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| Click photo for more images of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T2. |
Many pocket-sized digital cameras feature a measly amount of built-in storage. Necessary to support basic functions, adding a few extra megabytes doesn't cost much for manufacturers, and adds some cushion should you underestimate your removable storage needs. The new Sony CyberShot DSC-T2 (Street: $350) takes that built-in memory factor to the next level, offering an incredibly practical 4GB of internal flash memory, so there's no need to worry about finding the right card (and forgetting it at home) before going out to shoot. CF and SD memory cards can be found everywhere these days, but memory-stick based Sony products aren't so easy to please, making built-in memory even more attractive.
The T2 has all the right stuff; an 8.1-megapixel sensor, 2.7-inch (230,000 dot) touchscreen display, optically-stabilized 3x zoom Carl Zeiss f/3.5-4.3 38-114mm (35mm equivalent) lens, and of course, that 4GB of built-in storage. The ultrathin (0.8 in. x 3.4 in. x 2.2 in.) and lightweight (approx. 5.5 oz with battery) camera also fits easily in a shirt or jeans pocket. All these features make the camera a great choice for a day trip to the beach or your child's first birthday party, but what it lacks would make me think long and hard about bringing the T2 on a weeklong vacation.
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Big Built-in Memory: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
With the CyberShot DSC-T2's 4GB of built-in memory, there's really no need for removable storage. But the beauty and convenience of removable storage is that it allows you to use other devices to easily transfer images without relying on the camera's USB 2.0 connection. Built-in storage is both a blessing and a curse: the only way to transfer images is by connecting the camera directly to a computer. This makes the cable a necessity, which will cut down on battery life for shooting, since it draws power while transferring. While images can also be copied in camera from the built-in memory to a Memory Stick using the export menu option, this seems to defeat the purpose of built-in storage. The camera will only store images on a Memory Stick once the internal memory has been filled.
Even though the camera transfers images using a standard mini-USB cable, the cable connects to the camera through an easily misplaceable proprietary dongle connector; if you manage to lose this thing, your images aren't going anywhere! I often find myself misplacing various camera paraphernalia, and in the time I've spent with my T2, I've managed to misplace that little dongle several times. While the camera's proprietary docking port seems like more hassle than it's worth, it also acts as the T2's gateway to the world of beyond the box solutions, including the optional HDTV cable, which enables image viewing on a high-definition television set at 1080i resolution.
On the plus side, when the camera is connected to a PC or Mac, images and other files can be transferred to the camera and stored in built-in memory. This allows you to take advantage of the camera's built-in storage, essentially using the device as an oversized thumb drive. Images copied from a computer to the camera can also be displayed on the T2's display, and you can transfer images to and from the camera's Memory Stick as well.
Hands-on and Display Clutter
As a pocket camera, the T2 offers good performance. Image quality is class-competitive, and the optical image stabilization can effectively reduce blur in low-light shooting situations. The camera's 2.7-inch display is large enough to be functional without compromising the extremely pocket-friendly size, but it's not large enough to support painless touchscreen operation. While the touchscreen helps cut back on hardware clutter by removing physical buttons, in theory making the camera simpler to control, the screen's digitizer often neglects to recognize finger inputs, making the included stylus a must. Carrying the ultralight stylus wasn't as much of a hassle as expected, which easily clips onto the camera's wrist lanyard. Even when using the stylus, the screen only seemed to register firm, direct taps.
With the display set in the most functional "normal" mode, small icons prove an effective distraction, often blocking image elements from view! When using the camera's "program" shooting mode, which allows maximum control, the "normal" screen mode displays the number of remaining images, a recording media indicator, a battery indicator, a home button for changing the main camera settings, a resolution icon for changing the capture resolution, a self-timer, a mode selector, a menu button for entering the shooting menu, a focus icon to select the focus mode, an exposure icon to select the exposure mode, an ISO icon to select ISO, an exposure compensation icon, a display button for changing the display mode, a macro mode icon, and a flash icon, along with the current focal point and a focus assist lamp indicator. While all these functions are useful (with the exception of the mysterious microchip icon), together they make for a very cluttered active preview display.
Changing the display mode to "simple" removes the remaining images indicator, recording media indicator, and battery indicator, while changing the display mode to "image only" removes all icons with the exception of the focus assist lamp indicator and display button. Note that because camera settings can only be controlled using the touchscreen, without the other icons displayed, the display mode must be changed before changing settings. Looking at all the icon clutter in the "normal" display mode makes me long for conventional buttons. In all display modes pressing the shutter button halfway removes most of the icons, displaying only optical image stabilization status, flash status, aperture and shutter speed, but because the shutter isn't often pressed before a photographer has begun composing an image, this doesn't really help with framing.
In addition to the on-screen controls, the T2 has six dedicated buttons including a power button, shutter release, telephoto and wide zoom buttons, a playback mode button, and a scrapbook button. All of these dedicated buttons have proved useful, and most are an obvious choice, but the scrapbook button seems unnecessary. The scrapbook button could have been put to better use, perhaps as a display button, turning off all of those distracting indicators while composing shots.
How about changing settings? The T2's menus are as clunky as they get. Navigating through the menus on the camera's touchscreen can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience. Menu organization seems unintuitive, and changing even the most common menu settings requires far too many screen taps. Turning off the camera's friendly yet terribly annoying beep, for example, requires 10 screen taps!
For displaying images, the T2's LCD works well, showing a bright, clear image even in direct sunlight. The display offers a bright mode as well, but I never found this to be necessary. Colors appear vibrant and image details appear sharp. Touching an image in playback mode zooms in on the selected area, providing up to 5x magnification, plenty for verifying focus.
Resolutions and Shooting Modes
The T2 offers six resolution options, including an 8-megapixel capture mode, 3:2 widescreen capture, 5-megapixels, 3-megapixels, VGA capture, and a 16:9 HDTV aspect ratio, which is useful for displaying images on your widescreen TV without the annoying black bars surrounding the photo. An image capacity indicator displays the number of images that can be captured when using a particular resolution. No JPEG compression quality selector is available, nor is the option to shoot images in RAW.
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