Sony Unveils Cyber-shot Pair

By Greg Tarr On Mar 12 2010 - 10:32am

SAN DIEGO — On the heels of an extensive introduction of new 2010 Cyber- shot digital cameras at International CES, Sony introduced a pair of advanced Cyber-shot digital still cameras around the time of the PMA Show.

Models DSC-H55 (shipping in April at a $249 suggest retail) and DSC-TX5 (shipping in March at $349) will round out the new Cyber-shot lineup.

The compact DSC-H55 has a 10x optical zoom (starting with a 25mm equivalent wide angle) Sony G lens and 14-megapixel resolution, optical Steady- Shot shake reduction, 3-inch LCD screen, and a range of automatic picture modes including horizontal and vertical Sweep Panorama with in-camera image stitching of up to 100 frames for one continuous picture.

The optical SteadyShot function image stabilizer uses a built-in gyro sensor to detect camera shake and automatically compensates to prevent blurring.

In video mode, the camera will capture up to 1,280 by 720p/30 fps HD images in MP4 compression.

For video shooting the Optical Steady- Shot with Active Mode enables shooting movies on the move, providing up to 10x the correction of standard mode to reduce shaking.

Other features include Smile Shutter technology that snaps a photo of a smile automatically, Intelligent Scene Recognition, self-portrait timer, motion detection, and Memory Stick Duo and SD/ SDHC card slot.

The DSC-TX5 is designed for active outdoor use and offers weatherproof, dust-proof, freeze-proof and shock-resistant attributes.

To facilitate carrying the camera in a pocket or purse, the TX5 has a 0.75- inch body thickness. It is waterproof to a depth of 10 feet and shockproof for a fall of up to 5 feet.

The DSC-TX5 features a 10.2-megapixel, back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor for capturing high-resolution images.

Key features include a 10 fps burst shooting mode, iSweep Panorama function with up to 100 image in-camera stitching, and 720p/30 fps MP4 HD movie recording.

The camera has a 3-inch touchscreen LCD Plus (230,000 pixel) display, which allows scrolling through and dragging and dropping images by touching the display.

The lens is a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 4x optical zoom, starting at a 25mm equivalent wide angle, with reduced grain in low-light situations.

The camera also uses a mechanical shutter to reduce distortion when continuously shooting moving subjects.

Automatic modes include face detection, and intelligently stitching subjects of different widths together to minimize distortion.

Additional features include motion detection, anti-motion-blur and handheld twilight modes, ISO 3200 light sensitivity, self-portrait timer, Memory Stick Duo and SD/SDHC card slot.