Sony Cyber-shot T Slim DSC-T77

Sony's Cyber-shot lineup has recently been updated with the introduction of three new cameras, and one of the most eye-catching units has to be the Cyber-shot DSC-T77. Touted as the slimmest T-series point-and-shoot in the family, the T77 can fit well into any pockets or small bags. This touchscreen-operated model succeeds the Cyber-shot DSC-T70 with upgrades made to the sensor resolution, aesthetics and features. What impressed us about this camera was how Sony engineered a camera that delivers performance and decent image quality within a small package. However, the icons on the screen are quite small, so tapping on them accurately may take some getting used to.

Design

One look at the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 and we're in awe of its slimness. Measuring a mere 15mm thick with credit card-sized dimensions, this point-and-shoot is very compact. You can probably slip it into your pocket and forget it's even there.

As with Sony's Cyber-shot T-series offerings, the T77 features a slide-down front cover and a minimalist design. There are no buttons on the rear, and the top is furnished with just the power, shutter and playback button as well as the zoom rocker.

About the zoom rocker, Sony has taken an interesting approach with it. Instead of the usual W and T button or a zoom collar, the Japanese company has implemented a tiny lip that shifts left and right to change the focal length. While we eventually got used to the new zooming method, we couldn't help but feel strange while using it.

Bundled with the package is a stylus which you can attach to the handstrap. It didn't look particularly stylish, although the pointed tip can be a good replacement for your fingers if you don't want to smear the screen with fingerprints.

Features
Besides its slim profile, the next major selling point of the T77 is its touchscreen LCD. Menu navigation and shooting/playback operations are done mainly via the 3-inch display, which is smaller than the 3.5-inch LCD we see on the Cyber-shot DSC-T500. We figured the scaled-down screen size resulted in smaller icons, so some of us with larger fingers will have problems tapping accurately on the features.

Sony has been using sensor-shift image stabilizers for its previous Cyber-shot point-and-shoots, but for the T77 and its new siblings, the Japanese firm has opted for an optical image stabilizer. This system worked well when we tested it, and we had no problems snapping a macro shot in a moving vehicle (anyone who's tried it will know it can be quite difficult).

The company's proprietary Smile Shutter technology made its debut in the Cyber-shot DSC-T200, and it is found in the T77 as well. There are three levels of "smile" sensitivity, which you can adjust accordingly so the camera will know whether or not to snap when it detects a grin or a wide smile. We had fun with it and the camera never failed to capture a shot under sunlight when we tested this function. In dim lighting conditions, the point-and-shoot didn't detect smiles properly. Also, Smile Shutter worked only in Auto mode, so that is one small restriction we hope Sony will lift in future units.

Face detection-wise, Sony has pioneered the technology to enable its cameras to differentiate between adult and children's faces. While the camera did manage to detect adult faces accurately, it faltered at times when we tried to make it detect children's faces. Also, it didn't help that the algorithms were not able to recognize side profiles (unlike Fujifilm's Face Detection 3.0), so young kids running around proved to be a challenge when we used the T77 to take pictures of them.

In terms of movie capture, the Sony is capable of rendering 640 x 480-pixel videos at 30 frames per second. Footages were clear and smooth, and the autofocus kicked in whenever we pointed it at another subject while recording.

Apart from the bells and whistles, the point-and-shoot has 4x optical zoom with focal length range from 35mm to 140mm. A BIONZ chip processes all the images and handles operations such as scene recognition, face detection, smile shutter and the likes. The T77 is powered by a lithium-ion battery and files can be stored in the 15MB internal memory or a Memory Stick PRO Duo card.

Performance
As stated in its literature, the T77 was quick to start up at 1.6 seconds. Shutter lag measured 0.1 second, while time-to-first-shot clocked around 3 seconds. However, depending on what you are shooting, the time required for the first shot to be taken can vary — well-lit scenes typically took a shorter time as the camera required lesser time to focus.

The focusing speed for the T77 varies, depending on whether you are taking scenery, portrait or macro shot. For landscapes, the lenses were quick to adjust to achieve a sharp image, and face detection aided us when we shot portraits. However, to get really good closeup shots, we had to manually change the focusing mode to the extreme version of macro. We would have liked it better if the Auto mode was smart enough to toggle between different focus modes by itself.

Image Quality
Sony has done a good job in keeping the images from the T77 clean. At the lowest ISO sensitivity of 80, the colors were smooth and details were well-rendered. We didn't detect any noise and were pleased that the tonal reproduction was accurate, with colors having just the right amount of saturation. Ramping the ISO sensitivity up to ISO 400, through ISO 100 and 200, we could tell that the noise reduction algorithm did well to maintain balance between retaining details and removing digital artifacts.

It is queer that in Program mode, we were able to set the ISO only between 80 and 400. If you intend to shoot at higher ISOs, you'll have to switch to High Sensitivity mode where the camera will determine what settings to shoot in, with the maximum ISO being 3,200. Again, these nitty-gritty bits kept us from wholly loving the T77.

Images at ISO 800 and above lacked details and the pictures were not as sharp as we expected them to be. However, this is typical for compact cameras, and we are already quite impressed with how it performed at low ISO settings.

The flash output on the T77 was quite accurate and we didn't get washed-out skin tones for portraits. However, we did notice that the exposure for such shots tended to favor the subjects and left the background darker than what we would have liked it to be.

Conclusion
For such a slim, compact camera, the T77 has managed to churn out pretty good results. The price tag may be slightly high at AU$429, but, we are guessing its target audience will find its stylish looks and small form factor worth the premium. The small icons which can be a little bit difficult to tap on accurately and minor details such as restrictions on setting ISO and Smile Shutter irritated us slightly. Other than that, the camera performed well and delivered good image quality. If you're feeling rich, AU $599 will get you the Cyber-shot DSC-T700 which has a generous 4GB of internal memory.

On the battery life, we managed to shoot about 180 pictures before the battery went flat. This is about 40 pictures less than what Sony claims the lithium-ion battery can handle, but it is probably due to our excessive use of the movie capture function and playback.