Customer Reviews

Sony Cybershot DSCT300 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Silver)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Lets get to the bottom line:

The Good:

This camera takes excellent pictures - as a response to CNET and other reviewers who note that the DSC-T300's pictures are soft/noisy/high contrast/ et cetera are reviewing this from a professional photography point of view. Comparing this to an SLR or any other non-subcompact isn't reasonable. Just like we wouldn't compare a Chevy Pickup with a BMW sedan. Photos taken with this camera are intended for "everyday shooting." I will use this for vacations, parties, or tours. I would not use this to photograph my own wedding. For everyday shots, the quality is superb. If you are looking for a professional camera in a subcompact chassis, then this is about as close as you will come.

The optical zoom is fantastic, as is the image stabilization -- I do not have a very steady hand. Of the first few test shots that I took with this camera, one was of a license plate from a car parked about 100 meters away. I zoomed in with full optical and digital zoom, and snapped a photo of what looked like a very grainy and pixelated white blob jerking quickly around the screen. To my surprise, when I viewed this shot, the camera had cleaned it up so that not only was there no motion blur, the license number was perfectly visible. I could even see the county name on the bottom! Needless to say, I won't be taking many pictures from this far away, but still it is good to know that the feature is there if I ever need it.

The smile shutter works surprisingly well, and I use it all the time. What not many of the other reviews that I read talked about was the functionality of the smile shutter. When the feature is enabled, the camera is not in normal photo mode. You will have to take it out of Smile Shutter mode if you want to resume taking pictures. Once enabled, the smile shutter constantly looks for faces, and puts an orange box around each one. It will identify up to 9 faces. Once a face is ID'd, it judges how much the person is smiling, and if they are smiling enough, then a picture is taken. It will take pictures of smiles until you take it out of smile mode. In fact at a party of mine, I put the camera on a tripod, set it up for smile mode, and told people to go smile in front of it. By the end of the night, every single person had a smiling portrait in my camera. Excellent feature. The funny thing is, no one believes that the camera actually can determine who is an isn't smiling - so when they finally see the red-eye flash go off, 90% of people cant help but smile a real, and perfectly captured, smile of pleasant surprise. When in this mode, this camera only captures happiness.

The Add-A-Smile Feature is completely useless, but because of it, your camera will be a hit. I have tried the add-a-smile feature on 20+ people and more often than not, they end up looking creepy. However, this is hilarious. You will never seriously use this feature, but its a joy to have all the same.

Video is surprisingly good. When in "fine video" mode, I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between this and broadcast quality. "Fine video" does take lots of memory though - 1 hour ~ 4 GB. To fit more video on the card, you can switch to "standard" but unless you are using this ONLY for youtube, don't bother with standard.

Touch Screen - Once you learn it, it is a very intuitive interface.

The Bad:
There is a learning curve on the touch screen - Most people will be turned off initially by the touch screen. I have found that the learning curve has put people off from borrowing my camera to take pictures. I always have to explain how to use it. Not a huge deal, I bought the camera for me, not for people who want to take pictures of me.

Fingerprints collect on the screen - well, its a touch screen, what do you expect?

Bottom Line: This is a great camera for everyday shots. For shots that you do not intend on editing professionally, this is a great camera. For shots that are for viewing pleasure, this is a great camera. If perchance you do want to edit professionally photos taken by this camera, the resolution gives extreme detail.

All in all, I have never considered returning this camera.

As the previous reviewer stated, this camera overall is a joy. The quality is great, both in build and pictures. Very little 'fringing' in the Zeiss lens, zoom is fast (faster than previous DSC-T models) and quite.
My biggest problem on the new design (it's a thinner and has less physical buttons than a T-30 or 50) is the relative design flaw of not having a good way to open and close the lens cover. This was a lot better on previous models.
It definetely takes getting used to.

Another issue is with Sony - it's so apparent they are getting ever so stingy, in that they are including less and less in the box. The biggest insult to consumers in my opinion is the MISSING smart battery! Until now, Sony supplied batteries that would tell you the exact amount of minutes left on the charge; and they were quite accurate. In the 300 no more. But, 'don't despair' - it can still do it, only Sony didn't want to spring for the cash to include said battery in the box. If you want the 'feature' of telling time left on the battery there is an insert in the box, pointing you to Sony's website and how to spring another $50 to buy said battery (Amazon carries it too).
It's just too bad - I don't even mind the extra charge so much as I don't see the point of Sony offering less features on their new top end DSC camera and then charge extra to get back 'up to spec'. Charge $20 more from the get go and include the darn thing....

I'm a big fan of the Sony's T series, I've already own the very first DSC-T1, the discontinued T-33 and now T-300.
I sticked to Sony after the DSC-T1 because I wanted to keep using my MS Pro Duos; but soon after I realized that Sony makes cameras that are not only great for pics, but also their designs make an statement (bring this baby to a party and you should be aware because 99% of the party would like to take it to their homes).
So, now that I shared my reasons for buying this camera, here comes my review, quick, simple an concise.

The automatic mode is not flawless, especially in indoor night pictures, you should adjust the scenes mode so the camera really uses the flash automatically. The program mode haven't change since the T-33, basically the same options, and if you know how to use it, you get good pics.
The remarkable "new" setting is the Smile Shutter, once you have configured (personally i prefer it in high sensitivity) is a really fun tool. And the face detection is Amazing. Sony has really improved himself in this issue.
But as I mentioned in the title of my review, more MPs is not equal better quality. Once you start zooming the pics you can notice some rugged edges, distortion and a little bit of inaccuracy in the colors; but you would never notice that in a printed A3 pic. Once again, this is a amateur camera, and you are not paying over $1000 like in the 10 MPs pro cameras, so complaining is not that fair.
Once you can get used to the touch screen controls, using it is a breeze... I might complain that ask for confirmation for almost everything, but I guess the worst OS ever aka Windows Vista has already got me used to that....
Finally a few recommendations: Buy the camera together with the LCD screen protector and the Sony LCJTHC/B Genuine Leather Jacket Case with Stylus for the DSC-T70 & DSC-T200 (Black); if you want to keep it with scratches from the very beginning. And a large MS Pro Duo 8GB and up I recommend.

This camera had a lot of features that I wanted:

* good size of LCD screen

* cover for lens

* internal zoom - so no mechanical lens in/out

BUT I forgot to check on these things that it DOESN'T have

* Ability to connect to PC via mini-USB (uses a Sony proprietary USB connection)

* Ability to charge the battery inside the camera (uses a separate charger)

* Ability to use a "standard" SAN disk (uses a Sony memory stick)

* A view-finder, so that I don't have to try to use the LCD screen outdoors

It's a good camera, but I probably would not have purchased it if I had done a better job of my research up front.

I researched cameras for over 2 months, but could never find one that was right for me. I went to BestBuy, Walmart, Target, and other stores looking and trying out their various cameras. One day I came along the T300.

It is extremely user friendly, has a long battery life, and an excellent zoom (wonderful for novices and professionals). The camera has many options including environmental settings, flash, image size, timer, and macro settings.

The video has wonderful quality, with the option to sync your camera to an HDTV.

The only negative part of the camera is that I had to buy a new memory stick (Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo), because the camera only accepts these types of sticks--it does not accept the conventional SD memory sticks.

The touch screen is very easy to use, and can be used with your finger or the provided stylus!

I had been planning to buy the Panasonic DSCW170, however, after trying both out and comparing it the the Canon and Casio cameras--the Sony T300 was the best. I know that you will be satisfied!

****UPDATE****
I have been using the video alot on the camera, it is excellent! You have many choices, such as the quality, and the aspects of where it will be viewed (email attachment, HDTV, Computer...).

Also, the provided component cable/USB cable, give you easy connection to your compatible TV, it is beautiful on my Panasonic HDTV!


Defiantly recommended!

Enjoy! :)

Wow this camera is amazing. I am extremely happy I forked over the extra cash for the T300. I was originally going to buy a Casio Exilim EX-Z100, but I am so much happier with this one. Its pictures aren't SLR quality and the whole painting in the camera thing is kinda dumb, but the 10.1 mega pixels and the 5x optical zoom and the optical image stabilization and the 3.5" touch screen really sold it for me. Plus its awesome just flipping down the door on the front to power it on. The new face detection is improved over the T200 and it can do multiple smiles on the smile shutter. Ya the touch screen takes some getting getting used to and it's annoying to say ok or back every two seconds, but it's a touch screen. I mean come on. For me the pros outweigh the cons by a lot. There is nothing out on the market today that is as innovative and new as this camera, plus you know its quality because it's a Sony.

PROS:
-5x Optical Zoom (Very versatile and it starts at 33 mm, so its technically wide angle)
-10.1 Mega Pixels (I know mega pixels don't make a camera, but I crop a lot so the more the merrier)
-Optical Image Stabilization (You really need optical, digital is about as useful as digital zoom)
-3.5" Touchscreen (Touchscreen interface could be better, but its still a huge display and good for showing off pictures. Plus it's still a touchscreen)
-Face Detection and Smile Shutter (Yes I know every camera has face detection now, but this one actually works. On up to 8 faces! Plus it can distinguish between children and adults and the awesme smile shutter now works on 8 people!)
-Sleek Design (It's super-thing and the brushed aluminum looks awesome. Same with the sliding door)
-Sony Quality (You're getting a trusted product. Plus it feels solid and well built, even though its light and its built with top of the line materials)

CONS:
-Touchscreen Interface (Bigger screen is cool, but it's still kind of a new technology for cameras and its not the most responsive screen ever)
-Neurotic Menu (It asks you if you're sure to do things and then if you're ok and then if you really want to switch it and when you're done you have to hit back)

Other than some interface issues, this is a very good sexy little machine. Don't expect it to be an SLR and ISO 3200 is somewhat useless but it's good features outweigh the bad by a lot. Use it for a couple of days and you will fall in love with it. Trust me its worth $400.

I bought one of these while on vacation, and thus I did not have time to perform my usual research. After 3 weeks, 1000 pictures, and an email exchange with Sony tech support, I returned it. I was glad to pay the $60 restocking fee.

The camera was not defective. The images of this 10 Megapixel camera simply have the detail of a 5 Megapixel camera because the camera is designed to automatically perform digital contrast and color enhancement. This is my conclusion after owning one, after reading every review I could find on the internet, and after owning two of the predecessors to this camera including the very first model - the DSC-T1.

This detail destroying "enhancement" makes the photos look prettier - until you enlarge them.

I was really looking forward to zooming in on one of my photos of ancient Native American rock art that I could not have captured with less than 5X zoom and 10 Megapixels. When I got home and enlarged the image to full size, I looked at the adequately enlarged space where the thin and faint lines of the rock drawings should have been.

It wasn't there.

Thin and faint lines are EXACTLY the kind of detail that contrast and color enhancement eliminate.

Pros: Image quality is the only serious defect of this camera, and of course, image quality is not necessarily the single most important feature of a camera. If you value a well-constructed ultra-compact ultra-cool camera with good low light capability and about 5 Megapixel resolution that has already been digitally enhance for beauty, then you would love this camera. Another truly valuable feature of this camera, is that it can zoom while recording video. I know of no other compact digital camera that can do this - including previous Sony models. Downloading photos and video to a computer is lightning fast, although I was using the more expensive high-speed version of Sony's proprietary memory stick that only works with Sony products.

Cons: This is a very expensive 5 megapixel camera. It has no USB port - you must use the bulky proprietary cable provided with it. You cannot charge it using the cable - you must remove the battery and place it in the charger unless you buy the cradle that is not included. The touch screen is the only way to switch between photo and video modes - which is as clunky as it sounds. It is easy to accidentally touch a button on the screen. If you make the screen bright enough to be usable on a sunny day, then the battery life seems like about 30-40 minutes. Like most cameras, the video format is not compatible with the iPod Touch. It uses Sony's proprietary memory stick that only works with Sony products.

Later this month you can choose from the new DSC-T500 or DSC-T700. The DSC T700 is actually slightly less capable (only 4X zoom) but is slimmer. The DSC-T500 is impressive because it adds stereo sound recording and 720p high definition video. It also moves the photo/video switch back to an actual physical switch.

I hope Sony improved the image quality on these new models, but their web site implies no such improvement. In fact I pointed out to Sony Tech support that their press release boasted that T700 images could be enlarged to 8X10, which is a tacit admission of poor image quality because a true 10 Megapixel camera should be capable of twice that. Sony subsequently changed their story to claim their images could be enlarged to A3 size - but did they improve these two cameras at the last minute - or did they simply change their marketing literature?

I still had a decent working camera, the first of the T-series. I grew out of it as it has been 4 years, but it wasn't broken and worked fine. A great hand me down to my mother.

WELL this is a great advance from my previous camera with the touch screen and all. I have small hands so the buttons don't bother me at all. I got it in black as well and got a great deal at circuit city for it. I didn't notice the battery didn't show how much time was remaining left. I sort of bought the camera on a whim, but I love it!

It was a bit hard to get use to only, because I could do without the touch screen, but just play around with it. I love how you can look for pictures on an actual calendar as well. The shutter is speedy which I LOVE. I was opting for an SLR eventually, but this will suffice since does cost less and is still an upgrade from my previous camera.

This is just me, but I like how I can zoom in video now. haha :)

I'd give it 4.5 only cause I haven't used all it's potential yet, but it's a great investment, especially if you like to carry a camera everywhere.

Bought this camera after months of searching. Good thing I didn't pay attention to the professionals that reviewed it. One person said not to pay attention to them, that it was great for everyday use so I bought it on the strength of that. Boy, am I ever happy I did. Thanks, Sony.

I love my new DSC-T300 camera. The features are great and it's very user friendly. The camera takes amazing pictures. I only have one complaint about the camera. The battery is horrible. I fully charge the battery and the camera is dying after a few hours of use. I always turn the camera off after I finish taking pictures and the camera turns itself off after a couple of minutes of no use. On two different occations, my camera has died in the middle of an event. Overall, the camera is great, but you need to carry an extra battery around