Sony announced two new ‘premium’ compact cameras today. The Cyber-shot TX1 and WX1 cameras sport Sony’s new 10 megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor. The first fixed lens camera which had the Exmor CMOS was the Sony Cyber-shot HX1, and the special features that came with the HX1 have now trickled down to the two new models announced today.
In addition to better noise and low-light shooting abilities (which Sony is emphasizing on), the Exmor CMOS also brings features such as ‘Sweep Panorama’ mode (which enables you to create a large wide-angle photo by just panning the camera), a super fast 10 frame per second burst mode (which is unfortunately, still limited to 10 shots) and multi-shot and handheld night shot modes. The new TX1 and WX1 are definitely two of the more exciting cameras announced this summer, umm besides cameras with built-in projectors, that I look forward to trying out later in fall.
Brad: Naming conflicts here, Canon also had a camera called the PowerShot TX1, a compact superzoom-camcorder hybrid. The Sony Cyber-shot TX1, however, is like a Cyber-shot T90 outfitted with a fancy image sensor.
Sony Cyber-shot TX1
(Premium compact camera)
- 10 effective megapixels (Sony Exmor CMOS)
- 35 – 140 mm (f3.5 – f4.6) 4X optical zoom lens
- Optical image stabilization
- 3 inch touchscreen LCD
- Intelligent Scene Recognition (automatic scene mode selection)
- Face detection and recognition; blink and smile detection
- Sweep Panorama
- No manual controls
- 10 FPS full-res burst mode
- 720p 30 FPS movie mode with sound
- Takes Memory Stick Duo memory cards
- Uses a lithium-ion battery
- Available in September for $380
- Comes in your choice of silver, gray, pink and blue
Sony Cyber-shot WX1
(Premium compact camera)
- 10 effective megapixels (Sony Exmor CMOS)
- 24 – 120 mm (f2.4 – f5.9) 5X optical zoom lens
- Optical image stabilization
- 2.7 inch LCD
- Intelligent Scene Recognition (automatic scene mode selection)
- Face detection and recognition; blink and smile detection
- Sweep Panorama
- No manual controls
- 10 FPS full-res burst mode
- 720p 30 FPS movie mode with sound
- Takes Memory Stick Duo memory cards
- Uses a lithium-ion battery
- Available in October for $350 (Pre-order starts now)