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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The Best Pocket Camera Yet
Pros
Small, solid construction, high resolution, small, internal zoom lens, huge LCD, very fast, small.
Cons
Red-eye, no tripod mount, no optical viewfinder, weak flash, expensive camera, expensive media.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
The [almost] perfect snapshot camera. Fits easily in a pocket and is ready to go in seconds. Just watch out for the red-eye.
I've wanted a digital pocket camera for quite a while but this is the first one that has had acceptable quality in a size that can realistically fit in a pocket. Sony really hit the mark with the size of this camera, tho I wish they hadn't put that big "lens cover" on there. An internal "slider" would have done just fine and the camera would have been that much thinner. :)
So what's good about the camera? Size, of course. And the decent 5 megapixel CCD is nice. The internal 3x optical zoom is a plus. The LCD is absolutely huge. I've never seen a larger LCD on a digital camera and that includes digital cameras of all sizes. It has a USB2 interface which is important considering the size of the images. The highest resolution movie mode captures video at 640x480 at 30 frames per second. In well-lit situations, the output could easily be mistaken for video taken by a DV camera. (That's a good thing.) The speed of the camera is also very impressive. It's ready to go in a couple of seconds and can go from shot to shot at the highest resolution in about a second (assuming the flash doesn't have to recharge and you have auto-review turned off).
I've only taken around a hundred pictures but I'm getting a pretty good feel for the camera. There are a number of concessions made to achieve the small size but I think most of them are justified. After all, it's a pocket camera. This is the kind of camera you carry with you all the time to catch those fun/interesting things that make you say, "I wish I had a camera." It's not going to replace the SLR kit you use for pre-planned photography outings. :)
What's bad about the camera? NO TRIPOD MOUNT!!! Seriously, what was Sony thinking? There are a number of modes (timer, night, etc.) that require a tripod mount. Why even include them if we can't use them?!? I expect we'll soon see either a Sony or third party semi-rigid camera case that has a tripod mount in the bottom. Annoying that it's not available now, tho. I've seen examples of some pretty ugly tripod hacks for the DSC-T1 so there are obviously quite a few owners who are desperate for a solution.
The lack of an optical viewfinder is a problem when trying to frame shots in a dimly lit space. Oddly, the display gets plenty bright during the time the autofocus is working (even with the AF assist lamp turned off) so it is possible to get a decent display on the LCD in these situations. It's just not something tht can be adjusted manually. Even turning the LCD to "bright" still falls far short of the display quality seen during that brief period where the autofocus system is doing its thing. It would also be nice to be able to use an optical viewfinder to extend the battery life of the camera. Turning off that LCD would probably come close to doubling the run time.
As for the rest of my complaints, red-eye is a problem but there's not much that could have been done about it given the small amount of space in the camera and all of the things they had to stuff in there. Putting the flash right next to the lens wasn't a great design from a photography standpoint but it really wouldn't fit anywhere else. The red-eye reduction reduces the problem but most flash-shots of people are going to need a bit of photoshop work before they're ready for printing. The weakness of the flash is due to the same issues. There just isn't space available for a powerful flash.
Media's expensive (the memory stick duo pro seems to have the highest $:meg ratio of any media in this class) but I knew that before I bought the camera. And the prices are coming down. The 512 meg Duo Pro card can be found for $180 from reputable vendors. Only $30 more than similarly sized SecureDigital cards. CompactFlash is still significantly cheaper but it's also quite large compared to the SD and MSDuo formats.
Bottom line on price: This isn't a cheap camera. You're going to spend about $500 for the camera, another $200 for the 512 meg Duo Pro media (assuming you can find a place that has it in stock), and another $200 for a good dye-sub photo printer and a stack of paper/carts for the printer. At least that's how much I've spent so far. :)
So if you're looking for a small camera to take quick snapshots, don't mind editing out a little red-eye, and can afford the Memory Stick Pro Duo cards, this is a pretty decent camera. You're not going to see a better, higher quality camera in this size range any time soon.
If you take lots of pictures of people at night (friends at bars, parties, BBQs, etc.) this might not be the best camera due to its limited flash and consistent red-eye. And if expensive media is a deal killer, look at the Canon S400/410/500 line. They're pretty small, take good pictures, and use CompatFlash media which has the lowest $:meg ratio.
So what's good about the camera? Size, of course. And the decent 5 megapixel CCD is nice. The internal 3x optical zoom is a plus. The LCD is absolutely huge. I've never seen a larger LCD on a digital camera and that includes digital cameras of all sizes. It has a USB2 interface which is important considering the size of the images. The highest resolution movie mode captures video at 640x480 at 30 frames per second. In well-lit situations, the output could easily be mistaken for video taken by a DV camera. (That's a good thing.) The speed of the camera is also very impressive. It's ready to go in a couple of seconds and can go from shot to shot at the highest resolution in about a second (assuming the flash doesn't have to recharge and you have auto-review turned off).
I've only taken around a hundred pictures but I'm getting a pretty good feel for the camera. There are a number of concessions made to achieve the small size but I think most of them are justified. After all, it's a pocket camera. This is the kind of camera you carry with you all the time to catch those fun/interesting things that make you say, "I wish I had a camera." It's not going to replace the SLR kit you use for pre-planned photography outings. :)
What's bad about the camera? NO TRIPOD MOUNT!!! Seriously, what was Sony thinking? There are a number of modes (timer, night, etc.) that require a tripod mount. Why even include them if we can't use them?!? I expect we'll soon see either a Sony or third party semi-rigid camera case that has a tripod mount in the bottom. Annoying that it's not available now, tho. I've seen examples of some pretty ugly tripod hacks for the DSC-T1 so there are obviously quite a few owners who are desperate for a solution.
The lack of an optical viewfinder is a problem when trying to frame shots in a dimly lit space. Oddly, the display gets plenty bright during the time the autofocus is working (even with the AF assist lamp turned off) so it is possible to get a decent display on the LCD in these situations. It's just not something tht can be adjusted manually. Even turning the LCD to "bright" still falls far short of the display quality seen during that brief period where the autofocus system is doing its thing. It would also be nice to be able to use an optical viewfinder to extend the battery life of the camera. Turning off that LCD would probably come close to doubling the run time.
As for the rest of my complaints, red-eye is a problem but there's not much that could have been done about it given the small amount of space in the camera and all of the things they had to stuff in there. Putting the flash right next to the lens wasn't a great design from a photography standpoint but it really wouldn't fit anywhere else. The red-eye reduction reduces the problem but most flash-shots of people are going to need a bit of photoshop work before they're ready for printing. The weakness of the flash is due to the same issues. There just isn't space available for a powerful flash.
Media's expensive (the memory stick duo pro seems to have the highest $:meg ratio of any media in this class) but I knew that before I bought the camera. And the prices are coming down. The 512 meg Duo Pro card can be found for $180 from reputable vendors. Only $30 more than similarly sized SecureDigital cards. CompactFlash is still significantly cheaper but it's also quite large compared to the SD and MSDuo formats.
Bottom line on price: This isn't a cheap camera. You're going to spend about $500 for the camera, another $200 for the 512 meg Duo Pro media (assuming you can find a place that has it in stock), and another $200 for a good dye-sub photo printer and a stack of paper/carts for the printer. At least that's how much I've spent so far. :)
So if you're looking for a small camera to take quick snapshots, don't mind editing out a little red-eye, and can afford the Memory Stick Pro Duo cards, this is a pretty decent camera. You're not going to see a better, higher quality camera in this size range any time soon.
If you take lots of pictures of people at night (friends at bars, parties, BBQs, etc.) this might not be the best camera due to its limited flash and consistent red-eye. And if expensive media is a deal killer, look at the Canon S400/410/500 line. They're pretty small, take good pictures, and use CompatFlash media which has the lowest $:meg ratio.
