Design of the Sony Cyber-shot W170
The design of the Sony Cybershot DSW-W170 makes it an interesting camera to look at. Although it is my personal view, I do find it a pretty design. It is quite difficult to come up with something unique all the time, and Sony stick to a slightly standard design. Yet small details in the form of round edges, a striking zoom lens appearance and a somewhat hollow and shiny edge around the camera, succeed in making the design exciting.
Sony W170 with zoom lens and optical viewfinder
The front of the Sony W170 is mainly dominated by an, at first glance, large sized zoom lens. However, if you mentally remove the extra edge around the zoom lens, what remains is a standard size. Top right we find an optical viewfinder, quite extraordinary these days. The LED for the self-timer and AF assist light is placed right next to the viewfinder. The flash is positioned off-centre on the left. The surface of the front side is mainly a brushed metal, giving the camera a sophisticated look. |
Sony memory and battery compartment
On top of the camera it is quiet, extremely quiet. There are just the on/off button and the shutter release button ready for operation. The bottom of the camera shows a USB interface and off-centre, a universal tripod mount. The compartment for the Li-Ion battery and the memory card is positioned right next to it, making it impossible to change either one of them when the camera is mounted on a tripod. Naturally, the Sony DSC-170 supports Memory Stick Duo memory cards.
Sony DSC-W170 offers a 2.7" LCD monitor
The back of the camera looks a lot busier, compared to the other sides. The 2.7 inch sized monitor takes up nearly all the space, although sufficient room was left to place an optical viewfinder above the monitor. On the right of the monitor the zoom button is placed, along with the command dial, some four buttons and a multi-control button that operates the camera. The buttons around the multi-control button are rather small, and at times it is difficult to aim at the one you want to press. It did occur that I pressed the multi-control button while I really wanted to press on one of the other buttons. Precisely pressing it with a fingertip will prevent you from hitting the wrong button and getting the wrong settings. |
