Product Reviews

The Sony Cybershot DCS-T1 is a five-megapixel compact camera with 3x zoom. From a distance, the thin proportions make it look the size of a credit card, but it's actually quite chunky when you get up close.

A plastic cover slides up to protect the lens while shooting. The lens cover also acts as the power switch, but we can't help thinking it's unnecessary and that the design would have been better had it been left off. Above the lens and cover is the flash, which is so tiny it illuminates only very close subjects.

The large 2.5in LCD is clear and very accurate, but it will drain the battery quite quickly. The lack of an optical viewfinder might be a problem for some, and there's no getting around the fact that in bright sunlight an LCD is difficult to see. The rear button arrangement is simple to follow with options clearly identifiable. We found the zoom toggle to be a little small for our hands, but it's not a serious complaint. The DCS-T1 is heavy for such a small camera, and although it fits in a shirt pocket, it becomes a drag after a while.

A 32MB Memory Stick Duo is supplied with the camera. Memory Stick Duo cards are around half the size of the original memory stick and roughly the same size as SD cards. An SD card would have made this

The DCS-T1 comes with a tethered USB dock that acts as a link to your Mac and battery charger, while the rear of the dock hosts an AV-out socket. The only way to export pictures and video is through the dock. If you're shooting at the highest resolution, the Memory Stick Duo will hold only a few shots, so you have to regularly transfer images to your Mac. Given that there are very few memory card readers around that support the Duo format, you'll need to carry the dock around with you all the time, which is a definite caveat. The charger can be plugged into the camera for direct charging, so this makes the omission of a direct data connection even more puzzling.

The menu system is easy to navigate and responsive. A camera's operating system is often overlooked, but it's important and the DCS-T1 should be applauded for this.

Picture quality is good for such a small camera, and the tiny Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens belies its well-honed skills. However, we found skin tones were a little bleached out and that some images were marginally out of focus. Unfortunately, this error only becomes apparent when images are viewed at full-screen size rather than on the DCS-T1's LCD. But in good light conditions, the Sony operated flawlessly.

We were impressed initially with the Sony Cybershot DCS-T1, as the tiny proportions, high-megapixel banding and large LCD screen make it an attractive proposition. Although image quality is good, the tiny flash and lack of accurate focus certainly count against it. If you want a tiny camera and hanker after a high pixel count, the Sony's shortcomings probably won't bother you. For the price, we expected a little more, but it's still a worthy addition to the Cybershot range.