Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 Digital Camera Review
By Emily Raymond
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
June 27, 2007
The sexy Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 has automatic exposure modes and lots of cool features crammed into an ultra-slim metal body. The 0.88-inch thick digital camera has a sliding lens cover on its front and an enormous 3-inch LCD on its back. Optical image stabilization on the tiny 5x zoom lens, the ability to output to high definition televisions, and technology that recognizes and focuses on faces make for a winning combination.
The Sony T100 has quality components but they come at a prime price. The $399 price tag is on the higher end of the going rate for ultra-slim digital cameras, but the T100 arguably has the best feature set. The 8.1-megapixel digital camera has a 5x optical zoom lens that surpasses the common 3x available on most other models. Also, it comes with image stabilization to keep subjects from blurring and video from looking choppy and bumpy. More standard features are available on the $329 Sony T20, which has the same face detection and 8.1 megapixels but a shorter 3x lens and smaller 2.5-inch LCD screen.
Speaking of video, the optical zoom works in full force (which isn’t the case for many digital cameras) and there are many exposure options so video will always look good. Unfortunately, the Sony T100 requires a Memory Stick Duo Pro card to record 30-frame-per-second movies – it can only record a jumpy 16 frames per seconds using the 31 MB of internal memory and standard Memory Stick media.
Memory Sticks aren’t the only plug for Sony products - the manufacturer tries to interlink all its products. For example, the T100 can output video, pictures, and musical slide shows to its high-definition televisions. However, you have to purchase a $40 cable from Sony to do so. The T100 also has Sony PlayStation-like menus and a Home button reminiscent of the Start menu on its computers.
If you’re not familiar with Sony products, the T100 may take some getting used to. The Home menu is especially confusing, as you’re never quite sure whether you should hit the Home button or the Menu button. And when you are in the Home menu, the placement of some of the options is quite curious. For instance, soundtracks for the musical slide shows can be installed in the Print menu. Yes, the Print menu. Hmm. Unfortunately, users have to wade through the Home menu often because that’s how the Exposure mode is selected.
There is no mode dial and the camera’s buttons are very small; there simply isn’t much room. The metal case itself is skinny, but the 3-inch LCD screen on the back takes up quite a bit of room. It’s hard to be mad at the LCD for hogging so much space though - it’s so pretty. It has a smooth resolution of 230,000 pixels and can be seen from just about any angle – indoors or out. The Nikon Coolpix S50 also has a 3-inch screen. The S50 is slimmer and cheaper at $299 and includes saved Pictmotion slide shows with interesting effects.
The tiny flash on the front of the Cyber-shot T100 could stand to be a little bigger; it is too small and ineffective. Sony claims it reaches 12 feet, but that’s a stretch. Its light is more of a glow than a flash – and it’s a spotty glow at that.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 has a 2.2-frame-per-second Burst mode, a face detection system that can recognize eight faces and adjust focus and exposure accordingly, and reproduces realistic colors. Perhaps one of the best aspects of the camera is its ability to take a picture almost instantaneously when you push the shutter release button. Many ultra-slim digital cameras are so slow that half your family is gone by the time the picture is taken.
With Automatic, Program, Movie, and nine Scene modes, the Sony T100 doesn’t have a lot of manual control but still offers a good set of features. The view and menu fonts are big enough so that the elderly may be able to read and navigate it, but the T100 is really built for the younger crowd that appreciates high-definition slide shows and a camera body so trendy that it could double as jewelry.
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