Model Design / Appearance (8.0)
The T5 is all about style and appearance. When the lens cover is closed, it looks like a small futuristic pack of cigarettes. Sony calls it a “vertical design,” which is a good name. If this digital camera were any shorter, it would look like a cell phone – but it would still look cooler. The Sony Cyber-shot T5 has a lightweight aluminum body that is sleek and stylish. It is designed without a handgrip and with a non-extendable lens so that its flat profile will be easily transportable. Sony is selling the T5 in four different colors: silver, black, champagne gold, and red, with the latter two only available on the Sony web site.

Size / Portability (8.0)
The 3.69 x 2.36 x 0.8-inch Sony T5 is built to slide easily into a pocket; its lens does not extend and there is no handgrip to speak of, so the only protrusion is the slight lip of the lens cover. The T5 is very slender with its thinnest point being 0.6 inches. The slim camera body weighs 3.98 ounces; when the battery and memory stick are loaded and the wrist strap attached the T5 weighs 4.8 ounces. This model is extremely portable because of this light weight, its small size, and its flat façade.

Handling Ability (6.0)
What is good for portability is not necessarily good for handling. The lack of a handgrip makes the T5 perfect for a pocket, but not quite as form fitting in the palm of a hand. Some other very compact models omit the grip, but have thumb divots or other subtle gripping features like textured brand labels where the fingers rest. However, the Sony T5 does not even have ergonomic features; it’s all about style. So while the T5 is meant to be grabbed out of the pocket for a quick shot, it’s meant to be put right back in afterwards – it’s not made for hour-long photo shoots.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (6.0)
The Cyber-shot DSC-T5 has a slim body and a large LCD screen, which doesn’t leave much room for control buttons. Thus, the buttons are small. There is a power button on top that it tiny and recessed, but most people won’t use it because sliding the lens cover open powers up the camera too. Maybe it’s handy, but it can also be annoying. When you’re recording, accidentally bumping the lens cover up will shut the camera off. The mode switch atop the T5 is also tiny and will require sharpened fingernails to slide it right or left. The shutter release button sticks out a tiny bit, but not as much as on other models. The zoom toggle is a single flat panel with nothing to distinguish the wide setting from the telephoto setting on the opposite side. Most cameras with the toggle setup use a slope or divot of some sort; users of the Sony T5 would benefit from having this subtle convenience. To its credit, the camera’s buttons are all clearly labeled. The only button that isn’t labeled is the one in the center of the multi-selector, which is intuitively the button that makes menu selections.

Menu (6.5)
The T5 has the typical Sony menu setup, which appears as icons applied over a gray keyboard-like rectangle at the bottom of the screen. Live views are available in most menu options, as the view is directly behind the gray menu. When users scroll over the icons, the text title appears above. If the option is unavailable in a particular mode, it will be grayed out. The most options are available in the Program mode menu, which consists of the following: Camera (shooting mode), EV, Focus, Metering Mode, White Bal, ISO, P. Quality, Rec. Mode (burst, bracketing, etc.), BRK (sets bracketing increments), Multi-burst, Flash Level, P. Effect, Saturation, Contrast, Sharpness, and Setup.

The setup menu option is a portal into a gray menu without the live view. It has five tabs at the left side, so users can scroll through the tabs and see all the options rather than scrolling down and down on a single menu to find a buried option. The tabbed screens are Camera 1 and 2, Memory Stick Tool, and Setup 1 and 2. The Camera 1 screen offers AF Mode, Digital Zoom, Date/Time, Red-Eye Reduction, AF Illuminator, and Auto Review. The Camera 2 menu is much shorter with only an Enlarged Icon option. The Memory Stick Tool has these options: Format, Create Rec. Folder, Change Rec. Folder, and Copy. The first Setup menu screen has LCD Backlight, Beep, Language, and Initialize options while the second screen has File Number, USB Connect, Video Out, and Clock Set options.

The movie mode has fewer options than the still image mode, but offers many more options than most compact digital cameras with EV, Focus, Metering, White Balance, P. Effect, and Setup options.

When photographers play back their pictures and movies, they can select which folder to file the photos in, which images or movies to protect from deletion, which images should be printed (DPOF), and whether to print an entire folder or a DPOF order. In the playback menu, users can also play slide shows and access editing features such as Resize and Rotate for still images and Divide for movie clips. The menus are intuitive, easy to navigate, and provide plenty of options whether the user is shooting photos or videos.

Ease of Use (7.5)
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T5 can be used straight out of the box; it is very easy to handle, select menu options, and figure out where buttons are and what they’re for. Making changes such as flash mode and macro focus are simple because they are located on the multi-selector. Making exposure changes such as exposure value compensation and white balance are also easy with the intuitive menu system and direct navigation. Buttons are clearly labeled; menu options are straightforward. The large LCD screen is easy on the eyes and the enlarged icon option makes viewing and changing options even easier. The T5 is meant to be a point-and-shoot; it succeeds with its ease of use.

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