Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 review

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 Review

Reviewed by: Will Greenwald

Reviewed on: 3 March 2008

Quick performance and dozens of features are great, but in the end cameras have to be judged on the pictures they take. Unfortunately, we found the T300 seriously lacking in that respect. Even at its best, photos generally look soft, with haloing along edges. At its lowest sensitivity, ISO 80, we still see noise in flat colours, like gray.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (typical)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200

1.7

1.4

0.4

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300

1.9

1.7

0.5

Casio Exilim EX-Z1050

1.4

1.9

0.5

Canon Digital IXUS 960 IS

1.3

2

0.5

Samsung NV11

2.4

2.3

0.6

It becomes noticeable across the board at ISO 200, and by ISO 400 starts degrading detail. At ISO 3,200 photos look like they were painted with a worn-out kitchen sponge. Finally, the camera's lens produced conspicuous vignetting -- darkening the corners of shots -- at its widest, and displayed distortion at both the wide and telephoto ends of the range.

Conclusion
While the Cyber-shot DSC-T300 offers a great design, loads of features, and fast performance, its pictures simply don't look match up to its predecessors or to competitors such as the Canon Digital IXUS 960 IS. If you can pick up the T200 or T100 however, seriously consider either of them instead of this latest model.

Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday