Sony Adds Cybershot Digicam Trio

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 1/29/2012

San Diego - Sony unveiled three additional Cybershot point-and-shoot cameras from its T and W series, stressing high-resolution CMOS image sensors, 5x optical zoom lenses and thin body designs.

"One of our key competitive advantages is that we manufacturer our lens, processor and imager," said Kate Dugan, Sony. "Our knowledge of these three things and the fact that we build them ourselves enables us to achieve things that our competitors can't necessarily achieve on our same products."

All three cameras include Sony's Exmor R CMOS image sensors that provide high-quality low-light performance and anti-blurring, up to 1080/60i video resolution and dual recording, up to 10 fps high-speed shooting, fast AF and background defocus, 3D capture and viewing, and Sweep Panorama capability.

The DSC-WX70, which ships in March at a $230 suggested retail, features a 16-megapixel Exmor-R CMOS sensor, 3-inch 921,000 pixel LCD touchpanel, 1080/60i video capture in AVCHD format, dual video/still recording (at the 12-megapixel level), 5x optical/10x Clear Image digital zoom, 3D shooting and 3D Sweep Panorama, two-direction Optical Steady Shot system, and nine pattern picture effects options.

Sony said the camera will have select distribution, primarily through photo specialty stores.

The DSC-WX50, which ships in March to wider distribution at a $200 suggested retail, offers most of the same features as the WX70, but steps down to a 2.7-inch LCD monitor. Other key features include a 16-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor, 5x optical/10x Clear Image digital zoom extension, 1080/60i video capture in AVCHD format, dual video/still recording (at the 12-megapixel level), 3D Sweep Panorama, two-direction Optical Steady Shot system, and nine pattern picture effects options.

The TX200V, which ships in March at a $500 suggested retail, is a feature-loaded water- and dust-proof camera. It offers a massive 18-megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.3-inch OLED touchpanel, 1080p video recording, dual video/still recording (at the 13.5-megapixel level), a 5x optical zoom/10x Clear Image digital zoom, a 0.1-second (lighted) 0.2-second (low light) high-speed AF system, 3D and 3D Panorama sweep shooting, built-in GPS geo-tagging and active optical image stabilization.