Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300

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Features

As Sony's highest-end point-and-shoot, the T300 includes all the latest features. It sports an optically stabilized F3.5-4.4 33 to 165mm (35mm equivalent) 5x zoom lens that delivers a surprisingly long reach for a slim camera. Unfortunately, that reach comes at the cost of wide angle and speed; a 28mm, F2.8 lens would have been preferable, even if it didn't offer a 5x zoom. The T300 also features several face detection shooting modes, including Adult and Child Priority, which let the camera identify kids' or adults' faces in group photos and adjust focus and exposure accordingly, and Smile Shutter, which delays shooting until the subject smiles.

A suite of onboard photo-editing and retouching tools take full advantage of the huge touch panel and included lanyard-tethered stylus. A rudimentary paint program lets you draw on your pictures, and cropping and resizing tools can trim them to fit 16:9 widescreen displays, scale down to VGA (640 x 480) for emailing, or simply crop out bits you don't want to keep. A variety of effects offer even more options, including digital red-eye removal, radial blur, soft focus, and fisheye lens tools that can focus on a single spot in a picture with a tap of the stylus. Finally, the T300 includes a Happy Faces feature that automatically turns frowns upside-down. When you take a portrait and the subject doesn't smile, Happy Faces distorts the subject's mouth to give them a smile. The end results range from surprisingly realistic to Jokeresque. All of the T300's editing tools automatically create copies of pictures you edit; the original shot is preserved, while changes are saved to new files.

Original picture taken. (Click for a larger image)

Picture with effects applied. From clockwise: Monochrome surround, fisheye lens, high-level happy face and low-level happy face. (Click for a larger image)

After you edit your pictures, you can use the T300's various slide-show and sorting features to organize and share them with your friends. You can use the touchscreen to sort pictures into different folders, and even tag your favorite shots so you can view them separately. A built-in slideshow mode displays your photos with a customizable MP3 soundtrack and a variety of slide transition effects. The camera comes with a composite video cable for displaying pictures on a television, though HDTV owners should consider the optional component-video cable if they want to fully take advantage of the feature.

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