Sony DSC T9 Review

The Sony DSC T9 is a pocket sized digital camera. This is a six megapixel model with a 3x optical zoom lens. All in all the DSC T9 is pretty straightforward. It is a standard point and shoot model with a good build quality and stylish design. It is one of the more expensive digital cameras of its kind. Therefore it is likely to appeal to someone who is looking for a quality, easy to use camera and does not mind paying that bit more for a top of the range model.

There is a lot to like about the DSC T9. I was very impressed by the camera when it came to picture quality. There was just one problem that was noticeable with the camera and that was the dreaded red eye.

Starting with the outdoor scenic type shots there were a number of areas where I felt the camera performed better than many of its rivals. For a start the sharpness of the images was above average. Not only that, but the images stayed sharp as you move out towards the edges of each photo. Another point that caught the eye was the way the camera coped with areas of high contrast. The way the camera handled very bright areas was particularly noteworthy as I often find with other digital cameras a lot of detail is lost in these places.

As I have found with other Sony digital cameras the colours have plenty of depth. This is borne out by my dedicated test for colours and also makes a significant contribution to the outdoor shots. Blues and greens stand out and this helps the skies to show up very well indeed. The bodes well for all types of landscape style shots and outdoor photography in general.

With the outdoor portrait I felt there is a pleasant warm feel to the photo. Again the strong colours produced by the DSC T9 come into play here.

The indoor portrait is one of the brightest and sharpest photos I have managed to produce in this category. The level of red eye is very off putting though. This occurs despite using red eye reduction and having the subject avoiding looking directly at the lens. This is a real disappointment.

My other indoor test shot of some beer bottles produces another sharply focused photo. Together with the indoor portrait this suggests that lowlight photography should not present a major problem to the camera. You do have to respect the limitations of the built in flash unit though. The macro shot is clear and bright. Although I would not advise you to buy this camera if your primary use is likely to be close up photography you should be able to produce good quality macro shots.

My final test is to see how the camera copes when using an ISO setting of 400. These higher settings are often used to overcome poor light or to freeze action shots. The downside is that there is a reduction in the quality of the photos taken. Here the DSC T9 performs adequately. It is neither one of the best or one of the worst performers.

I have grown used to seeing fast times recorded by Sony cameras and the DSC T9 is very quick indeed. I managed to take a single shot in 0.15 seconds. This is pretty rapid. It took 5.21 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo every 1.04 seconds. This is also a very fast time. Shutter lag should not be an issue at all with this camera and it beats many of its rivals with ease.

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. This is supported by 13x smart zoom and also a 6x digital zoom. For close up photography there is a magnifying glass mode that can get you in as close as 1cm.

For composing images and accessing the menu there is a 2.5" LCD screen. This is made up of around 230,400 pixels. There is no viewfinder. The LCD screen can display a variety of useful information. This includes low battery, memory card, blurred image and incorrect exposure (too light/too dark) warnings. A histogram is available too.

To help you take the best possible photo in a variety of different situations there are a number of preprogrammed scene modes you can use. When you select a scene mode the camera will use the optimum settings in an attempt to take the best possible photo for the conditions. The scene modes available are Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Snow, Beach, High-speed shutter, Fireworks, Candle and Magnifying Glass.

The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 2.8m. This falls to 2.3m when the zoom lens is in use. This is a pretty limited range, although this is typical of pocket sized cameras. The flash modes available are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Synchro and No Flash. Red eye reduction can be turned on and off via a menu option. An Auto Focus (AF) Illuminator is available to help the camera focus in poor light.

There are a number of focusing options available to you. These are multi point, centre weighted and spot. In addition to these you can also select different focusing distances. These are 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 7.0 and infinity.

Short movies with sound can be recorded. These are captured in MPEG1 format. The duration of each movie is only limited by the space available on the memory card. The maximum resolution is 640x480 and the top speed is 30 frames per second. This is suitable for TV playback. Zoom is not available in movie mode.

There are a number of more advanced controls available to you. These include ISO sensitivities (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 640), metering (spot, centre weighted and multi pattern), exposure compensation (+/-2.0 EV, 1/3 EV step) and white balance (Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash). You can also adjust the sharpness, saturation and contrast settings. Shutter speeds work in the range of ¼ - 1/1000 seconds. These are set automatically by the camera.

There are two type of burst mode available. The first allows you to fire off up to seven photos consecutively. The second type takes 16 shots and creates a single image from them.

Sony Supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the DSC T9 to a television set, computer and PictBridge compatible printer. It is also worth noting there is a special resolution setting with an aspect ratio of 16:9. This is ideal for playing back still images on a wide screen television. There is also the option to choose a 3:2 aspect ratio. This is suited to making 6x4" prints.

I find Sony digital cameras easy to use and the DSC T9 helps to maintain that reputation. The menu system is straightforward and it is easy to find what you are looking for. Key buttons for zoom, flash, macro, reviewing images etc are all found in the back of the camera. Everything feels like it is in the right place and you should soon find yourself up and running.

You can pick up a Sony DSC T9 for around £270. This compares to around £190 for a Pentax Optio S6, £220 for a Casio Exilim EX-S600 and £185 for a Nikon Coolpix S3.

Well as you can see this camera does not come cheap. As much as I like this camera it is still hard to justify paying a premium of over £100 when compared to the Nikon Coolpix S3. Even so I would still be tempted. It is also worth noting that at the time of writing the review the Coolpix S3 and the Optio S6 have been available for a couple of months while the DSC T9 was still a very new model. I would expect the price to fall for those prepared to wait a while.

I really like the design of this camera. It is a neat and tidy model and although it has a simplistic design it still manages to retain a touch of style and quality. With dimensions of 89.7 x 54.9 x 20.6mm it is small enough to easily slip into a pocket. It has a smart, aluminium body and weighs in at 134g

Power is supplied to the DSC T9 by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. A battery and a charger are supplied with the camera. Sony estimates that around 240 photos can be taken before the battery will need to be recharged.

Images are stored on the Memory Stick Duo cards. The camera comes with 58 MB of memory built in. Therefore a card is not supplied with the camera. I was able to take 23 photos using the standard settings before the internal memory was full. Although this is very good compared to every other camera I have tested it is still advisable to pick up a high capacity card to go with the camera. Click here to save money on Memory Stick Duo.

Picture quality
Shutter lag
Large internal memory
Style and design

Red eye
Expensive
Limited flash distance

The plus points of the Sony DSC T9 far outweigh any negatives. Picture quality is very good and Sony appears to have nailed shutter lag. I am happy to recommend this digital camera to anyone looking for a good quality pocket sized model. Be warned it doesn't come cheap though.

Sony DSC T9 Front View

Sony DSC T9 Back View

Sony DSC T9 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 T9