Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 Review

Sony’s Cybershot range includes simple point-and-shoot compacts. Does Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 represent another new strand? It’s quite unlike any of the other Cybershot models, with a very slim design,  a solid metal build and a real air of class. It comes across as a high-tech, upmarket snapshot camera for the discerning  user.

The T1 incorporates a number of standard Sony technologies. These include a special ‘Info-lithium’ rechargeable battery that  can relay the approximate amount of shooting time remaining to the LCD display. It also has an MPEG VX movie mode capable of  shooting at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and, inevitably, it uses Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick storage system. In fact, this digital camera uses a Memory Stick Duo card. It’s a compact version of the Memory stick that’s only about half the  length. Presumably this is to fit a smaller generation of Sony digicams. Many of us use card readers that can only  accommodate the full-size memory sticks, but Sony has at least thought of this and included an adaptor.

Memory Sticks come in two sizes, as we’ve seen, but also two types – Standard and Pro. The Pro versions have higher capacities and write speeds. You need a Memory Stick Duo Pro in the T1, for example, to be able to shoot Fine quality 640 x 480 movies. The Memory Stick format is both more complicated and more expensive than other types. It might suit Sony, but it’s hard to see what advantages it offers for digital photographers.

Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 fights back with one of the biggest and certainly the highest-resolution LCD you’ll find anywhere. Measuring no less than 2.5 inches across the diagonal and with 211,000 pixels, it’s an absolute cracker. Why have this screen on a miniature snapshot digital camera rather than something more serious like the F828? Who cares? Just enjoy!

Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 Photographic control

The photographic options are unadventurous. With a standard Program AE mode and a small selection of scene modes (Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, Snow, Beach, High-speed Shutter and Fireworks), it offers little for more advanced photographers. The lack of control over the lens aperture, for example, is a big problem with macrophotography and still lifes, where depth of field can become limited. You can switch to a spot metering pattern for more carefully judged exposures, and use EV compensation to deal with light-toned or dark-toned subjects, but that (and white balance adjustment) is about as far as your technical control goes. There is at least a real-time histogram option when you’re shooting images, but will the kind of users this digital camera will attract know what a histogram is?

Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 is nicely made, but it’s heavy. Its lack of depth means it could slip into a shirt pocket, but there’s no saying how long your stitching will last.

It has a curious arrangement for switching on, too. There’s a sliding cover on the front of the camera with a raised ‘grip’ at the far left-hand end. This makes you think you’ve got to push this to the left to open the cover. Not so. You actually need to slide the cover downwards. You get the hang of it soon enough, but it never feels exactly ‘right’.

The start-up time is quick – only around a second or so – and the LCD display is excellent. There’s no optical viewfinder, but most of us use LCDs to compose shots anyway. The multi-point AF system is quick, though it can hunt around a bit in low light levels. Stab at the shutter release in good light, though, and there’s almost no delay at all.

The zoom feels a bit on the leisurely side, but it has a very smooth action and a large number of intermediate positions for precise framing. In common with many other Sony models, the T1 boasts a Carl Zeiss lens. Carl Zeiss has for decades been one of the most prestigious lens manufacturers in the world, but a passage in the Sony’s manual reveals how this kind of branding actually works: “Produced under a quality assurance system certified by Cari Zeiss in accordance with the quality standards of Carl Zeiss in Germany”, which we take to mean that the lens isn’t made by Carl Zeiss at all, and the company’s only involvement is to rubber-stamp the specifications and/or production process.

Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 Image quality

Not that there’s much wrong with the performance of the lens. The Sony’s shots are pretty sharp, all round, though it’s noticeable that the ultra-small 1/2.4-inch CCD does, like the 1/2.5-inch and 1/2.7-inch CCDs in other snapshot cameras, produce visibly ‘grittier’ images than the larger 1/1.8-inch CCDs fitted to older or more sophisticated cameras. Exposure control is very good, as is colour saturation and contrast.

T1 does not have a tripod bush. Many casual photographers can go their whole life without taking a shot in conditions that need a tripod. But if you want to use the telephoto in less-than-perfect light, shoot indoor macro shots and still lifes, or shoot at twilight or in the city at night, you need a tripod. A number of our test shots suffered from camera shake as a result.

Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 is quite a good digital camera. The controls are nice, the build quality is terrific and it’s very compact and slim.

Tagged with: Exposure control • Memory Stick Duo Pro • MPEG VX movie mode • multi-point AF • tripod bush

Filed under: Sony

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