Sony DSC T2 Review

The Sony DSC T2 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens. It is different from other digital cameras due to the fact it has 4gb of memory built into it. This should be enough for over 1000 photos. The DSC T2 is a handy, compact model that will fit into a pocket. It has a good range of features including a touch controlled LCD screen, image stabilisation, face detection software and my personal favourite, red eye correction.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
The DSC T2 gets off to a solid start. Focusing is above average across the photo. Sun glare is also handled well with very little detail lost from the picture. In fact I like the way the camera handles the lighting and produces a bright photo.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
This is a fairly standard effort. With parts of the photo quite distant focusing is understandably not as sharp across the photo as it is in the first shot.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
With the lens zoomed in fully the DSC T2 produces another pleasing photo. Levels of sharpness are above average. There is a hint of noise showing in the sky. This is not likely to be a problem for smaller prints, but may start to show up as you increase the size of your prints.

Outdoor Portrait
For all the portrait shots I switched on face detection. This should help the camera to produce sharply focused faces. For the outdoor shot I have also used the cloudy white balance setting. The resulting photo works well for me. As well as the focusing I like the colours the camera has produced. A little extra colour has given the picture a lift.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
What I really like about this photo are the colours. Sometimes when flash is used cameras can wash too much colour out of the shot. That is not the case here and I am pleased with the result. My original test shot showed red eye. This was quickly and easily fixed by the camera. I think this is a very useful feature.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
This is the one disappointing shot in my test batch. To be honest the lighting at the time was quite good and I would have expected there to be enough light for the DSC T2 to be able to focus.

Colours
The colours the camera has produced across all of my tests are about right in my opinion. All though they not the most vivid when compared to some brands, Sony digital cameras do tend to add a bit of extra punch to their colours.

Macro
I am very impressed by the macro shot. It is clear and bright. This suggests you should be able to use the macro mode and produced plenty of decent close up shots.

ISO 400
At ISO 400 noise inevitably begins to creep into the photo, but the overall quality stands up well.

ISO 1600
This is a step too far and picture quality has really fallen away. It is very rare for any digital camera to produce anything of any quality at this setting.

Overall
My overall impression is very positive. Leaving aside the indoor portrait in poor light the DSC T2 compares well with other pocket sized digital cameras.

When it comes to shutter lag the DSC T2 is very impressive. I was able to take a photo in 0.18 seconds and five in 6.13 seconds. With flash turned on it took me 0.4 seconds to take the first photo and 10.55 seconds for five. These times put the DSC T2 up there with the fastest cameras.

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

This camera is very rectangular in shape apart from where the corners have been rounded. It is also one of the plainest cameras I have ever seen! Despite that I think it looks good. It is available in a range of colours.

87 x 57 x 20mm

129g

Lithium ion (NP-BD1). Sony estimates you should be able to take around 280 shots between charges.

Sony have built 4GB of storage into the camera. This should be enough for over 1000 photos to be stored. The camera is also compatible with the following memory cards: Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo High Speed, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo (same speed as PRO Duo).

Click here to save money on Memory Stick.

Good. Perhaps I am getting used to the touch screen system. I found the camera easy enough to use, although I still find the more conventional push button menu system just as easy and just as quick too.

Picture quality - fast shutter lag times - build quality - design - red eye removal tool - plenty of built in storage

Indoor lowlight picture could have worked better.

A couple of alternatives worth investigating are: Fuji Finepix F50fd and Sony DSC T200.

I am happy to recommend the Sony DSC T2. It is a very neat and tidy compact, takes good quality photos and is speedy when it comes to capturing a photo.

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 T2