Sony DSC-T77 Sonys Slimmest Cyber-shot Camera
Sony’s latest pocket-friendly camera is just 15 mm thin and is said to be Sony’s slimmest-ever Cyber-shot camera. Suited best for the shutter-happy individual who loves to be on top of special moments, but prefers not to bother about exposure and shutter speed, the Sony DSC-T77 is an intelligent camera that knows its job. It comes in five enticing colors that are hard to resist.
Made from sturdy steel, it feels solid and smooth with no lens jutting out, and slips into the pocket or bag, enabling one to make it appear or disappear with no effort. The front cover slides all the way up, hiding the lens and flash to make the surface even and uniform. The sliding cover also acts as a power switch and switches the screen on or off.
The back sports a 3.0 inch high-resolution LCD touchscreen that is optimized for great color and high contrast during review and playback. The screen fills the whole back area and there are no buttons, sliders or dials. All controlling is done using the touchscreen. The T77 comes coated in traditional black or silver. It is also available in brown, pink or bright green, some rare yet appealing colors.
The T77 is equipped with a 10.1 megapixels sensor that reduces the grains even when enlarged. It can be connected to a HD TV for bigger pictures. Due to its low distortion and anti-flare properties, Sony uses Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lenses in almost all of its products including the T77. The 4x zoom lens enables proximity to give detailed close-ups. Although 4x is not the ultimate, how much can a lens handle with just 15 mm of space to move about?
Inspite of its slimness, the T77 is stuffed with Sony’s technology that not only makes the camera think in place of the user, but also makes decisions. For those who never hit the shutter in time for a smile, the amazing Smile Shutter mode does the job. It fires the shutter just when someone is smiling. The T77 can also be prioritized to capture smiles of adults or children.
Now, another mind-blowing feature: The Anti-blink technology. When in portrait mode, the anti-blink feature captures two shots that are split seconds apart, compares both and discards the one with closed eyes. Picture essentials such as exposure, focus and white balance are the professional’s jargon, which the camera-happy individual would rather not deal with.
But this is not a problem as the T77 is equipped with enough face detection technology to automatically adjust these parameters and deliver great pictures. It also recognizes up to eight faces and the user can give priority to children or adults. So group photos are taken care of.
For those who are too dumb even to select the right shooting mode, the Intelligent Scene Recognition feature does the right mode-selection. The BIONZ image processor produces better images with less digital noise. Sony’s widely used Optical SteadyShot image stabilizing software responds to camera shakes detected by the gyro sensors, and adjusts lighting to give blur-free pictures. The T77 enables an ISO speed of up to 3200. This increases the shutter speed and makes the sensor sensitive enough to avoid blur during sudden movements by the subject. This feature is particularly useful in low lighting and while shooting action shots.
The D-Range Optimizer converts high contrast pictures into softer and pleasing images. The user can arrange photos in folders and can even have a favorite folder. The user can also use the characteristic in-camera retouching feature to enhance the photos taken. Also, the paint function enables the user to personalize the photos by adding words and shapes to the photos.
Although the Canon IXUS 970 IS comes close in features, it is a tad better. But it is much bulkier than the T77. There are other slimmer cameras in the market, but with the price tag of $ 279.99, the T77 is a far more economical choice.