Photo Review Reviews section

Sony Cyber-shot HX5V

8.3 Rating

A slimline digicam with a 10x optical zoom lens, Sony’s 10-megapixel backlit Exmor R CMOS sensor and Full HD video recording.Despite designing its Cyber-shot primarily for snapshooters, DSC-HX5V Sony has included some features to appeal to photo enthusiasts. For starters, there’s the new Exmor R (back-illuminated) CMOS sensor, which provides a sensible effective resolution of 10.1 megapixels. Next there’s the high-quality G lens with 25mm wide angle and 10x optical zoom. In addition, the HX5V can record Full HD video clips using the efficient AVCHD format.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55

8 Rating

A stylish Slimline point-and-shoot camera with some useful shooting modes and excellent close-up capability.Sony’s new Cyber-shot DSC-W55 is an update to the popular W50 model with higher resolution and a greatly expanded internal memory. The CCD imager offers 7.1-megapixels, while the internal memory has risen from 32MB to 56MB plus an expansion slot for Memory Stick Duo cards. Physically little has changed in the new model although its brushed aluminium cladding now comes in four colours: Caribbean blue, blush pink, black and silver. The camera body itself is made from plastic, which contributes to its light weight.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200

8.5 Rating

An attractive 8-megapixel slimline digicam with a touch-screen interface and 5x optical zoom lens.An update to the DSC-T100 Cyber-shot, the DSC-T200 is similar in size and styling to its predecessor but the button controls on the rear panel have been replaced by a huge 3.5-inch touch-panel TFT LCD with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The entire screen is only used for viewing when the 16:9 aspect ratio setting – which reduces resolution to 1920 x 1080 pixels – is selected. At the 4:3 and 3:2 aspect ratios, black bars appear at each side of the screen.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100

8.5 Rating

A stylish slimline digicam with a large LCD, 5x optical zoom lens and easy user interface.Available with a silver, black or red brushed aluminium body, Sony’s new DSC-T100 Cyber-shot sports a high-quality 5x optical zoom lens and 3.0-inch LCD. A step up from the cheaper T20 model it has the same (rather small) 8.1-megapixel CCD imager and the new graphical user interface (GUI) that makes Sony’s latest digicams easier for novice photographers to operate. The BIONZ image processor that was developed for the A100 DSLR has been adapted for the new digicams, providing Face Detection and Double Anti-Blur capabilities.

Sony SLT-A33

9 Rating

A compact, lightweight DSLR with most of the features of the SLT-A55V but slightly lower resolution and a $300 lower price tag.Sony’s SLT-A33 offers most of the features of the SLT-A55V that we reviewed in August but the sensor’s resolution is reduced to 14.2 megapixels (effective), its burst speeds and power management are decreased. The built-in GPS receiver is also absent.

Sony DSLR Alpha 55

9 Rating

A capable and compact DSLR camera with some interesting and useful shooting modes and Full HD video recording.In Sony’s about-to-be-released 16.2-megapixel SLT-A55V (which will be known as the A55) DSLR camera, the traditional SLR mirror is replaced with a semi-transparent pellicle mirror that is fixed in place instead of flipping up and down with each exposure. This Translucent Mirror Technology (TMT) technology underpins the new camera’s fast TTL focusing and high burst speeds and makes the new models smaller and lighter than previous models in the Alpha.

Sony DSLR-A850

8.5 Rating

Sony’s 24.6-megapixel pro-sumer ‘full frame’ DSLR offers many features of the company’s flagship model for $1000 less.Sony’s DSLR-A850 provides most of the features of the company’s flagship full frame DSLR A900, but for $1000 less. The sensor is the same 24.6-megapixel CMOS chip and includes the A900’s sensor-shift image-stabilisation mechanism plus Dual Bionz processors. It is also equipped with the same 3.0 inch 921,000-dot transflective Xtra Fine LCD monitor. However, the viewfinder on the A850 provides only 98% frame coverage against A900’s 100%.

Sony DSLR-A550

8.8 Rating

A capable DSLR camera for photo enthusiasts who don’t require support for video recording.Following the release of the entry-level A230, A330 and A380 models in May, Sony announced two slightly more advanced models – the A500 and A550 – in late August at the same time as it unveiled its advanced DSLR-A850 model. We’ve already reviewed the A230, A380 and A850 so it’s interesting to look at the ‘intermediate’ A550, which is pitched at photographers who want a capable, high-resolution DSLR without paying the high price demanded for the ‘full-frame’ models.

Sony DSLR-A350

9 Rating

A competitively-priced, feature-rich DSLR with high sensor resolution plus a tilting LCD and live viewing facilities.Announced shortly after the DSLR-A200 model, Sony’s DSLR-A350 offers higher resolution and a variable-angle LCD that supports live view shooting. This makes the camera body slightly thicker and heavier than the A200 – although it’s still significantly smaller and lighter than the DSLR-A700. Otherwise the two cameras have almost identical control layouts and functions, although we found the A350’s grip slightly more solid and comfortable than the A200’s. The review camera was supplied with the new Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA lens, which proved to be a much better performer than the kit lens.

Sony DSLR-A230

8.5 Rating

An entry-level DSLR with straightforward controls and body-integrated image stabilisation that works with all lenses.Sony’s Alpha DSLR-A230 is a modest update of the A200, which we reviewed in January 2008. Although this camera was one of three models announced in mid-May, it has taken until mid-September for a review unit to reach us, which is a pity as we were able to review its ‘sister’ model, the A380 back in July. (Let’s hope it doesn’t take as long to get the A500, A550 and, importantly, the 24.6-megapixel A850, all of which were announced in late August.)