Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot (Silver) Reviews

• Great camera

  
  By AHZQ1YAR5YT3P on 2007-04-23
  The DSC-T100 is a very good camera and I would highly recommend it. I have had several generations of the Cybershot series (DSC-T1, DSC-T9 and now the DSC-T100) and they've all been great, high quality cameras.
  
  This camera takes beautiful pictures. The pictures are clear, little to no white bleeding, with superb colors and great contrast. The lens is bigger than previous models so it works better in low light conditions and apparently this camera uses the noise reduction technology used in the new high end Sony cameras so the pictures should be less noisy when it's dark too.
  
  The movie quality is 640x480 at 30 frames per second with audio. And unlike the previous models you can zoom while recording movies (BIG plus!), whereas in the previous models you were locked at whatever zoom level you set before you began recording. Also, the movies are saved into MPG and not Quicktime so you're not locked into a video format.
  
  The camera is bigger than the previous top-end models, but not by much. I imagine they made the change to fit in the 5x optical zoom (over the previous 3x). And while they had the extra depth they threw in a 3 inch LCD (instead of 2.5) and a larger battery (to drive the larger LCD no doubt). I personally preferred the feel of the DSC-T9, but I accept the trading of features for a bit more size.
  
  The downsides to the camera are few and minor, and if I could I would have given this product a 4.5/5, but they don't let you do that. But, here are the problems I have with this camera.
  
  1. Reduced Buttons: From the previous models they removed buttons and replaced them with software driven menus. While I do not mind software menus, I do mind not having a choice between using the software menus and using physical buttons. They really should have included a button for delete and I really want a switch to pick between movie mode and picture mode. It takes a few extra seconds to switch from the previous models and I don't like that. Companies seem to think that it makes something easier to use if they make it software driven, but really it makes it harder and slower to use.
  
  2. Options Not Very Accessible: The software menus impose too many limitations. I should be able to cycle through all flash options with the flash button in auto mode, but I have to go into program auto mode to do it, and I have to use the software menus to do it. This camera has the ability to set a brighter flash or a dimmer flash, but it takes so long to change that I won't ever be able to use it. The same type of problem applies to the red eye reduction (although, I don't think it's necessary because it doesn't seem to have red eye problems since the flash is further away from the lens).
  
  3. The camera is still missing options that the DSC-T1 had. When I bought my DSC-T9 I remembered being so angry that they changed and removed options, and still they're missing. For example, you can cycle through different display levels (normal, normal with histogram, bright, etc.). On the DSC-T1 there was an option to turn off the backlight, which increased the battery time dramatically. But, you can't do this on the newer DSC-T9 or even the newest DSC-T100 models.
  
  4. It's a Sony so you pay a lot more for it. The camera is a reasonable price, but to make it useful you need to buy a Memory Stick Pro Duo, which costs a considerable amount more than SD cards (even though they are the same technology). You also may want the docking station, which is far overpriced, and all of the various other peripherals are more expensive then this should be also.
  
  Don't let the negatives discourage you though. This is a good product a Sony deserves praise for making it. I just wish they'd consult with me before they marketed it. :)
  
  

• Great Little Camera

  
  By A1TM7HLAYOVWNA on 2007-04-10
  First of all I would like to say that I was very reluctant to buy a SONY camera. After doing a lot of research for my needs I ended up with Canon 800IS and Sony's new toy T100. Ofcourse canon has the best overall ratings for ever but I wanted a stylish looking camera for my needs. Sony T100 is the best looking camera I have seen. It's features are awesome compared to it's small size. You can take it everywhere. Big bright screen on the back clearly visible in bright sunlight. It takes good indoor pictures too. I tried to play with its settings for while and thought that camera was not good. But then the best feature of the camera made it a winner for me. The auto mode takes great pictures and no need to set anything. Sometimes changing auto ISO helped to reduce the graniness but to be very honest if you are not going to blow the image to larger sizes (which would be 99% of the time atleast for me) it won't make difference. Just Point and Shoot. You get a perfect image for viewing on computers. No complaints apart from optional docking station which costs about $80. 5x optical zoom is boon to me as 3x was merely zoom. Also zomming while taking movies makes this a small camcoder with 640x480 30fps shooting.
  
  It doesn't have touch screen like T50 and so it's responsiveness is better. I would like it bit faster though. Also camera takes pictures at very fast rate and the first picture you take is less than 2 secs.
  
  I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who can afford it.
  
  
  
  
  

• Poor photo quality, other design issues...

  
  By ADMWYMH11LD27 on 2007-06-06
  I bought this to upgrade from a 5 megapixel CyberShot, which, over the course of three years had started to take degraded photos from dust getting inside the case and in the lens barrel. I took it apart once last year to clean it out, and it helped marginally, but then after taking it apart again prior to buying the DSC-T100, I managed to not reassemble it correctly, therefore breaking it.
  
  The DSC-T100 has an 8 megapixel sensor and apparently "super steady shot." Neither of these things seem to matter though, because the camera took crap photos. What good is an 8 megapixel photo when, even shrunk down, it looks blurry and hazy? In addition, why didn't the "super steady shot" kick in to fix this? Even in standard daylight, albeit indoors, some photos would turn out blurry. This was unacceptable. Even my old Sony 3 megapixel CyberShot (prior to the 5 and then this model) took crisper pictures than this.
  
  Another big problem I had with this camera was its interface design. On my previous two CyberShots, there was a function wheel that you could slide between modes very quickly with. Okay, I'm in auto picture mode, and now I want to take a video. Let's slide the wheel.
  
  Here? Okay, let's hit the menu button, which brings up a stuipid PSP style interface, hit down twice to move to movie mode, and then click OK! Yeah, that's really a step forward in interface design.
  
  These two things essentially killed the camera for me, and I returned it to Amazon.
  
  On the plus side, I LOVE the movie modes on the Sony cameras, which is why this was my third CyberShot. 30fps, 640x480 standard MPEG looks great, and with the DSC-T100 they added the ability to zoom.
  
  Oh yeah, the camera is also prohibitively small. Now, I wouldn't say I have huge hands or anything, but holding the camera, I noticed that my hand would cover the lens a bit at times forcing me to reposition it. So the lens is placed awkwardly here.
  
  Stay away from the DSC-T100.
  
  My quest for a new Sony camera continues, because I already have a bunch of Memory Stick Pro media, and because I love the movie modes on these cameras. But the DSC-T100's photo quality sucks, as does the interface.
  
  

• As a loyal Sony user--> a huge dissapointment.

  
  By APBB297H3ZA5E on 2007-05-06
  1. Just to let people know where I'm coming from:
  * I know a decent amount about photography and digital photography.
  * I respect and love Sony cameras: I've owned the F828, W1, V3 and R1, all of which took / take excellent
  images.
  
  2. I wanted a true subcompact camera, one that I could literally slip in my pocket, did a fair amount of research
  and since I loved all of my other Sony cameras, I assumed that the T100 would be another great Sony camera.
  
  3. So what are the problems I had with this camera?
  * This has been noted by many folks in the various forums--> indoor flash photos are... subpar. Even with
  tweaking the various settings, it's still subpar in my book. Furthermore, another person made this very
  good point--> this camera is a true point and shoot--> and thus one should expect excellent flash
  photos without tweaking this and that. The crazy thing is, even with all of the tweaking--> terrible
  indoor flash shots.
  * Others have noted that the outdoor shots are fine--> I would disagree with this as well. The my overall
  impression (compared to my other Sony Cameras) is that the T100 outdoor shots are: a) Less sharp
  b) Colors are... not as good (duller etc...) c) Overly contrasty (?) -- poor dynamic range.
  
  4. Thus, as someone who is not biased at all against Sony cameras (quite the opposite), I found the T100 a
  huge dissapointment. The image quality and performance was so poor, I just couldn't believe that Sony
  would put out such a product.
  
  

• Great all purpose camera

  
  By AKA1C5F3L46EZ on 2007-04-03
  The DSC-T100 is a great all round point and shoot with all the features expected of a camera in this class. The 5x optical zoom is nice given the non protruding lens, and allows for a very quick start up time in around a second. Additionally the face detection is very good, once it locks on to subject/s it visually moves with them to keep the focus area of the frame always in the right place. It can be used with full auto settings or it gives access to manual controls, however I found auto to be very good in almost all situations. The pictures taken are very good quality although in low light the high iso does blur a little. The continuous shoot mode allows for almost 3 shots a second with out flash which is leaps ahead of the Casio I traded in for this. The menu structure of the Sony is very intuitive and feels like a proper interface rather a bunch of options in a long list.
  
  All in all a very good, easy to use, high featured compact camera. I would recommend to anyone.
  
  
  
• Pricey but totally worth owning
  By A5JLAU2ARJ0BO on 2007-06-25
  I've had the T100 for just a few days (including a weekend of heavy shooting). I love it. Compared to similar offerings from Panasonic, Canon, Fuji, to name a few, it's expensive, but it has these following features that I find useful -- and they do work well in the real world:
  
  - Excellent picture quality: you buy a digital camera to shoot great-looking pictures, right? The T100 takes excellent pictures indoors and outdoors; like other Sony digicams, it's especially good at taking scenery photos
  
  - Face detection: automatically sets focus and exposure optimally for light-skinned faces in the picture; seems to work well in well-lit scenes
  
  - Optical image stabilization ("SteadyShot"): helps you steady slow-shutter shots; saves you about 1 f-stop; only Canon and Panasonic besides Sony use this kind of sophisiticated, non-digital technology
  
  - 5x optical zoom: the highest among ultra-slim digital cameras; zoom range is 35mm-175mm equivalent in a 35mm film camera
  
  - Zoom optically while shooting video: I'd been wanting this since the first day (over eight years ago) I got my first digital camera (a Fuji); yes, you can zoom the lens smoothly and *optically* (as opposed to digitally) while shooting in movie mode
  
  - 3" super-bright LCD: the regular brightness level is pretty usable outdoors, but if you're shooting in bright sunlight, you can crank up the LCD brightness even further (at the expense of shortened battery life, of course)
  
  - Decent battery life: rated at 340 shots per charge by the Japanese CIPA standard; this translates into pretty good real-world battery life
  
  - Some manual controls available: EV compensation, etc.
  
  - Gorgeous design: and yes, I got this red version :)
  
  So is this worth almost $400 for an 8-megapixel camera? For me, the 5x zoom and optical image stabilization are must-have features (I'm nuts about shooting low-light photos without using the flash, unless I'm shooting with my Nikon D70 digital-SLR with sophisticated lighting setup that reproduces a natural-light look to the scene).
  
  Canon's and Panasonic's and Fujifilm's shoot excellent-quality pictures, too, but only the T100 has the right mix of image quality (and a great movie mode with zoom), standout styling and ease-of-use that make it a total best buy for me.
  
  Your comments and questions are welcome.
  
  
• Poor indoor shots
  By A1PX69JLXRCGJW on 2007-05-08
  I really wanted to like this camera, but it's shortcomings were just too much to overcome. Outdoors, it did a commendable job, handling most shots well. It also had a good movie recording mode and allowed zooming, while recording. It felt like I had a mini handicam with me, at all times, which was nice.
  
  The problems occured indoors and/or low light shots. The camera's flash isn't very strong. Skin tones especially, tended to look water color painted, if not close enough(within say 7ft or so). Also, the camera(in Auto mode) would raise the ISO, sometimes quite high, to compensate for it's weak flash, resulting in photos that were noisy. This was the problem. The indoor/low light shots were just too unpredictable. Yea, you could get around this by using Program mode and picking a specific ISO, and flash intensity(nice feature), for the situation, but that's not what a Point and Shoot camera should be. You should be able to throw it in auto mode and get consistently good results on most of your shots, which wasn't happening for me. Also, using Program mode, face detection was no longer available, if you are into that.
  
  All in all, I was disappointed with this camera, as a P&S camera. It just required too much baby sitting, indoors and in lower light. On top of that, the cost was a bit high(about $50-$100 more than other cameras in it's class).
  
  
• It is the best at everything except taking pictures
  By A15VBTNMNSLADZ on 2007-05-10
  This camera has an awesome 3" display, the menus are the easiest and most user-friendly than any other camera I've seen, the design and everything is awesome. I have been waiting to go from my big digital SLR to a small little camera and I had high hopes for this.
  
  It takes STUNNING video, you can zoom through, if you go from a light area or a dark one and back it adjusts right away, and just all together you think you had a camcorder. Fine video mode is just excellent.
  
  Close up pictures are also excellent. Outside, in the sun pictures are pretty good (nothing to write home about but usable).
  
  Pictures taken inside, or in auto mode, or in any settings over 100 asa (what's the point of having up to 3200 sensitivity when it look worse than a cell phone picture?). There is insane color bleed around the edges of things (like a millimeter or two of it), there is no "edge" definition, if you have something thin like a power cord, it will just be an undefined black blur, and EVERYTHING is grainy. Hands down some of the worst pictures I've ever seen. My cell phone literally takes far better picture at 1.3 mega pixels.
  I returned the camera, got a replacement, and it has the EXACT same issues.
  
  
  
• Attractive and easy to use. I wish the pictures were better.
  By A2RFFV2NZGK8DA on 2007-05-17
  Pros:
  The camera looks and feels great in the hand. The solid metal casing, and the very satisfactory snap of the front sliding mechanism is very pleasing.
  
  I get frequent compliments and looks of envy when i pull this camera out, which to me, is a desired feature for any personal electronics i carry on my person everyday.
  
  The user interface design on sony cameras are generally very intuiative and well thought out. The 3" screen is gorgeous and the buttons are very tactile and easy to reach and use.
  
  Cons:
  
  The camera captures OK pictures, but nothing to get excited about. It gets extremely noisy in indoor shots. by comparison, the Fuji F10 i bought perhaps 3 years ago easily out shone this camera in picture quality. In terms of a high ISO sensitivy camera (which this camera does boast, with sensitivity up to 3200iso and image stablization), i think i would whole heartedly recommend the much uglier and bigger Fuji F'series.
  
  Unlike the Sony T7 which I also own, I found this camera to be a lot slower in autofocusing when the flash is needed. In any indoor shot, i almost can never capture the shot i had want. I would pull out the camera, point it at my subject, and she/he might pose for me, and the camera would just flash the red focus light on them, for god knows how long, and the camera just won't snap any pictures. by the time the camera finally does take a picture, the moment is lost (up to 10-20 second) and the composition of the picture i had hoped for is no longer there. the upside i guess, is that i don't get too many "posed" photos from this camera cause people trying to pose usually assume they don't have to freeze in a fake smile for that long. by the time the camera flashes, they are generally surprised :P
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Cute attractive camera might just be right for you. But i'd really recommand getting a few test shots in before you commit this much money to it.
  
  I am not dissatisfied enough with this camera to return it, but i probably won't buy it again if i had to do it over.
  
  
  
  
  
• Looks great, takes awful pictures
  By A25NSTXNN16KG8 on 2007-05-11
  I honestly have no idea how anyone can give this camera 5 stars. Sure, it looks beautiful, has an amazing screen, and the audio is pretty snazzy too, but where it falls completely on its face is in the one thing it should do best of all - TAKE PICTURES. Outdoor photos are OK, but most come out pretty bland looking. I took a picture of the street outside my home, and what is bright and lifelike in real life turned out muddied (but clear) in the picture with the one exception being the stop sign, which is red in real life, but looked like flourescent orange in the picture. Almost cartoonlike.
  
  I probably could have lived with that, but the final straw for this camera was the insanely terrible pictures it takes indoors, even with brightly lit rooms. It seems to do OK with the person or object that is the main focus, but every single thing around or behind the main subject(s) become a pixelized mess. The worst I've ever seen. I can't return this camera back to amazon fast enough. Sony should be ashamed of themselves for releasing a camera this awful. Great design, absolute junk in practice. I was always a Canon person, but decided to give Sony a chance. That was my mistake. Don't make the same mistake I did, at least not with this horrendous excuse for a camera.
  
  
• Very disappointed
  By A1BMDOXY3QW79 on 2007-06-17
  I have had many Sony digital cameras over the years, and I was very excited to get my hands on this one. Its compact design looks great, its big bright display on the back is excellent, and it even takes great movies.
  
  However, this is a *camera* so what ultimately matters are its photos, and here it really disappoints. If all of your photos are outdoors on bright sunny days, then you'll be happy. If you take photos indoors (even on a bright sunny day with lots of ambient sunlight filling the room) or in low light, the images are stunningly awful. Lots of color speckling and distortion, and unusably blurry - even if the camera is completely steady (like on a tripod or setting on a table).
  
  The photo quality of my Sony Cybershot DSC-P100 5.1 MPixel from a few years ago is far superior.
  
  
  
• Another great Sony camera!
  By A3IZ7UCM5XATWZ on 2007-04-21
  This is the 4th Sony camera I've had and each time they keep getting better (which is why I've bought 4). This newest one, I got the red, is the best looking camera I've seen (and everyone agrees). However, I have a few qualms with it from my first uses. 1st they got rid of the review button on the left hand side of the t-pad and instead copied all the other camera makers and added a view button on top. While this works OK, I really miss being able to quickly go back to the last picture I took push the delete button and then take another, it's not a HUGE deal, but it just takes more time. 2nd is that the screen quality is not nearly as good as other Sony's I've had in the past. While it's GIANT which is nice, the pixels are fairly large and I feel that this lack of resolution makes the pictures look worse than they do when they get on the computer. The new face detection feature is pretty neat, though I haven't really been able to tell what difference it makes. Also I was a little upset by the high ISO setting, i tried using it at a club and not only was it so dark that the picture was useless, but it was also SOO grainy and blurry that nothing could be identified. I'll have to experiment with it more, but so far it was a bit of a let down. The steady shot works pretty well, I've only had a slight blur on one photo (which was expected as by hand got bumped) and all the others have been perfect which is quite welcome after my last camera without Steadyshot that blurred frequently. Another BIG DISAPPOINTMENT for me was that they got rid of the INFOLithium battery, I don't know if this is because of the issues they've been having, or just because this one lasted longer or what, but it's annoying to not have it say how many minutes I have left as I've gotten used to it for the past 3 cameras from them. Still it's not THAT big of a deal, just kind of annoying that they got rid of a feature. The 5x zoom is very good, and welcome over the measly 3x that the older versions had. The size and weight are really good (although it could be a bit slimmer as it's still almost an inch thick). Still it's smaller than my wallet and about as thick as my cell phone, so I can't really complain. All in all it's been a great purchase so far and I'm quite pleased, and will still be sticking with Sony in the future as this camera is so much better than my friends' Casios and Canons.
  
  
• Great Camera with one caveat....
  By A1VX8I4BVGKGB9 on 2007-05-02
  Cons:
  
  1. You can only shoot up to 2GB of movies. When it reaches 2GB of movies, the movie mode will be turned off automatically and you cannot shoot anymore movies unless you empty your card (I have a 4GB) however, you can still shoot pictures when you hit the 2GB movie limit.\
  
  2. You can only charge the battery by placing it on its adapter. You cannot charge the batter when it is inside the camera.. which is really a hassle.
  
  PROS:
  
  1. EXCELLENT PICTURE QUALITY
  2. EASY TO USE
  3. HIGH ISO EXTREMELY USEFUL IN LOW LIGHT
  3. MOVIE QUALITY IS SUPERB
  4. VERY FAST
  5. Great image stabilizer in both picture and movie mode
  6. EVERYTHING GOOD YOU CAN THINK OF IN AN ULTRA COMPACT CAMERA.
  
  Note: The LCD screen is huge. I suggest you get an LCD screen protector to avoid scratches.
  
  
  
  
  
• Attractive looking, fantastic screen---horrible pictures
  By A5MHI3I0CFLL2 on 2007-06-06
  At first glance this camera seems like a good buy---it looks great, feels comfortable in your hands, and even has a nice user-interface. We tested it out at a local retail store and it even seemed to take great pictures (or at least they looked good---on the display screen).
  
  Downloading the photos onto your computer revealed the true nature of the T100, however: every photograph was awful. The "8.1 megapixels" is a joke because your pictures come out looking like an impressionistic painting. Colors bleed, images are grainy (not sharp), and this is totally unacceptable for a $400 camera. Even adjusting ISO settings and manually configuring picture-capture modes can't reduce the issues we had. Do not buy this if you're looking for something that takes decent pictures.
  
  
• Poor
  By A3E8U6JJOJNL1E on 2007-06-02
  The photos that the Sony DSC-T100 camera takes on auto mode are usually fuzzy. They look great on the display, but print them or view them on a computer screen, and you will see that they are fuzzy.
  
  To make sure I wasn't just being overly picky, I took identical photos with this camera and my 3 year old Kodak digital camera on auto mode. The Kodak pictures are clear and crisp. The sony pictures are fuzzy.
  
  The only good things I can say about this camera are the 5x zoom and the nice display. The photos look great on the small display, but print them or view them on a computer, and the flaws show up.
  
  
• Very, Very Disappointed!!!!!!
  By ABR1ITKDW4WP1 on 2007-06-04
  After doing some research, I went with Sony Cybershot DSC-T100. Normally, I am really against Sony because I have had really terrible luck with Sony products. But I thought I would give Sony another chance. I really loved the features this camera had to offer.
  
  I bought the camera 3 weeks ago, and started shooting pictures of family. When I went to review the pictures I have taken, I noticed for some of the pictures I was getting a blue screen with a "File Error" message. Also, some of the pictures were were split in half. The top half was sharp and the bottom half was blurry.
  
  I called Sony, and they were not able to help me at all. They were not able to tell me why this was happening to my camera. They said I would have to send the camera for repair and I would have to pay for shipping. So, I just decided to return the camera at the store where is was bought. NEVER again will I buy a Sony product. I have learned my lesson.
  
  
• Not good enough.......
  By A72STP7SR9MDD on 2007-06-17
  I bought this camera as an upgrade to my Sony DSC-T30, but much to my dismay, it really isn't any better. Sure the T100 has 5X zoom, has face detection (which is more of a gimmick BTW---and doesn't work half the time), and has 1 more megapixel than my T30---which really doesn't matter much. The BIG problem with these cameras are the critical indoor shots....it's still terrible...I see no improvement in the T100 over my T30....the shots are still very grainy, underexposed, occasionally out of focus, and red-eyes galore. The menu system in the T100 is also needlessly complicated compared to the T30....too many button presses to get to the right setting. All-in-all, too much $$$ for a camera that underperforms when things get a little tough. This thing is going back. The search for the perfect point-and-shoot continues.....
  
  
• Unbelievable pictures
  By A39HI6BHHM0IV0 on 2007-07-13
  I just bought this camera (my 3rd digital) to take with me to Alaska for 2 weeks. Unbelievable! The pictures came out way better than I expected. Here's specifically what I liked most:
  1. rapid fire pictures--you know how when you are driving down the road at 70 mph and see a beautiful view in the distance and want to capture it? Well, this camera's multi-picture capabilities are outstanding. I took dozens of pictures out the front and side windows of the car traveling 70-100mph (I wasn't driving) and over 90% of them came out perfect with no blurring! My friends joked about how I would "go paparazzi" on the trip.
  2. User interface. After 2 weeks using this camera I know more about how to precisely set the exact setting I want (extremely adjustable) than I ever figured out with my last digital, a Canon, in over 2 yrs of using it. The interface is very user friendly. If you can use an iPod, you can figure this camera out.
  3. Full motion video. The video is fantastic. even full screen on my 21" computer monitor the videos are clear and sharp. You can zoom in 5x when filming for close ups and distant settings with sound. Wow! My other camera pixelated a lot. This one has none of that unless you move the camera around too fast and then the images blur a little.
  4. Size is smaller than my wallet. This allowed me to feel comfortable just sticking it in my pocket and taking it everywhere. Its just slightly bigger than my Motorola Razr cell phone. When you take the camera everywhere you take a lot more pictures (over 1600 pics in 2 weeks on vacation--get a 4 meg memory card. Amazon has them for $50-$60, well worth it). The zoom is awesome and does not come out of the camera like most do. All the zoom is internal, even the 5x optical.
  
  I give this camera 7 stars out of 5! Simply irresistible and unbelievable!
  
  
• Hmm - Just ok
  By A10U3Z35FCPXF2 on 2007-07-06
  I had my T100 for 1 day and returned it. In comparing the photos from it my other digitial cameras I noticed a few things. 1. The outdoor shots were really nice. 2. The indoor shots were just ok. Close up items were in focus and clear but the further you got away and into the darker areas of the room, the more pixelated it became. Also, shots of our caleco cats looked flat. It was like the camera got confused and tried to paint colors on the cats and it wasn't natural. Just for reference, I did not change any settings on the camera from when it came out of the box. The resolution was at 8 megapixels and all other settings were factory. All I did was put in the card and battery.
  
  
• Sooooo disappointed--please buy something else
  By A2QWK0ICBSBUS5 on 2007-08-26
  Who can give this camera 3, 4, or 5 stars? Yes, it provides the smallness I wanted and the big viewing screen is great, but this camera provides BY FAR the worst pictures of any camera I've owned. Even the throw away cameras' pictures are better than this. I'm starting to think the positive reviewers either work for Sony, own stock in Sony or perhaps got cameras that take different pics than mine.
  
  I've had this camera for 6 months. I bought it to upgrade from my Kodak digital (which took really clear and crisp pictures). I was so excited to have it for my trip to Italy with my 3yr old. But I noticed right away that some pics taken indoors were blurry. It was like they all had this fluorescent orange color around everything in the picture. Some looked very blurry, even though the people were perfectly still at the time of the picture. When I got home and put the pics on the computer, about 50% of the indoor pictures were horrible. Absolutely horrible! Most of the outdoor ones were OK. I kept thinking that I must just not have things on the right settings. I kept trying different settings and read the manual over and over. But no matter what I did, the camera took bad pics indoors. What was confusing, is some pics are fine and others in the same place taken the same way are horrible. And the pictures are soooo grainy.
  
  After ruining pics from Italy, my father in law's retirement party, the 3rd and 1st birthday of my 2 boys and my husband's surprise party, I QUIT. It is just a piece of JUNK. Shame on SONY for taking people's money for this. I guess it's back to my clunky Kodak. It may be bigger, but at least it will provide long term good memories!
  
  
• Spectacular!
  By A3N6LNIJ260I7P on 2007-10-06
  I own the Sony Cybershot DSC T100 red, and I must say that this is one of the best compact digital cameras I have ever seen. I have prepared a list of pros and cons for your camera-buying needs.
  
  PROS (There's a lot of them.):
  -The camera is sleek and stylish; it fits in your pocket and is great on-the-go.
  -The screen is HUGE! 3 inches! Granted, it's not as big as the T200 touch-screen, but at least you don't get the screen all greasy with your fingers.
  -The picture is crystal-clear. I've taken many pictures of my cat with it, and I could see every hair and every spot. I could even see the small drops of water on her nose (now that's clear)!
  -Good automatic mode if you don't have time to dabble with the settings.
  -Many many many different picture settings. There's one for outdoors, one for at night, one for high speed, and many more.
  -The macro mode is amazing! When you're taking pictures close-up, the results are fantastic. This camera even comes with super macro mode, which means you can shoot something with astounding clarity from less than one inch away.
  -If you're shooting a rapid action sequence, the burst mode is great. It shoots continuously as the shutter button is held.
  -The start-up time is very fast. When my cat starts to yawn, I have enough time to open the camera and take a picture before her yawn ends.
  -5x zoom is really all you need for everyday picture-taking. It's super accurate as well and when you zoom, it flows instead of pausing after every zoom level.
  -The camera has a high-definition output and it takes pictures in high definition. It also has a 16:9 picture mode so you can view pictures on a 16:9 television.
  -VIDEO! VIDEO! VIDEO! The video quality is so good that this camera actually replaced my regular video camera. Astoundingly clear video. I've made several vacation home movies thanks to this amazing device.
  -If your pictures always come out blurry because your hands shake, this camera has SteadyShot.
  -The display comes with a power save mode (the led becomes darker) which saves you battery life.
  -The picture review response time is very fast, you don't have to wait long at all to see your picture.
  -FACE DETECTION! Makes faces really clear. I tried this out on a page of an old yearbook, and the camera detected the faces on the page!
  -Red-eye reduction is there, but that's a standard feature nowadays.
  
  CONS (It was very hard to find any.):
  -The button to view pictures is located at the top of the camera next to the power button, so if you have big fingers, you might accidentally press "off" when you want to review a picture.
  -Under fluorescent lighting, the pictures don't give off very natural colors, but they are still suitable for every-day purposes.
  -This camera doesn't have a viewfinder but only has a screen. So for people that are used to looking through a viewfinder, it's quite a change. You cannot turn the screen off, you can just dim it.
  -The SteadyShot feature doesn't work in auto mode.
  -You can't use flash on super macro mode.
  -The face detection is only for eight people, so if you take a lot of group photos with a large group, some faces might be blurry.
  
  I recommend this camera to anybody. It's a great little device for the price. It's worth every penny.
  
  
  
• Great little camera!!!!
  By A36CLOAPBX3BCN on 2007-04-24
  I received my DSC-T100 Sony Cybershot about 2 weeks ago. It's a wonderful camera. I'm not a professional photographer by any means. I found myself tired of lugging around a larger camera everytime we went on vacation (and found I didn't really use one much when we weren't on vacation). By not using my camera very often, of course, I forgot most of it's features. My pictures generally reflected that. I really wanted a camera I could have with me all the time and use more often.
  
  This Sony Cybershot fit the bill exactly!!! I ordered a small camera holder than I thread onto my belt. I carry my camera with me every day now. I've gotten so many pictures since I've been carrying it. It's so easy to just open and start taking pics. It's ready instantly and takes TERRIFIC pictures. On top of that, I'm actually able to use features on the camera since I'm using it more often. I'm also taking video with it and finding it's very simple and takes great video.
  
  I suppose time will tell how well built it is by carrying it around with me every day. It feels very solid. Being a smaller camera, I'm having to learn where to place (or more appropriately NOT PLACE my hands) when taking pics. I've gotten my finger in the pic a time or two by not paying attention. But that's just a matter of getting used to it. I'm really looking forward while traveling not having to lug around a camera and all the necessary equipment with it. The battery has lasted wonderfully. It really does hold it's charge well (as advertised). I went ahead and bit the bullet and put a 4 gig stick in it to make sure and have plenty of room. It's amazing!!! I've taken many pics and lot's of video and still have a HUGE amount of space left on the stick. Wow!!! This is wonderful!!! I truly feel I made the right choice with this. I've taken pics in restaurants, rest stops on the interstate, the grave site of my dad, video at the beach, etc. This camera really does the trick. I can see that I will be using it all the time (again, assuming it lasts well...time will tell).
  
  
• Great Camera
  By AK13C1EFS8BBC on 2007-05-02
  This is first Sony camera I own. I am a Nikon fan for over 20 years, but Nikon disappointed me with no good digital cameras to choose from, I own many Nikon SRL cameras and CoolPix 5000 since beginning of digital picture era. I waited for long time, I was not satisfied with T7, T9, N1, N2 for their low light performance. I went to Best Buy, Frys many times to study the sample cameras. I was not hesitated to buy this one before they appeared in retail stores because of good reviews. The waiting was worthwhile as the other reviewer said.
  
  The best features I like:
  1. lens: 5x optical zoom, also zooming while recording video; quick start-no moving parts, can be ready in one second;
  2. low light shooting: double anti-blur high ISO and super stabilizer;
  3. red color;
  4. small size;
  5. slide show play back on TV;
  
  Some thing I think Sony should improve:
  1. deleting picture requires more button operations than necessary;
  2. more color to choose from: like blue, yellow;
  3. should come with a small bag, I always carry it in my pocket with keys and other stuff.
  
  I highly recommend this camera. The red one is cute.
  
  
  
• Bye Bye CANON, hello SONY
  By A1LO64UJK0CAWJ on 2007-06-03
  My first Digicam was the Canon Powershot A40 back in 2001, then in 2004 I upgraded to the Canon Powershot A95, both great cameras. 2007 was time for an upgrade and a slimmer camera. So I was leaning heavily towards the Canon PowerShot SD750... I tried the Canon first.... blurry pictures even with my years of experience as a professional photographer. Then I tried the Sony cybershot DSC-T100, just for the hell of it, and within me, not really wanting to like it. To my amazement, I could not put this beauty down... I was shooting left, right and everywhere. I even tried the macro and portrait features on the sales personnel... then I read over 100 reviews on the internet and made my decision. Bye Bye Canon, HELLO SONY Cybershot DSC-T100 :) This thing is amazing!!! Best camera I have ever had so far!!!
  
  
• Unreal performance in a small package
  By A1LHMSY3Q46PJS on 2007-09-05
  My wife has an older Sony DSC-V3 and I had an older cybershot that I needed to replaced simply because of its age. So after reading several reviews I bought a Canon XXXX that was feature rich and a little less in cost but produced grainy noisy pictures. I returned the camera for a refund and later found that C-Net agreed with my observations concerning this particular camera. Reading further I found that the Sony DSC-T100 camera was the winner of C-Nets Editors Choice Award for compact digital cameras. So I bought one within a day or two of reading reviews from camera magazines and other sources.
  
  Now owning it for a little over a month I agree with C-Net's review to the letter.
  
  The camera fits nicely in a shirt pocket and with the sliding lens cover closed the lens is very well protected, and makes for a carry everywhere camera.
  
  The camera has a fairly simple to use menu system that gives you all of the standard features you would expect in a camera in this price range.
  
  
  
  The high ISO settings are remarkable, low light shooting is as good as any fast 35mm lens I've used. Color saturation and image clarity is as good or better than my wife's Sony DSC-V3.
  
  
  
  Plus the camera really does shoot 2.1 frames per second up to 100 and maybe a little over 100 frames per second (with the right memory stick).
  
  
  
  The high resolution movies are great and the audio in the movies is outstanding. Also movies improved with an image stabilization system that actually works. Plus the zoom is usable when taking movies up to the 5X optical range where the stabilization really comes in handy, along with the large 3" LCD, which is great in all light, so it doesn't come with a view finder, but honstly who uses a view findr anymore on digital cameras.
  
  
  
  I really am very picky about photo quality or in this case image quality, and this camera with 8.1 mega-pixels and a Carl Zeiss 5X optical zoom Lens, makes images look very vivid and life like. If you use the vivid mode colors really get punchy, but that can make for some interesting shots too.
  
  
  
  The digital zoom or smart zoom is great, it still keeps the images very clear and is as usable as any digital zoom I've ever used.
  
  
  
  Then there's the Macro, there are two settings in macro. One is a great very usable macro that is good up to about 2 inches, then there's the close up macro that will allow you to shoot as close as 3/8th's of an inch from your subject. These images can be stunning and even though my last camera shot at about 1 inch from the subject, the colors tended to become dark, but since this camera has a great aperture the extreme close ups are beautiful.
  
  
  
  For such a small package this camera delivers more than you would believe.
  
  
• A couple of fatal flaws
  By APEUMIYAAW5PW on 2007-11-08
  I am submitting my review because there are two aspects of this camera that other reviewers either don't mention or gloss over and which I consider to be fatal flaws that a buyer will have to live with and always make excuses for. One is the fact that it has a slow lens; the other is that there is no custom white balance. I bought the Sony T100 camera for my wife because she liked the large screen, which allows her to show pictures to friends without everyone squinting at a small screen. She has been using it now for about four months and we have taken over 4,000 pictures. With regard to color balance, there are several presets for different lighting conditions. Outdoor shots generally look very good, except that gray sidewalks are invariably tinted blue. Indoor shots with average incandescent lighting are consistently tinted orange over the entire frame. When coupled with the fact that the T100 has a slow lens (3/4 f-stop slower than, e.g., my Canon A640 point-and-shoot)these indoor shots are always noisy and grainy. I am an ambient light person that dislikes flash and considering that so many pictures are taken in indoor settings such as living rooms and restaurants, the end result is always an orange grainy picture. Our daughter-in-law just bought the new Sony T200 and we observed the very same results. I compared their pictures with my Canon and the differences were startling, e.g, walls were white and clear as they should be - not dark and grainy orange. Another thing that I dislike about this camera, and any Sony product for that matter, is their proprietary hardware. There are no third-party batteries available for this camera, because as I understand, they put a microchip in the battery that will only allow their battery to be used. Also, there is no provision for an external charger to be connected directly to the camera if your battery fails. For my other digital cameras, I usually have a ready supply of two or three extra ready charged non-OEM battery sets. The camera does take otherwise good pictures, but my point is that with a different camera, e.g., one that has a custom white balance feature and a faster lens, you can have it all.
  
  
• Great little camera
  By A3RA7DIZBOEOXG on 2007-05-22
  I loved the size and color (red).. nice and compact without being too small - I can hold it comfortably in my hands. I love the large LCD screen. The controls are easy to use.. the 'recall last picture button' on top by the power button is so convienient because everyone wants to see the pictures. I'm still learning the little features of the camera, but you can point and shoot right out of the box. I love that the camera has a 5x optical zoom and the lens stays inside the camera - amazing - the slide door protecting the lens after use is also nice and a feature of all the sony T series. The movie mode is awesome - you can take as long a movie as you want - until you fill up your card or run out of battery - plus the sound quality on the recordings is great for such a small camera. I've found the battery holds it's charge very well.. bought a spare anyways.. using a 2G card so can take tons of pics. It's definately not a SLR - but man.. takes great pics.. even mirco zoom pics.. I own a digital SLR for my photography habit - but this camera takes almost the same quality pictures - 8mp! Crazy - do we need that many pixels?? (my digital SLR is only 6mp!!). I have better zoom and wide angles on the SLR, but I use this one to take everywhere - the digital SLR is too big to carry around all the time :) The camera makes cute sounds turning on/off (I haven't added music yet but you can!). Nice black and white and sepia modes. You can play/edit the picture after you take it on the LCD screen. So easy to use. Cute and sofisticated. Compact, but easy to hold. SO far no complaints and I'm recommending it to friends. They like it too.
  
  
• Awesome features but pointless if pictures are poor
  By A1XE77PVTB0XE3 on 2007-08-28
  I did a lot of research on a good camera and every time I looked at this I heard nothing but great things. So when I ordered it I had super high hopes, I feel disappointed. I got the camera a couple days ago and first first impression was wow, look at all the features it had, I was very impressed with those, it had all the stuff I wouldn't expect in such a small camera, and it was sleek with it's fold up lens cover. But then I started taking pictures, they looked like crap. But i was thinking I was setting it wrong with all it's features. But every picture I take looks good from far away but if you zoom in at all it looks like the picture was taken underwater and noise is everywhere. I've taken 30 or 40 pictures with all different settings and all different targets and they all come out blurry and noise. If your looking for a camera with tons of cool features, this is for you but if you want sharp clean photos, find something else. Also my battery died already after 2 days and only 50 pictures at most.
  
  
• It's convenient and it works
  By AR9W4COB6253 on 2007-06-25
  It took a bit of getting used to, but the bottom line is that this camera works well in the trenches. Sure, I might have some little nits, but I wanted a camera that 1) I could carry around in a pocket without a bulky case, 2) was not cumbersome to handle, pack, carry, or use, 3) could take good pictures quickly and reliably, 4) could switch picture-taking modes on the fly, 5) could last all day without changing batteries or memory sticks. So I bought this camera, took it to Europe for a week, used it all day, every day, even took video, stuck it in my pants pocket when I wasn't using it. I re-charged the battery each night (although I probably didn't always have to) and ended up using only 2/3 of a 4GB memory stick. Got great pics, indoor and out -- and a bonus: the red color makes it harder to misplace than if it was black or silver. Yes, it's expensive, but it works, it's as convenient as I had hoped, and I'm happy with it.
  
  
• Excellent Compact Camera
  By A33NYJ89TJBA7S on 2007-05-23
  Best features: Ultra compact, light, and stylish; large, easily viewable LCD screen; and excellent photo quality under normal conditions.
  More Pros: 5x zoom is larger than most compacts; image stabilization, multi-point focus, red-eye reduction, and other features work as advertised; excellent start-up time and refresh rate without flash. (Refresh time with flash is average.)
  Cons: Expensive batteries and poor photo quality at high ISO settings.
  Bottom Line: This is a stylish and highly capable ultra-compact point-and-shoot camera.
  
  

• PhotoPlus X2 Digital Studio
• Adobe Photoshop CS4
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 7
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrade
• Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe

• Sony 4 GB Memory Stick PRO DUO ( MSX-M4GS ) (Retail Package)
• Sony LCS-CST General Purpose Soft Carrying Case for Slim Cybershot Digital Cameras
• Sony 2 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (MSX-M2GS) (Retail Package)
• Sony NP-BG1 Type G Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery Pack for Sony W Series, T20, T100, N2, N1, H7 & H9 Digital Cameras
• SanDisk 2 GB Ultra II Memory Stick PRO Duo (Retail Package)