Sony Cyber-shot T · on sale spring 2007 · a retrospective

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100: the 2007 slider that reviewers could not agree on

An aluminium pocket camera with a lens cover that slides open, a 5x Zeiss zoom and a big 3-inch screen, announced at about $400. Reviewers praised how it looked and was built, and then split over whether its pictures were superb or soft.

Compiled from 2007 reviews by Imaging Resource, PhotographyBLOG, Trusted Reviews and Photo Review · we have not tested a unit yet

Release date and launch price: launched March 2007; launch price $400 (announced February 2007)¹.

Meet the camera

The front of the T100 is a plain sheet of brushed aluminium until you slide it. Trusted Reviews described a large sprung cover over the lens, flash and autofocus lamp, stiff enough that it is unlikely to open in a pocket, and the cover also works as the power switch.⁴ Imaging Resource added that the zoom is folded inside the body, so there is no lens extension delay.² The body is 91.8 by 59.2 by 22.3 millimetres and weighs 172 grams with battery and card, and Trusted Reviews found it solid and weighty for a slim camera, with a scratch-resistant screen.⁴

Imaging Resource reported the announcement on 27 February 2007: it replaced the DSC-T50, shipped from March 2007 and was priced at $400.¹ Trusted Reviews saw it at around £240 in Britain, which it called a lot for a point-and-shoot without manual exposure options.⁴ It came in silver, black and red.² Imaging Resource's announcement said the T-series cameras of that day were the first compacts to use Sony's Bionz processor, first seen in its Alpha DSLRs.¹

Why this one was interesting

Face detection and a DSLR brain

The announcement's headline feature was face detection that tracks up to eight faces and ties the result to exposure, focus, white balance and flash.¹ Photo Review qualified it: it worked only in Auto Adjustment and Soft Snap modes, had to be switched on in the menu, and was not available together with the digital zoom.⁵

Stills on a high-definition television

Through an optional cable, dock or station, the camera could output pictures in 1080i, and Imaging Resource found the slideshows with pans and zooms impressive.²¹ The cable was not in the box, and Photo Review could not test it for that reason.⁵ Journal du Geek's hands-on noted the camera worked with Sony's component cable for HD TVs.⁶

More lens and more screen than the T20

The T20, announced alongside it, had a 3x zoom and a 2.5-inch screen at about $330; the T100 had a 5x zoom and a 3-inch screen.¹ Trusted Reviews also credited it with Sony's Dynamic Range Optimiser, borrowed from the Alpha A100.⁴ An earlier Sony pocket camera on our site is the Cyber-shot DSC-T9.

What was lost

There is no viewfinder³⁴ and no manual exposure control, which Trusted Reviews held against it at its price.⁴ PhotographyBLOG missed a conventional mode dial and found the split between the menu button and the Home screen needlessly complicated.³ Imaging Resource found the navigation pad small, the Home menu unintuitive and menu animations slow, and Trusted Reviews called the explanatory notes in the menus one of the clearest systems it had seen, so the verdict on handling is mixed.²⁴ Movies are VGA only.² Journal du Geek's first look said the size was close to that of the Sony W80, and the camera did not have the impact of the thinner T7.⁶

The dark: its weak point, or not

This is where the reviewers disagreed most. Imaging Resource found moderate noise at ISO 80 and 100, noise starting to dominate fine detail at ISO 200, and strong noise and blur from ISO 800, with colour drifting yellow and then purple-grey.² PhotographyBLOG said edge definition fell off at ISO 800, called ISO 1600 usable and ISO 3200 a last resort.³ Photo Review saw resolution drop sharply above ISO 400.⁵ Trusted Reviews took the opposite view: it called noise control very good, almost up to the Fujifilm F40fd's standard up to ISO 800 (while noting some noise and speckle at 800), with a nasty green cast appearing at ISO 1600 and 3200.⁴

Real photographs taken with this camera. The sensitivity shown is recorded in each file's own EXIF data.

Imaging Resource's print guide gave ISO 80 as crisp at 11 by 14 inches, ISO 400 as usable at 8 by 10 and ISO 1600 at 4 by 6.² The longest shutter time is two seconds, which PhotographyBLOG thought poor for serious night work.³²

The flash divided them too. Imaging Resource found its range poor at normal ISO and advised staying within about six feet,² while Trusted Reviews called it good, with excellent coverage and a range of 3.7 metres at wide angle and 2.9 at telephoto.⁴ Photo Review needed ISO 800 to light an average-sized room.⁵ Trusted Reviews also liked the bright autofocus lamp, which it said focused reliably even in complete darkness.⁴

Like that look? See recent eBay sold listings for this camera ↗

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The little wins

How it drew the picture

PhotographyBLOG scored image quality 3 out of 5 and found default pictures a little soft, with a blue cast in daylight, corner sharpness falling at the widest setting and a soft telephoto end.³ It found chromatic aberration well controlled, with only limited purple fringing.³ Photo Review saw edge softening, obvious purple and green fringing in bright outdoor shots and relatively heavy JPEG compression.⁵ Imaging Resource wrote that colour was good, if strong reds and blues were oversaturated and skin tones slightly warm, with soft corners at wide angle and noticeable chromatic aberration there.² Trusted Reviews disagreed on sharpness: it found superb detail, minimal distortion and some of the best corner sharpness it had seen from a compact.⁴

Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture.

Where it let you down

PhotographyBLOG found significant red-eye with both normal flash and red-eye reduction, and the in-camera retouch tool failed to find it.³ The lens sits at the top right of the front, and PhotographyBLOG's fingertips sometimes strayed into the frame when it held the camera with two hands.³ Imaging Resource measured a shutter lag of 0.37 seconds at wide angle with full autofocus, 0.68 at telephoto and 0.008 prefocused, with 5.5 seconds for the flash to recycle.² Photo Review found lag in dim light often reached around five seconds, even with the autofocus lamp on.⁵ Its manual is on a CD only.⁵ Imaging Resource recommended at least a 1 GB Memory Stick; see our memory card guide.²

What the reviewers said in 2007

The timeline

• 27 February 2007Sony announces the T100 at about $400 for March.¹
• 8 March 2007Journal du Geek publishes a hands-on first look.⁶
• 30 April 2007Imaging Resource publishes its review.²
• 21 May 2007PhotographyBLOG publishes its review.³

Should you buy one now?

Buy one if you want a metal, slim, very quick-to-shoot CCD pocket camera for daylight pictures and parties within flash range, and you accept that the sensor was divisive and that there are no manual modes. It was announced at $400;¹ what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. PhotographyBLOG likened its ISO range to that of the Fujifilm F31fd,³ which we also cover: see our Fujifilm F31fd, and for a cheaper Sony of the same period our DSC-W55. Before you bid, check these:

• The name. Make sure it is the DSC-T100 and not the cheaper T20, which had a 3x zoom and a smaller screen.¹
• The battery. It uses an NP-BG1;² a fresh one is on Amazon ↗.
• The card. It takes Memory Stick Duo and PRO Duo cards, not SD;² see our memory card guide.
• The cover. The cover is also the power switch;⁴ check that it slides smoothly and stays shut.
• The lens and screen. Check that the picture is clean and the screen has no scratches.

If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card.

See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗NP-BG1 battery ↗

Sources

1. Imaging Resource, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 announcement by Mike Tomkins (27 Feb 2007)
2. Imaging Resource, Sony DSC-T100 review by Mike Pasini (dated 30 Apr 2007)
3. PhotographyBLOG, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 review by Gavin Stoker (21 May 2007; introduction, image quality, specifications and conclusion pages)
4. Trusted Reviews, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 review (undated, mid-2007)
5. Photo Review (Australia), Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 review (undated page)
6. Journal du Geek, “Le Sony DSC-T100 en main”, a hands-on first look by Anh Phan (8 Mar 2007)

Photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.