Review on Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W290 12 MP Digital Camera With 5X Optical Zoom And Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization (Dark Blue) (OLD MODEL) by Marc Stewart

First time; I bought this camera specifically for underwater photography and videography. I paired this camera with the Sony MPK-WE Marine Pack which I checked on that particular product's website. so it was underneath the surface Good: instead of just good, I'd like to say "Great" The best thing about this camera for me is the fact that it has color modes for white balance underwater; one for blue water and even one for greenish water. This helps to really capture the right colors underwater and create stunning images and videos. All underwater videos (720p) look amazing and clear on a 40" HD TV. This camera also has a setting for "intelligent" landscape and light detection. This setting works fairly well in recognizing landscape, macro, and underwater settings. The 16 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo offers enough space for lots of photos and videos. Board, this camera won't let you zoom in while recording a video. This is really really bad because sometimes it's nice to switch from a long shot to a bigger shot. To be honest; Shooting a movie underwater is not suitable for zooming because it is always difficult to keep the camera steady. This camera uses a Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo, and with SD cards becoming more common it seems silly for Sony to keep selling their own media. I had to do this, the most annoying and frustrating downside is that the focus is extremely poor during video recording. I understand that it can be difficult to focus on a moving object in the water that is also moving, but even with great shots where there is only one large object in the foreground (e.g. a turtle) it will shift the focus constantly back and forth. At first I thought it had to do with the variable light being distorted by the ripples above, but even on cloudy days there were the same focusing issues. A dark object on a light background or vice versa; nothing seems good enough to hold focus all the way, or even for more than a few seconds. I've tried different focus/metering settings with no success. Verdict: In the end, despite the frustrating focus issue, this camera still gets four stars for having tons of useful features and creating amazing underwater shots and images. I've included a few stills taken with this camera, but the movies I've made with it are even more amazing.