Sony DSC T50 Review

The Sony DSC T50 is a pocket sized digital camera. It offers something different to almost every other digital camera. This is because the DSC T50 has a touch screen. Other than the screen the camera has all the normal features I expect to find with this type of camera. It has seven megapixels and a three times optical zoom lens. The camera also has image stabilisation. This is also something that is rarely found in a pocket sized digital camera.

The touch screen adds a few pounds to the price tag. Therefore I expect this camera to appeal to people who would like a good quality digital camera that looks impressive and do not mind spending a bit more to buy one.

In terms of picture quality the DSC T50 is comfortably above the normal standard I am used to seeing with pocket sized digital cameras. I especially like the vivid photos it produces and there are one or two areas where the camera excels.

Outdoor scenic photography is one of the strengths of the DSC T50. Looking at the three test photos I have taken in this area I feel it is a combination of a number of factors that help to produce high quality photos. The two main contributors are the colours and the lighting. In my view the colours have just the right amount of depth to them. It could be just my imagination, but in terms of brightness the photos look a shade lighter than normal as the camera makes the most of the available light.

Another area where Sony digital cameras have been outperforming other brands is the way in which their cameras handle the glare from the sun. Just about every digital camera I have tested recently has really struggled as the sun gets lower in the sky at this time of the year. This has lead to a serious loss of detail in lighter areas of my test photos. My checkpoints for this problem are the white wooden beams under the roof of the building and the boats themselves. Both of these are in the first test photo. The DSC T50 handles this problem very well and none of the detail is lost.

In terms of sharpness the quality is roughly average. While the DSC T50 is not the sharpest camera I have tested recently I have no real concerns about it in this area. You also need to take into account that picture sharpness tends not to be the strongest area with a pocket sized digital camera.

The outdoor portrait does not really grab me. There is nothing really wrong with it and perhaps it goes to highlight the strength of the other photos I have taken with this camera. The reason this photo does not quite hit the spot for me is that I find it slightly dull. The photo was taken in the shade and I tried to boost the photo by using the cloudy white balance setting, but I would like to have seen a bit more life in the shot.

Indoors I am very impressed by the sharpness and the brightness of both of my test shots. Starting with the indoor portrait the photo is certainly lighter then I am used to seeing. The camera has no problems with focusing and the result is a sharper than normal photo. The big issue with this photo is red eye. Looking at the design of the camera the lens is placed right next to the flash unit. Red eye is caused by flash bouncing off the eye, back into the lens. Therefore it is not surprising to see this level of red eye in a shot and there is likely to be little you can do about it to rectify the problem.

It is a shame the red eye problem is so obvious. Otherwise I would say this camera is very strong in lowlight situations. Again the test shot of beer bottles taken in almost complete darkness produces one of the sharpest photos I have managed to take in the conditions. Often the front bottle will be in sharp focus with the remainder being less sharp. In this case the sharpness of the photo covers a much wider area than normal.

Moving onto the macro shot this is another bright and clear shot. My standard advice holds true here. I would not consider buying this type of camera if you are planning to specialise in close up photography, but the camera is certainly capable of taking a decent close up shot when required.

As with many other digital cameras the DSC T50 struggles when you need to push the ISO rating up. This is often done to help the camera in lowlight when the flash cannot be used or when the flash does not give enough light. Picture deterioration was noticeable at ISO 400 and increases as you go higher. I also noticed a blue colour caste to photos taken with this setting.

I was able to take a single shot in 0.29 seconds and five shots in 6.08 seconds. The first time is about average. The time taken to take five shots is very fast. I always run this test a number of times to ensure there are no rogue times. This is the most consistent camera I have ever tested in terms of shutter lag times.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 38 - 114mm in 35mm format. If you reduce the resolution (number of megapixels) you shoot at Smart Zoom becomes available. This can increase the zoom available to a maximum of 14x. There is also 2x digital zoom available when smart zoom is not being used.

The LCD screen is a large 3" in size. It is made up of around 230,000 pixels. There is no room for a viewfinder.

To help you take the best possible shots there are a small number of preprogrammed scene modes. These are Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Snow, Beach, High-speed shutter, Fireworks and High Sensitivity. When you select one of these the DSC T50 will use what it considers to be the optimum settings for the type of photo you are about to take .

The flash modes available are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Synchro and No Flash. Red eye reduction can be turned on and off via the menu. The maximum range of the flash is 3.4m. This falls to around 2.7m when the zoom lens is in use. There is also white balance setting especially for use with flash.

Other useful features include a self timer (2 or 10 second delay), a histogram, the ability to adjust sharpness and contrast, plus colour settings for vivid, natural, sepia and black and white. If you are planning to make 6 x 4" prints from your photos there is a special 3:2 aspect ratio setting. This means that the photo will not need to be trimmed to fit onto the paper for printing.

For focusing there are two methods you can choose from. These are single and monitoring. You can select from multi point, centre weighted and spot for the focusing area. There is also a focus preset. This allows you to specify a distance for focusing (0.5m, 1m, 3m, 7m and infinity). For close up work there is a magnifying mode that lest you get within 1cm of the subject.

Among the more advanced features are white balance (Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash), exposure compensation (+/-2.0 EV, 1/3 EV step), metering (Multi Pattern, Centre weighted, Spot) and ISO sensitivity (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1000). Exposure bracketing is also available. Shutter speeds are set automatically by the camera. These work in the range ¼ to 1/1000 seconds.

There are two types of burst mode. The first is a standard type and can reel off up to five shots in quick succession. The second takes 16 shots and builds them into a single image. The sixteen shots are stored as mini images in a 4 x 4 grid.

After a photo has been taken you can play it back as a slideshow, make smaller copies and also trim/crop your photos.

Movies can be recorded with a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The top recoding speed is 30 frames per second. The duration of each movie is only limited by the capacity of the memory card. Sound can be captured and zoom can be used while recording is in progress.

Sony supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the DSC T50 to a computer, PictBridge computer and a television set.

Although the touch screen is an interesting addition that is likely to appeal to many people I am not convinced it makes the DSC T50 easier to use. With a standard digital camera key controls such as flash, macro mode and the self timer can be controlled at the touch of a button on the back or top of the camera. Here all controls apart from zoom and the shooting mode (take photo, shoot movie, review image) are only available through the menu. This slows the process down.

Once you access the menu system it is straightforward and the camera is easy enough to use on the whole.

You can pick up a Sony DSC T50 for around £250. This compares to around £145 for a Pentax Optio S7, £190 for a Casio Exilim EX-S770 and £230 for a Nikon Coolpix S7c.

There is a fair amount of difference in the price of seven megapixel, pocket sized cameras. Based on picture quality, build quality and the attraction of the touch screen I would say the DSC T50 may not be a bargain, but is fairly priced.

I like the style of this range of Sony cameras. They are slim enough to slim into a pocket, but retain a fairly sturdy feel to them. The sliding lens cover helps to give them their own style and make them look different to other models. You can buy the camera in black or silver, while there are also a few hard to find red models around as well

The camera weighs 130g and had dimensions of 95 x 56.5 x 23.4mm.

Power is supplied to the camera by a infoLithium battery (NP-FR1). Sony estimates that you should be able to take around 400 shots before the battery needs to recharged.

A generous 56mb of storage is built into the camera. I was able to take a respectable 20 shots before the memory became full. This is enough to test the DSC T50 out, but before you do any serious picture taking you will need a larger memory card. The camera is compatible with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Duo Pro cards.

Click here to save money on Memory Stick Duo.

Picture quality
Image stabilisation
Large internal memory
Touch screen
Large 3" LCD screen
Style and design

Red eye

Whether or not the Sony DSC T50 appeals to you will depend almost entirely on whether or not you would like to get your hands on a digital camera with a touch screen. The good news is there is more to this camera than just that headline feature. Picture quality and build quality are very good. I would be very happy to own this camera. Recommended.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Sony DSC T50