Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Although I have much experience with cameras, camcorders, and digital images, I have never owned a digital camera before. My main camera has been a Nikon 6006 SLR, so I am pretty picky about quality.

After extensive research, I settled on the DSC-T1. It is exactly what I expected, and almost exactly what I wanted, but allow me to elaborate because it may not be exactly what YOU want.

I was tempted by larger digital cameras (and I will eventually get one of those too). For example, the Panasonic Lumix is few bucks cheaper and has more controls, a BIG lens, great image stabilization, and 12x optical zoom (digital zoom is meaningless). It is even possible to get a medium size 5MP digital camera with 5x optical zoom and better pictures than the dsc-t1 for much less. However, I concluded that I would rather have a good camera with me 24x7 than leave a great camera in the car or at home. I was SO right. I have already captured SO many photos I would have missed. I carry the camera at all times in one of those silk bags that come with Oakley sunglasses.

I considered other small cameras like the Casio Elixim Z4, but it does not have video in US versions. The Canon S400 is very good, but it is slower and thicker with a much smaller LCD, and a newer version is coming out April 30th. No ultra compact that is clearly better than the DSC-T1 is on the horizon.

In addition to ultra compact size, I wanted at least 4MP, at least 3x optical zoom, quality video ability, speed, ease of use, and flexible shooting modes. This camera has 5MP, 3x optical zoom, excellent 640x480 video mode, speed, ease of use, and shooting modes flexible enough to accommodate everything from action to night images.

Video is in MPG files, which can be played back on the free Real Player. It is not possible to zoom while shooting video, but it is possible to zoom before recording begins or when recording has been paused.

I haven't tried the software that comes with it yet. I run Windows XP, and I just place the dsc-t1 in the cradle, turn it on, and it appears as another disk drive in Windows Explorer. I can copy files from it and paste them onto a hard drive. I can then delete the image files from the camera to free up the space on the memory stick just as if I were deleting files from any Windows folder.

Apparently slowness is a problem with all digital cameras except for a few of the most recent ones, and the DSC-T1 seems fast to me. This may be the result of the newer and faster Duo Pro Memory Stick technology. Get the 256MB Duo Pro Memory Stick. The 512MB stick costs three times as much. Don't bother with a spare battery. They are too expensive, and the battery life is OK. You don't want to be frequently opening the delicate little battery/memory doors on digital cameras anyway.

Don't worry about having no optical view finder. They just make cameras bigger. The 2.5 inch LCD is bigger than any other digital camera and is quite sufficient.

Such a small camera is a little tricky to hold SECURELY without getting in the way of the lens, so if you tend to drop things, then you WILL eventually drop this unless you use the wrist strap at all times, which partially defeats the convenience aspect. I still haven't attached the wrist strap because I am extra careful, but someone could still bump into me while shooting. On the other hand, I don't want to overstate this problem because the camera is quite durable/graspable when the lens cover is closed.

Almost every indoor picture with the kids has at least a hint of red eye. I consider about 60% of them to have too much, but I still get more quality shots than I have time to email, so I really can't complain. BTW, 5MP jpeg files are about 2MB each, which makes email a challenge. Less than one out of ten indoor pictures seems grainy. It is actually possible to take decent pictures in total darkness when using the flash because the auto focus works in the dark, which is not true for every camera.

It is possible to use one of the modes that forces the camera to 100 speed to guarantee maximum resolution (0% graininess), but you may have to brace the camera well for the slow shutter speeds that result. In fact I took some good pictures from my front porch at NIGHT by bracing the camera, but this will take more practice. Note that such pictures did not use a flash because a flash is useless beyond a few yards away, and only works WELL up to 6 feet away.

One pleasant surprise was the excellent sound quality. I carried a digital voice recorder 24x7, which would fill up until I had time to manually transpose my notes and delete them forever to free up memory on the recorder again. Before that I used the very expensive little Pearlcorder L400. It was less convenient to transpose from a tape, but at least I could keep the tapes forever. Sound quality on all of them was poor. Whereas, with the DSC-T1, I discovered I could take hours of VIDEO notes in 160x160 mode with perfect sound quality and then just copy these files onto my hard drive to keep forever. This is when I knew I was keeping the DSC-T1.

As many people have noticed, this camera does not take good pictures out of the box. But if you spend a little time taking test shots and playing with the many controls, it can produce stellar results. With mine, I found that by setting it to Program mode (instead of Auto), setting the exposure to -0.3 EV, and the speed to ISO 100, I get consistently excellent results not quite as good as bulky cameras costing twice as much, but impressive for something as small as this. Thankfully the camera remembers these settings between uses, so the adjustment only needs to be done once. Since then the camera has been a constant companion and lives in my pocket all the time (the lens cover has never once opened accidentally, perhaps because I slide it into my pocket endwise). The vulnerable controls and LCD on the back of the camera are protected by my PDA, which lives in the same pocket.

Also, don't be afraid to change the flash power setting. This can make a huge difference when you're taking a closeup of Tiddles or shotting your daughter's birthday party. (Sony why isn't the flash power automatically coupled to the focus distance?)

Instead of Sony's expensive accessories, I bought a cheap PCMCIA memory stick adapter that lives permanently inside my laptop. That means I only have to take the power adapter when I go travelling. The ludicrous docking station and USB cable stay home.

The camera needs more memory. The supplied 32MB isn't nearly enough; I immediately upgraded to 256MB, which is more than I'll ever need.

But the single biggest drawback is NO TRIPOD MOUNT. Big mistake, Sony.

To anyone who uses Photoshop to correct the colour balance or other defects: learn to use your camera! There's a menu setting for this. Play with it and do some test shots. Put a little effort in now and save a lot of time later.

At the end of it all, it's a great camera, incredibly versatile and capable of high-quality results, but with some serious but (mostly) easily-corrected defects. Most people aren't going to spend the time making test shots and calibrating the camera, which is a shame because it's necessary if you're going to take good pictures. Sony should not have released this camera in this condition, and I hope they get it right next time if they do, they'll have a real killer on their hands. Even so, I'd still strongly recommend this camera to anyone who's willing to put the effort in and who (like me) doesn't have the option of waiting for the next version.

Buy Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Now

Comments: Testing this SONY DSC-T1 during February 2004, has been a pleasure, carrying it in my pocket all day, every day. The size and weight is ideal for ultimate portability. Using this 5M pixel camera at 3M pixel resolution, using the smart zoom feature, or 5 MP mode produces excellent results. The T1 also allows in-camera cropping of images, and in-camera image resizing for e-mail purposes. The high quality movie mode is comparable to high quality digital-video tape camcorders, 30 frames per second at 640x480 pixel size image, with the exception of typical camcorder better optical zoom capability. The camera also allows one to view and edit-out portions of the video. The image quality is stunning, and color quality and saturation is also spectacular. HQ (fine) video where 3 minutes fills 256MB card, however, the video is movie quality with very smooth moving objects, in great color definition. Quite a bonus for a digital still image camera. SONY has definitely placed a great deal of engineering muscle into this device. I have produced a number of 8x10" photos and am stunned at the color and image detail. The trick in any photography activity is knowing how to take good pictures and finding correct lighting, etc. Taking care of business, when framing the image, and setting the camera features, will produce truly great results. "The camera that one can take everywhere is the best camera to have," is the remark I deliver to my students, and this device does not disappoint. Spend a few minutes, try 60 minutes, reviewing the 100 page instruction book, buy several high speed 256MB memory cards, and have a great time capturing images every place you go throughout the day. As to a Camera Rating, it has earned a solid A+. FYI, I also shoot action sports events for FAU, NCAA Atlantic Sun Conference, and others using Canon's best digital equipment. Therefore, when I do not desire to carry large Digital 35mm size equipment, SONY's T1 is an ideal companion.

Regarding SONY's DSC-T1's low-light operation in the still-image and movie modes, this camera as many that have a maximum aperture of f3.5 coupled with maximum ISO level of 400, will experience image blur if care is not taken at exposure. In using this camera extensively in many lighting situations, one would have to sacrifice low light sensitivity in exchange for extreme portability. In movie mode and still photography, in dim lighting, extreme care must be taken at exposure to prevent image blur. When in very-low-light environments where the design limits of the imager peak at 400 ISO, image noise may become unacceptable, when compared to larger SLR cameras like Canon's EOS-10D which performs quite well at ISO 800 at long exposures. The trade-off is size and weight of the equipment. For flash photography, the T1 operates quite well for small group shots where camera-to-subject distances are within 4-6 feet, which is within its design limits. The tiny built-in flash will not be able to create enough (flash) light for large groups with low-available-light conditions, where the camera is 3 or more meters, or 10 or more feet from the subject. As to red-eye reduction, the mechanism is for the camera to emit short flash-bursts prior to the actual image capture, in effort to close the iris's of the subject when the main flash and exposure occurs. All human conditions do not operate so regularly, where perhaps the subject's iris' did not close sufficiently to prevent the main-flash's reflection from the subject's retina. We have not experienced an unusual level of red-eye problems, however, occasionally it can occur, particularly if the subject's iris does not react to the pre-flash light.

Problems

One issue to be careful about is the placement of the right most button which activates the close-up feature. One's thumb may accidentally press this right-arrow button when holding the camera, when close-ups are not intended. So look on the LCD panel often at the lower left corner to see the Flower symbol. If shown, you're in close-up mode. Simply press the right-arrow button again to turn-off close-up mode. My only complaint is SONY's insistence on using obscure, proprietary, expensive, memory cards. In this case the "Memory Stick Duo Pro." SONY may have been better served had it chosen an industry standard SD card which is now available in 1 GB sizes. However, SONY says that with the DSC-T1 set in high quality FINE video mode, SONY's card is necessary because of its theoretical 20 MB per second transfer speed; presently that speed is unavailable by other SD card manufacturers. And after you see what this high quality FINE mode looks like, you too will be a SONY believer. As one may notice, even with a few complaints, I'm quite enthusiastic with the results.

James L Wilson Professor,Principles.of.Digital.Photography and Post.Image.Processing Florida.Atlantic.University Boca.Raton.Campus Operating.Entity.BocaDigital.LLC. Quality.Digital.Imaging...

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I read every review on every site and in every magazine I could find before buying this camera. All of the professional reviewers said it took great pictures. The amature reviewers were a mixed lot, with some claiming it took poor pictures. I decided to go with the pros and purchase this item.

I'm glad I did. First, it does take great pictures IF YOU READ THE MANUAL. Red Eye reduction is turned OFF by default, you have to turn it ON to get rid of red eye. The flash has 3 settings, and it is in the MIDDLE one by default. Turn up the flash to HIGH and it works great indoors. Hold the camera STEADY when you take the picture, regardless of light conditions, and you'll get very sharp photos. Memory Stick Pro Duo cards aren't that expensive, especially if you buy the Lexmar ones, and the price just was cut by Sony. The charger is very compact, and unless you plan on taking more than 180 photos on your trip, you don't even need to bring it with you. The view screen is very viewable at night, if you change the default NORMAL setting to HIGH. Finally, the complaint about the tripod is absurd: please don't tell you bought the smallest camera on the market so you can use a tripod to take photos: get a larger camera and use this for what it is designed for. A tripod with this is like using a sports car to pull a trailer. If you insist on a tripod mount, get the active sleeve case from Sony ($25 on Amazon), which adds a tripod mount to the camera.

Pros: Crisp, sharp photos. Very compact design (size of a deck of cards). Bright, sharp, large view screen. Solid construction. Good manual.

Cons: Expensive, but worth it. You have to read the manual to get the most out of it.

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Bought the T-1 a little over a week ago.All I can say is wow! The camera's features compared to it's size are incredible.Sony engineers truly are the masters at miniturization that's for sure.I also found the site " that had a excellent review and great,large pics.The site also has alot of good articles about new technology and gadgets but I digress.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty about the T-1.I will start off exploring the camera's only three flaws in my opinion.That's the "red-eye" reduction,flash and the lack of some sort of lock for the slide down lens cover.You can accidentally open the cover(and subsequently start up the camera) and expose the lens to debris,etc.The other problem was the "red-eye" reduction.Bottom line it's just not up to snuff for the camera.The flash is also a little weak.Besides those three annoying,yet totally easy to live with things,the camera is a winner.Oh,one more little annoyance.In order to take video @ 30fps,you need the top of the line $300 512MB Memory Stick Pro Duo stick.Ouch! expensive,but I think worth it given the camera's cool factor and if you can afford it.

Now the good stuff about the T-1.One:It's size!It's barely bigger than a box of Altoids!Two:The HUGE 2.5" screen.It's the same quality screen that you see on PDA's.It has absolutely no glare in direct sunlight.Three:Shutter time.The shutter is BLAZINGLY fast! So you can take alot of pics in very little time.Four:Startup time is less than a second.Five:Quality construction(which is a HUGE deal to me)It feels and is a quality built camera.Feeling substantial yet not heavy in my hand.Plus,I'm just a sucker for anything with a brushed metal surface..lol.Finally: The overall experience.What I mean is,do you feel that you got a little more than what you paid for?Does the camera excite you? Are your firends totally blown away and jealous? YES,YES and YES!!!

If you've got the dough,go get one now!