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| (Credit: Sony) |
Sony announced a petite digital camera that can take a beating and still function. The Cyber-shot DSC-TX5 is “the world’s thinnest and smallest certified waterproof,” according to the company’s press release, and is also shock, freeze, and dustproof. It will go on sale for $350 in April. Sony also announced a long-zoom compact, the H55, with its 10x lens and 14.1 megapixels for $250.
The new TX5 and H55 cameras are spin-offs of existing, recent releases. The TX5 is a close relative to the Sony TX7 with each camera having one major unique feature. The TX5’s feature is its durability as it can go 10 feet underwater and fall five feet and still come out unscathed. The TX7’s big feature is its 3.5-inch, 921k-pixel LCD touch screen. The Sony H55 is similar to the HX5V with the big difference being the image sensor included in each, which Sony then prices at a hundred dollar difference.
The Sony Cyber-shot TX5 is flaunted as “the world’s thinnest” at 17.7mm (0.69 inches) thin. Indeed, it beats out other waterproof models handily. The Olympus Stylus Tough-6020 is 25.8mm. The Fujifilm FinePix XP10 measures 23.2mm. Even with its diminutive dimensions, the Sony TX5 can survive falls, water, dust, and cold to 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
The TX5 has a 10.2-megapixel CMOS sensor that is the same as the TX7’s. The two cameras also share the same 4x Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar lens. The two Cyber-shot siblings are very similar in size too, with the non-waterproof TX7 measuring two tenths of a millimeter thinner. The TX7 costs fifty dollars more.
The Sony TX5 has all the same fancy features as the TX7 because of the backlit CMOS sensor; it has a 10 fps full-resolution burst mode, intelligent sweep panoramas that allow photographers to push the shutter button once and sweep it across the landscape, and a high dynamic range mode that combines two images into one file to enhance the lightest and darkest portions of the image.
The TX5 has a 3-inch, 230k-pixel LCD screen that isn’t marketed as a touch screen – like the TX7 – but does have touch operation that makes it easier to use the camera when wearing gloves or diving underwater.
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| (Credit: Sony) |
“Only Sony can deliver a technology-packed, ultra slim, fashionable T-series camera that is also durable,” said Kelly Davis, director of the Digital Imaging business at Sony Electronics, in the Feb. 17 press release. “Until now, you couldn’t have it all in one camera. It is so versatile because it’s a great camera for both indoor and outdoor usage. You can easily take it from a day at the beach with the kids to a cocktail party with friends.”
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H55 has a Sony G 10x optical zoom lens with the same 25-250mm reach as the HX5V. The H55 has a 14.1-megapixel CCD sensor while the HX5V has the same 10.2-megapixel backlit CMOS sensor as the TX5 and TX7. The H55 has the same 3-inch LCD as the HX5V and TX5; both new cameras also have optical image stabilization, 720p HD videos, smile shutter functions, and SD/SDHC compatibility in addition to the typical Memory Stick media slot.
