Sony Cybershot DSCN1 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 6.7 x 3.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000B8UOTS
• Item model number: DSCN1
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,972 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 28, 2005

Product Description

Sony's DSC-N1 opens a new world of shooting and sharing, with 8.1 megapixel performance and internal memory that holds up to 500 VGA images for pocket album viewing anywhere, anytime. A huge 3.0" LCD Monitor with Clear Photo LCD Plus technology provides touch-screen convenience for controlling camera functions and searching thumbnail images -- and Free Spot AF lets you focus on a subject by just touching it on screen. Also features Slide Show capability, Carl Zeiss 3X Optical/6X Digital zoom, 26 MB internal memory for capturing images in-camera, and high-stamina Lithium Ion rechargeable battery. A built-in Memory Stick(R) Duo card slot lets you add additional memory for more practical image storage (J&R advises buying an optional card of 256MB or 512MB). In addition to normal autofocus mode, the DSC-N1 lets you focus on a subject by just touching it on your LCD monitor -- a fast and simple way to adjust focus for complex scenes or moving subjects. A high-stamina NP-BG1 Lithium Ion battery lets the DSC-N1 shoot up to 300 images, giving you plenty of power when traveling or shooting on location Buy optional UC-TNA Cyber-shot(R) Station cradle - Provides USB connector for PC hookup and TV connector for viewing images on large screens -- so when your DSC-N1 comes home, hookup can be quick and simple Full PictBridge compatibility Unit Dimensions (WHD) - 3 13/16? x 2 3/8? x 7/8? (96.7 x 61.1 x 22.7mm) / Weight - 5.5 oz (151 g) body; 6.8 oz. (185 g) including battery and Memory Stick(R) media

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 115 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SONY's DSC-N1 has delivered another unique great performer, December 11, 2005

By 

James L. Wilson "wilson99" (Boca Raton, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCN1 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Sony has once again delivered another unique pocket camera. It delivers great high resolution images with good detail and saturation. When I set up the camera, in the menu system, I set the saturation and sharpness up one tick; I also set the, what appears to be a huge 3" LCD touch-screen monitor up to brighter level. What a incredible difference going from 2" to 3" monitopr size. One can really share the shot captured with family and friends... With this done, the camera produces great images from the pocket. The flash seems significantly brighter than the "T" series cameras. I purchased a spare battery and SONY's high speed 1GB data card, which will hold over 250 images at the my recommended highest resolution setting. Also set the video to "Hi Resolution Fine" 640x480 mode. The videos are stunning, vivid, and compete with typical tape video camera performance, for the casual viewer. May be over-spoken, but, the video quality is so good comming from this little footprint, the results are shockingly positive.

There are a number of sites including SONY's site, and www.dpreview.com which describes the camera in exhaustive detail, so I will not repeat these facts here. I am an adjunct faculty member of Florida Altantic University, FAU, teaching "Principles of Digital Photography and Post Image Processing," Pearson Education, 2004. To help our students with their study of this topic I attempt to keep up with the latest releases of digital camera equipment. Go to the site address a part of www.416-1100.com site, to see images from this exciting new camera. FYI, I purchased this camera for my personal use and am delightd with its performance. I also have professional Canon digital SLRS, however I cannot put them in my pocket. There are trade-offs with a pocket camera, but this little masterpiece has what it takes to capture those pictures, when carrying a SLR is not convenient. Jim Wilson, quesitons email directly to [e-mail] for further Q&A.

(...)

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DSC - NICE ONE, January 11, 2006

By 

Pierre Exantus (South Orange, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCN1 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I was looking all around for an ultracompact camera. I was on the fence between the Canons (SD400, 450, 500 and 550), Nikon S1 and the Sony DSCT1. While the SD500 and SD550 were top of the line (fantastic image quality), all of them have their shortcomings. There is no such thing as a perfect point and shoot digital camera. Just before I made my purchase though, I was lucky enough to come across the Sony DSC-N1 on www.StevesDigicams.com. My first digital camera was a Sony (DSCP1). I did love it, but poor battery performance and expensive proprietary accessories led me to jump the Sony ship. Within the following 5 years, I acquired the Canon EOS D60, the Canon S60, and the Canon S410. So let me just say, I am a Canon guy. I gave the S410 away as a gift and decided to get a new ultracompact. Enter the Sony DSCN1.

The camera sports the largest LCD (3 inches), which at the same time is a touchscreen. There are hardly any physical buttons on the camera itself. For an ultracompact, there is an unusual amount of manual control (Aperture, Shutter Speed, White Balance, ISO speed, Color Saturation, Contrast, Flash Levels, Sharpness, etc.). The shutter speed can be set from 30 seconds to 1/1000 of a second. Aperture ranges from f2.8 to f16. You can even compose your picture, and then touch the screen to select which object you want to be in focus.

Like many other ultracompacts, there is no viewfinder on the N1. All your shots are composed on the LCD. Some think this is a "con", but I honestly don't know why one would really need the viewfinder. Perhaps the bright LCD may be problematic in a dark theater where you are bootlegging the latest Sony Pictures release... Picture quality is excellent. Focusing is very quick and COMPLETELY silent. Macro performance was impressive. The camera itself powers on quickly so it's honestly only about 2 seconds before you get your first shot.

The camera comes with 26MB of onboard storage for pictures and supports the Memory Stick Duo storage cards (Why so proprietary Senor Sony?). It is an ultracompact, but it is on the larger side of the ultracompacts. It will drop into your shirt pocket but there will be a noticeable bulge... It's about the size (slightly thicker) of a deck of cards. The N1 sports 3x optical zoom, but an oddly diminutive 2x digital zoom. You would think it would be harder to incorporate optical zoom than digital but whatever. That should not keep you from this camera. You can easily zoom in and crop after you put your photo on your computer. 8.1 megapixels affords you great license in that arena. There is only one thing that seems pretty inconvenient. It takes hours to charge the tiny little battery. It took me about 4 hours to finish my initial charge and the manual suggests that you leave it in an additional hour after the light goes off to get it to maximum charge.

This is clearly an awesome camera. I saw a rating of 6.6 on Cnet.com and am still scratching my head over that one. Meanwhile their readers rated it 8.5 on average. Like I said, there is no such thing as a perfect point and shoot digital camera, but the Sony DSC-N1 packs quite a punch. I'm going to date this review by saying I paid $450 for mine (I'm going to be pissed in a year's time when it's going for a hundred dollars less). It retails for $499. While the price can be considered high, the value is definitely just as high. I highly recommend this amazing little gadget.

Pros:
8.1 Megapixels
Awesome Touchscreen Controls
Good Battery Life (well over 200 shots)
Photo Album/Slideshow Review
Manual Focus Targeting
ISO - 64, 100, 200, 400, 800
Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens
Good flash range

Cons:
- It takes 4-5 hours to charge the battery
- Bulky Ultracompact
- LCD gets fingerprints
- Pricy (mine was $450)
- 2x Digital Zoom

155 of 175 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not for beginners ?, November 17, 2005

By 

David C. Peck "davidcpeck" (new hope, pa USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCN1 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

N-1. i have migrated continuously from the p5 to p10 to p100, and p150 and lastly the p200 as they were released. this n-1 is pretty different from them, but yet familiar. they returned the on-camera trimming and movie editing, which i like(d). they also made this new one very light, and quick. sadly, it requires yet another docking station, since both the p100/150 and the p200 don't fit the N-1. also missing is a charging slot on the camera, so the station is more important here. but they include a wall plugin converter for the battery. the battery is also yet another new size and shape.

TOUCH SCREEN. the coolest new feature is the touch screen, which replaces all of the buttons except the zoom. the screen is large and adult fingers can navigate easily. but they give you a small plastic stylus which clips onto the leash. this operates all electronic controls except the zoom. the screen is so large that you can really review your work without downloading to a pc, and sharing with others is easier. this 3 inch screen has 9 times more real estate than the p100, which cost the same when it was new. which also means it has 4 times more real estate than the flagship f-828, also an 8 megapixel.

PAINT, or a small version of it, is in the camera, so you can edit an image on camera, then write or scribble with lines, curves and colors. there is also a stencil function with hearts, snowflakes, etc. also with colors. and the eraser, of course. saving an edited image creates a new file, preserving the original image.

BUILT IN MEMORY/ALBUM. new to sony is the built in memory which keeps a rolling 500 thumb image library for every shot, in an album. it also stores the pictures taken when the film chip is not inserted. finding my images across these two locations was confusing at first, but you can copy from/to each to the other.

DUO. unfortunately, a reguler memory stick doesn't fit the n-1. the smaller duo is not included. i bought a 2 gig sandisk for $170. from dell, and they come with a converter for a memory stick slot, so you don't need to buy that for $ 10. from sony. a 4 gig sandisk memory stick is only $ 260. at dell, and these are both the currently largest available for their respective size.