You'll remember the
TX5 as Sony's
do-it-all solution for compact camera fans. It aims to be both stylish -- with a slender 0.7-inch profile and a 3-inch touchscreen -- and rugged, thanks to a metal frame that makes it impervious to water, dust and sub-zero conditions. Throw in the backlit
Exmor R CMOS sensor, optical image stabilization, SDHC compatibility, and 720p movie mode and you've got a pretty fearsome paper tiger on your hands. But does it roar in reality? According to
Photography Blog, you won't be getting the finest image quality around, but the TX5 impressed with some terrific high ISO performance, excellent handling of chromatic aberrations, and a versatility that allows you to take photos you might not otherwise get to with more conventional shooters. That is an opinion broadly shared by
CNET, though both reviewers agreed that pricing will be a tough pill to swallow given that this is still just a 10 megapixel point-and-shoot. Hit the sources for more or mosey on past the break for a sample video.
posted May 19th 2010 9:43AM
i wanna touch one!!
@nicholasphan
a touch-me-not that is
That's what she said
I bought one a month ago and to it to Disney World for a week with my wife and kids. We found it to be an excellent camera and allowed me to leave my 50D in the room for all but one day, as well as our Sony HD camcorder. On our next trip we'll probably only take the tx5. The touch screen works very well and it was great having a camera that I could take to the pool, on rides, and take good low light pics as well. All in all Sony did a really good job with this p&s.
Leaves of 3, let them be. Leaves of 4, eat some more!
I love Sony cameras and have been a fan since my first DSC.
It was DSC-P31, going to DSC-P200 (which was terrible, had refund after the third camera broke) and finally a DSC-W70. I have ditched pocket cameras in favor of DSLRs and I am very satisfied with a Sony a850.
The reason I wont buy a pocket camera anymore is that I have my phone with enough megapixels, its a N900 5mp, which gets the job done. Plus I can geotag the pictures and upload to social networking sites. I have no use for pocket cameras anymore.
The better that this camera phones get, the Nokia N8 it is just amazing I was playing with a proto few weeks ago, the worse it is for this situation. And plus you dont need to carry one more gadget around.
So is this water proof or resistant? Because I see claims of water proof items all the time, but when you read the small print is says "water proof to depths of up to 3 meters" so it would be more accurate to say water resistant. So I can take this down in the deep end of the pool with out water screwing it all up? Or if I go diving?
@admlshake Not really. Its waterproof not pressure proof. When you get below 10 feet water pressure is substantially higher (ears popping when your in the deep end of a 10+ foot deep pool.) So once you get that low your case could bend or split and therefore would break.
we took it in the pool and to the water parks. Deepest was probably 6 feed down. no problems.
Sony is for quality ...............
I've had one since release day and can't be happier. I love taking indoor shots without flash and was a big fan of the ancient Fuji F30 and this is the first camera that's a real upgrade on that amazing light sensitivity. It does it with the handheld twilight feature - stacking multiple images to get more light and sharpness - and it's an awesome feature. Also awesome: the panoramas autostiched on the fly. This camera is complicated enough with enough new tech that it will take a while for even an enthusiast to use it right, which means to me that the reviewers will have a tough time really understanding the potential. Finally, I had the camera in my pocket in and out of a pool for days and not only was it no problem, it takes excellent underwater photos (for not being a real underwater camera).
@Easyenough
It can go underwater without being damaged...what constitutes a "real" underwater camera to you?
@newtype A "real" underwater camera is designed primarily for use underwater with a lens that minimized underwater distortion, color filters that make light underwater look more natural, and with a non-flexible case that can go at least several atmospheres down. At 3 meters the TX5 is getting pressure on the case that causes its buttons to be depressed. The camera doesn't start leaking, the buttons just don't work. A "real" underwater camera has buttons that do not need to resist atmospheric pressure.
But like I said, if you want to take snapshots or video in 10ft or less of water, this is a great point and shoot for the job.
@Easyenough
lol @ reply, well played
Am i reading this right? I THINK i just found this camera on FutureShop website for $350 CAD... WAY under the $550 USD quoted by CNET. Has the price dropped that much in just 2 months?
sorry forgot to post the website...
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/sony-sony-cyber-shot-10-2mp-waterproof-digital-camera-dsctx5r-red-dsctx5r/10140931.aspx?path=e0cfaee421a8e2a470da66b19a6ae712en02
"this is still just a 10 megapixel point-and-shoot"
Seriously, I thought Enagdget editors are knowledgeable enough to get over MP wars.
Yeah, I'm really interested in this digicam too. The best part? It supports SD card. But the price is really hard, $350 retail. Even worse, nobody is selling it less than $330. It's more expensive than the Canon D10, but the D10 is way chunkier. Come on Amazon, do your magic. :)
"JUST" a 10MP compact?
Finally they go the right way and you say "just" 10MP???
I think its IQ is not good enough but it's a step in the right direction.
I took a two-week trip to Korea, and needed a new camera so I picked up a DSC-TX7. That model isn't waterproof, and not nearly as rugged as this one sounds, but it'll shoot 1080p @ 60fps if I want it. I'll say it was an incredibly great thing to have on the trip, small enough I could take it anyplace and good enough that my pictures looked great. I even shot a little bit of video, and the clips came out quite well.
Here's an example of some video in 720 mode that I shot with it while I was there. Be warned though, it's of eating live octopus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqtCWGi3b9U
Got this camera almost the day it was introduced in Melbourne, AU and was impressed by the features and quality of the pictures. A friend of mine also got the same camera a few days later. Unfortunately both of us got the same problem where somehow water managed to get into the screen area and all we did was to use it in the pool. My camera never went more than 0.5 meters underwater. Anyways it's now been sent back to Sony and the wait begins to see what Sony does about it.
@jsnwong
I just recently bought the camera and went on vacation took it down maybe 2ft. Got this water spot behind the lcd cover. I mean camera still works and all but that water spot is really annoying. Thought it would dry off by now but it's still there. Just wondering what happened with Sony, did they replace your camera or just attempted to fix it?
Thanks
@ajcho11
The camera has now been with Sony for 2 months. I just contacted the company I took it back to as I bought it from them and they said that Sony is trying to get some parts and also to determine if it was a manufacturing defect. As my friend also has the same problem and now you too, I believe it's to do with manufacturing but being Sony, it's going to take a while before they will admit it. I'll give another 2 weeks before I'll start contacting Sony directly about this and demand for a replacement since I've already lost the use of it for 2 months plus.
Alright, i have heard that this camera has some painfully bad barrel distortion. The Lumix TS2 seems to have better reviews and goes down to 30 ft. It also zooms while recording video. How about a comparative analysis and some reference shots to gauge distortion, color accuracy, and low light performance?
The sample video is cool, but it would be good to have two identical videos between the TS2 and TX5 to compare quality side-by-side as well. (Since these seem to be the two at the top of the rugged-camera food chain)
I won't believe "waterproof" claims until someone makes a camera with NO DOORS. With inductive charging and WiFi sync, this should be very possible today. Come on Sony. How about some real innovation?