Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4Mb.

The Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1 produced images of very good quality during the review period. This camera handled noise very well, not becoming obvious until the relatively slow speed of ISO 800 and then becoming progressively worse at the fastest settings of ISO 1600 and 3200 - still, not bad for such a small image sensor.

Chromatic aberrations were virtually non-existent, with just some limited purple fringing effects appearing in high contrast situations. The 10 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, as you can't change the in-camera sharpening level.

Macro performance is a stand-out highlight, allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject, although there is a lot of lens distortion and shadowing at such a close distance. Talking of distortion, this is clearly evident in the form of barrel distortion at the 35mm wide-angle focal length. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure.

Anti-shake works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The only real fly in the ointment is the disappointing maximum shutter speed of 2 seconds, which doesn't allow the camera to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 125 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1's 4x zoom lens offers a fairly versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:

35mm	140mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft and ideally benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can't change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1 handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review, with very limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is just 1cm away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1 are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Syncro, No Flash, with a Red-eye Reduction option in the Main menu. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (35mm)	Forced Flash - Wide Angle (35mm)
Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (140mm)	Forced Flash - Telephoto (140mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Forced Flash setting or the Red-Eye Correction option caused any red-eye.

Forced Flash	Forced Flash (100% Crop)
Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night Shot

The Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1's maximum shutter speed is 2 seconds, which is not good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 2 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Sony CyberShot DSC-TX1 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/10th / 35mm
1/6th / 140mm

Dynamic Range Optimizer

DRO is Sony's solution for improving shadow detail in photos taken in contrasty light. The selectable settings are Off, Standard [D-R] and Advanced [D-R+]. The examples show the effect of the different settings.

Off	Standard	Advanced

High-speed Continuous Shooting

One of the high points of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 is its ability to shoot a burst at up to 10 frames per second. The following series of 6 photographs was shot at 10fps.

Hand-held Twilight Mode

Another standout feature is the Hand-held Twilight mode, in which the camera takes six high-ISO photos in rapid succession, and combines them into a single image. To test this, we took the same shot twice, once with the feature enabled, and once in Program mode. The Hand-held Twilight photo turned out to have somewhat less noise, but was noticeably softer too (the other new mode, Anti Motion Blur, works in a similar fashion).

Manual Mode	Hand-held Twilight Mode
(100% Crop)	(100% Crop)

Sweep Panorama Mode

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 allows you to take panoramic images very easily, by 'sweeping' with the camera while keeping the shutter release depressed. The camera does all the processing and stitching. The catch is that the resulting image is of fairly low resolution, and moving subjects tend to be replicated. Check out some examples below.

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 camera, which were all taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

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Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Lens Cover Open

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Menu

Rear of the Camera / Menu

Rear of the Camera / REC Mode

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 joins the small but growing list of compact cameras that are concentrating on image quality rather than simply increasing the megapixel count, and largely delivers on its promise. But a steep price-tag (particularly in the UK), lack of manual controls and love or hate it touch-screen design ultimately limit its appeal.

Virtually identical in terms of its design to previous T-series cameras, the TX1 feels fairly run-of-the-mill as far as Sony's Cyber-shot range goes, its designers seemingly reluctant to depart from the template laid down by previous successful incarnations. On the upside the TX1 remains one of the more attractive credit card sized cameras out there, and the touchscreen interface is undoubtedly fun and intuitive to use, if not the quickest way to operate a camera. Since basically everything about it is point-and-shoot in nature, as long as you have a good eye it's easy to take a decent photo with the TX1.

This is largely because Sony's new Exmor-R sensor delivers the goods in terms of image quality, with the promise of better low-light performance certainly borne out in practice. Despite having such a small image sensor, the TX1 produces impressive results up to ISO 800, with noise not really becoming apparent until the relatively slow speed of 1600. Colours are accurate, chromatic aberrations virtually non-existent, the Sweep Panorama mode makes capturing panoramic images as effortless as it gets, and the super-fast 10fps burst mode at full resolution is the real icing on the cake. Only noticeable barrel distortion and soft edges at the wide-angle setting of 35mm (which isn't really that wide), a rather limiting fastest shutter speed of 2 seconds, and the occasional appearance of your fingers in the frame due to the extreme position of the lens detract from the otherwise excellent pictures that this camera takes.

We'd expect rather more photographer-friendly features for the eye-watering $380 / £385 asking price, with the TX1 proving too expensive for the beginner whilst not offering enough for the more experienced. The Sony TX1 doesn't quite get the balance right between style and substance, price and features, which is a real shame given the excellent results that it produces. A step in the right direction then, and still worth a look if you want the best point-and-shoot pictures around at any expense.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	3.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 from around the web.

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