by Jeff Keller, DCRP Founder/Editor Originally posted: February 21, 2007 Last Updated: June 2, 2012 Printer Friendly Version   Advertisement

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55 ($199) is an updated version of last year's popular DSC-W50 digital camera. That means that the W55 is an ultra-compact, point-and-shoot camera with a 3X zoom lens, 2.5" LCD display (there's an optical viewfinder too), VGA movie mode, and more.

So what's new on the DSC-W55 compared to its predecessor? As is often the case with new camera models, the resolution has gone up -- this time from 6.0 to 7.2 Megapixels. The camera has nearly twice as much built-in memory as before, going from 32MB to 56MB. Battery life took a tiny hit, but most people won't even notice. And finally, the camera comes in four colors instead of two, so if you've been wanting a baby blue camera... well, now's your chance.

The ultra-compact camera market is filled with tough competitors. I liked the W50 when I reviewed it last year. Will the W55 do just as well? Find out now!

What's in the Box?

The DSC-W55 has an average bundle. Inside the box, you'll find:

• The 7.2 effective Megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-W55 camera
• NP-BG1 rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Battery charger
• Wrist strap
• USB + A/V cable
• CD-ROM featuring Picture Motion Browser and drivers
• 33 page basic manual (printed) plus full manual (on CD-ROM)

One of the trends that started last year was having memory built right into a camera, instead of bundling a memory card. The DSC-W50 did this, and the new W55 continues the tradition. Actually, it improves upon it. While the W50 had 32MB of memory, the W55 has 56MB, which is way more than you'll find on the competition. Still, at some point you'll want to pick up a memory card. The W55 uses Memory Stick Duo cards, and I'd suggest a 1GB card as a good place to start. Do note that MS Duo cards won't fit in normal Memory Stick slots, but Sony includes an adapter that'll do the trick.

The DSC-W55 uses the same NP-BG1 lithium-ion battery (priced from $35) as its predecessor. This is the only Sony digital camera battery that I know of that isn't an "InfoLithium", which means that it won't tell you how many minutes you have left before the battery dies. The NP-BG1 has 3.6 Wh of energy, and here's how that translates into battery life:

In recent years Sony has put a lot of effort into battery life, and it's paid off. The DSC-W55's battery life numbers are well above average for this class.

I do have to mention my usual complaints about proprietary batteries, though. They're more expensive than rechargeable AAs, and you can't use "regular batteries" to get you through the day in an emergency.

When it's time to charge the W55's battery, just pop it into the include external charger. This is my favorite type of charger -- you just plug it right into the wall. The typical charging time is 270 minutes, which is very slow.

Like with all ultra-compact cameras, the W55 has a built-in lens cover. As you can see, it's a really small camera, reminiscent of Canon's PowerShot SD600.

Just like its predecessor, the DSC-W55 has a ton of accessories considering its size. They include:

That's not too bad, eh? Since the conversion lens adapter has 30 mm threads, you can also use Sony's various filters on the W55, just as you could on the W50 before it.

Picture Motion Browser for Windows

Sony includes version 2.0 of their Picture Motion Browser software with the DSC-W55. This software is Windows only, so Mac users will want to use iPhoto or Image Capture to get photos off of the camera.

The software offers the usual thumbnail view of your photos (shown earlier), plus the calendar view you can see above. From either screen you can select photos for printing, e-mailing, and slideshows. You can also burn them to a CD or DVD.

Double-clicking on any thumbnail brings you to the edit screen. This adds some basic photo editing tools such as redeye reduction, brightness/contrast/saturation adjustment, and trimming. You can also put the date on your photo -- something which the camera itself does not do.

While I can't say this with absolute certainty (since my camera did not come in a retail box), it looks like Sony has split the W55's documentation into two parts. You get a printed manual covering the basics, but for more advanced operations you'll have to open up the "Cyber-shot Handbook" on the included CD-ROM (let's hope this isn't the start of a bad trend). The quality of the manuals themselves is good, and much improved over previous years.

Look and Feel

The DSC-W55 looks nearly identical to its predecessor, the DSC-W50. That means that it's an ultra-compact camera made mostly of metal. Build quality is very good for the most part, with the exception being the very flimsy plastic door over the memory card / battery compartment.

It's easy to hold and operate (even with one hand), without a lot of buttons to confuse you. The mode dial is a little crowded, though.

Image courtesy of Sony Electronics

Being 2007, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the W55 comes in multiple colors. You can choose from silver, black, light blue, and pink.

Now let's see how the W55 compares in terms of size, volume, and weight with the competition:

Camera Dimensions (W x H x D, excluding protrusions) Volume (bulk) Mass (empty) Canon PowerShot SD600 3.4 x 2.1 x 0.9 in. 6.4 cu in. 140 g Casio Exilim EX-Z75 3.8 x 2.4 x 0.8 in. 7.3 cu in. 122 g Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd 3.6 x 2.2 x 0.8 in. 6.3 cu in. 148 g HP Photosmart R827 3.7 x 2.4 x 0.9 in. 8 cu in. 140 g Kodak EasyShare V603 3.6 x 2.0 x 0.9 in. 6.5 cu in. 120 g Nikon Coolpix S50 3.6 x 2.3 x 0.8 in. 6.6 cu in. 125 g Olympus FE-230 3.6 x 2.2 x 0.7 in. 5.5 cu in. 105 g Olympus Stylus 760 3.9 x 2.1 x 1.0 in. 8.2 cu in. 120 g Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX12 3.7 x 2.0 x 1.0 in. 7.4 cu in. 125 g Pentax Optio M30 3.8 x 2.2 x 0.8 in. 6.7 cu in. 119 g Samsung NV3 3.7 x 2.2 x 0.7 in. 5.7 cu in. 142 g Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2 3.8 x 2.4 x 0.9 in. 8.2 cu in. 151 g Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T10 3.6 x 2.2 x 0.8 in. 6.3 cu in. 140 g Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 3.5 x 2.3 x 0.9 in. 7.2 cu in. 127 g Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55 3.5 x 2.3 x 0.9 in. 7.2 cu in. 116 g

While the DSC-W55 is the same size as its predecessor, it is a bit lighter. In the ultra-compact class as a whole it's about average, which means that it can fit in any of your pockets with ease.

Ready to tour the W55 now?

The DSC-W55 has the same 3X "Carl Zeiss" lens as its predecessor. This F2.8-5.2 lens has a focal range of 6.3 - 18.9 mm, which is equivalent to 38 - 114 mm. While the lens itself is not threaded, you can add conversion lenses via the adapter I mentioned in the previous section. The adapter attaches to the tripod mount, and you then screw on the lens or filter of your choice.

To the upper-right of the lens is the W55's AF-assist lamp, which also serves as the visual countdown for the self-timer. The AF-assist is used by the camera when focusing in low light situations.

Above that is the built-in flash. Flash strength has taken a 10% hit since the W50, with the working ranges dropping to 0.2 - 3.9 m at wide-angle and 0.3 - 2.0 m at telephoto (both at Auto ISO). If you want more flash power you can use the external slave flash that I mentioned earlier. Being a slave flash, it doesn't integrate at all with the camera -- it merely fires when the onboard flash does.

The last thing to see on the front of the camera can be found to the upper-left of the lens, and that's the optical viewfinder.

The main thing to see on the back of the DSC-W55 is its large 2.5" LCD. While the screen is big, the resolution is not -- it has just 115,000 pixels. Outdoor visibility was about average, and in low light I found it quite easy to see what's on the screen, as it brightens automatically in those situations.

Directly above the LCD is what may very well be the world's smallest optical viewfinder. I guess I shouldn't complain though, since most cameras in this class don't have viewfinders. Something is better than nothing, right?

To the left of the viewfinder is the speaker, with status lights and a button for entering playback mode to the right.

Next up we have the mode dial, which is packed to the gills with options (maybe a little too much). Here are all the options it contains:

The DSC-W55 is a 100% point-and-shoot camera, with no manual controls. It does have quite a few scene modes, plus a high sensitivity mode that seems to be all the rage these days. In this mode, the camera boosts the ISO as high as 1000 in order to get a blur-free photo. The problem with that idea is that you often end up getting a really noisy photo, especially when light levels are lower. When you have more light in the room you'll get somewhat better results, but even so, I recommend skipping high sensitivity mode altogether and just raising the ISO manually (as needed) in order to minimize noise levels.

Below the mode dial we find three buttons (display, menu, and image quality + delete photo) and the four-way controller. You'll use the four-way controller mostly for navigating the W55's menu system, but it can also be used for these functions:

• Up - Flash setting (Auto, flash on, slow synchro, flash off)
• Down - Self-timer (Off, 2 or 10 sec)
• Left - Exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/3EV increments)
• Right - Macro mode (on/off)

And that's all for the back of the DSC-W55!

On the top of the DSC-W55 you'll find the microphone, power and shutter release buttons, and the zoom controller. This last item moves the lens from wide-angle to telephoto in just 1.5 seconds. I counted seven steps in the 3X zoom range.

Nothing to see here, other than how thin the camera is.

Here you'll see where you'll attach the wrist strap. At the bottom of the photo is a hole through which you'll thread the power cord for the optional AC adapter.

The lens is at the full telephoto position here.

On the bottom of the DSC-W55 you'll find the battery and memory card compartment, the connector for USB and video out, and a metal tripod mount. Depending on the mount it uses, you should be able to swap memory cards while the camera is on a tripod. The plastic door covering the battery/memory compartment is especially flimsy.

The W55 supports the USB 2.0 High Speed protocol for fast data transfer for your computer. The included NP-BG1 battery is shown at right.

Using the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55

Record Mode

The DSC-W55 starts up pretty quickly, taking 1.6 seconds to extend its lens before you can start taking photos.

A histogram is shown on the LCD in record mode

Focusing speeds on the W55 were very good for the most part. At wide-angle it's very snappy, with typical delays of 0.1 to 0.3 seconds. At the telephoto end you'll wait a little longer, but it's nothing too horrible. Low light focusing was slow (1 second waits are common), but the camera almost always locked focus.

Shutter lag (the delay between fully depressing the shutter release and the photo actually being taken) was not noticeable -- even at slower shutter speeds where it sometimes crops up.

Shot-to-shot speeds were excellent, with a delay of just over one second before you can take another shot.

You cannot delete a photo right after it's taken -- you must first enter playback mode.

Now, here's a look at the image size/quality choices on the W55:

Hey, that built-in memory isn't too shabby, especially compared to most of the competition!

The DSC-W55 does not support the RAW or TIFF image formats, though I wouldn't expect it to.

The file numbering system used by Sony is quite simple. Files are named DSC0####.JPG, where #### = 0001 - 9999. The numbering is maintained as you erase and swap Memory Sticks.

The DSC-W55 uses the same menu system as most of Sony's Cyber-shot cameras. It's overlay style, which means that it sits on top of the image you're composing or reviewing. There aren't too many options on this point-and-shoot camera. Here's the full list:

• Color mode (Normal, rich, natural, sepia, black & white)
• Focus (Multi, center, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 7.0 meters, infinity) - sort of a manual focus feature
• Metering mode (Multi, center, spot)
• White balance (Auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent, incandescent, flash)
• ISO (Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800)
• Photo Quality (Fine, standard)
• Rec Mode (Normal, burst, multi-burst) - see below
• Multi-burst interval (1/30, 1/15, 1/7.5 sec) - for the multi-burst feature described above
• Flash Level (Low, normal, high)
• Contrast (Low, normal, high)
• Sharpness (Low, normal, high)
• Setup - see below

There are no manual controls to be found on the W55, save for a limited manual focus feature. That's too bad, as you'll see in some of the photo tests below.

The DSC-W55 has two continuous shooting modes. In burst mode the camera took just four photos in a row at a little over one frame per second. That's not great compared to some of the competition which can shoot infinitely, not to mention faster. In multi-burst mode the camera takes sixteen shots in a row at the interval of your choosing and then compiles them into a single 1 Megapixel collage.

From that menu you can get to the setup menu, which has even more options. They include:

• Camera 1
  • AF mode (Single, monitor) - see below
  • Digital zoom (Off, precision, smart) - see below
  • Function guide (on/off) - tells you what mode you're in when you turn the mode dial
  • Redeye reduction (on/off)
  • AF illuminator (Auto, off)
  • Auto review (on/off) - post-shot review
• Internal Memory Tool
  • Format
• Memory Stick Tool
  • Format
  • Change/create rec folder - manage folders on the memory card
  • Copy (Internal memory, album) - copies either the photos in internal memory or in the album to a MS Duo card
• Setup 1
  • LCD backlight (Normal, bright)
  • Beep (Shutter only, on, off)
  • Language
  • Initialize - reset camera to default settings
• Setup 2
  • File number (Series, reset)
  • USB connect (Auto, Mass Storage, PTP, PictBridge)
  • Video out (NTSC, PAL)
  • Clock set

What are those two AF modes all about? Single AF is just like you're used to: press the shutter release halfway and the camera locks focus. Monitor AF lets the camera focus constantly, even without the shutter release pressed. This helps reduce the time required to take a picture.

The camera has two types of digital zoom. Precision digital zoom is the same old "enlarge the center" system that you should avoid. Smart Zoom lets you enlarge the image without a loss in quality, with the catch being that you can't use much of it unless you're at a low resolution. The lower the resolution, the more smart zoom you can use, up to a maximum of 4.7X. This feature is called Safety Zoom on some Canon cameras, and Extended Optical Zoom on some Panasonics.

Let's move on to our photo tests now, shall we?

As is usually the case with cameras lacking a custom white balance setting, there's a nice brown color cast in our macro test image (click here to see how it should look). Now this won't matter for most people, but if you shoot under mixed or unusual lighting, you may want to consider a camera with custom white balance. That said, the subject has a nice "smooth" look to it, without any noise or grain.

In macro mode you'll be able to get as close to your subject as 2 cm at wide-angle and 30 cm at telephoto.

What do you get when you take a camera with no shutter speed controls out to Treasure Island for some night shooting? A lot of darkness. Since you can't set a shutter speed yourself, you have to live with what the camera chooses by using one of the scene modes. Here, the camera used a 2 second shutter speed, which isn't nearly long enough for a scene like this. Thus, if you plan on taking photos like this, find a camera that at least lets you manually select a slow shutter speed.

There isn't any noise to speak of in this shot (in fact, it's kind of soft), and purple fringing was minimal.

Since I can't control the shutter speed I am unable to provide the low light ISO test. I do, however, have the studio ISO test below.

There's fairly mild barrel distortion at the wide end of the W55's 3X zoom lens. Vignetting was not an issue, and corner blurriness was minimal.

Ultra-compact cameras almost always have redeye problems, and the DSC-W55 is no exception. While your results may vary, I'd say that most of the time you'll have to deal with it. The included Picture Motion Browser software can remove redeye pretty quickly.

Next it's time for our ISO test. This shot is taken in our studio and has the same color cast issue as the macro and distortion tests. This test is designed to measure noise and not so much color, so you should be able to compare it with other cameras we've reviewed. And with that, here we go:

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1000

Sony has taken a different approach to noise on this camera compared to its predecessor. While the DSC-W50 had plenty of visible noise at high ISOs, Sony is using a lot more noise reduction here, which gets rid of the grain, but smudges out details. The images are very clean at ISO 100 and 200, with a some detail loss at ISO 400. Still, making midsize to large prints at these sensitivities should not be a problem. Noise reduction really starts to blur out details at ISO 800 and 1000, so these are best saved for desperate circumstances. Something interesting happened at those two settings: the color cast disappeared.

Overall the DSC-W55 took photos of very good quality. They were well exposed, with saturated colors, very little noise, and minimal purple fringing. Photos did seem a bit soft at times, with a bit of fuzziness on fine details -- due to the increased noise reduction that I just described. The typical W55 buyer won't be bothered by that, though -- and much of the ultra-compact competition have image quality issues of their own.

Don't just take my word for all this, though. Have a look at our photo gallery, printing a few of them if possible, and decide if the W55's photo quality meets your expectations!

Movie Mode

The DSC-W55 has the same, top-notch movie mode as Sony's other digital cameras. The MPEG Movie VX Fine mode records video at 640 x 480 (30 fps) with sound until either the memory card fills up, or the file size reaches 2GB (that takes about 25 minutes). The VX Fine mode requires a Memory Stick Pro Duo card, and you cannot use the internal memory at that setting either.

For longer movies that take up less space on your memory card you can use the VX Standard mode, which is still VGA, just at 16 frames/second. An even lower resolution mode is also available: 160 x 120 at 8.3 frames/second, which boosts recording time by a factor of fifty seven!

As is usually the case, you cannot use the zoom lens during filming. Movies are saved in MPEG format.

Here's a top view of the usual train sample movie. Be warned, it's a big download.

Click to play movie (21.7 MB, 640 x 480, 30 fps, MPEG format)
Can't view them? Download QuickTime.

Playback Mode

The DSC-W55 has a pretty basic playback mode. You've got slideshows, image protection, DPOF print marking, thumbnail view, and zoom & scroll. This last feature lets you enlarge an image by up to five times, and then move around in the zoomed-in area -- perfect for checking for proper focus or closed eyes.

Photos can be resized, rotated, and cropped while in playback mode. If you're viewing a movie you can "divide" it into two parts of your choosing.

By default, the DSC-W55 doesn't tell you much about your photos. But press the Display button and you'll see a bit more, including a histogram.

The camera moves between images quickly in playback mode. If you go one image at a time, the next one appears instantly, without any low resolution placeholder. If you really start flipping through them, you'll see a low res placeholder followed by the high res image a half second later.

How Does it Compare?

While not a giant leap over its predecessor, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55 is still a capable, ultra-compact camera that I can recommend to just about everyone. It offers a stylish design, great performance, good photo quality, and a low price. If you shoot in mixed or unusual lighting, or take a lot of long exposures I wouldn't recommend it, but for everyone else it's worth a look.

The DSC-W55 looks just the DSC-W50 before it. It's very compact, stylish, and metal. Build quality is very good for the most part, save for a very flimsy plastic door over the memory card/battery compartment. The W55 comes in four colors: silver, black, light blue, and yes, pink. On the back of the camera you'll find a large 2.5" LCD display that has a relatively low resolution of 115,000 pixels. Outdoor visibility was average, while low light visibility was very good. The camera has what may be the world's smallest optical viewfinder, but hey, I'll take what I can get. Sony has built a whopping 56MB of memory into the camera, which is much more than you'll find on competing cameras. Despite being an ultra-compact camera, the W55 supports a full suite of accessories, including conversion lenses and an external slave flash.

The Cyber-shot DSC-W55 is a 100% point-and-shoot camera, with no manual controls at all. That's a shame, since white balance and shutter speed controls would've made some of our test photos look a lot better. What you will find are seven scene modes, including a high sensitivity mode, though I recommend you avoid the latter and just increase the ISO manually instead. The W55's continuous shooting mode is nothing to write home about, with cameras from Canon and Panasonic giving you unlimited shooting at higher frame rates. The movie mode on the W55 hasn't changed since the W50, and that's just fine -- it's very good.

Camera performance is excellent. The W55 starts up in a little over 1.5 seconds, it focuses quickly (except in low light), and shutter lag was not an issue. While that low light focusing is slow, the camera locked focus accurately and consistently. Shot-to-shot delays were minimal. Battery life on the W55 was well above average -- even twice that of some of the competition. Like nearly all Sony cameras, the W55 supports the USB 2.0 High Speed protocol.

The photo quality on the DSC-W55 is generally very good, though not without its problems. Generally speaking, photos were well-exposed, with pleasing colors and low purple fringing. Since the camera lacks a custom white balance setting, shots in mixed or unusual lighting may have a color cast, as you saw in my photo tests earlier in the review. Sony has really cranked up the noise reduction on the W55, which gets rid of the high ISO noise that you saw on the W50, but at the expense of fine detail. In general, photos had a bit of a fuzzy quality to them, even at lower ISOs, where the noise reduction system was smudging out details. Still, the average point-and-shooter won't notice. As is usually the case with cameras like these, redeye was a big problem.

I have just two other negatives to mention, and they all pertain to the bundle. For one, there's no Mac software included, though the camera works just fine with Image Capture and iPhoto. Second -- and I'm hoping this isn't the start of a trend -- but Sony appears to be "pulling an Olympus" by putting the full manual on CD instead of giving you a printed copy.

If you're a typical point-and-shoot user who wants a stylish, compact camera for everyday picture-taking, then I can definitely recommend the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55 to you. If offers good photo quality and performance in an eye-catching metal body for under $200. Those of you who shoot under unusual lighting or enjoy taking night shots like the ones seen in my reviews should look for cameras with at least some manual controls, as you'll get better results.

What I liked:

• Very good photo quality, low noise levels through ISO 400
• Stylish, compact metal body, comes in four colors
• Low noise through ISO 400
• Large 2.5" LCD display
• Optical viewfinder (a rarity in this class)
• Robust performance
• AF-assist lamp; accurate (but slow) low light focusing
• Great battery life
• Plenty of built-in memory
• Support for conversion lenses, filters, and external flash
• USB 2.0 High Speed protocol supported

What I didn't care for:

• Images can be "fuzzy" at times due to noise reduction, especially at higher ISOs
• Redeye a problem
• Needs more manual controls, especially for white balance and shutter speed (see photo tests to see why)
• Low resolution LCD
• Unimpressive burst mode
• Flimsy plastic door over memory card / battery compartment
• No Mac image browser included
• Full manual only on CD-ROM

Some other ultra-compact cameras to consider include the Canon PowerShot SD600, Casio Exilim EX-Z75, Fuji FinePix Z5fd, HP Photosmart R827, Kodak EasyShare V603, Nikon Coolpix S50, Olympus FE-230 and Stylus 760, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX12, Pentax Optio M30, Samsung Digimax NV3, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T10 and DSC-N2.

As always, I recommend a trip down to your local reseller to try out the DSC-W55 and its competitors before you buy!

Photo Gallery

See how the photos turned out in our photo gallery!

Feedback & Discussion

If you have a question about this review, please send them to Jeff. Due to my limited resources, please do not e-mail me asking for a personal recommendation or technical support.

To discuss this review with other DCRP readers, please visit our forums.