Sony's Small and Fast Shooter (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30)

Member Name: JJJJ

Product:	Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30
Date:	22/03/09 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small and Fast

Disadvantages: Images are a little soft

The 7.2 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot T30 is a camera which I bought to take on holiday with me in the summer of last year, and then sold shortly afterwards.

Following on from the success and popularity of its predecessor - the 'T9', the camera is a pocketable compact which boasts a range of features.

Available in black and also in brushed metal, the build quality of the T30 is fairly good, and feels sturdy in its construction. In terms of the design, i'm not a huge fan of the cameras appearance - which is a bit boxy and bland for my liking. That said, it is comfortable to hold and can easily fit into a pocket.

The zoom is nothing special, offering only 3x optical (38-114mm) and a 6x digital. I generally avoid the 3x zooms nowadays, as you can get a decent quality 6 - 10x optical zoom in a similar size camera body. That said, the T30's Carl Zeiss optics include an image stabilisation system which I found to be particularly effective - although it's not entirely necessary on such a limited zoom range.

For a compact, the image quality is fairly good - colours are well saturated, and the tonal range is impressive. I did find however, that the majority of the pictures which I took came out a little soft... nothing Photoshop can't fix with a little 'Unsharp Mask' mind.

What impressed me most about this particular model is its responsiveness - apart from in the 'burst-mode', shutter-lag is almost non-existent, and the start-up time is incredibly fast. Offering an ISO range of 80 - 1000, the camera performs best in decent light, as when things get a little murky, even ISO 80 can be pretty noisy (grainy).

Battery life is good but not spectacular - however, there is a on screen guide which estimates how much battery time there is left before a recharge is needed. This is much more efficient than the normal battery icon which comes as standard on most other digital cameras.

In conclusion, the Sony T30 is a responsive and easy to use digital camera which offers a decent image quality. That said, there are plenty of other cameras available at present which can match the T30's image quality and also offer a better zoom range and more megapixels. However, as it is now a couple of years old, you can purchase a T30 for under £100 on eBay - which is pretty impressive considering it's original price tag of £339.

Technical Bits and Pieces
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Dimensions: 95 x 57 x 23mm
Connectivity: USB, AV
Zoom: 6x Optical, 3x Digital
Lens Data: f/3.5 - 4.3
ISO: 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000
Shutter Speeds: 1/4-1 / 1000sec
Maximum Resolution: 3,072 x 2,304
Battery: Lihium Ion
Storage: MemoryStick Duo / Duo Pro
LCD Screen: 2.5"

Summary: Compact and Solid Performer

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