Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T1 Digital Camera
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- Digital Zoom: 4x
- Camera Type: Compact
- Weight: 0.34 lb.
- LCD Screen Size: 2.5 in.
- Resolution: 5.1 Megapixel
- Optical Zoom: 3x
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Good old new stuff!
Pros
Image quality, ease of use and ...SIZE!
Cons
Seen few of them, who knows!?
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Not the last models, as above mentioned, nowadays, but still a milestone!
Foreword: I was just given one of these toys. I know nowadays you may probably find something better, but, being not a great "fanatic", I really came to enjoy it, discovering the various potentialities and getting more and more involved into it!!!...
Tinier than this? ...More compact!? Surely, some of you remember a similar size camera from Minolta some time ago, but this is actually a 5-megapixel model no larger than a deck of cards and taking serious (and funny too!) pictures.
Are you wondering if that the professional apparatus meant for a "real" photographer? After all there's no tripod mount, no optical viewfinder, but a sort of Christmas tree candle flash!
So: a joke or a challenge!? Let's take, then, a test drive and find out what it's all about: photographer's dream or scary nightmare.
Putting it to use:
Picking up the camera you easily notice that it feels much heavier than you would expect for its small size. Consider, however, that the body is made of metal, proposing a solid, well engineered "grasp"; moreover, the stainless steel material gives the impression of absolute quality and durability.
What I definitely appreciate, is the fact that Sony has fitted this really huge, 2.5inch LCD screen with an excellent resolution of 211.000 pixels instead of an optical viewfinder. Occupying about two-thirds of the camera's back area it really presents clear and bright images on the screen. Framing images through the LCD is almost as convenient as using a traditional, optical finder. I actually noticed the difference from my previous, noy digital, camera…
The Carl Zeiss lens is truly meant for "no-kidding" photography: you know that's a name meaning tradition in this field! Although its maximum aperture of f3,5 is pretty slow, there is a 3x zoom, equivalent to 38 - 114 mm in 35 mm terms. Its appearance resembles the Minolta Dimage X-series I was talking about of some time ago, which also had a lens that was placed down the body rather than directly behind the lens opening. As you can imagine, the light is redirected downward to the CCD-sensor by a prism: as a consequence camera's size is retained to its minimum. Other efforts to minimise the camera's size include a new rechargeable InfoLithium battery (matchbox size) and the inclusion of the brand new Memory Stick Duo card, looking tinier than the original Memory Stick (more or less 1/3 of it, and quite a variety of Mb possibilities).
This new generation of memory card has a higher speed of writing and reading data. Targeted for digital music players, digital still and video cameras, the PRO Duo has more storage capacity, faster data transfer and the possibility to record real time, high-resolution photos or videos with the embedded MagicGate technology for secure transfer of copyright protected content.
Pushing down the lens cover at the front makes things come alive at the back. The LCD screen lights up showing info about the camera's settings. In less than two seconds you are ready to go! Shot-to-shot speed is excellent with a delay of around a second between shots and there is no noticeable shutter lag, which is a good thing. Digital cameras have got a lot better in this respect and lag time is now almost as short as on conventional analogue cameras (once again I'm comparing to my previous experiences…).
I've noticed that, although the Sony DSC-T1 is really meant to be a point-and-shoot camera, it has many charachteristics of higher end Sony models. Snapshooters will be contented with the Auto mode: program mode offers, on the other side, much more control over the way the image is recorded. ISO sensitivity, contrast, saturation and sharpness can all be set by the user, as well as flash level and metering among others.Apart from Auto and Program mode, there are eight predetermined shooting modes to choose from! When using one of these, the camera automatically chooses the optimum settings to match the selected scene. This way, even beginners can get high quality images on any conditions!!! …And manual focusing is possible as well, for serious professionals!
Among other features, the LCD screen is backlit, and both the intensity of the backlight and the brightness of the image can be adjusted. Even in direct sunlight the image remains clearly visible because the screen is non-reflective. Images are saved as JPEG with a choice of Standard or Fine compression.
Other accessories:
Apart from the Sony DSC-T1 and the usual extras like power cable, USB and video cables, wrist strap and 32Mb Memory Stick Duo , Sony include a docking station for easy downloading of images and automatically charging the Lithium ION Battery. Sony claims a battery life of about 80 minutes or 170 images with the LCD backlight on and about 100 minutes or 200 images with the backlight turned off.
It takes about 2.5 hours to completely recharge an empty battery.
Besides the 32Mb Memory Stick Duo an adapter is included to make the new card suitable for devices that use the traditional Memory Stick. A CompactFlash adapter is available as an extra accessory.
Downloading images is easy thanks to the included docking station and a printed manual is of course included helping a lot in the explanation of all the functions of the Sony DSC-T1.
Image quality:
The already mentioned Carl Zeiss lens actually delivers sharp images! Chromatic distortion is minimal and just slightly detectable in areas with very high contrast.
In general images are bright and accurately exposed with nicely saturated colours.
Contrast is mild rather than strong and although the ideal setting is largely due to personal preferences this can easily be adjusted in the relevant menu section.
The dynamic range, in my opinion, is definitely excellent, showing plenty of detail in shadow and highlight areas in all lighting circumstances.
Conclusion:
After using the camera for a relatively short time, we have come to appreciate the Sony DSC-T1 as a versatile, "good-looking" and handy little camera that can be carried anywhere, purse or pocket no matter what! It is stylish and light, and above all delivers excellent image quality.One of the few imperfections is that the battery will fall out if you are not careful, since there is no mechanism to hold it in. Pay attention and beware!
Tinier than this? ...More compact!? Surely, some of you remember a similar size camera from Minolta some time ago, but this is actually a 5-megapixel model no larger than a deck of cards and taking serious (and funny too!) pictures.
Are you wondering if that the professional apparatus meant for a "real" photographer? After all there's no tripod mount, no optical viewfinder, but a sort of Christmas tree candle flash!
So: a joke or a challenge!? Let's take, then, a test drive and find out what it's all about: photographer's dream or scary nightmare.
Putting it to use:
Picking up the camera you easily notice that it feels much heavier than you would expect for its small size. Consider, however, that the body is made of metal, proposing a solid, well engineered "grasp"; moreover, the stainless steel material gives the impression of absolute quality and durability.
What I definitely appreciate, is the fact that Sony has fitted this really huge, 2.5inch LCD screen with an excellent resolution of 211.000 pixels instead of an optical viewfinder. Occupying about two-thirds of the camera's back area it really presents clear and bright images on the screen. Framing images through the LCD is almost as convenient as using a traditional, optical finder. I actually noticed the difference from my previous, noy digital, camera…
The Carl Zeiss lens is truly meant for "no-kidding" photography: you know that's a name meaning tradition in this field! Although its maximum aperture of f3,5 is pretty slow, there is a 3x zoom, equivalent to 38 - 114 mm in 35 mm terms. Its appearance resembles the Minolta Dimage X-series I was talking about of some time ago, which also had a lens that was placed down the body rather than directly behind the lens opening. As you can imagine, the light is redirected downward to the CCD-sensor by a prism: as a consequence camera's size is retained to its minimum. Other efforts to minimise the camera's size include a new rechargeable InfoLithium battery (matchbox size) and the inclusion of the brand new Memory Stick Duo card, looking tinier than the original Memory Stick (more or less 1/3 of it, and quite a variety of Mb possibilities).
This new generation of memory card has a higher speed of writing and reading data. Targeted for digital music players, digital still and video cameras, the PRO Duo has more storage capacity, faster data transfer and the possibility to record real time, high-resolution photos or videos with the embedded MagicGate technology for secure transfer of copyright protected content.
Pushing down the lens cover at the front makes things come alive at the back. The LCD screen lights up showing info about the camera's settings. In less than two seconds you are ready to go! Shot-to-shot speed is excellent with a delay of around a second between shots and there is no noticeable shutter lag, which is a good thing. Digital cameras have got a lot better in this respect and lag time is now almost as short as on conventional analogue cameras (once again I'm comparing to my previous experiences…).
I've noticed that, although the Sony DSC-T1 is really meant to be a point-and-shoot camera, it has many charachteristics of higher end Sony models. Snapshooters will be contented with the Auto mode: program mode offers, on the other side, much more control over the way the image is recorded. ISO sensitivity, contrast, saturation and sharpness can all be set by the user, as well as flash level and metering among others.Apart from Auto and Program mode, there are eight predetermined shooting modes to choose from! When using one of these, the camera automatically chooses the optimum settings to match the selected scene. This way, even beginners can get high quality images on any conditions!!! …And manual focusing is possible as well, for serious professionals!
Among other features, the LCD screen is backlit, and both the intensity of the backlight and the brightness of the image can be adjusted. Even in direct sunlight the image remains clearly visible because the screen is non-reflective. Images are saved as JPEG with a choice of Standard or Fine compression.
Other accessories:
Apart from the Sony DSC-T1 and the usual extras like power cable, USB and video cables, wrist strap and 32Mb Memory Stick Duo , Sony include a docking station for easy downloading of images and automatically charging the Lithium ION Battery. Sony claims a battery life of about 80 minutes or 170 images with the LCD backlight on and about 100 minutes or 200 images with the backlight turned off.
It takes about 2.5 hours to completely recharge an empty battery.
Besides the 32Mb Memory Stick Duo an adapter is included to make the new card suitable for devices that use the traditional Memory Stick. A CompactFlash adapter is available as an extra accessory.
Downloading images is easy thanks to the included docking station and a printed manual is of course included helping a lot in the explanation of all the functions of the Sony DSC-T1.
Image quality:
The already mentioned Carl Zeiss lens actually delivers sharp images! Chromatic distortion is minimal and just slightly detectable in areas with very high contrast.
In general images are bright and accurately exposed with nicely saturated colours.
Contrast is mild rather than strong and although the ideal setting is largely due to personal preferences this can easily be adjusted in the relevant menu section.
The dynamic range, in my opinion, is definitely excellent, showing plenty of detail in shadow and highlight areas in all lighting circumstances.
Conclusion:
After using the camera for a relatively short time, we have come to appreciate the Sony DSC-T1 as a versatile, "good-looking" and handy little camera that can be carried anywhere, purse or pocket no matter what! It is stylish and light, and above all delivers excellent image quality.One of the few imperfections is that the battery will fall out if you are not careful, since there is no mechanism to hold it in. Pay attention and beware!
