 45% share in FY12. The company plans to sell 14 lakh units in FY12 as compared to 11 lakh units in FY11. Most important, it has allocated R50 crore to promote ?Incredible Zoom. Incredible Details? campaign with Deepika Padukone.
Sony has launched a slew of 34 new Cyber-shot cameras?H, W and S series, to suit the varying palette of the Indian customers. The company sent us its W series (W690) digital still camera for a product review. It is available in silver, black, red and blue starting this month for R10,990. It is no rocket science to grasp as to why Sony products earn customer acclaim. Featuring a powerful 10x optical zoom, Cyber-shot W690 is the claimed to be the world?s slimmest CCD-sensor camera that?s just 17.5 mm thin. Compact and versatile, it allows you to transform every moment into breathtakingly clear still images or high definition movies.
The exceptionally thin design of the Sony DSC-W690 is largely attributed to the new ?Advanced Aspherical? lens element, which allows the lens unit to be drastically smaller than those in previous 10x zoom CyberShot cameras while still producing very highly accurate photos. Based on my experience, I can safely say that the device is refreshingly easy to use. The DSC-W690 brings distant subjects closer with its impressive 10x optical zoom lens. Enhanced Optical SteadyShot offers improved image stabilisation that?s effective with both stills photos and high definition video.
The Sony DSC-W690 is also equipped with 360 Sweep Panorama, to take exciting all-round photos at the touch of a button. The device offers four ?Picture Effect? options for creative photography. And with a generous 3.0-inch LCD screen integrated into the DSC-W690, you can comfortably view your photos and videos right away for instant gratification.
On the rear panel of the Sony W-690 is a large 3.0-inch LCD display, with a resolution of 230,400 dots, equating to an array of 320 x 240 pixels, with each pixel being comprised of separate red, green, and blue dots. Effective resolution from the W690?s Super HAD CCD imager is 16.1 megapixels, and the sensor size is 1/2.3-inch, for a diagonal of 7.75 mm. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 80 to 3,200 equivalents.
The Sony W-690 includes both USB 2.0 high speed data and video output connectivity. Images and movies are stored in 27 MB of built-in memory, or on SD/Memory Stick Duo cards. Power comes courtesy of a proprietary NP-BN or NP-BN1 lithium ion rechargeable battery pack.
That?s it for technical details. I must admit that Deepika Padukone has made the point and shoot photography simple and fun for everyone to take great pictures. If you want a slim, pocket-friendly camera with plenty of zoom range, the W-690 can be a good choice.
Specs
Dimensions: 94.3 x 56.1 x 21.7 mm (W x H x D)
Lens type: Sony G Lens
Focal length (f=): 4.45 ? 44.5 mm
Image sensor type: Super HAD CCD
Image sensor size: 1/2.3 type (7.75 mm)
Imaging processor: BIONZ
Image stabiliser system: Optical SteadyShot
Shutter speed: iAuto (2 (5.08 cms) – 1/1600) / Program Auto (1 – 1/1600)
Estimated street price R10,990
