Model Design/Appearance
The design of the N2 is attractive and practical; the metal case feels robust, and there is nothing sticking out that could get caught if you quickly pull the camera from your pocket. It’s tinted in a very slight off-pink color that Sony describes as “champagne gold”, but it’s pretty mild, and isn’t likely to offend those who prefer their gadgets gold or black. There have been no major changes to the design or the layout from the N1, but if the design works, there’s no need to make major changes. And it does work.
Size/Portability
The N2 is the size of a pack of cards at just 3.8 inches wide, 2.4 inches high and 0.9 inches thick, and not much heavier at 6.8 ounces (including battery and memory card). It’s not the thinnest or lightest camera we have seen, but it is not far off and is very portable.
Handling Ability
The small size of the N2 does mean that it doesn’t fit all that well into the hand: It feels a little awkward as the camera is thin, and the thumb doesn’t have a huge amount of space on the back to land without falling on one of the buttons. Using two hands is generally more comfortable. The lanyard is well located so the strap is loose when the camera is in use, but is unlikely to slip off the hand if you loose your grip.
Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
While we like the idea of getting rid of as many buttons as possible, you still need some, such as the shutter and zoom buttons. The shutter button is well placed and reasonably sized, but the zoom button is too small to use comfortably. It feels cramped and awkward to use; it is too easy for the thumb to slip off the zoom. Those with large finger and hands will fine it especially uncomfortable. The zoom control itself is pretty smooth and responsive when zooming in or out, but it’s a pity that Sony didn’t weigh the usability of having a bigger zoom control over the aesthetic appeal of the smaller button.
Menus
You access the on-screen menus by hitting the menu button, and they are very easy to use, with self-explanatory icons and text. The downside of the touch-screen approach is that it can take several button presses to get to the item you want, but the N2 puts most of the ones you’ll need on the top level of the menu: you can access the program modes, exposure compensation, focus modes, flash, self timer, macro and picture size controls with a single button press and one screen touch. Other items (such as the white balance, ISO setting and metering mode) are a bit harder to get to: you have to go into the setup menu, then access the individual screens. But that’s not a major hassle; it only takes a handful of touches to change the ISO setting, for instance. Rather than describe the menus in detail, we are going to show them to you. Here’s a short video that shows the different menus, and how the on-screen display works.
Ease of Use
The N2 is obviously designed for the new and nervous shooter, and it does a good job of demystifying the process of controlling the camera. With clear on-screen icons and text, it is a simple process to change the shooting mode or otherwise tweak a setting.
One very nice use of the touch screen is focusing: in the spot AF mode, the camera focuses on wherever you touch the screen. This is seriously useful if you are trying to compose a photo with an off-center subject or are experimenting with depth of field: you can change the focus point with a touch of the screen. The focus area doesn’t cover the entire screen, but it does cover most of it.
