Sony T90 point-and-shoot gets reviewed, liked

In an already overpopulated compact camera market, the Cyber-shot T90 solicits attention with a 16:9 touch-screen LCD and a sliding lens shield. The lads over at PC Mag grabbed one of these Sony shooters for an in-depth prodding and poking session to determine whether the external appeal of the camera is backed up by solid technology under the hood. Praise was meted out for image sharpness and 720p video recording, though battery life was found disappointing. For their full impressions, test results and an exhaustive spec sheet, hit the read link.

[ratchetnclank @ Jun 26th 2009 7:32AM]

But being a sony it's going to be too expensive to make any real impact.

[Willen @ Jun 26th 2009 8:12AM]

It's never stopped Apple.

[loocas @ Jun 26th 2009 8:58AM]

It's the premium you have to be proud you paid for...

[AndrewNoNumbers @ Jun 26th 2009 12:36PM]

I saw it for $209 just last week. Not bad for the design and 720p movies. I can't decide between this and Sony's own $200 1080p camcorder which only shoots 5MP.

[iLoveApple @ Jun 26th 2009 7:32AM]

In Soviet Russia, the font changes YOU!

[Matt @ Jun 26th 2009 7:51AM]

....what's going on with the font?

[Totalfixation @ Jun 26th 2009 7:56AM]

Still disappointed most of the high end cameras do not have wifi transfer or some sort of wireless transfer protocol. Lets hope bluetooth 3.0 takes off in the camera market.

[KC @ Jun 26th 2009 1:54PM]

Actually, I would prefer not to pay more for a feature like this.

Considering 8 GB cards are relatively cheap nowadays, and you can store over 1200 pictures on a 8 GB card. Then consider that it takes almost 20 minutes to transfer 8 GB over a 54 Mbps wireless G connection, and that's if you get the full 54 Mbps (which I've never seen happen). The current bluetooth transfer rate is between 1 to 3 Mbps... making that transfer for a 8 GB card... well, if you're standing that close to a computer to use obex, then it's probably quicker to copy via a card reader than you can finish 5 images over bluetooth.

If it was $50 to add some sort wireless support, I would rather get more memory instead.

[Alex @ Jun 26th 2009 8:47AM]

I've had the DSC-T900 for a few months, which I think is pretty much exactly the same as the T90, except it has a 3.5" screen vs 3".

It's an amazing little camera. I'm completely blown away by the quality of the picture and video for something that size. Me loves it.

[Level 5 @ Jun 26th 2009 8:57AM]

As an owner of a DSC-T1 that just died, I'm very interested in another Sony T Series considering how much I loved the last one. How do you like the T90 so far? Does the touch screen wash out in the sunlight?

[Crazy J @ Jun 26th 2009 3:19PM]

@Alex, @Level5

I'm also an owner of a T1 that just passed away. (Well, all the colors are in different shades of purple...)

How responsive is the touchscreen? When flipping through pictures? Because the previous touchscreen camera (I think it was a T70 or something....) was very slow to respond to touch commands.

I remember most of these T series had problems with low light conditions, how's this one?
Any serious problems with red eye?

Thanks

[UK Trojan @ Jun 26th 2009 3:25PM]

I replaced my DSC T1 with the T70 (just the same as the T90 sut SD video). I love it and chose that over the bigger, more expensive T700 because in part because it lacks the 8gb internal memory the more expensive one had. When it has memeory built in, it will automatically record to that and only record to a card once the camera mamoey is full. This would annoy me though as I like to just take my card out and stick it in my computer/PS3. The T700/T900 also look like the lense covers would get caught a lot more easily on clothing and get bent. I just keep mine in my trouser pocket so this is an issue for me.

If I had to buy another camera now, I'd either get the T90, or the waterproof one from panasonic. This is still a little chunky though so maybe I'd wait for Pannie's 2nd gen wtaerproof cameras.

[Tony @ Jun 26th 2009 6:12PM]

also keep in mind that the t90 only has a 231k resolution 3" screen and the t900's 3.5" screen is a 921" screen. the image on the t900's screen is very sharp and looks really nice!
and also the t900 shoots hd video in stero sound and the t90 only does mono sound.
there are some draw backs for being so compact though, theres a lot of purple fringing when point the camera at bright objects, and pictures are noisy even at low ISOs
but they are still great camera, i have had my t900 for 2 months now, even though the picture quality is not the best, but i still love it! no cameras can beat the compactness of the t series cameras.

[Tony @ Jun 26th 2009 6:13PM]

i meant 921k*

[D @ Jun 26th 2009 9:17AM]

I've got a T100 from two years ago. It is a solid piece of camera. I love it. Only problem is Sony keeps coming up with newer models and as such older models have no value on the second hand market.

[Whtrbt7 @ Jun 26th 2009 9:29AM]

T900 definitely better than the T90. I've been using one for a while and the screen coupled with the control design is much better than the T90. T90 is about USD$100 cheaper though so IMHO it's worth going the step up. Also another thing that really helped was the auto adjust LCD which was more usable than my T50 in direct sunlight. Also the image quality and video mode is better than the current Canon ultra compacts as well as the Panasonic Lumix lines. Some of the best features are it's ability to take dual images in poor lighting, easy mode for pure point and shoot (with automated advanced imaging settings) and it's point to focus capability.

[Unknown @ Jun 26th 2009 11:57AM]

I have a DSC camera myself and it took perfect 16:9 pictures very sharp all over the picture, which is also discussed in the article. But was absolutely useless at night without flash. The ones I had before that were much better in this regard.
I would like to know if T900 does not have this problem.

[evilspoons @ Jun 26th 2009 12:01PM]

I bought one of these for my work. I use it to take pictures of machines and electrical panels on-site. The boss likes it because the lens doesn't pop out of the body (i.e. stays flush) so it's much harder to break.

Taking touristy pictures while out of town for a job ended up looking really great in sunlight and like absolute crap (watercolour painting) at night.

I'm astounded by the level of detail I can get with the flash though, I stand back from a panel and take a picture of the whole thing and I can read 90% of the wire tags - our previous camera required us to take dozens of close-up pictures, now I can get by with maybe four.

[AndrewNoNumbers @ Jun 26th 2009 12:38PM]

Sure that would be nice, but it's been pretty convenient for me to just take out the memory card and put it in my phone.

[AndrewNoNumbers @ Jun 26th 2009 12:40PM]

@ Totalfixation

[Michael Visser @ Jun 27th 2009 1:34PM]

I've upgraded from the Sony DSC T10 to the new T90 and love the features, the damn camera can take photos of peoples smiles without even pressing the button; super drunk-proof imo.

The screen is slick, I just want the water kit for it now!