If there is a camera that can set the hearts of fashionistas racing, the Cyber-shot T200 certainly deserves pole position. While we have seen some lackluster efforts which have tried squeezing onto the starting line with a new lick of paint, the Cyber-shot T200 kicks throttle with an improved chassis over its predecessor, the Cyber-shot T100.
Design
Whatever your tech heart tells you (i.e. go for a higher megapixel count), it's hard to remember its advice when you are gazing upon a well-designed piece of kit -- even when that 3-megapixel lemon is sitting next to a high-spec, high-zoom beast of a camera.
The Cyber-shot T200 is an animal along the lines of the former. It's wonderfully sleek. And it's a close replica of the awarding-winning Cyber-shot T100, so it's good to know that the Japanese firm understands the need not to fix what's not broken.
The slider cover remains identical. It's a large panel that protects the microphone, lens and flash all at the same time. And it still has that nice, solid snap when you flick it up or down. Compared with some flimsy sliders we've tried, this Sony's got quality.
Yet, while the classics are still there, some have gone missing. The joypad controls on the Cyber-shot T100's back have been replaced by a 3.5-inch LCD. In fact, leftover buttons have migrated to the camera top and, they look and feel ... a little cramped.
But turn on the touchscreen and you may feel a little forgiving. It's like watching TV. And the LCD has a large viewing angle, so you can compose pictures even when you are looking at the display from a close to 90-degree angle. Experienced photographers may disdain the LCD in favour of a viewfinder, though, the average consumer would find it easier to frame with the larger screen.
The camera menu is pretty much touch-and-go, literally. You can press a part of the screen to select a focus point or you can scribble over the recorded image in red ink. Because it's a touchscreen, there are more hotkeys (peppered over the display) than the Cyber-shot T100, so options are now more accessible. But all these aren't new; early Sony Handycams used touch-based controls. There's also the matter of subjectivity -- not everyone likes non-tactile buttons.
Features
The 3.5-inch LCD is a bit of a mirage. For one, the Cyber-shot T200 doesn't use the entire screen for framing, which leaves two black bars on the sides. During image playback, you do not enjoy the benefit of a full screen, either.
In both cases, the T200 is using just 2.8 inches for the display, while the T100 flaunts more screen space. There is a widescreen option for the T200, but what it does essentially is to crop an image temporarily to a 16:9 aspect ratio, so some visual details will be lost.
In playback mode, you can also tweak colour, correct red-eye, and even apply different effects such as fish-eye and blur filters, all within the camera. Most of these are available on the T100 as well, but it's instinctively easier when you are manipulating an image using a touchscreen.
The Cyber-shot T200 can also output MP3-playing slideshows to standard-definition TVs with the included video cable, or to high-definition TVs with an optional component-video cable.
Under the hood, the heart of the T200 is almost the same as the T100. They both have the same 8-megapixel resolution, same 3,200 ISO cap and 5x optical zoom. However, the T200 does have an additional 10 scene modes.
Smile Factor
The face detection mode (it focuses and tracks faces) on the Cyber-shot T200 isn't worth grinning about since it's so commonplace, but the Smile Shutter may be worth it for some.
As the name literally suggests, the shutter mechanism is activated by your subject's smile. He beams and the camera takes a picture immediately. But smiles can vary from a mild smirk to a laughing-your-head-off guffaw. To remedy that, Sony lets you set three levels of grin detection, but it still isn't foolproof.
"Can you smile a little bit more?"
Your friend shows more teeth.
"Not good. I think you need to grin harder than that."
He puts on his best Cheshire cat impression.
"Nope, nope. Hey, don't look at me like that. It's the camera that thinks you aren't smiling enough."
Things get more interesting in a group photo. If someone in the group flashes the correct grin before everyone else, the camera will just snap the picture anyway. And it's no laughing matter, if you have to keep repeating the shot just because someone has a stubborn smile.
Performance
In our tests, the T200 lacked the performance grunt that marked the T100 as a winner. The T200 took 1.98 seconds to start up and time to first shot was a slow 3.8 seconds. This is even slower than the new Panasonic FX-33 (2.9 seconds).
Its shot-to-shot time (1.58 seconds without flash) was just average among 8-megapixel cameras and its shutter lag (0.9 second with pre-focus) was one of the slowest. However, the burst mode performance (2.1fps) ranks as one of the best in its category.
Image Quality
The Cyber-shot T200 takes decent pictures, but image noise is its bane. Even at ISO 400, we were already detecting noise and nitpickers would probably not even consider light sensitivity settings above that. ISO 800 should be the furthest ventured as anything beyond that is plagued with plenty of detail softening and speckled noise.
We did not detect noticeable purple fringing and the autofocus churned out accurately sharp pictures.
The auto white balance was accurate in most types of lighting conditions, whether it was in a fluorescent or tungsten environment. However, Sony did not include a custom white balance option.
Like this article? Click below to send it to your mobile for free!
sony camera
24/05/2008, 03:31 PM
rating
8/10
Sony touch screen camera is unique camera with other cyber shot cameras. With great 3.5" inch LCD. Graceful camera with fast and reliable features.
Pros: Excellent colour rendition and noise levels.
Easy to use.
Anti-blur mode.
Lightweight.
Cons: Nothing in cons.
Report offensive comment
bob123
25/04/2008, 07:14 PM
rating
10/10
I love thi camera!!! Only problem is the smile shutter doesn't work on my daughter as she has braces. :(
Report offensive comment
tinpilot
16/04/2008, 07:40 PM
rating
9/10
one of the best camera i have used
Pros: stylish and slim, very innovative, great outdoor pics
Cons: sharpness issues on indoor pics, steady shot doesn't work, should use a tripod perhaps
Report offensive comment
welshjessib
12/04/2008, 01:02 AM
rating
10/10
I like this camera very much. I am no professional, but anyone who doesn't like it must be pretty picky! I have taken thosuands of pictures on it since last summer when I bought it and they are all very good. It's pretty fool-proof
Report offensive comment
pirate
24/03/2008, 11:14 PM
rating
10/10
This camera is real good and its shutter is superfast, so called CYBERshot xD
Pros: fast shutter
good focusing
best lens
Cons: looks fragile
fingerprint magnet
Report offensive comment
adslnerd@bigpond.net.au
07/03/2008, 11:09 PM
rating
10/10
This camera is brilliant, and had no issues even at high or low ISO, pictures on LCD look perfect and colour matching / saturation is perfect no noise issues, what you'd expect from Carl Zeiss. Id say others got a dud batch of these cameras one of the few cameras Made in Japan - not damn cheapy china garbage.
Report offensive comment
kaizr
17/01/2008, 09:01 AM
rating
5/10
Nice to look at, but that's about it. I would have probably preferred the T100, but based on the T200, I have returned the camera and purchased a Panasonic FX33, which is a lot cheaper and just as or more capable than the T200.
Pros: Better than average optical zoom
Slim and compact
Metal body
Cons: LCD screen is blocky - not acceptable for high price
Outdoor pictures often appeared washed-out
Battery life below average
Report offensive comment
Motogp
23/12/2007, 04:27 PM
rating
6/10
Hmm a very awesome camera but the the thing it gets beaten is the high noise produced at higher ISO's.
Pros: Awesome touchscreen,Sleek,Easy to use,Great quality at smaller resolutions and lower ISO's
Cons: Higher ISO causes high noise,image quality not that good
Report offensive comment
filefox
10/12/2007, 09:48 PM
rating
3/10
i hate this camera!! the LCD is just picture clear not pure color LCD. i prefer buying canon.
Pros: its nice the style is very beautiful and very stylish because it comes with different colors and the screen is very big and you can do evrything you want like edit your own picture.
Cons: sometimes the color of the picture is not that very clear unlike the canon.
Report offensive comment
code_slacker
24/11/2007, 05:29 PM
rating
6/10
Image quality should be better since there is Bionz built-in. But the overall built is awesome
Pros: Fantastic slim & stylish design. superb 3.5" touch screen. Inovative UI.
Cons: Image quality should be better. No user-defined WB, no custom shutter speed.
Report offensive comment