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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 (silver)

Manufacturer: Sony Part number: DSC-T700/S

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$328.95 - $399.99 at 10 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
4.0 stars Excellent
Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 6 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Product series; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: Part smart-looking snapshot camera, part 4GB portable digital photo album, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 will satisfy those who like showing off their pictures as much as they like taking them.
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CNET editors' review

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 (silver)

price range: $328.95 - $399.99

Reviewed by: Joshua Goldman
Edited by: Lori Grunin
Reviewed on: 08/18/2008
Released on: 09/26/2008

The good: Attractive design; large, useful feature set; nice 3.5-inch LCD; fast performance.

The bad: Touch screen not for everyone; soft images.

The bottom line: Part smart-looking snapshot camera, part 4GB portable digital photo album, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 will satisfy those who like showing off their pictures as much as they like taking them.

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Think about how often you show digital photos to others, either on your mobile phone or camera's LCD. Now think about how miserable the experience is trying to find an image on that camera or phone, how frequently you don't have the photo you really want to show, and how pathetically small and visually underwhelming the display is for the task. Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-T700 aims to improve this picture-sharing experience by giving consumers not only a well-rounded point-and-shoot camera, but also a portable digital photo album able to store up to 40,000 images and view them on a 3.5-inch LCD screen. And we're pleased to say: it succeeds.

The T700 replaces the DSC-T300 in Sony's lineup. Like that camera, the T700 has a 10-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch Super HAD CCD sensor, wide 3.5-inch touch-screen display, f3.5-f10 35-140mm-equivalent Carl Zeiss lens (though the zoom range drops from 5x to 4x), Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization, and shooting features like Smile Shutter, face detection with child- and adult-priority control, and iSCN Intelligent Scene Recognition. However, along with improvements made to the LCD's picture quality (921,000 pixels up from 230,000) the T700's internal memory jumps from 15MB to 4GB--3.7GB available for photo storage--as well as support for up to a 16GB Memory Stick DUO PRO card. The internal storage combined with the 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD and the bundled Sony Picture Motion Browser software is what turns the camera into a digital photo album.

Measuring a little more than 0.6 inch and weighing 5.6 ounces, the T700 is ultraslim and light. We tested a brushed silver version, but it's available in gray, red, pink, and gold, too. The camera has an elegant feel with a full metal body up front and sides, and nothing but screen on the back. In fact, the only physical controls are the power and shutter buttons on top and the well-positioned zoom rocker at the right corner. The only other button is a small Playback mode button at the top right of the display. On the bottom is the battery/Memory Stick compartment, a proprietary connector for use with the included USB/AV cable, and a tripod mount. To take a picture you simply slide down the flat, metal lens cover and click away. You'll want to be careful of errant fingers getting in shots and touching the lens, however, as the lens is positioned at the far left.

Sony's high-contrast Xtra Fine display is quite good. At its Normal brightness setting, I had no problem seeing the screen in direct sunlight. Well, no problem after wiping away fingerprints; the T700 seems to collect more than most. If having to wipe off fingerprints is a deal breaker, you'll want to skip this camera and probably all touch-screen models for that matter--of which there are more and more. Aside from fingerprints, you might take issue with the touch screen's responsiveness. I found the T700's to be fine with fingers, but better with the included stylus (or "Paint Pen" as Sony calls it) likely because I could be more precise with it. It clips onto the wrist strap and allows you to quickly poke around the three onscreen menus (Home, Menu, and Display) along with the in-camera retouching and painting tools (you can add stamps, frames, or draw on pictures) all while keeping the screen free of fingerprints.

Navigating the camera settings is easy enough. The Home menu gives you access to all the main features and options, while the Menu screen provides context-sensitive options; for instance, if you're taking still pictures, you get all the shooting choices like scene modes and resolutions. The DSC-T700 offers 10 scene modes--including a new Gourmet option for shooting food--as well as the typical auto features.

Sony has updated its Smile Shutter function so that it continues to automatically shoot pictures of people smiling until you tell it not to, but still lets you take single shots with the shutter button. There are three smile sensitivity levels as well. The iSCN Intelligent Scene Recognition now selects the best mode from eight scene modes up from five previously, and there's an advanced mode that will take a picture with the current settings plus an additional shot with optimized settings if need be (nothing like being second-guessed by your electronics). The company added an antiblink function iSCN, too, which will automatically take a second picture if it senses closed eyes. All of these worked well.

Performance for the DSC-T700 is about the same as the T300, and one of the top performers in its class. In CNET Labs' tests, it averaged 1.7 seconds from power-on to first shot. Shot-to-shot time ran about the same, while flash bumped that up to 2.4 seconds, which is pretty fast for an ultracompact. In high-contrast conditions it took only 0.4 second to focus and shoot, while that raises to a modest 0.9 second in a lower-contrast environment. It held a rate of 1.9fps in burst mode for over 50 shots.

Picture quality is also respectable with excellent color and contrast at low ISO sensitivities, though there's some visible lens distortion on the left side, which is common in this class of cameras. Photos at and below a size of 8x10 were fine quality, though all photos generally look soft. Viewed at 100 percent, we saw some chromatic aberration, and off-subject elements of the scene tended to look smeary and overprocessed, but nothing that was noticeable at traditional print sizes and certainly not on the T700's LCD. Noise in the pictures becomes noticeable at ISO 200 and starts to seriously obscure detail at ISO 800; we don't suggest using higher settings.

As a playback device, the T700 definitely succeeds thanks to its large, sharp LCD and undemanding navigation and image management. The camera's PhotoMusic slide-show feature is fun, too, and allows you to select from five visual and three face-priority effects and eight audio tracks to add to a slide show (you can use your own music, too). However, all this enjoyment drains the 680mAh battery pretty fast.

A key ingredient to the T700's package is the PMB software. Once installed on a Windows PC--yep, it's Windows only--all you need to do is connect the camera to a USB port and the software wakes up and walks you through importing images. Then with another click of the Easy Export button on its main toolbar, it'll send the images back out to the camera, shrinking them to VGA resolution--good enough for showing people on the camera's screen while leaving you plenty of space for more pictures. The software handles organizational tasks like tagging photos as favorites so you can easily find them once they're back living on the camera. PMB can be used to directly upload to sharing sites such as Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, and YouTube as well.

Keep in mind that at this low resolution, you don't really want to actually give the photos on the camera to other people or print from the album, and they simply look bad when directly connected to a large-screen HDTV. Also, in order to use or view the internal memory you cannot have a Memory Stick card inserted in the camera. Once a card is in, the T700's memory is basically off limits. In order to access it again, say to show people stored images, you must remove the card. Kind of a drag, yes, but better than the implementation for the Cyber-shot DSC-T2, which required you to fill up its 4GB memory before you could use a Memory Stick at all.

Overall, the experience offered by the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 is enjoyable, especially if your main objective is to shoot lots of pictures in good light and then show lots of people the pictures you took.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Flash shot-to-shot time

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon PowerShot SD890 IS

1.3

3.7

2.5

0.8

0.4

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700

1.7

2.4

1.8

0.9

0.4

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300

1.9

2.2

1.7

0.5

Fujifilm FinePix F50fd

1.8

3.1

1.9

0.9

0.5

Typical continuous-shooting speed (in frames per second)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Fujifilm FinePix F50fd

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300

1.9

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700

1.6

Canon PowerShot SD890 IS

0.9

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 6 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 6 out of 6

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7 stars

Good camera with great design/features but one big flaw

by randyoaks187 on October 4, 2008

Pros: Compact design. Internal optics. Feature rich. 4GB of internal memory. Not much in the way of mechaincal things to break. Better than average shot to shot times.

Cons: Sony proprietary connector/software means difficult to share photos and renders internal memory worthless to me. Must remove battery from camera to charge. Touch screen and menus can be a drag sometimes.

Summary: I was looking for a compact camera with internal optics (i.e. no lens that comes out of the body) since my wife's 5 year old cousin dropped my ...

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Summary: I was looking for a compact camera with internal optics (i.e. no lens that comes out of the body) since my wife's 5 year old cousin dropped my 3 year old Casio right on the optics, and that was the end of that camera. For what I wanted it for, it fits the bill perfectly. I feel confident that I can hand this to a kid and they won't be able to break it. However, there are a few drawbacks that make me de-rate it. The first, which I should have known, is that the connector is proprietary and it requires the software to get the photos off the memory built into the camera. That stinks if you are traveling, you have to take YOUR laptop. I take my camera every where I go with my kids, and when at relatives houses, I like to take pictures, and then just leave them there. In the past, I would just pop out my SD card and either use a standard usb cable, and have the camera show up as removable storage, or pull out the SD card and plug that directly into a reader in a computer, or a usb adapter that I carry in my camera bag. Realizing this, I will probably go get a 4 gb MS duo card plus usb adapter now, which kind of defeats the purpose of having the internal memory. That was -1 star in my book, but pretty par for the course for Sony. The other big nit was that to charge the battery, you have to remove it from the camera and plug it into a battery charger. I was able to keep my old camera plugged into it's usb cable and it could charge off the computer. That is -1/2 a star.

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4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Great camera. surprised by the small size

by Zandian on September 29, 2008

Pros: I love the size. Yes it might be slightly thicker than the T77, but this is noticeably thinner than my N2. Love the touch screen even with fingerprints. PMB software is surprisingly useful and intuitive for packaged software. LCD very clear

Cons: Videos play in a 3" screen, rather than taking up full 3.5". Slightly more noise in low light than my Sony N2. Wished the menus worked more like a PS3-too many things to tap to get to menu item you want. For the price, should have come with a dock.

Summary: I was looking for a camera to replace my Sony N2, which I have been very happy with, but was looking to find something smaller. I've been eyeing the ...

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Summary: I was looking for a camera to replace my Sony N2, which I have been very happy with, but was looking to find something smaller. I've been eyeing the T-Series cameras since the first one but have always found things I didn't like. They've always been bulkier than I was looking for. This one really impressed me by its small size and simplicity. Feels really durable too. Display is by far the best I've seen in Sony ultra-compacts and I've had many of them - probably at least 7 now. Menu system still needs work. I really wish it was more like the PS3, but I guess it might not work so well with a touch screen. I'm impressed by the auto ISO low light capabilities without flash. In some low light conditions I choose the ISO setting, rather than auto and flash enabled and get a better, warmer picture than trying to have the flash light up the scene. I've installed many, many Cybershot photo software packages in the past and have uninstalled just about every one. The one that comes with the T700 is very nice. It is very similar to the photo program that comes with Vista. It does a great job of importing current picture folders, and offloading pictures from the camera. Its method of picture organization is very good. I really like how the software analyzes all pictures for certain faces, and when you click on a certain face it will find many other pictures with the same face. It even found a baby picture of my fiance! This feature is a bit limited in that the people need to be looking straight at the camera for it to be most effective--iit does miss some pictures because of this. Camera is lightweight an easy to carry in a pocket. It does a pretty good job of capturing video in a dark setting as well; though, it plays it back in only a 3" window. Not sure if this can be changed or not, I haven't found the menu item for that yet. For the money charged for this camera I'd like to have seen Sony throw in a docking cradle. It does come with an insert that fits into the CSS-HD2 cradle, but you have to shell out between $50-$75 to pick one up. I'd still prefer to not to have to buy Memory sticks and SD cards separately, but what are you gonna do-Sony isn't going to be letting go of that cash cow anytime soon. All in all this was finally the T-series camera I've been waiting for and I'm very happy with it.

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4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 stars

IF you are into quality photos look elsewhere.

by aafr on November 2, 2008

Pros: Camera looks great (but not pictures)

Cons: Terrible high ISO performance.
Below average picture quality.

Summary: I have no idea what CNET has been smoking. I bought the Sony camera off their review and realized that they are either biased or incompetent. Anyone looking for great ...

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Summary: I have no idea what CNET has been smoking. I bought the Sony camera off their review and realized that they are either biased or incompetent. Anyone looking for great looking pictures as opposed to a great looking toy needs to look else where.
For professional unbiased reviews try DPREVIEW.COM .

The problem with most pocket cameras is that their sensors are small and hence do not obsorb enough light. When high pixel rate is added that makes it worse. The best inexpensive pocket camera ever made was the Fuji f31df. That was because the sensor size per pixel was the largest of pocket cameras.

There are some companies trying to bring back quality pocket cameras. Sigma DP-1 and the new DP-2 are attemt at that. They provide large sensor and quality optics. THey do cost over $700 though. Olympus is working on a quality pocket but it has not been released.

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3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Very Nice Camera!

by DaveW773 on October 1, 2008

Pros: I was very impressed by the sturdy feel and clean design of the camera. So, far images are very nice and screen size / quality is fantastic. Menu is simple and easy to learn. PMB software is excellent and very useful. Love the 4GB internal memory.

Cons: Not many places to grip the phone without smudging the screen, which is no big deal. The image on the screen when taking pictures is grainy, but doesn't show in playback, which is good. Lens easily obscured with your finger, if you're not careful.

Summary: This is only my second digital camera, my first being a Canon 3.2 MP I bought quite a while back. When shopping for this camera, I looked at the ...

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Summary: This is only my second digital camera, my first being a Canon 3.2 MP I bought quite a while back. When shopping for this camera, I looked at the H50, W300, and W170. Seems that Sony has eeked ahead a bit over Canon, so I focused my search on Sony. This camera has it all, except for HD video recording, which I determined was not that important for me in a point-and-shoot and consider it a trade-off. I love how I get the 4x optical zoom without a protruding lens and the usefulness of the internal playback software is amazing.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

Awesome Product

by abhijeet29 on November 16, 2008

Pros: Handy, Large display, widescreen, enough builtin memory (4GB), good image stabilisation

Cons: a bit bulky on weight apart from that nothing as such

Summary: Good Deal for a great price :)

Summary: Good Deal for a great price :)
4 stars

Cool camera, numerous features, poor photo quality

by vallegr on November 4, 2008

Pros: The dozens of features ought to make a tech geek scream. The smile detection has improved and the design is what you want in a compact. The 4gb internal memory is also great.

Cons: The 3.5 inch LCD touchscreen attracts way too many fingerprints. Also, I found that the touchscreen feature isn't for everyone, since those who of whom I know using the camera currently make the claim that the T.S. is annoying. Pics are not good.

Summary: I was excited for this camera. 4GB internal memory, touchscreen feature with stylus, interesting design, decent shot to shot time (about 2.2 seconds), the smile detection has improved, 4x ...

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Summary: I was excited for this camera. 4GB internal memory, touchscreen feature with stylus, interesting design, decent shot to shot time (about 2.2 seconds), the smile detection has improved, 4x optical zoom, and so forth. I can go on and on. Now, I would trade a handful of these features if this camera would produce good photos. The quality is egregiously sub par, ghastly too soft, and it is absurd to spend over $300 for such poor quality. If it were not for the advanced features of this camera, I would suggest not paying over $150 based on photo quality alone. I was excited for this camera...however, Sony has disappointed me again. Where is this invested money going to? It is suppose to be investing in color processor technology. When you buy a camera, you ought to lean more toward photo quality. This camera just lacks it.

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Sony
Part number: DSC-T700/S
Description: Shoot to thrill. Carry your entire photo collection wherever you go with the pocket-sized, 10.1-megapixel DSC-T700 Cyber-shot digital camera. Frame, review and share your photos on the dazzling, 3.5" touch-screen LCD. Boasting 4GB of internal memory, you can also store up to 950 high-resolution or 40,000 VGA-sized images. Equipped with Face Detection technology that automatically adjusts exposure and color to make faces look their best and Smile Shutter mode that instantly recognizes a smile, it’s easy to preserve the perfect moment. You'll also be able to make the most of your photo opportunities with features such as Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, Anti-blink function and in-camera retouching tools.

General
Product Type Digital camera - Compact
Color Silver
Weight 0.3 lbs
Width 3.8 in
Depth 0.7 in
Height 2.4 in
Main Features
Resolution 10.1 megapixels
Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom. This camera utilizes built-in Super SteadyShot stabilization to assist in taking sharper pictures.
Sensor resolution 10.1 megapixels
Optical Sensor Type Super HAD CCD
Effective Sensor Resolution 10,100,000 pixels
Total Pixels 10.3 megapixels
Light Sensitivity ISO 200, ISO 800, ISO auto, ISO 400, ISO 80, ISO 3200, ISO 1600, ISO 100
Digital Zoom 2 x
Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
Shooting Programs High sensitivity, Twilight portrait, Twilight mode, Soft snap, Landscape, Beach, Food, Hi-speed shutter, Underwater, Snow, Fireworks
Special effects Retro, Fisheye, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia, Soft Focus
Max Shutter Speed 1/1000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 1 sec
Exposure Metering Multi-segment
Exposure Modes Automatic, Program
Exposure Compensation ?2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps in 1/3, 2/3 or 1 EV steps
White Balance Automatic, Presets
White Balance Presets Incandescent,

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 (silver)

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