Sony DSC T300 Review

The Sony DSC T300 is a sleek and stylish pocket camera. It's features and settings are controlled through a large 3.5 inch touch screen. It has 10 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens.

There are a number of good reasons for buying the DSC T300. These include the fact it looks good, has a touch screen, is easy to use and has a bit of extra zoom when compared with a lot of other leading pocket cameras.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
On the whole I am happy with the first test shot. Focusing is good and does not really fall away at the edges. I like the colours too. The only problem is that a small amount of detail is lost from the shot where the sun catches the boats.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
The second outdoor shot confirms my findings from the first shot. The colours are more natural than many cameras produce for this shot. Again focusing is good, but a small amount of detail is lost from the boats. Darkness does creep into the corners of the photo. This is a common problem with digital cameras, but it is more noticeable with the DSC T300.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
This photo lacks the sharper focusing that I see with some of the very best digital cameras I test. You may see better results if you reduce the number of megapixels you are shooting at, increase the amount of zoom available and take pictures without the zoom being fully extended.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
I have compared this picture quite close with those I have taken with Canon digital cameras and Panasonic digital cameras recently. Although you may not see a fantastic difference when you print your photos I feel that the DSC T300 does not quite match up to the other brands when it comes to focusing and overall definition.

Outdoor Portrait
I am happy with most aspects of this photo; although some of the skin tones have a stronger shade of pink than I would like to see.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
Focusing for this photo is softer than I am used to seeing, despite using face detection focusing. I can also see some noise in the shot and the flash on the DSC T300 does not look that strong to me. This leaves the picture darker in the corners.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
Taking into account the fact the lighting was very good when I took this photo I am a bit disappointed. It is darker than I would like to see, noise is creeping in and there is a greenish tint to the photo.

Colours
I like the colours this camera produces. Sony digital cameras tend to produce vivid colours, but in this instance they also retain a natural feel.

Macro
The macro shot is o.k. I would imagine if you were considering buying this camera whether or not it takes a great close up shot is unlikely to be high on the list of things it must do. So it's a case of good enough without being outstanding.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
At ISO 400 the colours start to break up a little as well as noise starting to show. Strangely the colours improve by the time you reach ISO 1600, but noise is a big issue.

Overall
Picture quality is good without being perfect. It is not quite up with the very best, so it's a case of 8 out of 10 rather than a 9.

A single photo took 0.32 seconds. Five photos took 8.13 seconds. With the flash on times increased to 0.53 seconds for one photo and 11.15 seconds for five. These are all average times.

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

Despite a simplistic design this is one of the most stylish cameras on the market. It is available in black red and silver. It looks sleek and the slight rounding of the front of the camera enhances the way it looks.

94 x 59.3 x 21.4mm

151g

Lithium Ion (NP-BD1). Sony estimates you should be able to take in the region of 260 shots in between charges. Both a battery and charger are supplied as standard.

Sony have built 15mb of storage into the DSC T300. I was able to take 4 shots before the memory was full. The camera is compatible with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Duo Pro cards.

Click here to save money on Memory Stick.

There is not much here that is likely to catch you out. The menu design helps to make the camera straightforward. The way the touch screen has been set out also helps to make the camera that bit easier to use.

Ease of use - design - touch LCD screen

Lowlight photos could be better

Other more standard pocket cameras include the Canon IXUS 90 IS and the Olympus FE-340.

The Sony DSC T300 takes a good picture and in my opinion has a stunning design. Picture quality does not quite match up to the very best, but if your main consideration is design, as long as the camera can still take a decent snap, then the DSC T300 is well worth considering.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

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 T300