Jørgen Sundgot lays his grubby mitts on Sony's oh-so-small-and-sexy Cyber-shot DSC-T7 digital camera on the CeBIT showfloor.
Just admit it; you thought Sony couldn't make the DSC-T series any smaller, didn't you. Well, guess what - they just did, and we're as surprised as you are. Following hot on the heels of the DSC-T33, which only offered minor changes over its predecessor, the DSC-T3, which again improved marginally on the DSC-T1, the DSC-T7 doesn't bring any surprises in the feature department. Just as you'd expect, though, it's - surprise, surprise - smaller.
 | | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 |
Sporting a 2.5" LCD display built using Sony's Clear Type LCD technology and a resolution of 5.1 Megapixels, the DSC-T7 uses the same 3x optical zoom folded path lens from Carl Zeiss as found in previous models in the DSC-T series. A mere 9.8 mm thick at its thinnest point, the camera is outrageously small, and thanks to its stainless steel casing feels superbly solid when held.
Incidentally, it also makes you feel worried it'll slip out of your hands when you least expect it, as the camera weighs in at a mere 136 grams with a memory card and the rechargeable Lithium Ion battery inserted. A start-up time of 1.1 second is nothing to skimp at either, nor is a shutter lag of 0.009 seconds.
 | | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 |
An elegant slide-up cover protects the lens of the camera when not in use, and as one would expect a flash also graces the front of the unit along with the lens. The navigational array on the back of the camera has been slightly reworked, however the user interface remains the mostly the same as does the majority of the camera's features. Among these are ten scene selection modes, a macro mode, multiple auto focus settings and the ability to record video at 30 FPS and a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels; performance, as far as I could tell, was as good as previous models.
As is the case with the vast majority of Sony cameras, the DSC-T7 relies exclusively on the Memory Stick format - in this case, Memory Stick Duo Pro - format for storage expansion, also offering USB 2.0 PC connectivity and PictBridge support for direct-to-printer output. Despite the small size, Sony also says it has managed to cram enough battery life into the DSC-T7 for it to take 150 pictures according to the CIPA standard; I'll believe that when I see it.
 | | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 |
Slated to ship throughout Europe in May 2005, Sony did not comment on the expected pricing of the Cyber-shot DSC-T7, but were I you I wouldn't count on anything lower than that of the DSC-T33 which currently sells for $450 USD. Likely, it'll be more, seeing as how this is an European launch.
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