Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300

High end Cyber-shot with plenty of features but little to appeal to the more serious photographer. For many months after its launch in February '08 this was the highest pixel-count compact on the market, and there are still only a handful of cameras to fight for that particular title. A titanium-coated body sets this model apart from the five other less expensive W-series cameras Sony currently builds, and like most of its competitors, it's got lots of user-friendly options including an automatic scene selection mode.

What it doesn't have, unlike most high end compacts, is a proper wideangle zoom - the W300 sports a rather pedestrian 35-105mm (equiv.) lens, which - given the price - puts it at something of an immediate disadvantage, titanium body or not. Performance is perfectly good but it's far from class-leading, and there are better cameras around for less money. (April 2009)