This review is on my latest Acquisition, a Sony Digital Camera. I went to Thailand last month on a pleasure trip and got this camera from Bangkok, I paid Rs. 14000 for it whereas in India it is available for Rs.21000, plus I got a 256 MB Memory Cards free, all in all an excellent deal.
This camera has an effective 5-Megapixels resolution and has awesome quality of pictures, it has got 2.5 inches TFT screen for viewing, the screen is very big and presents an excellent view of the clicked snaps and also is a huge viewfinder. The screen is as big as you would find in a Handycam.It is available in Black and Silver colour and I bought the Silver colour.
It features Carl Zeiss Lens which is the most advanced lens in the world and Sony uses in all its High-End cameras and thats the reason for the High-Resolution Pictures.
The flash is very effective and I mean it as I have clicked snaps in total darkness and nobody can tell that the picture was taken in darkness. But unfortunately the flash cannot be used while capturing videos and it is the same in all the digital cameras that is the reason a handycam is the best option for capturing videos.
One can also set the resolution for saving pictures-5 MP, 3 MP, 1 MP and two other snaps VGA and E-Mail which are very small in size and are the best if the snap has to be sent as a mail attachment otherwise for taking prints 5MP gives the best output quality.
There are two Picture effects-Black & White and sepia for some fun photography, one can also set the camera based on the external surroundings like Candle light, Beach, Fireworks, Snow and a host of others. Burst shots of 5 consecutive pictures can also be taken, but I don’t find this feature very useful.
The camera has got an inbuilt memory of only 16 MB which is very less as it can only save a maximum of 10-12 snaps in 5 Megapixels, but one can use a Memory Card up to 1 GB for storing more snaps and videos. If one uses a 512 MB card, then 204 pictures can be stored of 5 MP Size.
The pack contains a software CD containing various Picture and Video imaging softwares and the software for transferring the snaps to the computer, and the interface is really very fast, I transferred 50 snaps in flat 2 minutes which is amazing speed. If you want to have some fun with the pictures you can use the Image-editing software to add some text or frames.
The camera has a Lithium-Ion battery and when fully charged it can be used for 180 minutes of Camera and 240 minutes of Viewing, which is quite adequate considering it is a high-end camera. The battery gets charged in 50-60 minutes normally.
The zoom is also quite effective, it has got a 3X digital zoom but no optical zoom and also a 4X precision zoom, so in total it has got a 12X zoom. In the playback mode it can zoom the clicked picture upto 5X. But I feel the Optical zoom should be atleast 5X and not only 3X but it makes up due to the precision zoom, though technically I Don’t know what is a precision zoom.
The best part of this camera which made me buy this one is the very very small width of this camera; my mother was surprised and asked how a camera can be so sleek. The width is approximately three fourths of an inch. It feels that I am carrying a cigarette case.
Another special feature of the Sony Digital cameras is that there is a Sony Cyber Station supplied which have to be used as a cradle for charging the camera, connecting the camera to a TV, PC or a Laptop.
In terms of user-friendliness it is very easy and one can get to know the basic features by just fiddling with it for about 20-30 minutes. Sony always makes user-Friendly products that is why it is considered the best in business.
It also has a host of other features which I have been unable to explore so can’t say much on them.
Overall it is an excellent camera and I love the quality of snaps it produce, Sony has also released another model the Sony T7 which has exactly the same technical specifications but is even more sleek at half an inch but is Rs. 2000 expensive than the Sony T3.
So anybody of you are planning to buy a 5 Megapixels camera do go for the Sony T3 as it is the best in the category and only the Canon Ixus is technically more superior but costs Rs. 8000 more than this.
These are the technical specification of Sony T3. (I have used the Sony website for this information).
Imaging Device: 1/2.4'' 5.1 Megapixel Effective Super HAD CCD
Zoom: 3X Optical, 2X Digital Zoom, 0 C B 4X Smart Zoom Feature, Up to 12X Total Zoom (depending on resolution)
Focus: 5 Area Multi-Point AF, 5 Step Manual Preset
Color LCD: 2.5'' 230K TFT Pixels Hybrid LCD Screen
Flash Modes: Auto/Forced On/Forced Off/Slow Synchro
Red-Eye Reduction: On/Off
White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash
Burst Mode: 9 Shot (5MP), 13 Shot (3MP), 30 Shot (1 MP) 100 (VGA) 1.1 FPS
Picture Effects: Black & White, Sepia
ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400
Scene Modes: Beach, Candle, Fireworks, High Speed Shutter, Landscape, Magnifying Glass Mode, Snow, Twilight, Twilight Portrait
Self-Timer: Yes, 10 Seconds
Audio/Video Output: Yes, by Supplied Cyber-shot Station & Cable
Still Image Modes: JPEG (Fine/Standard), Burst, Auto Bracketing
MPEG Movie Mode: MPEG VX Fine with Audio, MPEG VX Standard with Audio
USB Terminal: Yes, by Supplied Multi-connector Cable, Supports USB 2.0 Hi-speed
Battery Type/Capacity: Info Lithium NP-FT1, 2.4W (680mAh)
Hope you liked the review; if anybody of you needs some more information then please let me know.
