5-megapixel recording * Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens (35mm equivalent focal length: 38-114mm) * 3X optical zoom (2X digital/6X total zoom) * 2-1/2" Free Angle color LCD * JPEG options: resolution up to 2592 x 1944; 2048 x 1536; 1280 x 960; 640 x 480 *
Sony's DSCM1 interestingly designed 5-megapixel digital camera is easy to use right out of the box--and extremely fast, too. The M1 is ready to shoot about as quickly as you can fold out its free-angle LCD, and its unique form factor--the camera looks like a winged robot or a small boomerang--captures subjects' attention immediately.
The M1's great features don't end with its fast start-up time, though; the pictures and video this camera takes are amazing. We put it through its paces in a variety of situations, from indoor evening parties to snowy outdoor activities and all sorts of cafes and museums in between, and almost without fail, the results were gorgeous. The camera's Twilight Portrait mode creates great effects by combining a flash with a long exposure time, and the Auto setting could be relied on to deal with even backlit or low-light scenes.
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One of the M1's crisp, colorful images from the NYC installation
of Christo's The Gates.
(See larger image.) |
The free-angle LCD, in addition to wowing photo subjects and passersby, is also useful for taking overhead or low-to-the-ground images, or for composing self-portraits. After swinging out the LCD to turn the camera on, the screen can be rotated approximately 270 degrees, making complex shooting situations a snap. In addition, at 2.5 inches, the LCD screen makes viewing images a real pleasure, and we were amazed at how often we found ourselves taking a friend's picture and then showing the friend every image we had stored on the memory card, or pulling out the camera to review images privately during a few minutes of down time.
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The M1's interior shots from the new lobby of New York's Museum of Modern Art.
(Click images for larger views.) |
It is also worth noting that the M1's autofocus does an excellent job of quickly evaluating a scene and making relatively intelligent assumptions about the image subject. In the rare cases where edges or features in images were slightly fuzzy, it would've taken a poster-size print for the problem to really stand out. In all cases, the autofocus was quite fast, further contributing to an impressive recycle time between shots.
The areas in which the camera could have done slightly better were in a couple of the scene modes-- Landscape, for example, produced less stunning sunset images than the camera's Auto setting--and in transferring images to a computer. We found that images were less vibrant on the computer than on the M1's screen when transferred to a PC, using either the supplied Picture Package software or treating the camera as an external hard drive. However, it's easy to adjust them slightly using imaging software, and the muddiness did not occur at all when downloading the images to a Mac using iPhoto.
One further drawback is that while the camera body is quite sturdy, the memory card slot is exposed, meaning that taking photographs in inclement weather is an iffy proposition. Also, because the camera comprises three segments joined by hinges, it's got more seams for water and gunk to seep into than would a camera with a simpler construction. (It was not unusual for us to transport the camera in a pocket and pull it out to find that a stray piece of paper had lodged between the LCD and body.) A case would go a long way toward clearing this up, though. --Sarah Sternau
Pros
- It's fast
- Movie mode creates impressive MPEG4 video (with crisp audio) at a length limited only by available memory
- Unique form factor makes complex picture-taking situations easier
Cons - Bulkier than many compact cameras currently available
- Memory card slot is exposed, making wet weather a concern
- Some downloading methods caused the images to lose vibrancy, necessitating simple touch-ups
1 A fine hybrid camera
There seem to be a lot of reviews complaining about blurry stills with this camera and lousy lighting on the videos. The latter is somewhat true, due to the tiny lens, video taken in low light, indoor situations are sub-par. Video taken outdoors is fantastic (much better than hi-8). I don't understand the complaints about the stills though. I replaced a fine Canon PowerShot s50 (gave it to my wife) and I can honestly say that the DSC-M1 takes as good and possibly even better stills. The colors are richer and I've had no problems with blur or fuzzy edges in any situations.
I've also read reviews that complain about the DSC-M1 not being pocket-size or compact enough and I'm wondering how tight their pants are??? This camera fits in my shirt, pants or jacket pocket quite comfortably.
I'd recommend this camera to anyone who wants a compact, high quality still camera with good (but, not great) video ability and can handle the $500-$600 price tag.
2 fairly good camera
This one replaced the DSCT-1 I had because the screen had cracked and the cost of repairs was equal to the cost of replacement. The other reviews of the M-1 are accurate. The major problem I found was the "upgrade" to MPEG4 videos. Yes, they are better, but they are, also, useless to send in e-mails because the recipents would have to have MPEG4 software in the computers to play them, and to quote another reviewer, "What's the point of shooting video if you can't e-mail it to friends&relatives." I preferred the T-1!
3 DSC-M1 Zoom Noise
This camera has a good combination of digital still and video. The Panasonic AV-100 does a better job on the video but doesn't even come close on the still. I would have given this camera a perfect score except for one very large gripe, if you zoom while shooting video, the noise from the zoom is very noticeable on playback.
4 Quality Camera
I have to agree with the guy that said read the manual . you need to keep in mind what you are trying to do with this camera when shooting . It Does take very clear pictures . I used to have the 3.2 sony cybershot . This camera is great !!! and user friendly both in shooting pictures and downloading .
5 Capture all your memories with this beauty...
First off I'm using a Mac with iphoto so I won't be reviewing the included Windows software. For Mac owners, iphoto works great with this camera and the camera also loads as an external disk for manual transfer of pictures and movies through USB.
Pros:
- small size- fits nicely in my jean pocket.
- excellent video quality at very reasonable file sizes- full motion video w/ stereo sound. There will be some artifacts on playback on a tv with fast jerky motions with the camera or low light situations. I'd say the playback is VHS quality or slightly better, but don't expect DV quality. I get about 22 minutes of video off of my 512mb memory stick which isn't bad at all when considering the quality of the video. -MPEG4 playback works perfectly well on my Mac without any extra software installed.
- excellent sized lcd screen. The screen is very large and makes sharing freshly taken videos or pictures a pleasure
- excellent camera options- almost every option you need is there in the camera, however I just stick to "auto" unless I'm getting really fancy.
- Picture quality- great 5 megapixel quality, nice lens. Honestly, I prefer Canon to any other digital camera brand, but the output of this Sony definitely is beautiful.
- hybrid mode- a gimick? actually it isn't. I find this function quite usefull and powerful. with the camera in this mode the camera always records 5 seconds before hand so whenever you take a picture the camera will save the already recorded 5 seconds before the shot and 3 seconds after the shot. So you get a photograph sandwiched between two short video clips.
- swivel LCD screen- makes taking shots from any angle a breeze, including shots of yourself. Also it is very nice to have a swiveling LCD when taking movies.
- charging base- the design of the base is very nice. It has a sliding mechanism that pretty much guarantees that you will always plug in the camera correctly and smoothly.
-3x zoom- a lot of comapct digital cameras have a 3x optical zoom... but they don't allow you to zoom while recording video. With the Cybershot DSCM1, you can zoom while taking video! This option really makes a difference between a having a neat movie function on your photo camera and having a photo/movie camera. You can also use the digital zoom for even closer shots.
- stereo mic and speaker- this camera not only comes with stereo sound recording capapbilities but it also has a speaker so you here audio playback with the video you just shot. This is a function that is missing in most digital cameras that play movies.
Cons:
- size- yeah I know, it was a pro too. But this camera is larger when compared to the many, many small 4-5 megapixel cameras out there now. If compact is your main concern, then there are quite a few smaller cameras with the same resolution and full motion video (although the quality of the video is another matter).
- battery life- A full day of picture taking and movie making will drain this battery. Photos themselves don't seem to drain the battery badly, but movies do seem to drain the battery quickly. To be safe I'd invest in a back-up battery.
- Inputs- to connect this camera to your computer or a tv you need to hook it up to the camera base. That means you have to take along the base with you when you are traveling. A minor annoyance, but worth mentioning.
-flash- I have a smaller Canon with a stronger flash than this camera. The flash on this camera is indeed weak, but that is to be expected with a small camera. The weak flash does cause blurry pictures if you focus on something outside the flash range. To remedy this I change the mode to night mode, but then the picture becomes blurry because I don't have a tripod on me 24/7. So pick your poison. I find the flash works well at about 3-5 meters.
-badly placed AF light- fingers will sometimes block this light if not careful, took me about a day to get use to it.
- busy design- really not even a real con, but also worth mentioning that there are a lot of buttons on this camera. I found the use of this camera very easy, but don't expect the button layout to be like other generic cameras.
- price- expensive for 5 MP camera and expensive Sony Memory Stick media.
- Swivel design- again a pro, but a con also. Try giving this camera to someone else and then try not having a heart attack when they try to pry the camera open the wrong way. I recommend to ALWAYS open the camera first before handing it to another person to play with.
Conclusion- If you can handle the price, I definitely recommend this camera. It is perfect for family outings, trips, or just everyday memory saving. Great quality video that is unmatched by any other digital camera out currently whenever you need it and great pictures at the spur of the moment... all of this tucked nicely in your pocket. I take this camera everywhere with me and it so far has been well worth it.
6 Great concept, poor execution
I bought this camera/camcorder "hybrid" because of its portability, and the "cool" factor - finally, a device that can take good picts and good video, yet is small enough to fit in your pocket. It seems strange that in this digital world, camcorders still rely on tapes. I wanted a part of the new wave of digital devices, and didn't want to shell out over $1,000 for the new JVC disc-drive based camcorders. Unfortunately the quality of both the stills and videos of this device left a lot to be desired.
The good:
1. The concept - I love the idea of convergence into one device of camera abilities and video abilities, using small low-powered flash cards instead of clunky tapes.
2. Great ergonomic design - small and light, yet solid-feeling, with great 2.5" screen.
The bad:
1. Need I say it? Sony's insistence on the memory stick format is a major liability. This has caused me to avoid Sony products in the past.
* Twice as expensive as other memory formats
* Incompatible with most other portable devices
(palm pilots, MP3 players, etc) that rely on SD or Compact Flash cards.
2. MP4 format for movies is also a problem. You can play the files on your PC, using the wretched included software, but Windows Media Players and others will require an add-on. What's the point of shooting video if you can't e-mail it to friends&relatives, who can't play it on their computers?
3. Included s/w is useless.
4. Button position is not so great - many buttons are very tiny, and at least one is so close to the sliding screen as to be almost inaccessible.
5. Low light video quality is really poor. Compared to a camcorder this was really a weak point. I suppose this is a function of the very small lens (low light gathering ability = noisy video). Unfortunately, many videos are taken inside, in less than optimal lighting conditions.
6. Menus on the camera were hard to navigate and did not include help functions or often even a title to accompany the less-than-descriptive icons.
Conclusion: do not buy. Wait a little longer for a device like the JVC GZ-MC120 to come down in price: 4GB capacity, better lens, MP2 format for movies.
7 Pleasantly Surprised
Despite other reviewers comments, I have found the stills to be extremely good, much better than I expected. They're tac sharp, and the flash works great, no exposure problems at all. The movie mode is exceptional. Yes, memory sticks cost more, but you're really saving money because the high quality MPEG4 video takes 4 times less space on a memory card than other competing digicams with movie mode, and their movie quality is inferior. With hybrid mode switched off, battery life is fine, though I will buy a higher capacity generic spare for $39 at Fry's.
8 Good Idea. Expensive & Blurry.
This camera is really a good idea, you can have it in your pocket and you can record movies and take pictures.
But have in mind some important points :
1. PRICE :
For using both movies & pictures, you need to had a decent memory stick of minimum 512 Mb so the price goes up... and perhaps more if you need a better battery (just 1 hour battery is provided).
Its not worth buying it without 512 memory card, as you can have really better "only" pictures camera for this price.
2. PICTURES :
After using it for now 2 weeks, I must admit that the pictures are blurry & noisy, mostly during the night shots. Ok, you can use a tripod or do some tweaks, but come on ! If you buy a small camera like this, you dont want have a tripod with you all the day... and/or you dont want to spend hours tweaking just for one shot !
I will keep it because its always great to have a light combo camera with you, but I will sell it asap when a new one (resolving the problem 2) is on the market.
so if you are not in a hurry, its better to wait ;-)
9 Wait for the M2
The shot to shot time of my old 3 Mega Pixel camera could not keep up with my toddler son and my digital camcorder was to large and bulky to conveniently use. The Sony DSC-M1 seemed to be exactly what I needed. It could take quick 5 Mega Pixel shots and movies with stereo sound in the same package. Against my better judgement, I decided to take a chance on the camera before it was thoroughly reviewed by the experts. After picking up the camera from Sony directly, I realized this camera had design flaws. Namely, the camera shots tended to be blurry. I used the auto mode for all those shots. Initially, I thought the problem was due to the camera's interesting ergonomics (L-shape when in use). However even when being extra careful in taking the pictures, they still tended to be blurry. Mr. Mouradian's excellent Amazon review indicated the same problem and he actually went as far suggesting setting tweaks to correct the problem. I also noticed that the shot to shot time was still too long (2+ seconds). The few images that seemed to be less blurry did not look any better than those taken with my old camera. The movie quality is actually pretty good though not as good as my digital camcorder (that's expected though). However, the convenience was good enough to offset the drop in movie quality. So let me sum up the PROs and CONs of this camera:
PROs:
1. Movie quality is pretty good, convenient, and the file size
is small enough to store over 50 minutes on a 1 GB duo memory
stick.
2. The LCD is large, bright, and can be rotated in such a way to
take self portraits (NOTE: There is no view finder on the
camera).
3. The size is small enough to carry in your pocket.
CONs (in AUTO mode):
1. Picture quality is not noticably better than my 3 MegaPixel
Kodak.
2. Most of my shots were blurry.
3. The shot to shot time was not satisfatory (2+ seconds and
some shots took far longer for some reason).
CONCLUSION:
This camera needs another iteration before being worth the asking price. I would wait for the DSC-M2.
10 SIMPLE!!!!!!!
Frankly, I have owned various types of cameras but this one has to be the best and the most simple one without a doubt. Just be careful when taking pictures with flash, do not put your finger over it, it sounds absurd but this is the only drawback that it has and anyone can do it and not notice it until you see the picture. If you really want a great camera for pictures and great video, you will not regret this purchase.
11 SIMPLE!!!!!!!
Frankly, I have owned various types of cameras but this one has to be the best and the most simple one without a doubt. Just be careful when taking pictures with flash, do not put your finger over it, it sounds absurd but this is the only drawback that it has and anyone can do it and not notice it until you see the picture. If you really want a great camera for pictures and great video, you will not regret this purchase.
12 Christmas came early
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.
13 Great Gadget!
I bought this camera to record our daughter's first Christmas. We wanted the flexibility to take both stills and video. The camera has far exceeded our expectations with regards to its video quality and ease of use. However, we are still trying to maximize the quality of the still photography. I am hoping it is just a goofed up setting somewhere. I will say that I have never owned something that turned more heads. I took the camera to a college basketball game and had multiple people approach me to find out what the hell I was using. I would recommend this camera for the following reasons:
1. Video quality
2. Ease of use
3. Well priced
4. Coolness factor
5. Flexibility
14 Just what i've been looking for!
This is my 6th digital camera and it's just what i've been looking for. It's ease of use and the quality of the images is what I really like. I like all of my cameras, but to carry this one around at any time is one of the cameras best features. The way the lens closes and the LCD screen folds makes it easy to carry without worrying about touching anything that shouldn't be touched. I bought a bigger memory card and an extra battery, so i'm ready to go. The camera's 5 megapixels is nice, but I really think, at least for my needs, 3 is enough. Lot's of megapixels is over hyped and getting other features is more important, for most people. After all, how many of us are going to make jumbo enlargements? I think it looks super nice too. Great big LCD screen, nice. Sweet camera!
15 Purchased my Sony DSC-M1
[...]
Physical Appearance:
- Very compact, about 4.5 x 2 x 1 (about the size of DSC-T1)
- Unfortunately, only comes in black at this time
- Doesnt come with a case, buy a custom one from Sony
- Very portable, easy to take around in pocket, light-weight
Functions:
- I bought this item more because of its better video quality than other Cybershot cameras by Sony
- Only comes w/ 32MB, buy 256 or 512mb stick (not tested w/1GB)
- Video stored on 32MB:
~640 x 480 w/ 30 FPS stores for 1 min 30 sec
~320 x 240 w/ 30 FPS stores for 4 min 30 sec
~320 x 240 w/ 15 FPS stores for 15 mins
- I think for the web, the lowest quality is sufficient enough, with small file size thanks to MPEG-4 compression
- 5.1 MegaPixel makes VERY GOOD PICTURE QUALITY as well
- If your going to buy a DSC-T1, I think you should get this instead for an extra $100 because you have an all-around good Camera / Camcorder
- I got a 512 MB stick that lets me record 4 hours of Videos
- Battery Life is about 1.5-2 hours if use video continuously
- If you have a newer laptop, you dont need to hook this camera to your USB and mount, just take out the memory stick and stick it into your "digital media drive" like a pen drive does in your laptop..its much quicker!!
- I think the battery life is pretty good considering this is how long all the other DSCs last as well
- Hybrid Function: takes 3-5 seconds of video before AND after you take your picture..so you get a video and a picture of your moment..lets you see how you and your friends got together to take the pic, and how they react after the pic is taken...now u can catch those ppl who make fake corny smiles and all the funny stuff that leads up to and after taking the picture.
- Also has normal Camera and Camcorder functions
- Use a Sandisk 512 MB, half the price of Sony's Pro Duo
Conclusion:
- I know this is the first of its generation, but this thing already does everything I need it to do with hardly any complaints.
- The only thing I really wanted was a Silver one, but otherwise the design is great..black is good too..but Silver is my favorite color! (it may have been a weight issue so its understable, since they used some special material to make this one so small but so brilliantly filled with features).
- Bottom line, if you are going to buy a high-end Digital Camera for over $300..there is no excuses as to why you cant spend a few dollars more to get this hybrid..it does GREAT VIDEO AND PHOTOS unlike other cameras that just do good photos...why pay so much and get a one-sided this device...this item will really change your and your loved ones' lives.
BUY BUY BUY!!
-Amit (e-mail: amit117@aol.com)
