The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130 is a compact for less than 200 Euros which offers some interesting advantages like optical stabilization, a 4x zoom and a dynamic range optimizer for well contrasted images.

Handling

Available in different colors (including pink), the W130 is still a rather classic compact with its nice finishing touches and sober interface which is simple although menus (with double access) are still as confusing.

Another downside is the 2.5 inch LCD screen with buttons that are much too discreet, notably the menu and play.  Also, note that the definition of the screen is just enough at 115,000 pixels while the competition offers the double.  Actually, it’s better to review your photos on a monitor.
Overall, speed is satisfactory (less than 0.9 s for autofocus in good lighting) and it lends in making this compact very enjoyable to use.  The only criticism here is that startup takes roughly 1,85 seconds and more than 2 seconds between 2 consecutive photos.  As for the burst mode, nothing too impressive with a score of 2 i/s.

Image quality

Despite the optical stabilization, we were only able to obtain sharp photos of our test Barbie at 1/8th of a second and 800 ISO when its rivals such as Panasonic are at 1/5th of a second.  As for noise, it’s well controlled up to 400 ISO while photos are largely usable up until 800 ISO.  On A4 prints, we did however notice purple fringes in contrasted areas.  Overall, the quality of images is excellent with good (and strong) accentuation and saturated colors.  White balance is quite accurate even in low lighting while detail on the edges is rather satisfactory. The flash on the other hand slightly overexposes.  Finally, video quality (640 x 480) is acceptable as well as the macro mode.