Buy Sony Cyber-shot T500 Digital Camera - Red (10.1MP, 5x Optical) 3.5 inch LCDSony Cyber-shot T500 Digital Camera - Red (10.1MP, 5x Optical) 3.5 inch LCD Product Description:
Product Description
- 3.5" LCD
- 5x Optical Zoom
- HD movie capture
- Touch Screen
- BIONZ processor
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
By S J
I bought this camera mainly to use for filming 720p HD videos.I chose this over other 'still-camera-with-HD-mode' offerings from Panasonic, Canon, Samsung etc for many reasons.Firstly the video quality is truly impressive for such a diminutive pocket-sized thing. The highest quality 720p setting movies look great on my 32" HD ready TV. Even indoors and in low light the camera performs well, with some expected noise/grain but acceptable to me. I would say it copes just as well as my Sony PC105 MiniDV camcorder in low light.The T500 uses real, physical optical stabilisation during filming (where the actual lens element moves to compensate for shake) - and this works very well for minimising jerkiness inevitable in hand-held filming with any light-weight device.Many cameras with video recording only have 'fixed focus' during filming which results in soft, slightly blurry videos. The T500's continuous autofocus works throughout the video recording to focus on different things while you move the camera. It has a macro-mode as well for focusing on close objects which I usually leave on as default because this mode automatically focuses on both distant and close-up object whereas the standard autofocus mode requires a minimum of 60cm or so to ensure sharp focus.I love being able to optically zoom (very smoothly!) during recording video (as opposed to more common 'digital' zoom which just blows up the pixels in the picture). The zooming on the T500 is silent and silky smooth along its full 5x range, unlike other makes where the zoom operation can be picked up on the recording.The lens is internally folding, therefore no protruding lens mechanisms to accidentally jam, bend or inadvertently activate whilst in your back pocket. By this design the camera also retains its sleek, slender design even when you turn it on, unlike other conventional cameras where the lens extends out from the body on start-up.You can see Sony's intentions for this camera to be used for video recording just as much for still shots by the fact they have included a dedicated flick-switch right near the shutter to quickly switch from still-camera and video mode. Movies are also recorded with stereo sound. This and the other features mentioned before shows a lot of deliberate thought was put into the video recording aspect of this device and not simply a 'bolted-on' after-thought.The T500 is encased in classy, strong metal and feels very robust and expensive in your hand. I got the silver brushed metal version and it gets admiring comments whenever it makes an appearance. The LCD touch menu takes a bit of getting used to, particularly the unnecessary separation of 'menu' and 'home' options which can confuse the user about where to find particular settings.Having such a large screen (same dimensions as the iPhone) the battery doesn't last very long - from my first full charge, the battery indicator went from full 5 bars to 1 bar in around 50mins of continuous operation. Therefore I would definitely recommend a second battery (preferably a high capacity one) if you intend to do a lot of filming and viewing photos/videos on the camera's screen.You may also wish to set the Optical Image Stabilisation to 'half-shutter activation' instead of 'always on' and keep screen brightness on 'normal' rather than 'bright' as this will help reduce battery drainage.The Sony camera allows a maximum of 10mins continuous shooting per movie file. You can fit as many 10min clips as your card capacity allows. From what I've read this 10min limitation is due to EU tax rules for photography equipment. Camcorders attract a higher tax, and if a device can record continuous video for more than a certain period it becomes classified as a video camcorder. Having a 10min limitation ensures the T500 is classified as a digital still camera and therefore qualifying for the lower tax rate. Others have speculated that the 10min limit is to prevent or hamper piracy at cinema theatres and concerts since the camera is so small, unobvious and discrete.Whatever the reason, it isn't a big issue since I've never had to record the same scene for more than 5-8 mins without interruption anyway. I am used to editing and putting together the scenes using a PC. The movie files are recorded in the H264/AVC codec at around 30fps and play smoothly with Apple QuickTime by the way, which is free to download on the internet.I bought a Sony branded 8GB Pro Duo Mark 2 MagicGate memory stick for my T500 and this shows on the camera as allowing up to 1hr35mins of video at highest quality 720p. Although as stated before, unless you have more than one battery at hand, your battery will run out well before you can fill that amount anyway.I would emphasise the importance of buying your Sony Memory Stick cards directly from reputable sources such as Amazon (not marketplace) or other similar established retailers to ensure you are getting a genuine card otherwise you will find although you can take pictures, the camera will refuse to record videos if the card is fake - the card needs to be MagicGate enabled. SanDisk and Transcend are also licensed to use MagicGate but once again only if genuine.Now finally, the still-picture quality (hey, after all this is a digital camera!) the images are pretty average I'd say. Outdoors is good, but indoor shots are quite noisy and the face-detection isn't as fast as Fuji or Canon's. Also the 'half-shutter' point on the shutter button isn't very obvious, and it's very easy to press the full shutter when you're trying to re-compose a shot.So if you're intending to buy this primarily for still pictures I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're after a camera with very good video capability along with acceptable image quality I can think of no better alternative. (Well except the newer Sony T90 or T900 maybe!)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
By M. O. Bramall
I bought a red old version of this camera about 9 months ago, it was a an excellent version. I bought this newer model as replacemen for my older version that was snatched by a thief in Mexico. The old version though have two minor faults:1.Due to constant closing and opening of the lens cover, the red colour sort of rubbed off.2. The camera mode is also difficult to find.This version has amazingly solved those two problems, they must have realised the faults. Sony have redesigned this camera as the lens cover has improved. A new button on the top makes switching between camera and video mode so much easier. All in all, I am quite happy to hae this new version. I recomend it to anyone who likes their high tech gadgets that are small, compact and light but versatile.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
By Mrs. M. E. Dickinson
This camera is absolutely fabulous. I love the touch screen commands and it is so easy to use, I bought a red coloured one and it is really trendy
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