Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900

Shooting Modes (8.83)

The T900 has a number of shooting modes, but none offers a huge degree of control. Intelligent Auto attempts to recognize the scene at hand and select the best scene mode for it (choosing from Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Twilight using tripod, Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Landscape, Macro or Portrait. Intelligent Auto can also be switched it Scene Recognition + mode, which when the camera recognizes a twilight or backlight picture, it’ll take two shots with slightly different settings, depending on the situation. Program mode gives you the greatest control over the settings (such as focus type, metering, ISO, macro, flash and white balance); Easy mode which only shows shots remaining, smile detect, timer, image size and flash; and High Sensitivity (which is tends to chose a higher ISO level than normal auto ISO).

Auto Mode Features

The autofocus mode can be set to Multi (analyzes the scene, and focuses on multiple points), Center or Spot. You can also tap on an area of the screen to focus there, which is a definite advantage to a touch screen. There is also a sort of manual focus capability, but you can only set the focal length to 0.4m, 1.0m, 3.0m, 7.0m or infinity. There is a face detection setting, which can be turned off, on, or set to only function when you tap on someone’s face. You can also tell the system to prioritize the focus on children or adults. It also has a smile detection mode, that can be set to automatically take a photo when someone is grinning. If Anti Blink is enabled, after you take a photo, it will inform you if someone is blinking (which strikes us as a little late for it to be of much use.)

Overall, the focusing felt a little slow, especially in low light conditions.

The T900 doesn’t have the most expansive exposure controls on the market, but they’re not too bad. There are two levels of dynamic range optimization on this camera, normal and plus, both designed to bring additional details out of the shadows.

Multi, center or spot metering are all available.

The aperture range on Sony T900 is average for a point and shoot, maxing out at f/3. We couldn’t coax a smaller aperture than f/10, which is very limited, and means you won’t be able to get a very wide depth of field with this camera. Depth of field is a term for how much of a scene is in focus as once. A wide aperture (like f/3) will only have a small area in focus, which is great for photographing close up objects. A narrow aperture (like f/22 or so) will have a very large depth of field, which is good for landscape photography.

The shutter speed of this camera is sub-par, with a maximum exposure of only two seconds, and a minimum of 1/1000. The vast majority of cameras on the market run up to at least 4 seconds, and usually 1/1500 at the fast end. Of course, there’s no way to manually set the shutter speed, which is another black mark.

There are two levels of self-timer: 10 and two seconds. When coupled with burst mode, the camera will take five images after the timer is up. If a timer is set up for a shot, it will turn off again after an image has been taken, which is frustrating if you’re making multiple attempts at an image that requires the timer’s use.

Scene Modes

There are 10 scene modes that can be manually selected: Landscape, Twilight Portrait, Twilight, Gourmet, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, Underwater, Hi-speed, and Soft Snap.

Picture Effects (0.00)

Picture Effects are filters that are applied while shooting, of which the T900 has none.

Manual Controls (6.38)

The T900 has white balance presets for sunlight, cloud, three types of fluorescent bulbs and flash, as well as an auto setting. However, there is no preset for shade, and much more noticeably lacking is any sort of manual white balance control, which is a common feature of cameras in this price range. If you set the camera to underwater mode, there are three additional white balance presets: underwater auto, underwater 1 and underwater 2. Since the camera isn’t waterproof, if you did want to take it underwater, you can pick up a special housing from Sony for $230.

Drive/Burst Mode (4.50)

The Sony T900 has only level of continuous shutter speed, with an unlimited capacity. Unfortunately, this mode does not work with ISOs above 800.

Shot to Shot (3.46)

On burst mode, the camera takes 1.76 images per second for five shots, and then slows down to approximately one per second. The T900 is faster than both the Canon SD970 and Fuji F200EXR, however it pales in comparison to the speed demon that is the Casio EX-FC100, which can capture up to 30 frames per second (though only at six-megapixel resolution).