The ultra-compact Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P1 captures sharp images with its 3.34-megapixel CCD, fast-focusing 3x optical zoom, and take-me-everywhere form factor.

We liked its high-quality pictures, ease of use, and stylish design, but found the included 8MB Memory Stick media and flash range anaemic. This camera should appeal to both family and business photographers who are willing to pay for top-quality pictures and portability.

Sony's 3.34-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-P1 fits a lot into a little package, delivering sharp images for families and business users who crave quality but not complexity. Serious photographers may find both the P1's feature list and flash range too short, and those who are averse to using Sony's proprietary Memory Stick media will want to turn elsewhere. But casual photographers looking for excellent image quality in a stylish and compact camera will find just what they're looking for in the P1.

We liked the P1's easy handling and bright, 123,000-pixel LCD. Despite the camera's diminutive size, we found it easy to hold and operate. One of the P1's nice features is seamless transition between optical and digital zooming--a helpful indicator shows you when you've switched from one to the other. We also appreciated the zoom-and-scroll feature in play mode and the in-camera editing that let us view, copy, rotate, and resize pictures on the LCD before downloading them.

The P1 offers five JPEG image sizes, from 640 by 480 to 2,048 by 1,536, as well as uncompressed TIFFs. We found the uncompressed mode interesting but not terribly useful, since it simultaneously creates both a JPEG and a TIFF, requiring at least a 16MB Memory Stick. This may appeal to some users; the rest of us would prefer being able to turn this feature off to conserve media space, or at least being able to delete the JPEG on the camera. On the other hand, the dual-file-creation feature works well in the email mode, which creates Web-friendly 320-by-220 copies of your pictures. Secret-agent wannabes can use the Text mode to record high-contrast black-and-white GIFs and the Voice Memo mode to annotate shots. There are also black-and-white and sepia photo modes, and you can solarize and apply colour-reversal effects to your shots in the camera. You can also save up to 10 low-resolution images with a GIF-animation clip-frame feature or shoot up to 1 minute of MPEG video.

Although there aren't any manual exposure modes on the P1, several presets to help you photograph landscapes, shoot moving targets, and capture bright subjects in dark places while preserving a film noir atmosphere. Unfortunately, we found that the camera's flash range came up short for all but close-up images in dim light. Even though it has three level settings, the built-in flash just isn't very powerful, and there's no PC connection or hot-shoe on the camera to let you use an external flash. Image quality was on the whole excellent, and the P1 captures the sharp, detailed images you'd expect from a camera of its resolution class. It has a few weak points, however.

We noted some barrel distortion at close range, and the camera doesn't offer as many white-balance settings as its competitors. Our tests showed that the ones it does provide produce slightly warm images under indoor lighting. We also noticed visible colour noise in our indoor shots, and under bright outdoor light we saw some chromatic aberration. This usually didn't present a noticeable problem, but in particularly challenging lighting situations the effect became visible. For example, clusters of tree branches shot against a bright sky had an unnatural purple hue. Daylight shots seemed to run a little to the blue side, and we found that on our snowy landscape scene, the normal exposure worked better than the landscape setting (underexposing slightly for deeper sky and watercolour).

Out of the box, the P1 comes with only 8MB of Sony's Memory Stick removable media. That size is inadequate for recording more than a few high-resolution images, so you'll have to add the cost of the extra memory you'll need onto the camera's price. On the other hand, you won't have to shell out extra cash to power the camera, since a rechargeable battery and charger are included. Sony makes an optional underwater housing for the P1 (AU$499 list) that you can take to depths of up to 30 meters (approximately 30 metres). We had a colleague test the Marine Pack on a dive, and he found it superbly designed and very easy to use.

Overall, we liked this camera's handling, picture quality, and good range of image modes and effects. While you'll want to spend an extra AU$315 for a 64MB Memory Stick in order to get the most out of it, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P1 offers high-quality images, fun features, and a great compact design for the money.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P1
Company:Sony Australia
Ph:1300 137 669
PriceAU$1,999
Rating:

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