Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N1 review

Shooting speed in seconds
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Shutter lag (typical)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N1

0.3

1.8

1.6

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1

0.6

3.8

1.4

Olympus µ 800 Digital

0.6

2.0

1.7

Canon PowerShot SD550

0.7

1.6

2.0

Image quality
Like most Sony cameras, the DSC-N1 provided mixed image quality. On the one hand, colours were accurate and naturally saturated. Exposures -- whether in auto, program or manual mode -- were generally good. Though the camera has a tendency to blow out highlights, its dynamic range in the shadow area was usually good enough to reproduce details.

Auto white balance failed miserably under mixed lighting conditions indoors, delivering extraordinarily yellow images. The camera lacks custom white balance, so you'll need to choose one of the presets if you're shooting inside. In well-lit outdoor settings, however, the auto white balance performed admirably.

The levels of image sharpness and detail capture were mixed. Some of our test shots were crisply focused enough that we wouldn't hesitate to make large prints from them. We relegated others to the keep-'em-small folder because of their slight softness and lack of fine detail.

We noticed very little purple fringing in our standard trees-against-the sky image tests, but a bluish-purple outline appeared around a white logo on a red train carriage.

The DSC-N1 kept noise levels fairly well in check. Some images that we shot at ISO 800 exhibited very low grain and were surprisingly usable -- as long as we kept shadow areas to a minimum.

Edited by Lori Grunin
Additional editing by  Nick Hide