The Sony Cyber-shot T7 is a compact digital camera capable of delivering 5.1 effective Megapixels, it is encased in a stainless-steel metal body that is only 9.8mm thick at it’s thinnest point. Optimised for size in terms of both styling and mechanical design, the camera weighs only 114g, and just 136g when fitted with a Sony Memory Stick Duo, the supplied compact rechargeable battery and neck strap.
The Cyber-shot T7 features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens (f3.5-4.4) with 3x Optical Zoom at a focal length of 38-114mm (35mm conversion). This innovative Optical Zoom lens has been specially designed to keep the camera compact by operating within the body, featuring an improved design that keeps the camera slim. Drawing on the considerable experience of Carl Zeiss, the high quality lens is coated to ensure less distortion and will deliver bright and sharp images every time. A supplemental 6x Precision Digital Zoom is featured on the camera, as is a Smart Zoom facility, which allows 12x shooting in VGA mode.
This top quality optical system is supported by a large 2.5-inch LCD screen, which covers much of the back of the camera. Sony’s Hybrid LCD screen technology has been implemented on this model to allow the menu screens or the digital images to be viewed in high contrast situations such as at the beach or in the snow. In addition the screen benefits from Clear Photo LCD technology for cutting down reflective interference on the display. The combination of these features means that the large 2.5-inch LCD screen benefits from a higher contrast, clarity and brightness and is therefore much easier to use.
The well-sized menu screens control basic or advanced camera functions and in addition the camera features an enlarged icon function, which is activated whenever the user changes settings such as the Macro, Flash or Self-Timer settings.
The Cyber-shot T7 offers ten scene selection modes to provide automatic presets for occasions such as shooting by candlelight or at twilight, or when at locations such as the beach or on the ski slopes. These modes remove the need for the user to have specialist photographic knowledge and leave the camera in charge of working out exposure, shutter speed and white balance. More specialised scene selection modes are also available including a high-speed shutter, ‘soft snap’ setting and a magnifying glass mode.
The Cyber-shot T7 also features controls for sharpness, contrast and saturation settings, as well as several auto exposure modes and multiple autofocus, noise reduction and ‘film speed’ (ISO) settings.
The camera features support for Sony Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo for image storage, and allows short VGA video clips in the high-resolution MPEG Movie VX Fine (640x480, 30 frames per second) format to be recorded, when used with an optional Memory Stick PRO Duo. Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity also allows the Cyber-shot T7 to transfer images quickly to a compatible PC for editing, using the software supplied on CD.
