New Sony Cams Will Know When You Smile

With PMA just a week away, Sony announced a slew of new Cyber-Shot digital cameras that range from entry-level point-and-shooters to ultracompact cams with high-end features. In all, eight new Sony cameras were unveiled today.

Four new additions to the Cyber-Shot W series are on tap in the coming months. The 10.1-megapixel Cyber-Shot DSC-W170 ($300) and 8.1-megapixel Cyber-Shot DSC-W150 ($250) will both offer wide-angle Carl Zeiss lenses and 5x optical zoom.

oth the W170 and W150 have 2.7-inch LCD screens and are slated to ship in April. The lower-end Cyber-Shot DSC-W130 (8.1 megapixels, $230) and DSC-W120 (7.2 megapixels, $200) instead offer 4x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD screens, and no Carl Zeiss lens, and will be available in March.

For all the new W series cameras, Sony is highlighting the “smile shutter” mode, which senses when someone in the frame smiles and automatically takes a picture. The advanced face-detection technology can recognize up to eight faces per shot and lets the user prioritize the “smile shutter” to trigger when a specific person smiles.

At the entry-level end are two new additions to the Cyber-Shot S series. The slim 8.1-megapixel DSC-S780 ($180) and five-megapixel DSC-S750 ($150) are both one inch thick and offer 22MB of on-board memory for out-of-the-box shooting. Both cameras boast facial detection for up to three people per shot, as well as seven pre-set scene modes. Both the S750 and the S780 are slated for release in April.

Also announced by Sony today were the 8-megapixel Cyber-Shot DSC-H10, a compact high-zoom camera that’s geared towards families. The DSC-H10 boasts a 10x optical zoom, a long-distance flash for faraway shots, a Carl Zeiss lens, and a high shutter-speed mode for rapid-fire sports or action shots. The DSC-H10 also has some on-board image-editing apps, as well as face detection for up to eight people per shot. The $300 camera will be available in May.