Sony CyberShot DSC-T30
Digital Camera Review
Sep 08, 2006
- By Emily Raymond
1.9
The Cyber-shot DSC-T30 is in Sony’s ultra-compact line of digital cameras with its sleek metal surface and slim profile. The 7.2-megapixel T30 has a lot of features that make it attractive to trendy point-and-shooters. It is easy to use, offering a selection of automatic modes, along with a High Sensitivity scene mode that boosts the ISO up to 1000 to capture pictures without the flash at places like night clubs where illumination is limited. The 3x optical zoom lens is good in both still and video recording modes, and Sony’s Super SteadyShot image stabilization system helps keep pictures crisp and video stable. The digital camera also has a 3-inch high-resolution LCD screen that is complemented with a one-touch slide show button and cool background music to play under the images. The thin Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30 retails for $499.
| Top Point & Shoot Cameras |
|---|
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| Like |
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- 3 inch LCD screen
- Slide shows with music
- Image stabilization
- Sleek design
- Great movie mode
- ISO to 1000
- Great battery life and indicator
- 58 MB internal memory
- Good handling
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| Dislikes |
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- LCD’s slow refresh rate
- LCD could easily be scratched
- 30 fps movies require Pro card
- Slow burst mode
- Limited white balance options
- Limited shutter speeds
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Conclusion
The 7.2-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30 offers consumers a lot of style, some imaging capabilities, and little overall value. The camera is nicely packaged in a metal body that is skinny enough to slide into a pocket, but also has a few features that make it easier to handle than most ultra-compact digital cameras. The Sony T30 has some positive points to its components too: the image stabilization is effective in keeping shakes out of the 3x optical zoom, the 3-inch LCD screen is large and has good resolution, and the ISO extends to a sensitive 1000 rating for low light shots. There are drawbacks too: the burst mode is slow, the LCD is fragile, and the movie mode requires a separate Memory Stick Pro Duo card to function at full speed. The pictures from the Sony T30 look good and the movies garnered from the Pro card look good, but the quality still doesn’t justify the enormous price tag. At $499, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30 is the most expensive ultra-slim digital camera on the market.