Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M1
Pricing not available
CNET Editors' Review
The good: Eye-catching design; big, bright 2.5-inch LCD screen; solid snapshot feature set; pleasing photos and excellent movie quality for a combo unit; great performance.
The bad: Horrible bundled software; control layout takes some acclimation; low-light shutter lag.
The bottom line: If you're looking to buy a digital camera that takes decent movies, this is your best current option.
The Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M1 dispenses with the tried-and-true, rectangular box shape of most point-and-shoot digital cameras, going instead with a twist-and-turn design that evokes the aesthetics of mid-1980s Transformers. The M1's brushed-black-metal surface feels good in your hand, and at 7.5 ounces with battery and media installed, the camera is hefty enough to not feel cheap but light enough that it won't tire you out during longer shoots. One of the M1's quirky charms is its one-handed grip design, a configuration that borrows from compact MiniDV camcorders and allows for some novel shooting angles. Though there's no optical viewfinder, the big, bright 2.5-inch LCD screen rotates 360 degrees, allowing you to compose everything from self-portraits to upside-down macro shots.
Sony has given movie capture equal footing with photo capture on the device's main control area, so there are separate shutter buttons for each function, both within reach of your thumb; two additional shutters can be found to the left of the LCD screen, for convenient snapping when the screen is facing away from the main buttons.
We're glad that Sony avoided the confusing 3D menu that comes with its camcorders, instead going with a simple lineup of settings that you can deftly tweak using the four-way selector at the bottom of the camera's grip. Unfortunately, the bundled Picture Package software is underpowered and amateurish, making downloading and working with movies and stills a chore.
Though it lacks manual aperture and shutter-priority modes, the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M1 does offer a respectable array of consumer-targeted features. In addition to taking straight 30fps, VGA-quality (640x480) MPEG-4 videos, the M1 also incorporates a hybrid video mode that uses the camera's recording buffer to store five seconds of video before and three seconds after any image you take, giving you additional context for particularly important shots. You can play the MPEG-4 movies using QuickTime (we couldn't get it to work with Windows Media Player), and the nature of the MPEG-4 format--highly compressed with keyframes and differential frames--makes editing the movies both difficult and ill advised.
The collection of preset scene modes isn't exhaustive, though the M1's set of nine includes such standbys as Landscape, Fireworks, and High-Speed Shutter. A nice slate of manual focusing options rounds out the package, allowing you to select your own focal point if you don't want to let the M1's five-point autofocus do the work for you.
Hide ReviewUser Reviews
See all user reviewsMost Helpful User Review
stars 19 of 24 users found this review helpful
"awesome camera! worth every penny!" By aguralnik
Pros sold my video cam and digi cam and got one machine!
Cons battery won't last that long, no eye viewer, only lcd screen
Summary I've owned 7 digicams since 2000. I know what works and doesn't work. With each purschase my cameras got better and better, but they were still lacking. Once I saw this camera I knew my preyers were answered. I had a nice sony digital video camera mini DV ... Expand full review
Most Recent User Reviews (Showing 2 of 66 reviews)
Where to Buy
Pricing not available
