Sony Camera Review
THE HOLIDAY SEASON is coming and memories are waiting to become captured! Get the facts and reviews of Sony digital and SLR cameras with full specs, and sample photos. An evaluation for every persons personal camera preference: Sony SLTA33, Sony A55, Sony Cyber-shot H55, Sony Cyber-Shot HX100V, Sony Cyber-Shot TX10 16.2 MP, Sony Cyber-shot TX5 10.2 MP, Sony Cyber-Shot HX7V 16.2 MP and much more!
Sony Cyber-shot Hx100V Review
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX55 16.2 MP Slim Digicam with 5x Optical Zoom and three.3-Inch OLED touch screen (Black)
Amazon Price: $287.77 Buy Now
List Price: $349.99
Cyber-shot TX55 Model Highlights:
- 16.2-megapixel
- Full HD 1080/60i movies
- 3.3" OLED display
- "Exmor R" CMOS sensor
- 10 fps, Backlight Correction
- 3D still image
- 3D Sweep Panorama.
I had been pleased to get the opportunity to evaluate this point-and-shoot entry from Sony. I'm usually a Canon shooter and was enthusiastic about evaluating something from another manufacturer and this unit did not disappoint.
Image Quality
This needless to say is what any camera evaluation must focus on - as without taking good pictures even the most stylish and easy to use camera arrive up short. We've taken a number of pictures in several settings from daylight to night. Images are generally sharp and with good contrast. Focus is generally pretty quick although not always accurate. I became surprised that the camera in low light / auto setting will not activate the flash, instead decresing shutter to only 1/30 second - which results in blurriness in pictures with moving kids. In the event the flash did activate, it had been of limited strength and illuminated objects / people only quite near the camera. For detailed analysis, I took comparison shots with this particular camera and both a dSLR and another point and shoot camera, both from Canon. I was surprised at how well this camera does with stationary subjects in low light - Sony has really done a great job there.
Sony Cyber-shot Hx100V Review
Top View
Form Factor
This is the very small camera. about 3/4 inch shorter than an apple iphone and just a bit thicker. They can fit very comfortably in the pocket. The lens protector reveals the lens and flash when slid down and also turns the unit on. Buttons are few including an on/off switch as well as a bit of an oddly designed zoom button which moves back and forth to zoom in and out. The position of the buttons does make operating the zoom function with one hand a little awkward. Most functions including triggering movie recording are handled via touch screen.
User Interface
This camera is clearly strongly influenced by the iPhone with touchscreen providing most of the functionality. As others have said, the touchscreen technology is not as responsive as a possible iPhone but it is useful enough. I did find myself looking to "swipe" from screen to screen which frequently resulted in inadvertent opening of the menu item. I firmly trust the principle that a UI must be self-explanatory without referral to manuals and thus used this camera without studying the manual (at least that is certainly my excuse because of not reading it). A few of the icons were not obvious such as the different quality settings for video, but overall I had been able to self-teach the use of the camera over a few minutes.
LCD View
Memory Storage
I had been a bit surprised that this camera uses MICRO SD cards, not greater standard SD cards. I've a bunch of SD cards for other cameras and after opening the box on this one I had created to go shopping. I assume I should have been happy i could use a micro Sdcard which with an adapter may be used with an SD card reader as Sony could have used only the micro Thumb drive (this camera may use either). Anyone remember Betamax?
Battery
Battery charge was quite rapid - It charged fully in less than 45 minutes personally. Battery life decreased by way of a segment after a few minutes of video and 30 or so pictures, many with flash. It's true that a Li Ion cell doesn't demonstrate its full possibility of several charge / discharge cycles and this may well improve. Battery is rated at 630 mAh which is a pretty low number, however. I suspect that is another sacrifice (along with micro SD card use) to create the camera as small as possible.
Width Comparison
Extras
I was looking forward to the panorama feature as Sony's TV ads showing that appear to indicate the camera will be taking a series of high-resolution pictures and seamlessly splicing them together for you personally. If you have ever done that job manually in Photoshop, it is a hassle (though there are now a number of software selections for that). In any case, the output from this camera is normally a 4608x3456 image, so I thought a panorama could possibly be, say, 12,000x3456 - but that is not the case. The panorama shot winds up being 4912x1080 so though it may be panoramic side to side there's a lot less information there than I used to be hoping for - the truth is the panorama shot is 5.3 MP (in comparison with 16 MP for any regular picture). It lets you do at least allow wider shots to become completed, though I favor Canon's solution to this - after panorama sequence is selected a ghost image of the first shot allows easy arranging of the second shot and the like and the camera does not change settings between shots so that they are easy to splice together later on.
Overall, I am very pleased with this camera along with its small size and convenience I plan to put it to use a lot.
The Sony Cyber-shot TX55 Gets - 5/5 Squids!
Need to find out more about the Sony TX55? Click the link to find out more about specs, extra reviews, feedbacks, and even hot sales in regards to the Sony TX55!
http://www.squidoo.com/sony-camera-reviews
A55 (Sony) DSLR 16.2MP Review
Descriptive
Sony A55
Sony A55 DSLR Model Highlights:
- 16.2MP
- Translucent Mirror Technology
- Quick AF Full HD Movie
- GPS tagging
- Live View with Phase detection
- 10 fps
- 15-point auto-focus
- 18-55mm zoom lens included
This camera has become the best compact DSLR rolling around in its segment right now. Here's my summary:
Pros:
(1). Very quickly and accurate AF. It's as good and sometimes better than my Nikon D90!
(2). Image quality from ISO 100-800 is nice as my Nikon D90 which is as good or superior to anything near or even in its segment! Images above ISO 800 are nevertheless very decent and competitive with anything having its class.
(3). Images from your kit lens are sharp and vibrant.
(4). EVF is accurate, detailed, and offers all the info. you'll need
(5). Excellent quality HD (1080i) video.....better than most DSLR's in its class. Low light capability is great.
(6). Best Live View of any DSLR around....w/very fast AF.
(7). Excellent tilting LCD screen....vibrant and hi-res.
(8). Light and compact body.....easy to travel with.
(9). Tremendous value.....beats anything in its class (best bang-for-buck)
(10). Received dpreview.com's coveted Gold Star award!
LCD View
Cons:
(1). Relatively short life cycle of battery
(2). HD video limited to 9 min. with Steady Shot on (but 29 min. with it off). 3rd-party lenses with lens OIS can be a work-around.
(3). Limited manual controls with video.
(4). Camera might be too small for users with big hands (make sure to handle it in person if possible)
The Sony A55 DSLR Gets 4.5/5 Squids!
Would like to learn more about the Sony A55? Click this link to find out more about specs, extra reviews, feedbacks, and also hot sales about the Sony A55!
http://www.squidoo.com/sony-camera-reviews
H55 (Sony Cyber-shot) 14.1MP Review
Descriptive
Sony H55
Sony Cyber-shot H55 Model Highlights:
- 14.1-megapixel
- 3.0" LCD
- 10x optical zoom
- Sweep Panorama Mode
- Optical SteadyShot
- iAuto mode
- 720p MP4 HD movie mode
- Self Portrait Timer
Having owned many pro-level cameras before, it was difficult for me to find a solid and versatile point-and-shoot. This camera has everything I became looking for and just much more.
Pros:
I am impressed with the amount of control the H55 gives me. Panoramic imaging built-in (its nice to see the results right away rather than just eyeballing it).
Image quality - wow @ 14MP, the photos are gorgeous. Color accuracy is excellent with good lighting.
You handles quite nicely and is very easy to navigate.
The wide angle lens is fantastic with this price. As a pro I'd personally have spent about 200 on the lens alone.
Excellent range on zoom. I was quite happily surprised.
Battery life seems much more adequate compared to the W330 I previously purchased and returned.
TOP View
LCD View
Cons:
The flash is a lot from balanced and seems too hot to be used for fill. I'm new on this camera and I'm accustomed to pro-level equipment, so I'm sure I'm expecting too much here. That, or I merely don't yet have the hang of it. Color accuracy in time breaks down at lower light levels. Since i have didn't have a real meter with me, I couldn't tell where precise number breakdown sets out to occur. I would guess around 4 lux is all about as good as it gets. Beyond around that, it gets pretty noisy. I'll try out some night shooting after i have it on a tripod. However i won't get my hopes up. Doesn't appear to allow you to manually close the lens. Not a dealbreaker, but it would seem a very simple feature to provide.
The Sony Cyber-shot H55 Gets 4/5 Squids!
Would like to learn more about the Sony Cyber-shot H55? Click here to find out more about specs,extra reviews, feedback, and in many cases hot sales about Sony Cyber-shot H55!
Sony Camera Review
Sony Cyber-shot Hx100V Review
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX55 16.2 MP Slim Digicam with 5x Optical Zoom and three.3-Inch OLED touch screen (Black)
Amazon Price: $287.77 Buy Now
List Price: $349.99
Cyber-shot TX55 Model Highlights:
- 16.2-megapixel
- Full HD 1080/60i movies
- 3.3" OLED display
- "Exmor R" CMOS sensor
- 10 fps, Backlight Correction
- 3D still image
- 3D Sweep Panorama.
I had been pleased to get the opportunity to evaluate this point-and-shoot entry from Sony. I'm usually a Canon shooter and was enthusiastic about evaluating something from another manufacturer and this unit did not disappoint.
Image Quality
This needless to say is what any camera evaluation must focus on - as without taking good pictures even the most stylish and easy to use camera arrive up short. We've taken a number of pictures in several settings from daylight to night. Images are generally sharp and with good contrast. Focus is generally pretty quick although not always accurate. I became surprised that the camera in low light / auto setting will not activate the flash, instead decresing shutter to only 1/30 second - which results in blurriness in pictures with moving kids. In the event the flash did activate, it had been of limited strength and illuminated objects / people only quite near the camera. For detailed analysis, I took comparison shots with this particular camera and both a dSLR and another point and shoot camera, both from Canon. I was surprised at how well this camera does with stationary subjects in low light - Sony has really done a great job there.
Sony Cyber-shot Hx100V Review
Top View
Form Factor
This is the very small camera. about 3/4 inch shorter than an apple iphone and just a bit thicker. They can fit very comfortably in the pocket. The lens protector reveals the lens and flash when slid down and also turns the unit on. Buttons are few including an on/off switch as well as a bit of an oddly designed zoom button which moves back and forth to zoom in and out. The position of the buttons does make operating the zoom function with one hand a little awkward. Most functions including triggering movie recording are handled via touch screen.
User Interface
This camera is clearly strongly influenced by the iPhone with touchscreen providing most of the functionality. As others have said, the touchscreen technology is not as responsive as a possible iPhone but it is useful enough. I did find myself looking to "swipe" from screen to screen which frequently resulted in inadvertent opening of the menu item. I firmly trust the principle that a UI must be self-explanatory without referral to manuals and thus used this camera without studying the manual (at least that is certainly my excuse because of not reading it). A few of the icons were not obvious such as the different quality settings for video, but overall I had been able to self-teach the use of the camera over a few minutes.
LCD View
Memory Storage
I had been a bit surprised that this camera uses MICRO SD cards, not greater standard SD cards. I've a bunch of SD cards for other cameras and after opening the box on this one I had created to go shopping. I assume I should have been happy i could use a micro Sdcard which with an adapter may be used with an SD card reader as Sony could have used only the micro Thumb drive (this camera may use either). Anyone remember Betamax?
Battery
Battery charge was quite rapid - It charged fully in less than 45 minutes personally. Battery life decreased by way of a segment after a few minutes of video and 30 or so pictures, many with flash. It's true that a Li Ion cell doesn't demonstrate its full possibility of several charge / discharge cycles and this may well improve. Battery is rated at 630 mAh which is a pretty low number, however. I suspect that is another sacrifice (along with micro SD card use) to create the camera as small as possible.
Width Comparison
Extras
I was looking forward to the panorama feature as Sony's TV ads showing that appear to indicate the camera will be taking a series of high-resolution pictures and seamlessly splicing them together for you personally. If you have ever done that job manually in Photoshop, it is a hassle (though there are now a number of software selections for that). In any case, the output from this camera is normally a 4608x3456 image, so I thought a panorama could possibly be, say, 12,000x3456 - but that is not the case. The panorama shot winds up being 4912x1080 so though it may be panoramic side to side there's a lot less information there than I used to be hoping for - the truth is the panorama shot is 5.3 MP (in comparison with 16 MP for any regular picture). It lets you do at least allow wider shots to become completed, though I favor Canon's solution to this - after panorama sequence is selected a ghost image of the first shot allows easy arranging of the second shot and the like and the camera does not change settings between shots so that they are easy to splice together later on.
Overall, I am very pleased with this camera along with its small size and convenience I plan to put it to use a lot.
The Sony Cyber-shot TX55 Gets - 5/5 Squids!
Need to find out more about the Sony TX55? Click the link to find out more about specs, extra reviews, feedbacks, and even hot sales in regards to the Sony TX55!
http://www.squidoo.com/sony-camera-reviews
A55 (Sony) DSLR 16.2MP Review
Descriptive
Sony A55
Sony A55 DSLR Model Highlights:
- 16.2MP
- Translucent Mirror Technology
- Quick AF Full HD Movie
- GPS tagging
- Live View with Phase detection
- 10 fps
- 15-point auto-focus
- 18-55mm zoom lens included
This camera has become the best compact DSLR rolling around in its segment right now. Here's my summary:
Pros:
(1). Very quickly and accurate AF. It's as good and sometimes better than my Nikon D90!
(2). Image quality from ISO 100-800 is nice as my Nikon D90 which is as good or superior to anything near or even in its segment! Images above ISO 800 are nevertheless very decent and competitive with anything having its class.
(3). Images from your kit lens are sharp and vibrant.
(4). EVF is accurate, detailed, and offers all the info. you'll need
(5). Excellent quality HD (1080i) video.....better than most DSLR's in its class. Low light capability is great.
(6). Best Live View of any DSLR around....w/very fast AF.
(7). Excellent tilting LCD screen....vibrant and hi-res.
(8). Light and compact body.....easy to travel with.
(9). Tremendous value.....beats anything in its class (best bang-for-buck)
(10). Received dpreview.com's coveted Gold Star award!
LCD View
Cons:
(1). Relatively short life cycle of battery
(2). HD video limited to 9 min. with Steady Shot on (but 29 min. with it off). 3rd-party lenses with lens OIS can be a work-around.
(3). Limited manual controls with video.
(4). Camera might be too small for users with big hands (make sure to handle it in person if possible)
The Sony A55 DSLR Gets 4.5/5 Squids!
Would like to learn more about the Sony A55? Click this link to find out more about specs, extra reviews, feedbacks, and also hot sales about the Sony A55!
http://www.squidoo.com/sony-camera-reviews
H55 (Sony Cyber-shot) 14.1MP Review
Descriptive
Sony H55
Sony Cyber-shot H55 Model Highlights:
- 14.1-megapixel
- 3.0" LCD
- 10x optical zoom
- Sweep Panorama Mode
- Optical SteadyShot
- iAuto mode
- 720p MP4 HD movie mode
- Self Portrait Timer
Having owned many pro-level cameras before, it was difficult for me to find a solid and versatile point-and-shoot. This camera has everything I became looking for and just much more.
Pros:
I am impressed with the amount of control the H55 gives me. Panoramic imaging built-in (its nice to see the results right away rather than just eyeballing it).
Image quality - wow @ 14MP, the photos are gorgeous. Color accuracy is excellent with good lighting.
You handles quite nicely and is very easy to navigate.
The wide angle lens is fantastic with this price. As a pro I'd personally have spent about 200 on the lens alone.
Excellent range on zoom. I was quite happily surprised.
Battery life seems much more adequate compared to the W330 I previously purchased and returned.
TOP View
LCD View
Cons:
The flash is a lot from balanced and seems too hot to be used for fill. I'm new on this camera and I'm accustomed to pro-level equipment, so I'm sure I'm expecting too much here. That, or I merely don't yet have the hang of it. Color accuracy in time breaks down at lower light levels. Since i have didn't have a real meter with me, I couldn't tell where precise number breakdown sets out to occur. I would guess around 4 lux is all about as good as it gets. Beyond around that, it gets pretty noisy. I'll try out some night shooting after i have it on a tripod. However i won't get my hopes up. Doesn't appear to allow you to manually close the lens. Not a dealbreaker, but it would seem a very simple feature to provide.
The Sony Cyber-shot H55 Gets 4/5 Squids!
Would like to learn more about the Sony Cyber-shot H55? Click here to find out more about specs,extra reviews, feedback, and in many cases hot sales about Sony Cyber-shot H55!
Sony Camera Review
