Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 Easy Digital Camera Review

The sexy Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 has automatic exposure modes and lots of cool features crammed into an ultra-slim metal body. The 0.88-inch thick digital camera has a sliding lens cover on its front and an enormous 3-inch LCD on its back. Optical image stabilization on the tiny 5x zoom lens, the ability to output to high definition televisions, and technology that recognizes and focuses on faces make for a winning combination.

The Sony T100 has quality components but they come at a prime price. The $399 price tag is on the higher end of the going rates for ultra-slim digital cameras, but the T100 arguably has the best feature set too. The 8.1-megapixel digital camera has a 5x optical zoom lens that surpasses the common 3x available on most other models. Also, it comes with image stabilization to keep subjects from blurring and video from looking choppy and bumpy.

Speaking of video, the optical zoom works in full force (which isn’t the case for many digital cameras) and there are many exposure options so video will always look good. Unfortunately, the Sony T100 requires a Memory Stick Duo Pro card to record 30-frame-per-second movies – it can only record a jumpy 16 frames per seconds using the 31MB of internal memory and standard Memory Stick media.

Memory Sticks aren’t the only plug for Sony products - the manufacturer tries to interlink all its products. For example, the T100 can output video, pictures, and musical slide shows to its high-definition televisions. However, you have to purchase a $40 cable from Sony to do so. The T100 also has Sony PlayStation-like menus and even a Home button reminiscent of the Start menu on its computers.

If you’re not familiar with Sony products, the T100 may take some getting used to. The Home menu is especially confusing as you’re never quite sure whether you should hit the Home button or the Menu button. And when you are in the Home menu, the placement of some of the options is quite curious. For instance, soundtracks for the musical slide shows can be installed in the print menu. Yes, the print menu. Hmm. Unfortunately, users have to wade through the Home menu often because that’s how the exposure mode is selected.

There is no mode dial and the camera’s buttons are very small; there simply isn’t much room. The metal case itself is skinny, but the 3-inch LCD screen on the back takes up quite a bit of room too. It’s hard to be mad at the LCD for hogging so much space though: it’s so pretty. It has a smooth resolution of 230,000 pixels and can be seen from just about any angle – indoors or out.

The tiny flash on the front of the Cyber-shot T100 could stand to be a little bigger; it is too small and ineffective. Sony claims that it reaches 12 feet, but that’s a stretch. Its light is more of a glow than a flash – and it’s a spotty glow at that.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 has a 2.2-frame-per-second burst mode, a face detection system that can recognize eight faces and adjust focus and exposure accordingly, and reproduces realistic colors. Perhaps one of the best aspects of the camera is its ability to take a picture almost instantaneously when you push the shutter release button. Many ultra-slim digital cameras are so slow that half your family is gone by the time the picture is taken.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 - THE BOTTOM LINE.... Rating: 411.59

Likes

- Huge LCD screen - Very compact - Sexy and fashionable - Great movie mode - Powerful 340-shot battery - Effective face detection - Wide 80-3200 ISO range - Musical slide shows

Dislikes

- Tiny buttons - Poor handling - Short shutter speed range - Limited f/3.5 max aperture - Spotty and weak flash - Software can’t run on Macs

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T20 Rating: N/A	Nikon Coolpix S50 Rating: N/A	Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Rating: N/A	Casio Exilim EX-V7 Rating: N/A	Samsung S850 Rating: N/A
Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
- Cheaper $329 price - Half-ounce lighter - Battery more efficient at 380 shots - Comes in black, white, silver, and pink colors - Optical viewfinder	- Thinner 0.8-inch profile - Wavy design slips into pocket easier - Pictmotion musical slide shows are saved as shows, not just pictures like the T100 - More common SD, SDHC, MMC media format - Cheaper $299 price tag	- Bigger 15-1/1600 shutter speed range - Wider f/2.8 aperture - 18 scene modes - Stitch assist mode for panoramas - My Colors picture effects available in recording or playback modes - Optical viewfinder - More common SD, SDHC, MMC media format	- 7x optical zoom lens - Mode dial makes things easier to find - 33 scene modes - Manual and priority exposure modes - 10 movie modes - Video compressed and takes up 1.5x less space on memory cards - More common SD media format	- Better handling - Cool retro look - 800 x 592 video resolution - 11 scene modes - Wise Shot shoots with and without flash automatically and displays pictures together for comparison - Picture effects like word bubbles - More common AA battery power - 45 MB internal memory - $299 retail price
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
- 8.1 megapixels - Super SteadyShot image stabilization - Face detection - HD viewing - Musical slide shows - Same exposure modes and settings - 9-point auto focus - VGA movie mode requires Memory Stick Duo Pro card - 2.2 fps burst mode - Retouching filters - 230k pixels on LCD	- In-camera red-eye reduction - 3 inch LCD screen - Optical image stabilization - Similar sexy design - 640 x 480-pixel video resolution	- 8 megapixels - Optical image stabilization - Equally effective face detection system - $399 price	- Optical image stabilization - $399 price tag - Similar size - Same 230k pixel resolution on LCD screen	- 8.1 megapixels - 5x optical zoom lens - VGA video resolution - Effective face recognition
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
- Shorter 3x optical zoom lens - Smaller 2.5-inch LCD screen	- 7.2 megapixels - Face detection system is slow - Shorter 3x optical zoom lens - Weak 130-shot battery - 13 MB internal memory	- Thicker 1.04-inch body - 4x optical zoom lens - 2.5-inch LCD screen - 1.3 fps burst mode	- 7.2 megapixels - 2.5-inch LCD screen - Flash effective to 7.2 ft at most - 240-shot lithium battery	- Lens protrudes from body, so it’s not as flat - 3x zoom functional in movie mode - 2.5 inch LCD screen - Confusing menus - 2 fps burst mode