The 5x wide (28 mm) Carl Zeiss optical lens is the centerpiece of this camera taking good photos in macro mode, offering good zoom capabilities, and also taking a wide view. While some might feel that they want a more powerful zoom, the 5x will be adequate for most casual photographers.

Even when offering nifty new features like those found in this camera, manufacturers still seem to be competing on the megapixel level as a selling point. Actually, in our opinion 12-migapixels is more than most photographers need but this Cyber-shot takes very good pictures. In-camera settings allow you to set several different options for image size ranging from 12 megapixel size down to 2 megapixels.

The Sony W290 is built around a 1/2.3" SuperHAD CCD image sensor, The HAD CCD is a Sony specific product. HAD stands for Hole-Accumulation Diode Charged Coupled Device. This technology incorporates two micro lenses on top of each photo diode to collect more light. Most Sony camera on the market today use this technology. According to Sony, the Super HAD is a “sensor with sharply improved sensitivity”. While we have seen no independent research to support this, the W290 takes clear and crisp photos with fairly low noise.