Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 10MP "Exmor R" CMOS Digital Camera with 3-inch Touch-Screen LCD (Silver)
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The TX1 features a 10.2 megapixel 1/2.4-Inch Exmor R CMOS image sensor that delivers fast speed, high resolution, and twice the low-light sensitivity of traditional CMOS sensors, resulting in outstanding image clarity and drastically reduced noise. Get up close to your subject with the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens featuring a 4x telescopic zoom for distant subjects and Close Focus mode for close-ups up to just under ½-Inch from the subject.
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Technical Details
- 10.2-megapixel "Exmor R" CMOS sensor for stunning low-light performance- 3-inch touch-screen LCD display for easy operation
- Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 4x optical zoom; Optical SteadyShot image stabilization
- Wide zoom display allows resizing images to 16:9 aspect ratio
- Capture your videos in HD Movie mode (720p); PhotoTV HD Mode with compatible BRAVIA HDTVs
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By W. Collins (Richmond, VA)
I had a bought a Sony DSC-T3 a few years ago, wanting it so bad I imported one from Japan! If its zoom hadn't given out after many active years, I'd still shoot with it. The TX1 seemed to be the latest and greatest successor in Sony's ultracompact line, and it hasn't disappointed.
I thought I'd hate the touchscreen, but it's actually very convenient, and responds smoothly. About all it can't do is pinch-zoom, and I'm guessing that's more of a patent issue than anything else. Controls are laid out sensibly, and it's easy to switch from automated settings to finer image control.
One of the coolest new features is Panorama mode, which makes ultra-wide photos quickly and easily. It absolutely works as advertised - it's also fun to mess with, such as when I took a panorama of my friend as he followed the camera, making a crazy hall-of-mirrors effect.
The much-touted low-light settings are great, as well, addressing an issue pretty much all compact cameras have. It can do a shockingly good job finding light and eliminating blur in dark situations, letting you avoid using the tiny, intrusive flash.
The 720p video is pretty nice, largely free of the dreaded wobbly effect many still cameras produce. As a bonus, you can zoom while recording video.
There's drawbacks, of course - Sony's continued, stubborn insistence on Memory Stick is irksome, but honestly, I don't move memory cards around much. The zoom's a bit unresponsive, not allowing very fine adjustment. You're going to have to wipe off the touchscreen a lot. Also, I find it easy to hit the power button when the camera's in a crowded pocket. Shots are going to be grainier than when you shoot with your D300 - such is life.
No camera's perfect, but when you hold this thing, you can't help but think of what a miracle it would look like to someone from even ten years ago. I'm happy I waited for the TX1 to come out, and it's going to be in my pocket for years to come, ready for when life happens.
By S. Kalathiveetil (Naperville, IL)
I would strongly diasgree with the previous review that was just written. I too have owned several cameras, including 2 DSLRs, so I can comment on the capabilities of the camera in a broader context. This is a technological tour-de-force. Its picture quality during daylight shooting is definitely good. The images are generally well exposed and have noise that I find average for its class (ultracompact). However, this camera rocks at low light shooting. Using the twilight mode, I get amazingly bright and smooth photos for dark environments. I've never seen such a small camera have such detailed low-light photos. The touch-screen interface is slick, but does have a bit of a learning curve. Plus, the camera camera has 720p recording capability. Other unique features such as smile detection and a panoramic mode both work surprisingly well. Last, I cannot help but be amazed at the size and design of this camera. It is truly pocketable. Perfect... no. But a true step forward for ultracompact cameras.
By R. Tammany (Santa Rosa, CA USA)
As an owner of a smattering of point and shoot cameras and high end DSLR's, I can be more picky than most about cameras.
I own an old 6MP Sony T9 slim camera from 4 years or so back and this looked like a promising upgrade for a slim pocketable camera. HD MP4 video, 4x zoom, almost twice the MP, touch screen and this new touted Exmor R sensor.
The T9 isn't a great camera, in fact it's one of the worst at image quality of all of my cameras, and it's memory stick duo format is constantly a hassle.
Unfortunately this new TX1 still uses Memory Stick Duo, and is somehow just as bad in terms of image quality as the old T9. It's better in low light but still very grainy, however it's worse in good bright light. Set manually to the lowest ISO (125) and placed on a tripod, the T9 produces shots with more detail and dynamic range while the TX1 has a grainy soft and blown highlight look to everything. This is with the best possible conditions, and in my opinion the shots from this camera are completely unacceptable. That means it only gets worse from there. Handheld shots in the automatic modes have much more noise and grain in them, even in full daylight. Trees in the distance look like water paintings. Neither camera is good with contrasty scenes, but all I want out of a small pocket camera is acceptable images to resize and post on facebook and so on.
The TX1 will do, but for the price the quality is terrible. Cut the price in half and I might think about keeping it but this is all about style over design.
It does have some neat features like a high speed burst mode, an anti shake mode that takes multiple exposures and combines and aligns in camera, face detection and so on. It also has one of the best touchscreen interfaces I've used on a camera, it's not in the way and it's easy and quick to use. Just double tapping on where you want the camera to focus is very nice as well. The zoom slider is probably the worst physical part on this camera, not very sensitive, and then when you finally get it to zoom, it shoots quickly from the wide end to the telephoto end which means you are always overzooming and having to back off, which is frustrating when all you want is to frame the image.
If this is going to be your only small camera I would choose something else probably from Canon or Panasonic, it will be a slightly larger camera but the jump in quality will be very noticeable.
I'm going to return it and keep the T9 for the pocket slim camera that I don't care about, and use the SD870is and LX-3 as my other smaller cameras. Unless the price on this really drops, or you just have to have this for the style and don't care about camera-phone quality pictures from a dedicated camera I would stay away from this model.
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