As a backpacker, I like W-Series of Sony's line of CyberShot cameras, especially the W-55. So it was with my own high expectations that I picked up Sony's latest and top-end flagship camera, the W300 camera, the 13.6 megapixel beauty that has literally changed the playing field for the competition.

This may be too big for some people (roughly 5-5.5 MB's per image), however, when you turn the notch down to 8M, the Bayer interpolation goes away on the sensor, and the picture quality, in good light, starts to approach starter level SLR's, when the noise reduction is set right. So basically, this is a good camera for people who want professional quality at more economical prices.

The W300 sports a large, bright 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD display, includes an anti-reflective coating that provides for excellent visibility to help you compose, view, and share photos with superb clarity and color reproduction, even in bright sunlight. In terms of picture quality, the W300 features the advanced Sony Super HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design which allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise leading to superior color saturation and exposure. The lens itself is a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optic with an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/5.5, and a 3x optical zoom range the equivalent of a 35 to 105mm 35mm lens. One thing surprising though is why does the W170, which is a much more economical camera in this series, offers 5x optical and 2x digital for 10x total, whereas the W300 offers only a total of 6X Zoom (3X Optical, 2X Digital). Makes you ask the question which model is the flagship?

The W300 is Sony's best W-Series digi-cam featuring every single innovation introduced to the W-Series this year. Its image quality sets a new standard for the W-Series. If you want to be a top shooter without the need of owning and carrying a DSLR around, this is the camera to have on the shoulders.

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