Manual Control Options
The Sony T30 has some manual controls, but not over shutter speed or aperture. Users can manually adjust the exposure compensation, white balance, auto focus and metering modes, and ISO sensitivity. This camera is designed for point-and-shooters, but its $499 price tag is quite high considering it doesn’t have true manual control over exposure.
Focus
Auto Focus (6.5)
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30 has a 5-area auto focus system that shows superimposed green brackets where it focuses on the LCD screen. The focus system works fairly well for being an ultra-slim model; the T30 turned in a few blurry action shots but still did better than the average pocket cam. Normally, the camera can focus from 19.7 inches. The Sony T30 can be set to macro or magnifying glass modes. The macro mode focuses from 3.1 inches and the magnifying glass mode can focus as close as 0.4 inches. If the subject didn’t have much contrast – like taking a close-up shot of denim material – the camera would breathe in and out and would have some trouble. The auto focus system has its flaws, but works decently well for a compact point-and-shoot.
Manual Focus (2.5)
There is a pseudo-manual focus feature on the T30. It allows users to set the distance from the camera that should be in focus: the options are 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m, and 7.0m. There is also an Infinity focus option for landscapes.
Exposure (7.5)
The shutter speed and aperture cannot be manually set on the Sony Cyber-shot T30, but the exposure compensation can be adjusted on a +/- 2 scale with 1/3 increments. If users are having trouble finding the proper exposure – like when viewing the LCD in daylight – then they can view a live histogram by pushing the display button on the back of the camera. The histogram can appear in the playback mode too. For users who still aren’t certain how the exposure should be set, they can experiment with the exposure bracketing mode. This takes three pictures in a quick burst, each picture a selectable 0.3, 0.7 or 1 exposure value from each other. The exposure bracketing is only available from the Program mode though.
Metering (6.5)
The Sony Cyber-shot T30 has typical metering modes: Multi, Center, and Spot. The atypical function of the metering system is that it is manually selectable in the movie mode in addition to the still imaging mode. With that in mind, it is still probably better to stick with the camera’s default of Multi in most situations. A movie shot with the Spot option can have very interesting, but not desirable, lighting results if the spot is not always on the same subject.
ISO (7.75)
Sony included a good number of ISO choices. More and more manufacturers are doing this as consumers call for better imaging capabilities in low light. Thus, the T30 has automatic, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1000 sensitivity settings. Sony aims to keep noise to a minimum even with its higher ISOs with its Clear RAW technology. To see how well the technology did its job, check out the noise sections under the Testing tab. Sony also included a High Sensitivity scene mode that uses up to ISO 1000 to capture sleeping babies and naturally lit candlelight dinners without ruining the mood with flash. The High Sensitivity mode along with the manual ISO options, are located in the recording menu; there are live views when scrolling through the ISO options and the mode selections.
White Balance (5.5)
The white balance options are also located in the recording menu and have a live preview when scrolled through. Unfortunately, there just aren’t that many choices. Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, and Flash are all that’s there. There is no Shade preset. There is only one fluorescent setting, while there are thousands of different fluorescent bulbs that emit different hues of light. Most sadly, there is no custom setting so users will have to rely on the good graces of the camera’s white balance system. To see how it does, check out the Color testing section.
