Sony Cybershot DSC T300 Digitial Camera Review

Posted on 11 August 2008 by Mallesh Bonigala

Rating:

Recently before we embarked on a trip to India, I bought the Sony Cybershot DSC T300 Digital Camera for my wife. We found it very difficult to get a black one and I had to order in multiple places to make sure we got one before we left for our trip.

My wife used to have a Canon IXUS 500 that she bought a few years back. It was a fantastic camera and served her well till my daughter destroyed it’s LCD display at the back. After the trip, I asked my wife what she thought of the Sony Cybershot T300 Digital Camera and the answer I got was not too positive.

The camera itself was very easy to hold and shoot. In fact, with the arm band, you could hold it with one hand and shoot in a variety of positions and formats. The interface was touch based and with a huge 3.5″ LCD display at the back, it was not too difficult to master the settings and options tabs.

But what we were disappointed with was the picture quality. We had set it up to capture photos for the HD TV. So I would expect some noise when viewing the photos on the computer screen. But even on our 50″ Samsung Plasma screen, the photos we quite noisy.

Another issue with the Sony Cybershot T300 Digital Camera is that it is quite shaky. Apparently it has got a anti-shake system in place but with the full 16:9 format enabled, the flash would not come on and hence all photos taken in the mode tended to be dark, blurry and quite noisy. In the “easy” mode, which reduced the LCD screen area to 3/4 of the actual size (much like a 4:3 viewing on a 16:9 TV), the flash did come on and the photos were slightly better.

The flash itself caused a few problems. When photos were taken at a distance of a meter or so, the flash burned the images with harsh highlights. Faces looked burnt out and some times we could not even see any detail in the features.

The best thing about the Sony Cybershot T300 Digital Camera are the face recognition and smile recognition features. My daughter had tons of fun with it. I was quite amazed when the Sony Cybershot T300 Digital Camera took snaps when you smiled at it!

My rating for the Sony Cybershot T300 Digital Camera:

Price: 3 Stars

Handling: 4 Stars

Image: 2 Stars

Overall score: 3 Stars
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Cybershot DSC-T300 specifications

Street price	• US: $380 • UK: £270
Sensor	• 1/2.3″ Type CCD • 10.7 million total pixels • 10.1 million effective pixels
Image sizes	• 3648 x 2736 • 3648 x 2432 (3:2) • 3648 x 2056 (16:9) • 2592 x 1944 • 2048 x 1536 • 1920 x 1080 (16:9) • 1280 x 960 • 640 x 480
Movie clips	• 640 x 480 (@ either 30 or 16.6fps) • 320 x 240 (@ either 30 or 8.3fps)
File formats	• JPEG (EXIF 2.21) • MPEG1 (MPEG Movie VX)
Lens	• 5.8 mm – 29.0 mm • 33 mm – 165mm (35mm equiv.) • F3.5 - 4.4
Image stabilization	Yes (CCD shift-type)
Conversion lenses	Wide: VCL-DE07TB
Digital zoom	up to 2x
Focus	TTL Contrast Detection AF
AF area mode	• Face detection • 9-point AF • Center Weighted AF • Spot area AF • Flexible Spot AF (Touch Panel) • Semi Manual (1.0M, 3.0M,7.0M, Infinity)
AF assist lamp	Yes, auto or off
Focus distance	• Auto/Macro: 8cm - ∞ (w), 80cm - ∞ (t) • Close Focus enabled: 1cm - 20cm
Metering	• Multi-Pattern • Center-Weighted • Spot
ISO sensitivity	• Auto • 80 • 100 • 200 • 400 • 800 • 1600 • 3200
Exposure compensation	± 2EV in 1/3 EV steps
Exposure bracketing	+/- 0.3, 0.7, 1.0 EV
Shutter speed	• Auto: 1/4 - 1/1,000 sec • Program Auto: 1 sec- 1/1,000 sec
Aperture	F3.5 -F4.4
Modes	• Auto Adjustment • Easy Shooting • Program Auto • Movie
Scene modes	• High Sensitivity • Twilight • Twilight Portrait • Soft Snap • Landscape • Beach • Snow • Fireworks • Hi-speed Shutter • Smile Shutter • Underwater
White balance	• Auto • Daylight • Cloudy • Fluorescent 1 (White Fluorescent Lighting) • Fluorescent 2 (Natural White Fluorescent Lighting) • Fluorescent 3 (Day White Fluorescent Lighting) • Incandescent • Flash • Underwater White Balance Mode (Auto, Underwater 1, Underwater 2, Flash)
Self timer	2 or 10 sec
Continuous shooting	Approx 1.6 fps, 10 shots
Flash	• Auto • Flash On • Slow Syncro • Flash Off • Red-Eye Reduction
Flash range	• 10cm - 3.5m (w), 80cm - 2.7m (t) (ISO Auto) • Up to 7.2m (w), 5.5m (t) (ISO 3200)
Viewfinder	No
LCD monitor	• 3.5“ Touch-sensitive Hybrid TFT LCD • 16:9 aspect ratio • Approx.230,000 pixels • Approx. 100% coverage
Connectivity	• AV out (Composite, 1080i component with optional cable) • USB 2.0 High Speed • DC input • All in/out via Multi Use Terminal
Print compliance	• Pictbridge • DPOF • PIM III • EXIF Print
Storage	• Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo (High Speed), Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo card • Approx 15MB internal memory
Power	• NF-FD1 Li-ion battery • Charger included
Weight (No batt)	149 g (5.3 oz)
Dimensions	94 x 59.3 x 21.4 mm (3.7 x 2.3 x 0.8 in)