Customer Reviews

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 10MP "Exmor R" CMOS Digital Camera with 3-inch Touch-Screen LCD (Silver)

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It was probably a month or two ago that I saw some press releases on a new point and shoot Sony had coming out, the WX1, which intrigued me. Like a lot of photo enthusiasts, while a DSLR is the weapon of choice, the elusive holy grail seems to be a small point and shoot camera that can slip in your pocket so you can be packing at all times, yet would still take good looking photos that are not so riddled with noise (a problem almost always plaguing point and shoots because of their small sensors) that they look like your tv screen when the test pattern has gone off. As the old adage goes, the best camera is the one you have on you when you need it and a DSLR is a little tough to integrate into your daily accessories.

So in evaluating this camera, perspective is required. This is not the camera you would go to for your best work. It is not the same package of everything you have with your DSLR and collection of lenses shrunk down to something the size of a couple of packs of gum. It is a tiny point and shoot camera that easily slips into your pocket with room to spare that does way better than the average point and shoot. In other words, it's a top performer for the junior varsity but its not ready to hang with the varsity.

Here's the reasons I wanted one:

1. I wanted a small camera I could keep in my pocket for daily use. What a lot of photographers call a "street shooter", something you can pull out and use to grab shots of whatever you happen to run into during your day.

This camera is certainly small. I've seen a few people refer to it as "chunky" and they must consider Ellen Page to be fat. This is tiny. I was surprised at how small the box it came in was, and even more surprised when I found the camera in the small box. My first impression was it wasn't much bigger than one of those old minolta spy cameras. My previous point and shoot camera was the Sony W300, which most people considered slim and stylish, and this camera is smaller in all respects than that. Side by side the WX1 seems slight smaller than the W300, but looking at it alone it looks like a tiny toy camera. I gave the W300 to my wife, and when she caught a view of the WX1 her reaction was "But yours is so much smaller." She was thrilled when I gave her the W300 but now has taken to calling it a hand me down. I went from hero to goat. As they say, size matters.

2. Stealth factor - I wanted a camera that I could sneak into places that don't allow cameras.

You could drop this baby into the front pocket of your levis and still have room for a decent game of pocket pool. I can easily get it, a wallet and even a cell phone all in the front pocket of my jeans. Alone in the pocket, it scarcely makes even a bump that a security guard might notice.

3. Low light capabilities - I dislike using a flash and wanted something that could take good pictures in natural light, and could function well in dark places.

The low light capabilities of this camera are astonishing. The camera can basically see better in the dark then you can. Lots of the pictures I took in dark rooms look way more illuminated in the photos then they were in reality.

Because it seemed to be everything I had been searching for in a point and shoot, I went ahead and ordered this as soon as Amazon had them available. Because they were not yet widely available, there were no hands on reviews by the usual photography sites and blogs. While waiting to get the camera, I would check Amazon every day to see if anyone who had actually used the camera had put up any reviews yet. The initial few reviews were alarming. People who said they wanted to love the camera didn't. The gist of their complaints seemed to be that the camera took good pictures in low light (although a few didn't even agree with that) and crappy pictures in good light. Sample photos that people began posting on Flickr also didn't look too hot. Because of this I regretted ordering the camera so quickly and almost just sent it back to Amazon without even opening the box.

I decided to try it for myself before deciding whether to send it back, and found it to be much better than the initial reviews had painted it (and subsequent reviews on Amazon now seem to be swinging towards the positive).

I do have to agree that a lot of the shots I've taken outdoors in bright sunlight seem a little overexposed and dull, but I've also had this problem with my Canon DSLRs when set on automatic. In any case, I've found that with the WX1, all you have to do is open the photo in Photoshop and click "Auto Contrast" and the problem is instantly corrected. A reviewer on Amazon has also noted that you can get more vivid, warm outdoors photos from the WX1 by using the Program mode and moving the White Balance setting from Auto to Flash. I tried this, and with the White Balance set to Flash the pictures basically look the same out of the camera as they do after I've run them through Photoshop and hit Auto Contrast. Another user mentioned in some of his posts that turning off the DRO in the menu greatly improves outdoor photos.

The argument that most people just want nice looking snapshots right out of the camera and don't want to mess with Photoshop is valid, but those are probably not the people who are going to be interested in this camera anyway. The camera's not cheap and those people would be very happy with the snapshots they could get with an inexpensive entry level point and shoot.

In any event, after a couple of weeks with the camera, my recommendation for everyday daylight shots is not to use the Intelligent Auto mode, but rather put the camera in the "P" or program mode. This will allow you to fix the ISO at 160, which is fine 90% of the time. Decrease the EV setting by .07. Most shots will now come out great. If you want warmer colors put the white balance on Flash, or increase the saturation a little after the fact in Photoshop. As noted above, turning off the DRO also seems to help.

As for claims that the WX1 photos come out noisy, I don't agree. Even the low light pictures don't seem to have a noise problem. This is not to say they are DSLR quality, but they don't look bad at all for a point and shoot.

Other positives:

4. A nice 24mm wide angle lens, which lets you get very close to things and is also great for cramped indoor settings, buildings and landscapes. Speaking of getting close to things, the macro feature springs into gear automatically when you stick the camera within an inch or two of an object.

5. Fast on, little lag time between shots unless you're using the Burst, Panoramic, Anti-Blur or hand held Twilight modes which take a little time to process.

6. HD Video. I never really use this but nice to have in case I ever catch the You Tube bug.

7. Panoramic mode. In this mode simply press the shutter and sweep your arm and the camera creates a panorama all by itself. You don't have to take a bunch of single shots and try to stitch them together later with a photo program. The only drawback is that it sets the exposure for the area you start, which can make it difficult to get a good one in uneven lighting.

8. Battery life seems pretty good.

So what's not to like about this camera?

1. No manual controls.

The W300 had full manual controls, and I wonder why Sony couldn't have included them here and really made this a top of the line point and shoot. Many serious amateur photographers who would otherwise love this camera won't even consider it because it doesn't allow them the ability to manually control aperture, shutter speed, etc. This, along with the lack of RAW capabilities, will probably keep this camera from competing with the Panasonic LX3 and upcoming Canon S90.

As note above, there is a limited work around. Using the Program (as opposed to Automatic) Mode allows you to set the ISO between 160 and 3200, which will force the camera to use a slower or faster shutter speed. You should note that if the DRO is on, you can't use a ISO higher than 800. Turn it off if you want to go higher. You can also put the camera in High ISO mode, which allows for faster shutter speed.

Canon's soon to be released S90 seems to have become the great new hope for shutterbugs longing for a small point and shoot that takes great low light photos instead of the WX1, primarily because it not only also has a fast lens and improved sensor, but also manual controls and raw capabilities.

2. No viewfinder.

I read somewhere this morning that 25% - soon to be a third - of the population are aging baby boomers. If they're anything like me, they have a hard time reading a restaurant menu in dim light, or for that matter anything else a few feet from their face without reading glasses. Translated to small point and shoot cameras, it's almost impossible for an older pair of eyes to clearly see what's on a 2.7 or 3 inch LCD screen on the back of camera, even if bright sun isn't washing out the screen. Most of the time with the WX1 I really can't make out what's on the screen, because to me its all out of focus (the problem is my eyes, not the camera). I just have to sort of aim the camera in the direction I want and estimate the framing and have faith. The W300 had a viewfinder, which was why I bought it. Sure wish this one did too, even if they had to make the camera a little bigger.

3. Mediocre zoom.

The WX1 has a 5x zoom, which would seem to be better than the standard 3x zoom found on a typical point and shoot. In practice, because this camera has such a wide angle lens to start with, zooming out 5x doesn't seem to get you any closer than a 3x zoom on a point and shoot without a wide angle lens. In short, this camera won't get you close to far away objects, you'll have to use your feet. It also seems to me that when you max out the zoom at 5x the photos get a little soft.

4. Beware of moving objects.

The low light modes are great for stationary objects, but in some of the shots I took where people were walking they blurred.

With the camera set in Program mode I ran after the dogs and couldn't get a single shot that wasn't too blurred to be any good, except when I had it in burst mode. I would expect it would be the same for parents chasing their kids (mine are in their 20's and won't run from me anymore, so I can't test this).

The camera supposedly has Motion Detection, along with Face Motion Detection, which in Intelligent Auto mode supposedly adjusts ISO sensitivity and increases the shutter speed when movement is detected, reducing blur in moving subjects and faces. It also has a pet mode which is suppose to do the same thing for things that move on four legs. Maybe I wasn't doing it right but they didn't seem to help much.

The best bet for action and fast moving subjects with this camera seems to be the burst mode, which rips off 10 shots one after another when the shutter is pressed. I didn't get a chance to test this at a little league game or AYSO tournament, but I did finally get a couple of stop action shots of the dog with it. If you could control the shutter (which you can't) you might be able to get this camera to better stop action. On the other hand a recent review of the upcoming S90 indicated that even with a fast lens and manual controls (allowing you to set the shutter) it wasn't fast enough for action, sports and kids. I guess we have to face facts. At the current state of the art, no point and shoot camera is going to do a great job in this area.

All in all its a cool little camera which does things most point and shoots don't and also doesn't do things most point and shoots don't. In case you're wondering, it never went back to Amazon although I do wonder if I might regret not having waited for the Canon S90 when that arrives.

You can find some test shots I took here: [...]

I was looking at this last month when it was announced, and had decided I was going to go with the forthcoming 980 from Canon. My last four digital cameras were all Canon, and i was happy with them. But the more I dug and waited, the more I saw that there were things on this one I was hoping would make a difference, since many of my shots are indoors with my 5 year old, and the lower light benefits of this camera may make a difference.

I was getting tired of the grainy blacks indoors even with good light on automatic settings... They looked better if I manually set the ISO, but if I'm just pulling it out for a quick shot, i don't want to have to remember to go to manual settings all the time. This is replacing a Canon Powershot SD40 Elph that I liked very much other than the grainy blacks...

So I thought I'd take a chance. The smile shutter may be useful with a 5 year old, the panorama mode looked pretty slick, battery life was more than acceptable compared to my SD40. I liked the thin form factor even if it is a little larger the other two dimensions. And the 3 inch touch screen would be a very nice upgrade from my tiny 1.2 or so inch on the canon.

Since the big thing I was looking for was better indoor pictures with lower light and less grainy blacks, that was the first set of shots I took. I had both cameras in my hands, one on top, one below. Took shots at the same time from the same distances with the same lighting, both left on automatic. I know I can always get into manual modes to compensate for things, but I wanted something I didn't always have to do that with. And this low light boasting on the TX1 had me curious.

Got the pictures onto my computer, loaded them side by side, and dang if every single picture I took was not GREATLY improved with the Sony compared to my older Canon. The blacks were black, not grainy grey. The details were better (makes sense since it's 3 MP more than mine) but the clarity of even far away things that weren't in focus was astounding.

I have played with a family member's 900 version of the TX, and while it took good pictures, I didn't see that much difference between those and my older SD40. So this one is definitely a notable improvement even over newer Sony cameras.

The 10 shots per second is amazing - and they are great shots, not like they dropped in quality to get them so fast. panorama is cool, but I need to work on the speed to get the best speed it needs, since mine so far have a spot in most of them where it gets a little fuzzy, probably where my speed changed. Not very noticeable, but there nonetheless until I can figure out my panning method.

Video i'll want to wait till tomorrow to test out more, as it's moving into evening here, indoor light is very very low. Video still looked much brighter in the viewscreen and on replay than it really was when recorded, so you can see the power of the light gathering in everything you do with the camera. But it was blurry when panning a bit (but i've yet to find a camera that doesn't break the bank that doesn't do this) so it's certainly not going to replace my hard drive based non HD camcorder for everything.

I'll have to play with the more advanced features later after the battery recharges again, so I can test out the way it will take 6 shots and average them out for a crisp picture. And some outdoor night shots. But based just on what I've seen so far compared to the pictures I've been used to taking, I'm not too worried about them. Even if they aren't as stellar as the photos, just having this kind of noiseless indoor low lighting shots more than satisfied my needs, and made this camera worth every penny.

I would definitely buy this camera again. And if you're like me, on the fence trying to figure out a good thing for indoor use, I can say that this is the best I've ever used so far.

Edit a few days later - Movies I take in good light turn out fantastic. Pictures, movies, everything I've done with this has been outstanding. VERY happy with this camera.

I have said a million times say that I love my DSC-T500

It films amazing HD video, takes great photos, and overall is just a perfect pocket cam. I then got a Kodak Zi8, which also takes great videos (better quality then the T500), decent photos, but the low light video quality suffers from being darker then the T500.

So my journey continues to find a better low light pocket cam, since I mostly work from dark comedy clubs and situations. Well Sony later released the T900 a sequel to the T500, and its lower light quality was no better and it got a downgrade from a 5X optical zoom to a 4X. But.. the T900 was slimmer and had a few tiny software upgrades that still made it a great camera.

Now just months after the release of the T900, Sony surprisingly pulled the T900 from the shelves and released a new camera called the DSC-TX1. While this camera is stated as the new version of the T500/T900 series on many websites (including Amazon), I dont believe it.

It has a smaller LCD (3" down from 3.5") a mono mic (instead of the stereo mic of the t500/t900) and familiar 4X optical zoom. So why am I reviewing a camera that seems like a downgrade?

Well Sony is using a new lens system called the "Exmor R". It's been said that these new optics have TWICE the low light quality as the previous cameras. The touchscreen also got an upgrade even if it's smaller and has more of a iphone'isk menu system. With finger swipes you can view new photos, even draw on photos using your finger or the included stylus. The hardware is slimmer, tiny in fact.. and the photo quality (especially during low light) is way better then the t500/t900.

This camera is packed with new features and shooting modes, like my favorite, "Hand-Held Twilight" which take 7 photos in a second of a subject with no flash, combines the photos using software and makes the perfect single photo. Its cool how it works, it detects things like walls, and removes the static. It does an amazing job.

So why am I returning this camera?

Well for most people I would say buy this camera now.. its a great photo camera for it's size, and has some really neat features. But as a owner of the previous model i'm spoiled. The TX1 doesn't have a "movie mode" button like the t500/t900, you have to use the menu system to turn it on. The MONO mic sounds fine, but its no where close to being as good as the STEREO mic of the past. The LCD screen is bright, and high quality.. but its smaller.. and the menu system seems cluttered and annoyingly thought out. The zoom is now buttons on top of the camera, so its clumsy to use, compared to the t500's rocker which you slide your finger on to zoom.

But here is the main reason... The video, while has amazingly richer colors, and blacker blacks.. is no brighter in low light situations. How is that possible? When comparing the videos of the T500 to the TX1 the T500 actually had better low light! While the video had more static, it was alot better. So it might be a little more washed out on the T500, and have more of a grainy look to it, at least I could see things that the TX1 couldn't even pick up. It's not a HUGE difference, but it was noticeable when shooting.

So for whatever reason the video does NOT benefit from the new low light lens system. So now I have a camera with better colors, but mono sound and poorer low light.

So for my purposes, I will return and wait. I have a feeling sony is prepping a true sequel to the T500/T900. My guess is they are adding 1080P. So I will wait, and see what happens in the next few months. I just don't see them replacing a camera with one that is missing some key features of the previous. I honestly think this camera is a T700 or T90 replacement. As for the rest of you, I DO recommend this camera.. it great for what it is, just not for me.

Hopefully since they pulled the recently released T900 off their website, something better will replace it soon.

PROS:

-New Exmor R lens system does reduce grain and increase low light photo quality
-Great low light features and options for photos (only)
-The Auto modes work well (photos)
-720p video is great for it's size, and the colors are rich, and blacks are black
-Video can record up to 32 min or 2GB at a time, then it stops and you have to hit record again, compared to the T500's 10 min limit. (T900 also had the 32 min limit)
-Great Slim Design, better battery door lock then DSC-t500
-Panoramic mode is quick and painless with stunning results
-10 FPS mode for action shots is great
-Touchscreen works well, and looks great
-It's fast to take photos
-You can zoom during video!

CONS:

-Mono Microphone
-3" screen instead of the previous 3.5"
-Amazing Low light quality doesn't seem to work in Video mode.
-No actual video mode button (touchscreen based)
-Zoom buttons seems awkward to use during filming
-Battery/memory card is squeezed in camera's tiny body
-4X optical zoom instead of 5X of DSC-T500

If you search the internet for "redban and dsc-tx1" I have numerous videos and photo samples available from my full review.

I would strongly diasgree with the previous review that was just written. I too have owned several cameras, including 2 DSLRs, so I can comment on the capabilities of the camera in a broader context. This is a technological tour-de-force. Its picture quality during daylight shooting is definitely good. The images are generally well exposed and have noise that I find average for its class (ultracompact). However, this camera rocks at low light shooting. Using the twilight mode, I get amazingly bright and smooth photos for dark environments. I've never seen such a small camera have such detailed low-light photos. The touch-screen interface is slick, but does have a bit of a learning curve. Plus, the camera camera has 720p recording capability. Other unique features such as smile detection and a panoramic mode both work surprisingly well. Last, I cannot help but be amazed at the size and design of this camera. It is truly pocketable. Perfect... no. But a true step forward for ultracompact cameras.

The Exmor technology has been around since the introduction of the Sony Alpha 700. The WX1, along with the TX1 attempts to use the same technology with an additional "back illumination" to provide consumer with better picture quality at low light conditions. Unfortunately, with the reduction of the size of the sensor (since there is no way Sony can put a APS-C sensor into a compact camera), the signal-to-noise ratio of the Exmor sensor seems to reduce as well. Therefore, for those of you out there who's hoping to carry this camera in your pocket instead of lugging a full-sized DSLR across your shoulder, you'd be hugely dissapointed.

However, compared to cybershot cameras released just months ago, the reduction in picture noise is very obvious at higher ISO settings, given the size of the sensor is only about 7.59mm (smaller than your pinky). The picture does look cleaner even at high ISO settings (especially beyond ISO 800), although you will be able to observe evidence of noise reduction combined with the sensor's noise at those levels.

The new software that allows the sensor to optionally quickly capture 6 consecutive frames also helps alot in noise and blurring reduction, however this feature ties up your camera for awhile, i.e. you won't be able to shoot the next picture until the camera has superimposed all six images together. Also, since the 6 images are not taken at the same instant, you should not use this feature for moving objects. The end result is amazingly low noise and blur free images, even though the camera will have to choke up a bit to cough up those images for you.

The sweep panorama, although not new, is an interesting feature, but the quality of the images produced by this feature is generally not good enough for printing, due to misaligned edges caused by vertical hand movements. I have yet to try this feature with a tripod, but i believe the result may be better since the camera can make a true horizontal sweep. The resolution of the standard sweep is 4912x1080 and the resolution of the wide sweep is 7152x1080. It is quite obvious from the figures that the images are not particularly suitable for large prints, since the vertical resolution of the images is very low.

Also, when the DRO is set to DRO-plus (for increased gamma to reduce shadows in your shots), the maximum allowed ISO setting is only ISO 800. There is also some restriction on the ISO setting when you turn on the 10-frame high-speed burst, where the maximum allowed ISO is 800. Therefore, the high speed burst function is only suitable for places where there is enough light.

The camera is fantastically fast, except when it comes to processing images from the 10-frame burst mode (this camera does not perform continuous burst like older cybershots), even the process of superimposing six shots into a single frame is blazingly fast due to the bionz processor.

The video recording function is handy, encoding at MPEG4 at a maximum resolution of 1280x720 pixels, too bad the clips are restricted to about 2GB each (29 mins), making it impossible for you to shoot long continuous videos even if you had a whopping 16GB card. The camera allows optical zooming during recording.

DSLR users should take note that there is no Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual Mode for this camera, as it is obvious that Sony has decided that this camera is going to be a pure point-and-shoot model. A pity considering that some of the older cybershot models did come with at least the Manual Mode where you can adjust the exposure time, aperture size and shutter speed manually.

I haven't had the chance to fully test out the features of this camera yet, but given Sony's history with cybershots (beyond a high quality sensor and lens, they tend to take shortcuts here and there), potential buyers should really test this camera out at Walmart or Target and look for limitations and flaws which may end up as deal breakers before considering mail ordering from Amazon to avoid the hassle of returning it later. Also, the LCD screen is very shiny and a crazy fingerprint magnet, so you might want to get a screen protector to go with the camera.

Sample shots (including full zoom) of the camera have been uploaded at the customers' image section to show the noise reduction effect of the Exmor-R sensor in combination with the bionz processor from base ISO (ISO 160) all the way to ISO 3200.

I normally buy my products through Amazon, but I am here in Taiwan when the TX1 was released and I decided to take a stab and buy one from the local 3C.

I was wary of getting the touch screen version, having tried my sister's T9 from last year and not liking the interface. But I have to say that the screen on the TX1 is very much improved and now I wonder if I could go back to a conventional interface. Taking pictures with this camera is so much fun.

Because it is so thin and light, pressing the shutter release button without adding shake to the shot takes a very steady hand. I rather prefer to use the 2-second timer, which gives me just enough time after pressing the button to steady up the focus frame on my subject. My only caveat so far is that I could keep it on 2-second timer as default, rather having to set it for each shot.

This, combined with the various technologies give great low-light shots, really incredible for hand-held. The TX1 is my so-called "American Express" camera, replacing my much larger and less-forgiving Fujifilm F31fd. It is really hard to take bad shots with this camera, and if you take the time to learn the benefits of the various modes, I am certain you will get great results too.

I was also skeptical of getting the rather narrow range of the 35mm lens, thinking I would prefer the wider lens on the WX1 when it comes out next month, but the panorama mode is awesome so I don't miss having the wider lens. All of the technologies work well, and are not just Sony's hype. This camera really deserves way better than two stars.

Give this little gem a spin. You can always return it if you don't agree that it's the best little camera out there.

Hi everyone and thanks for reading my review
If you are reading this chances are that you are in the market for a good point and shoot camera...
In my opinion, you have to look no further.

Most complaints about this camera basically tell you that the new image sensor that sony uses is not "that great" or that night images are good but day images are not...

These complaints would ALL go away if they read the manual. Even though the camera is really simple to use, there are small tweaks that you have to adjust in order to create a perfect picture.

I got this camera and its sibling (wx1) for 2 main reasons:
1.- portability and ease to use
2.- PARTY SHOT. if you have not heard about this you are just missing out. its this little dock that rotates, pan and tilts to automatically shoot pictures... its a great neat addition to a compatible sony camera and I would highly recommend this gadget also.

so here's the things I love about the camera:
1.- Easy to use
2.- Takes great panoramic photos
3.- Captures great indoor pictures
4.-good battery life
5.-touch screen with a lot of great add ons (like basic picture editing features built into the camera) it even comes with a stylus pen.

Now the not so great features are:
1.- NO DOCK. you have to take the battery out of the camera to charge it... there is no way of charging the camera's battery without removing it.
2.- proprietary cable: I guess this is the most annoying and irritating feature (or non feature) of the camera: Sony created this weird looking dongle that is supposed to make life easier... you plug in the camera one end (again, proprietary port, not the standard mini usb port you would find in other cameras) and on the other end you have a standard video and audio jacks that you would plug into your TV and a USB port for downloading pictures. I really dont like this, but I can live with it.. just be sure to never forget your cable.


There you have it, I hope this review was helpful
best regards

UPDATE: I just found out today that a White Balance setting might be the key to this camera for outdoor shots. When setting on "P" mode I found out that switching the White Balance from "Auto" or "Daylight" to "Flash" in improves outdoor photos color, tone, exposure and warmness. I was so amazed in the difference!! See my photos above!

[...]

After 3 weeks of waiting for this camera to be released I now have it in my hands and taken over 500 pictures. Within those photos I have found out the best settings for the right scenes and conditions. With that, I will clear up problems previous owners have had.
First, I'm sure all of you want to know how good the new Exmor R sensor is. It's pretty good, WITH THE RIGHT SETTINGS. I will go into that later.

This camera really has some cool features, Like Sweep Panorama, Smile Shutter, Handheld Twilight and AntiMotion Blur Mode.

The key is setting the camera up for the right scenes, which means not keeping it set on Intelligent Scene Recognition (iSCN) Mode(AKA Auto everything). I find that iSNC mode and easy mode don't work well and as a result people are complaining about the the noise, the low light picture quality and outdoor picture quality.

I'm now going to go though the scenes and the right settings and modes to put the camera on for best results.

For Low Light shots(at widest zoom):
Again iSCN Doesn't work well at all in low light. You have to switch the camera to Handheld Twilight mode and adjust the Exposure Value(EV) from -0.3 to -1.7(this is a very important setting that needs to be set on order to remove the noisyness and grain from the photo, a setting people don't adjust and then complain about how bad the photo looks in low light). You might also want to try different White Balances,setting correctly results in really nice low light shots.

Outdoor shots:
This camera in iSCN mode seems to keep the lens all the way open(F2.4)and it adjusts the shutter speed(a big No No)resulting in washed out over exposed photos(yuck).
The solution: switch to "P" Mode which closes down the lens to around a nice F5.0 to F7.1(much better) and switch the White Balance to "Flash" . Also for better exposure you can again adjust the EV.

Panorama Shots: This one's tricky, from where you press the shutter to start the panorama it locks the exposure at that point. If you start in a dark scene and move across through a bright scene, It's going to be over exposed. Make sure you start in a modernity lit scene and if needed switch EV from -0.3 to -1.0.

Hopefully this information helps and clears up previous reviewers problems with this camera.
Other good things to add: This camera does quite nicely in bright sun light(see my test photos above, however amazon doesn't let you upload them in high quality but you'll get the idea). Takes really nice close up Marco photos. High Definition video is really nice and clear(just remember to adjust the EV in low light 1.0 to 2.0 to remove noise).

Over all a nice Sony camera great size, style and pictures.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
I should be adding more to this review soon.
[...]

As an owner of a smattering of point and shoot cameras and high end DSLR's, I can be more picky than most about cameras.

I own an old 6MP Sony T9 slim camera from 4 years or so back and this looked like a promising upgrade for a slim pocketable camera. HD MP4 video, 4x zoom, almost twice the MP, touch screen and this new touted Exmor R sensor.

The T9 isn't a great camera, in fact it's one of the worst at image quality of all of my cameras, and it's memory stick duo format is constantly a hassle.

Unfortunately this new TX1 still uses Memory Stick Duo, and is somehow just as bad in terms of image quality as the old T9. It's better in low light but still very grainy, however it's worse in good bright light. Set manually to the lowest ISO (125) and placed on a tripod, the T9 produces shots with more detail and dynamic range while the TX1 has a grainy soft and blown highlight look to everything. This is with the best possible conditions, and in my opinion the shots from this camera are completely unacceptable. That means it only gets worse from there. Handheld shots in the automatic modes have much more noise and grain in them, even in full daylight. Trees in the distance look like water paintings. Neither camera is good with contrasty scenes, but all I want out of a small pocket camera is acceptable images to resize and post on facebook and so on.

The TX1 will do, but for the price the quality is terrible. Cut the price in half and I might think about keeping it but this is all about style over design.

It does have some neat features like a high speed burst mode, an anti shake mode that takes multiple exposures and combines and aligns in camera, face detection and so on. It also has one of the best touchscreen interfaces I've used on a camera, it's not in the way and it's easy and quick to use. Just double tapping on where you want the camera to focus is very nice as well. The zoom slider is probably the worst physical part on this camera, not very sensitive, and then when you finally get it to zoom, it shoots quickly from the wide end to the telephoto end which means you are always overzooming and having to back off, which is frustrating when all you want is to frame the image.


If this is going to be your only small camera I would choose something else probably from Canon or Panasonic, it will be a slightly larger camera but the jump in quality will be very noticeable.

I'm going to return it and keep the T9 for the pocket slim camera that I don't care about, and use the SD870is and LX-3 as my other smaller cameras. Unless the price on this really drops, or you just have to have this for the style and don't care about camera-phone quality pictures from a dedicated camera I would stay away from this model.

I have a Panasonic DMC-ZS3/TZ7 and wanted to get a low light capable compact camera to take picture of my 6-month old. So my choices before the TX1 was DMC-LX3, with F2.0 capability. But after playing with DMC-LX3 for a few minutes, I knew it wasn't for me, since you have to manually set adjustments to get the best result.

Then I saw Sony coming out with two new cameras with EXMOR-R sensor, which is specifically designed for low light, hand-held, high iso picture taking. It sounded very interesting, but since there are no cameras with this sensor yet, (only camcorders), I decided to give it a try.

Once I received the camera, I immediately tried the hand-held twilight mode. It worked better than I expected! It can take 6 consecutive pictures at once, and stack them together to get a high detailed picture, without showing the usual grainy high iso result. I even compared with my DMC-ZS3, and the TX1 is definitely a lot better in low light picture. No more using tripod, just hand-held and shoot.

The other feature that I love is the Panorama mode, it has two settings, Standard or Wide, depend on how much you want to capture. It's very easy to operate, and there is no more taking multiple pictures, then download to your computer to stitch them together! You can see the result instantly!

Other features worth mention is the 10FPS mode, DRO (Dynamic Range Optimizer) mode which shows better shadow and highlights, and the paint mode (add frames, and write text on pictures). Date Stamp is done with the PMB software.

HD video quality is actually better than the DMC-ZS3 AVCHD-lite. Although the sound is MONO compared to ZS3's Stereo, but the video quality and easy to work with editing software make up the difference! You can also zoom in/out during video capturing, and it does not record the zooming sound.

The only thing that it can not compare to the DMC-ZS3 is the outdoor pictures. It does not have the sharpness, but it's more than enough to display on monitor, and print on photo papers.

Overall I am very satisfied, and would recommend this to anyone looking for ultra-compact point&shoot camera.