Full 3x optical zoom lens plus 2x Precision Digital Zoom
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12-bit digitization for excellent tonal range
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Optional Marine Pack for underwater use to 100 ft (30m)!
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Manufacturer Overview There seems to be a hot trend afoot in the digicam market, toward very small, portable cameras. A number of factors are driving this, including market demand from style-conscious consumers, ever-advancing technology, and the truism that cameras sitting in drawers and closets don't take many pictures. Canon arguably kicked off this trend with their small 2 megapixel Digital ELPH, and Kodak has recently announced their compact if not exactly feature-laden DC3800. Now, Sony has joined the fray with a highly-featured 3 megapixel ultra-compact digicam, the DSC-P1.
We think the new DSC-P1 hits a real "sweet spot" in the digicam market, combining a very pocket-friendly size and shape with topnotch image quality and an impressive list of features. In working with the camera, we were left very much with an impression of a "no compromises" design mandate, from the super-sharp 3x zoom lens to the 3 high-performance 3 megapixel sensor itself. While it lacks the complex exposure modes of the Sony's flagship DSC-S70, the image quality and flexibility need no excuses: This is a top-tier 3 megapixel camera that just happens to be packaged in a very compact body! Throw in an optional "marine" case that's waterproof to a full 100 feet (30 meters), and you have a digicam that truly deserves the label "go anywhere!"
Highlights
3.34 megapixel Super HAD CCD delivering up to 2048 x 1536 pixel images.
1.5 inch Pixel Precision LCD, 123,000 (!) pixels.
3x (!), 8 to 24 mm lens (equivalent to a 39 to 117 mm lens on a 35 mm camera).
6x Precision digital enlargement.
Automatically controlled aperture ranging from f/2.8 - f/5.3 at wide angle, f/5.6 - f/9.6 at telephoto
Automatic exposure with five Program AE preset exposure modes.
Manually adjustable white balance with four operating modes.
Built-in flash with four operating modes.
Movie, Clip Motion, E-Mail, Voice Memo and Text capture modes.
Creative Picture Effects menu.
MPEG, GIF, JPEG and uncompressed TIFF file formats.
Images saved on Memory Sticks, eight megabyte card included.
USB cable for connection to a PC or Macintosh computer.
InfoLithium battery system.
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) printing compatibility.
