When you first see the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3, you'll notice that its design sits somewhere between the mock-SLRs and super-small compacts on the market at the moment.

This means that it's big enough for comfortable handling (and a thoughtful weighting means that it's easy to hold in one hand), while at the same time it's neat enough to fit in a coat pocket.

The DSC-V3's gunmetal outer casing is really smooth and devastatingly handsome. There's a small handgrip fashioned at the front of the camera, with a rubber finish that makes clutching it an effortless task.

The oversize exposure mode Command dial is the first thing to note about the camera's setup, and the anti-slip grooves on its metal edge perform well. A thumb wheel is included, saving you a trip to the backplate thumbpad for aperture and shutter speed settings.

The zoom rocker is in the usual place for the right-hand thumb, but Sony has opted to stick the exposure compensation and AE lock buttons on the left-hand side, which isn't a bad decision in itself but they're a little small and don't protrude far enough - fatthumbed users beware!

As per normal

Flash, self-timer and macro shooting options are accessed via the thumbpad, which is becoming the norm these days, and a review button displays the last image shot. In order to get at all other images on your card you have to select Playback mode on the Command dial - there's no playback shutter priority.

Notable button omissions include white balance, ISO, metering and drive selection - it's rare for you to get all these on a compact, but most cameras at this price point offer at least one or, as a better alternative, a Func button to enable you to assign your most-used settings for immediate use.

Unfortunately, there are no such luxuries with the Cyber-shot DSCV3. You have to go through the shooting menu, which is annoyingly oversized and has a hard to follow layout. Still, at least there's a separate shooting menu; the less-used options are neatly tucked away in the Setup menu, accessed via the Command dial.

The Setup menu is intuitively organised and well endowed, apart from a missing time option for auto review - the default is around 2.5sec and the only way around this is to hold your finger on the shutter button after capture.