Sony dsc review
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 24×7 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 640×480 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.
