Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a great little camera; it takes high quality stills and
amazingly good videos. I got this gadget as a replacement for my
old sony, and so far have been very hapy with both the
new functionality and the quality of output.
My only comment is that the software included with the camera is
largely useless. The video produced is in the MP4 format (which is
basically QuickTime on steroids) so you will need to get a decent
MP4 player.
I've downloaded a MP4 player called 'mpegable', which comes as a
standalone application or a plugin for Microsoft Media Player.
It works very well in both configurations.
If you plan on converting video to other formats (such as writing
it to DVD) you will need to invest into a decent converter,
I've used QuickTime Pro with much success.
As a side note, my favorite DVDSource Creator will not work
with MP4's produced by this camera.
The video produced (at highest settings) is:
Size: 640x480
Frame Rate: 29.97 fps
Bitrate: 2734 kb/s
Audio: 2 channels
Sample rate: 24000 Hz
Depth: 16 bit
Bitrate: 123 Kb/sec
On a close inspection of the video, compression artifacts are
visible, but overall the quality is very good. The low light
performance is adequate, keeping in mind that a 3CCD camcorder
it is not. The camera does not have image stabilization, so try
to minimize or otherwise smooth your hand movements.
I had to throw away my old memory sticks and related hardware
(adapters, etc) because this camera takes a new format memory,
called memory stick duo and duo pro. I've purchased half a gig
duo pro from ebuyer which the camera recognized with no problems.
The quality of stills is very good, there are many new menu
options to play with. What stands out immideately is the new
'magnifying glass' mode, and the 'hybrid' mode. The latter allows
you to shoot 'hybrid' video/still combinations. Not sure of how
useful is that.
--- 1 week update:
I had opportunity to take more pictures and video with this
camera. I am still upbeat on the video capabilities, pictures
are not that simple. First off, it is my conclusion that taking
great pictures with this camera is possible, but it requires some
serious tweaking with the menus, reading the manual and
understanding the basics of photografy.
If everything is left in 'auto' mode the pictures will come out
blury, default flash is simply inadequate, every single picture
taken indoors will have red-eye problem. There is also sporadic
'purpling' problem, when the background turns feverish
yellow/purple for no particular reason.
This is what I did to workaround the problem:
1) Switch OFF auto-mode (i.e. keep Program mode ON)
2) Switch OFF multi-spot nonsense back to regular spot focus
3) Switch ON Red Eye reduction function
4) Switch OFF AF illumination
5) Increase flash from normal to flash+
6) Picked 3 megapixel format (this is arbitrary, I have
no use for 5 megapixel pictures)
7) Try to pick a correct ISO (100/200/400) and light balance
by hand before shooting.
8) Try to hold the hand absolutely steady during the shoot
This results in nice, crisp pictures. However, I feel the vendor
should have programed the auto mode so the users don't need to go
through menus/setup all the time. The last thing I needed is to
learn the importance of histogram and shutter speeds.
To conclude, an automatic, forgiving camera it is not. You
will not be able to take pictures at a party (or anywhere else
for that matter) without changing a menu setting or two.
However, understanding the way the camera works and reading the
manual once (or twice) will improve the quality of the pictures.
I would deduct a couple of stars from my original 5 star
assesment, but I don't think Amazon allows you to do so on once
the rating is assigned.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony Cybershot DSCM1 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom & MPEG4 Video
Sony DSC-M1 Cyber-shot(R) Digital Camera is a remarkably tiny camcorder and digital-camera in one. A key reason is that video and still images are all recorded on MemoryStick or MemoryStick-Pro digital media. It doesn't use any tapes! It's also the first Sony Cyber-shot(R) Digital-Camera to offer MPEG-4 codec for excellent video motion recording and, in a sense, is styled more like a camcorder than a compact digital camera. Cyber-shot(R) DSC-M1 is a 5.1-megapixel digital still camera that pays particular attention to the role moving images play in preserving memories, and even more attention to making it easy to use. The camera, a slim, matte-black device about the size of a deck of cards, is held vertically, and its 2.5-inch articulated LCD swivels upward and rotates a full 270 degrees. This new shooting orientation provides more surface area to access both the menu navigation buttons and two "hot" buttons for direct access to recording stills and video. The outer edge of the LCD also has buttons serving two functions. While the LCD is extended and the camera is in record mode, the buttons can be used to record, and toggle back and forth between stills and video. When the LCD is facing outward, but flush with the camera's body, the buttons can be used to playback stills and video, turning the camera into a personal media viewer.Up to 640x480 VGA movie images Large 2.5 LCD viewer Auto and manual focus modes Programmed and manual exposure modes Self timer modeApproximate Unit Size -2 x 4.5 x 1.1 inch
0 comments:
Post a Comment