Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization (Black) by Sony
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Digital camera reviews of Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization (Black)
Digital camera Review: Greatly Disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
Before we go any further, I would like to mention that this review will primarily look at the camera's video capabilities as I was hoping to combine a 720p HD pocket video camera with a digital still camera. Alas, this was not to be.
Pros:
- Ultra-compact size, VERY pocketable
- Fixed lens with 4X zoom
- Capable of zooming while recording (surprisingly, this is rare)
- Capable of adjusting focus while recording (also surprisingly rare)
- Optical image stabilization
- Large, high-res 3.5" LCD screen
- Touchscreen menu system (I was surprised to find that I did like it)
Cons:
- Proprietary data connector instead of mini-USB and mini-HDMI
- Requires use of camera dock for USB and HDMI connections
- Uses proprietary Sony MemoryStick instead of more readily available SD/SDHC
- Lens is prone to significant chromatic aberration, or purple fringing. In cases where the sun or a bright point source of light is in or near the visible frame, you will get a bright purple streak across the image.
- Colors are washed out compared to actual colors
- Low light performance is really bad due to the max aperture of F=3.5
- Only two focusing options in video mode: Auto and Infinity. Auto results in a soft focus or focus hunting, and Infinity increases the minimum focusing distance, which makes it tough to record an 18 month old who like to stay up real close. A single-point focus option would be really nice or even the ability to select a focus area by touching the screen like in still picture mode.
- Battery life seemed to be around an hour with taking test shots, downloading, taking more test shots, downloading, etc. Would be nice to have an AC adapter. Would definitely recommend extra batts.
- Connecting and downloading files to a Mac required setting the camera's USB mode to "Mass Storage" instead of Auto. In Auto mode, the files would not copy via Finder nor could they be viewed directly from the MemoryStick. iMovie would copy them, but they would be corrupted. Changing to "Mass Storage" mode resolved this issue. I'm guessing the included Windows software somehow helps the handshaking. Sony needs to design this to work regardless of OS.
I was primarily comparing this the T900's video capabilities against the lower priced MinoHD and Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10. The T900 is most comparable to the Xacti, but the Xacti's picture quality in daylight shots was visibly sharper and had much better color even though it was a bit over saturated. The MinoHD probably has the truest color reproduction, and the Sony is still significantly washed out comparatively. Considering that this camera is $180 more than the Xacti and the MinoHD, I would expect its picture to blow the them both away. It did not. If anything, it only managed to match them in some cases, but in others, it could not even do that. The washed out color was bad enough, but the chromatic aberration was too much to ignore.
I really wanted to like this camera as I've loved my DSC-T7, but it just doesn't pass muster. If you want to see exactly what I'm talking about, you can see my comparison videos at[...]
I did take a few still pictures for comparison with the Xacti's 10MP capabilities, and again, the Xacti held its ground. The T900's still pictures were victim to the same poor color reproduction and chromatic aberration.
Digital camera Review: I love my T900
Summary: 5 Stars
This camera is a Diamond. I have had it for a couple of months and really love it. The high definition videos are really nice and the stills are very good. The battery life is sufficent for an outing, but for real hot and heavy use, buy an extra. My son bought one and he loves it. I will keep this little gem for a long time. The $380.00 retail is too much for this camera. Shop around and you may be able to get it for under $300.00
This camera is not going to give you great videos or stills in real low lighting situations, but come on people it's a compact and you could get hurt shooting in the dark anyway (little humor). Also a beautiful ultra fine 3.5" display and easy to operate touch screen are standard.
Digital camera Review: Love It
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my first digital camera and I love it. The picture quality is very clear and you can even record for long periods of time. My only qualm is that it's completely touch screen and I'm worried about the screen cracking. Other than that, it's a great product.Digital camera Review: Memory stick!
Summary: 2 Stars
I wish Sony would figure out that we don't need another type of storage media and most of the world uses SD cards.Digital camera Review: Nice form factor, terrible overall experience.
Summary: 1 Stars
This camera looks great at first glance. But in owning and using the camera for a few months now, I have gone from excitement to regret. Here are the things I really hate about this camera:
1. You can't just use a cable to transfer photos. You have to have the dock with you. What a hassle! Your other option is to buy a memory stick card reader to plug directly into your machine. Or maybe there's some custom cable they will sell you. But why should you have to buy extra garbage just to get photos from your camera into your computer? The camera should come with a cable that plugs directly from the camera into a USB port.
2. You have to take the battery out of the camera to charge it. Or buy an AC adapter to plug into the dock. Again, Sony makes you choose between a bad user experience or spending more money for accessories to achieve a decent user experience.
3. This also means that when you travel, you have to pack the battery charger and dock in addition to the USB cable (that plugs into the dock). It boggles my mind that they wouldn't just stick a micro-USB port on this camera so all you'd need is a micro-USB cable to charge the camera and transfer the photos simultaneously. And yes, micro-USB can handle it. My BlackBerry has a 3.2MP camera and a battery that has more than twice the capacity of the Sony camera. And the required circuitry can't be too large, considering my BlackBerry is smaller than this camera.
The only excuse I can think of is that Sony wants to force you to spend more money on accessories. And they are counting that the "average user" doesn't realize that there is a much simpler and convenient solution like micro-USB. The other possible excuse is just stupid corporate decision-making trumping good user experience.
Either way, I feel completely burned as a customer. I wanted to return this study in poor user experience, but I had misplaced the battery charger and I didn't find it until it was too late to return it. Yet another reason to hate all these extra parts you have to keep track of...
Worse still, we downloaded our first batch of photos only to find that they were very poor quality. A lot of blur and grain because it wasn't a brightly lit scene. The only time I have gotten decent photos out of this thing is when there is a lot of ambient light.
Garbage.