I Received My Sony DSC-T200

I was thrilled to receive my DSC-T200 2 days ago!  You'll recall that I wrote about it a short while ago and that I'd pre-ordered it before it even officially went on sale!  Well, after 2 days of playing with this camera, I must say, I am very pleased.  There are several things I really like about the T200.  First, I like the size.  It is so compact!  It is also very light.  I carried it in my shirt pocket yesterday and hardly noticed it was there. 

Secondly, I love the display screen.  It is huge!  At 3.5" it takes up the entire back of the unit.  That of course does have one thing that will take getting use to - where to grab/hold the camera.  It is an odd feeling when taking a picture to only hold the camera by the outer frame since if I hold it as I normally held my old camera, I am really holding it by the screen!   But the large LCD screen is great for viewing pictures.  It is also a touch screen and I find it to be a very natural set of controls.  Of course, with any such "touch" device, carrying a small cloth to wipe the screen is a must. 

The face detection and smile shutter work exactly as advertised.  I love those two features.  What is nice about the smile shutter is that once you select the subject by tapping the face, the camera will not take a picture until that person smiles.  As soon as they smile...CLICK...the camera shoots the picture.  What is nice is that it will go on tracking the face and keep taking pictures each time they smile until you press the shutter button again.  This will be nice for birthdays as the kids unwrap gifts.  I'll just keep the camera trained on them and as soon as they smile as they unwrap that "I-absolutely-wanted-this-gift" - CLICK - the shot will be captured. 

I will give a more detailed review once I've used the camera a bit more and I'll post some sample shots.  I love that I can shot in 16:9 format - looks awesome on my widescreen Macbook Pro.   I'll probably include some video in the review since it'll be hard to have the DSC-T200 take pictures of itself!

Comments

[vinayak]

Plz send me a copy of operating manual of DSC-T200 on given e-mail ID.

vinayak_5@hotmail.com. I am also planning to buy this model.

[Kiufung]

fine, I've just ordered one today. would like to know more. please tell. thanks.

[mip]

I am working on a full review of the camera that will post Friday. It will include some sample pics. So far, I am very satisfied with the camera. It works very well, pictures look great and the above listed features are excellent.

[Alan]

Got it yesterday. Smile shutter works best it seems when there is an extreme change from no expression to white teeth smile.

The huge 3.5 inch lcd screen is impressive especially with touch screen though the resolution is not as good as the T100 as it seems they had just streched the same resolution into a larger area. Image quality is very good.

Btw, the manual is very small, not much info, in my opinion.

[mip]

You can adjust the sensitivity of the smile shutter so that it requires less or more of a smile. You are right about the manual, very limited in its usefulness.

[Dayna Reynoldson]

I too have this camera. I was just wondering if anyone else gets little white round dots on some shots? They usually show up on a background wall, or shiny surface. Does this have to do with the lighting? Other than that, I love this camera!

[mip]

Hi Dayna. I haven't notices the little white dots you described. I had a few darker dots show up in one picture (1 picture out of 80 I took) that was the result of shooting in low light and me playing with the various settings.

[Alan]

The white round dots I saw them as well when I took a picture of another picture in a glass frame. It seems to be the flash and camera picking up the reflections of dirt or something.

Even on high sensitivity, it does take a bit to get it to take the picture. Could be my subjects are sad-looking smilers???

[Nic]

I can't believe I've spent hours looking for a picture of the T200 with the lens cover open. I want to see where the lens is relative to the camera body, and if the lens cover interferes in any way with camera operation when it's open.

Do you think you could post a picture?

Thanks!

[Alan]

try the HK sony site http://www.sonystyle.com.hk/ss/product/cybershot/dsc_t200_e.jsp

[Sandy]

I hope you have not forgotten about us and that the review of the camera will still go on. I was hoping your review would shed some light and that it would be enough to finally convince me to drop $300.00 into this camera as a smaller alternative to my Olympus SLR. I check your site daily to see if you have left the review or not. Please know the interest is still there and I will wait. Thanks for your help.

[Alan]

$300 for the T200? Is it stolen?

[sandy]

http://thedigitalnerds.com/product.asp?productid=DSCT200B&tab=1

check out this web site 295.00 plus shipping

[Alan Wu]

Good luck with that site. Judging by the online complaints and reviews, you will have a heck of a time getting this camera at that price. Check out:

http://www.newyork.bbb.org/reports/PrintReport.aspx?id=74756&lang=en

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7593_102-0.html?forumID=58&threadID=110397&messageID=2564805

[Alan]

Remember to always google search a online company name before ordering from them.

Btw, I got mine for $399 CDN taxes included (which at this point in time is about the same price in USD) from Sony Canada directly.

[sandy]

Alan, Thanks for the heads up I sometimes forget to search the BBB before I make a big purchase. Needless to say I will not be buying from them. Ebay has some for under 375. So I will probably just use that method. Seems you have this camera? What is your opinion? Are you satisfied with the picture quality? I have an Olympus SLR, and am looking for a compact camera, something I can carry with me at all times, but without giving up picture quality. Can you give your opinion on this camera? Thanks! Sandy

[Alan]

Image quality is quite good except when taking in higher ISO modes. Take a look at some samples from another user of T200 at another site:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=24813518

Battery life may be on the lower end lately, maybe due to my constant paint drawing and fooling around with it. But otherwise a very fun and great camera all-around.

[Eric]

How did you get it for 399 CDN? I looked at the sonystyle.ca site and it's 499? Am I looking at the wrong place?

[Alan]

Yeah $399 Cdn inclusive. When I say buy directly from Sony, I don't mean the Sony Store or Sonystyle.com. I order direct from them through my Sony rep. It's one of those, if I tell you, I'd have to kill you kinda things. haha

[Eric]

Haha, I see I see. It's good to have connections!

[kiufung]

hello, I finally got my Sony camera today. Really can't wait to charge the battery. Still waiting for your review...Thanks.

[mip]

Hi everyone. What a great discussion you are having here. I'm glad that this post has sparked some interest in the camera. I have posted a brief review, including a video demonstration of the camera and a sample picture. Let me know if you have any other questions or comments.

[Nick]

Hello,

would you please take some sample videos with the T200 and post them? I am about ready to plonk down the cash for this baby but would love to see some video first... and I am eagerly awaiting your review.

[Heather]

Hi, Just purchased the DSC-T200 camera tonight from the Sony store..
I purchased it on a whim because someone dropped my DSC-T9 and it is time to upgrade.....
I am hoping that the new touch screen is a good feature and that the night time shots of friends out for dinner or outside in the dark are better quality that the DSC-T9. I found my DSC-T9 night time shots were always poor quality and dark. I was not willing to sacrifice the compact feature for a camera with a stronger flash. I am hoping that this camera with the 3200ISO is a big improvement....Everything else I love about my compact Sony camera...Oh yes, How is the red eye with the new camera....
Any comments on these points.....
Thanks for any feedback I can get.....
Heather

[shailesh]

I have read that it has a small amount of noise added while taking a indoor pictures with/without flash ? Is that true ?