Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S85
Carla Thornton
WHAT'S HOT: The $599 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S85 lasted the longest on one battery charge of any camera we tested for this roundup: an impressive 427 shots. This heavy but stylish camera includes some unusual extra features, one of which allows you to choose a companion action to occur at the same time you take a picture. For instance, you can set the camera to simultaneously take a high-quality TIFF photograph and to create a smaller one for e-mailing. The camera can capture short movies with sound, too. Using the small-but-handy Jog Dial, you can set the aperture or the shutter speed, or you can flip through captured photos.
WHAT'S NOT: The shutter release has a hair trigger, and sometimes we inadvertently snapped a picture before the camera finished focusing. Some higher-end functions could be more accessible. For example, you must visit two separate menus to set up auto-bracketing (a function that lets you take three shots in succession, one at the chosen exposure setting, and two more at settings above and below the chosen setting). The camera's manual focusing gauge displays only meters, not feet.
WHAT ELSE: The Cyber-shot DSC-S85 took good pictures overall, though shots of our mannequin were a tad oversaturated and underdetailed. Most of the DSC-S85's controls are located to the left of the LCD--this should please southpaws, if not right-handed photographers.
UPSHOT: Despite an oversensitive shutter, the DSC-S85 is a reasonably priced, elegantly designed 4.1-megapixel camera.
| ||
|
