These days, in most digital compact cameras, two things are going northwards. One is the number of pixels and the other is the zoom ratio. But then, there is a sensible limit to cramming pixels in that tiny imaging sensor without changing its size and cost (not to forget that it?s a price-sensitive market). The same is true for that ever-intruding zoom.
To beat competition, Sony has taken a panoptical step with its new series ?W? digital cameras. The recently launched Sony Cyber-shot W360 packs a whopping 14.1 mega pixel CCD and a 4x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optical zoom lens (4.7~18.8mm, 35mm Conversion 26~105mm) in its all metallic dual-tone sleek and compact body.
But the coup de gr?ce is the ?Sweep Panorama? technology that allows you to capture ultra-wide pictures with a panoramic view of 270 degrees. Though the panoramic picture taking capability is not new in compact cameras, in earlier variants, the camera used to take a number of shots of the entire span and then stitch them together using embedded software. But the W360?s Sweep Panorama technology works on the principle of shooting high-speed bursts of frames continuously as you pan (sweep) the camera from side to side or top to bottom, producing one long strip-like frame covering the entire view.
The compact (94.0 x 56.1 x 16.7 mm) and lightweight (109 gm) W360 has a bright and crisp 3-inch LCD display panel. It can shoot high-quality movies at 1280 x 720 resolution at 30 fps (frames per second).
To let you shoot some razor-sharp images throughout its 4X optical and 8X digital zoom range, it deploys features like multi-point (9 points) auto-focus with ?face detection? and ?optical steady shot? (image stabiliser). It has a close focusing distance of 4 cm and comes in six colours and a Li-ION rechargeable battery that can take up to 230 shots in a single charge.