Sony Digital Cameras

Sony's first attempt at a camera/camcorder hybrid, the Sony CyberShot DSC-M1 takes 5-megapixel still pictures as well as high-resolution MPEG video. What really makes the Sony CyberShot DSC-M1 unique, however, is the fact that it is designed to record video five seconds before a still image is taken and three seconds after, giving a video record of the circumstances around every picture. If you'd rather take more conventional video, the Sony M1 can fit 27 minutes of 30 frame-per-second video on a 512MB Memory Stick Pro Duo card. That is probably why Sony is so popular in electronics. The idea of combining a Sony digital Camera with a camcorder is one of the things that make Sony so popular today. The Sony digital camera has 5.1 mega pixels (effective). It also has 3x optical zoom/2x digital zoom; auto and manual focus, program and manual exposure, JPEG and MPEG file format, ISO range 100 - 400, Sony Info Lithium battery, and movie mode with sound. This device is easy to carry and is a great point and shoot camera. It also makes great 640 x 480 30fps videos and the video files consume relatively little space with its MPEG-4 format.

The menus are clean and intuitive. The operation is fairly easy though the buttons might be difficult if you have paws rather than hands. The camera is missing an aperture or shutter priority but if you understand the use of its different shooting modes you can work-around that shortcoming. When it comes to charging the battery within the camera as well as connecting to its data, it is done through a rather delicate and non space-saving docking kit. Consider the optional wall charger though it is fairly pricey. The batteries take more than 2 hours to charge. Invest in the soft case as it will help protect the unit. Even within the case this camera is just about the size of a cell phone.