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Size does—and doesn’t—matter
 For a digital compact to be a hot item these days, it helps to have one of three things: a pretty “cigarette-case” metal body, or a big LCD screen, or 5MP of pixel power.
Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-T1 ($550 street) takes no chances by packing all three into a striking, minimalist, stainless-steel clamshell.
People can’t resist picking up the sexy little T1—and are often surprised at the substantial feel of the stainless-steel body casing. The front plate slides downward to uncover the lens and power up the camera, which takes a little more than a second.
Between the camera’s humongous (2.5-inch) LCD monitor, small size, and controls, there is precious little real estate left for your fingers. This makes the viewfinderless T1 like a lot of cute little cameras—on the unergonomic side. We found, for example, we often inadvertently set the camera to macro mode, since that button is closest to the thumb. It’s also easy to fingerprint the lens.
It is not easy to fingerprint the LCD—in fact, nearly impossible, due to the matte coating on the surface. The monitor, a hybrid with both transmissive (backlight) and reflective illumination, is clear, bright, and colorful in most any ambient light.
The controls are a little too small and a little too crowded, but they are logical and clearly marked. Shutter lag and processing time are low, less than a second per frame. For speed shooting, you can set a burst of four full-resolution frames at 3 fps. The T1 records standard-quality 640x480 MPEG video with sound at up to 25 fps on a Memory Stick Duo, and up to 30 fps at lower compression with an MS PRO Duo.
The AF uses a fairly bright red aid lamp in low light—distracting, but it can be canceled. Autofocusing can still be flummoxed, though, if there is little or no detail in the AF area.
If that minuscule flash looks like it can’t pump out much illumination, you’re right. Maximum flash distance is (eek!) only five feet at wide or tele, and that’s at the max ISO, 400.
Besides program and basic point-and-shoot auto, the T1 has seven scene programs including night scene, landscape, fireworks, etc. Noise-reduction is automatically set when slow speeds are selected in any mode. No manual exposure adjustment, though, other than exposure comp (±2 EV in 1¼3-EV steps).
And just when you thought it was safe to open the media-card door....Sony introduces another variant of its Memory Stick, the Duo. Half the length of a conventional Stick, the Duo must be put into a 1.2-inch-long adapter to fit into a standard MS card reader. If you opt for the faster PRO Duo, it won’t read at all on older MS card readers. On the plus side, Sony’s InfoLithium rechargeable battery has plenty of oomph and shows the number of minutes left on the charge.
Image quality ranked very high, color was exemplary, and noise was very well controlled at ISO 100 and 200, moderate at ISO 400. The lens, though, does show considerable barrel distortion at wide-angle, and considerable pincushion at tele.
To conclude: Very pretty, built like a minitank, great LCD, slightly clumsy, good imaging.
What's Hot
Could stop a bullet. Fast startup and shooting. Unfingerprintable 2.5-inch LCD screen. Battery tells time left.
What's Not
Lens distortion. No custom white balance or optical viewfinder. Anemic flash. Who needs another card type?
Download our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 Certified Test Results
-requires Adobe Acrobat Reader
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