Sony T9 - a slimline camera for all photographers (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9)

Member Name: ccamgu

Product:	Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9
Date:	30/08/06 (185 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Slim line design, looks; picture quality

Disadvantages: Have to remove battery to recharge; can be scratched easily

I bought this camera around six months ago, and have been very pleased with it. Whilst not cheap (I bought mine for £329, although is cheaper now), feel it was worth every penny:

I have summarised the camera below:

Looks

(one of its best features, so where better to start!!)

This camera is very attractive and sleak. It will make your friends jealous when you start to use it, often asking where you got it from, how much it was etc. Due to the sliding lens cover, it often draws perplexing looks as to where the lens actually is!

The large silver front is only disturbed by a subtle Sony logo and looks great. (it is also available in black). Similarly to the Apple Ipod, this is a gadget which you can display and doesn’t have to be hidden away in a drawer when not in use


Picture Quality

This is one of the T9’s best assets. I often use this camera on nights out when there isn’t much light and have to rely on the flash, and I have been very impressed with the picture quality in all conditions. I have printed photos out up to A4 size, and they look superb.

The various different options allow the expert to tweak their photos, but it is also very easy for an amateur to point and click and take a very high quality photo. The camera offers both auto focus and a manual focus depending on how you want to use it. The zoom is also very good on this camera with a 3x optical zoom and the lens everything you expect from a Carl Zeiss lens.

The video quality is also good (captures VGA 640 x 480) with length limited to the amount of memory you have. Whilst this wont replace a specialist camcorder, it is a nice additional feature for that sudden video moment


Dimensions

The camera is around the size of a credit card and only 5/8” thick, meaning it will fit into the tightest of pockets.

Whilst being very small, it is not small enough to be fiddly. It fits the hand nicely and the buttons are large enough and don’t require the fingers of children. This phone is so small, I often ‘lose’ this phone in my pocket and think I have lost it!!

The only thing to be wary of is to keep it in an empty pocket without keys and money or risk scratching the camera. The other option is to buy a case, but in my opinion, this defeats the point of having a quick shooting camera


Functionality

The menu system is easy to navigate and the large 2.5” screen extremely large for a camera so small. The picture quality is also very high on the LCD screen and the brightness good enough to review photos even in a dark room.

One of the best features of this camera is the SteadyShot system which uses sensors to detect camera movement and sends signals to stabilize the lens. In simple terms this means less bluring and camera shake and better picture quality

Removing photos from your camera onto your computer is very simple with a single wire from the USB slot on your computer to the bottom of the camera. Another very nice feature is a slideshow facility which allows you to view images in order even adding music to it in MP3 format. This slideshow can either be on the camera’s LCD screen or plugged directly into a TV screen using the same wire as you use on the computer, but a different attachment.

One of the feature which attracted me to the T9 above others was its speed. From deciding to take a photo by pushing down the lens cover, you can take a photo in a second, compared to some cameras which take an age to load up (and in doing so missing that moment!)


Memory

This camera comes with a standard 58MB internal memory which isn’t really large enough and only stores a dozen of so photos. I upgraded to a 1GB memory card for around £40 which I would recommend as can take


Battery

The battery on the camera is also fairly impressive, but one annoying feature is that to recharge the battery, you have to remove it from the camera and put it into a docking station rather than recharging the whole camera.


Overall

This camera is excellent for the amateur or professional photographer alike. Whilst it wouldn’t replace the SLR for the serious photographer, it slight size and quick snapping makes it perfect for that instant snap wherever you are. Carry it with you, and you’ll forget you have it, but always be ready for THAT photo.

Although other slimline cameras are available, the majority have the looks of the picture quality of the T9. Whilst Sony have now released a successor to the T9, this is much more expensive, and there isn’t much wrong with the T9, especially now the price is falling

Summary: A beautifully designed slimline camera, but also offers HQ photos

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