PMA Spring 2005 Show
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Sony's logo. Click here to visit the Sony website! Booth Report: Sony Corp. (UPDATED)
By Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, February 21, 2005 - 13:52 EST)

As usual, Sony Corp. has amongst the larger and more visually impressive booths at PMA with numerous areas offering demonstrations of a wide variety of consumer electronics products, from digital cameras through camcorders, printers, storage devices and Memory Stick products.

Amongst the digital camera announcements, the long-zoom stabilised lens Cyber-shot DSC-H1 stands out as interesting - mostly for the fact that it brings Sony into a market it has been conspicuously absent from. The camera is also noteable for another reason - it is the only model in Sony's 2005 lineup that doesn't offer a Zeiss-branded lens. In talking with representatives from the company, Sony had no official comment on the reasons for this. Regardless, we had the opportunity to get hands-on with the H1 at Sony's press event where the model was unveiled, and it looked rather promising as a rival for the likes of Panasonic's long-zoom digital cameras. We'll want to put the camera through our rigorous review process before giving a final verdict, of course, but first signs look good for this initial long-zoom entry from Sony.

The company also unveiled two new W-series digital cameras that follow in the footsteps of the DSC-W1, as well as three new S-series Cyber-shots. The Cyber-shot S60 and S90 are interesting in that Sony has chosen to differentiate them based on LCD size, rather than simply plugging in yet another higher-resolution sensor with even smaller pixel size. The megapixel race is something we'd like to see a few more manufacturers back off from - one could argue that resolutions have already reached the levels most consumers will demand, and every time we take a step forward in resolution at the same sensor size, we take a corresponding step backward in image noise. Higher resolution does not always equate to higher image quality. Kudos, Sony, for looking for other areas in which to offer improvement and differentiation.

Other Sony products on display included an interesting concept for a photo storage viewer; at Sony's press conference it was suggested that the company may soon offer a similar product with a 40GB hard disk and three inch LCD. Sony execs were also talking up two deals that will see prints ordered through the company's ImageStation service available for pickup at CVS drugstores, or camera stores belonging to the Ritz and Wolf Camera chains. This move should greatly extend the convenience of the service for US customers. The company is also planning a new slimline kiosk for March.

Other Sony products on display include a $199 portable CD burner that accepts images on Memory Stick or via USB; a Cyber-shot Station for viewing images on TV from your digicam; two compact dye-sub photo printers; and new capacity highs for the Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro Duo card lines (4GB for Memory Stick Pro, and 2GB for Memory Stick Pro Duo).

We're still finishing off our preparation of our photos to accompany this booth report; the remainder will be added shortly. Check back soon!

 

Sony Booth
Booth shot Booth shot
Booth shot  
Copyright 2005 by The Imaging Resource. All Rights Reserved.

Sony Products
Cyber-shot DSC-H1
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1
5.1 Megapixels
12.0x Zoom
36 - 432mm (35mm equivalent)
Specs
DSC-H1 shot at 1:2 with [a]
DSC-H1 shot at 2:1 with [a] DSC-H1 shot at 2:2 with [a]
Cyber-shot DSC-P200
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200
7.2 Megapixels
3.0x Zoom
38 - 114mm (35mm equivalent)
DSC-P200 shot at 3:2 with [b]
DSC-P200 shot at 4:1 with [b] DSC-P200 shot at 4:2 with [b]
Cyber-shot DSC-S90
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S90
4.1 Megapixels
3.0x Zoom
39 - 117mm (35mm equivalent)
Specs
DSC-S90 shot at 5:2 with [c]
DSC-S90 shot at 6:1 with [c] DSC-S90 shot at 6:2 with [c]
Cyber-shot DSC-T33
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T33
5.1 Megapixels
3.0x Zoom
38 - 114mm (35mm equivalent)
DSC-T33 shot at 7:2 with [d]
DSC-T33 shot at 8:1 with [d] DSC-T33 shot at 8:2 with [d]
Cyber-shot DSC-S40
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S40
4.1 Megapixels
3.0x Zoom
32 - 96mm (35mm equivalent)
Specs
 S40 shot at 9:2 with [e]
 S40 shot at 10:1 with [e]  S40 shot at 10:2 with [e]
S60
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S60
4.1 Megapixels
3.0x Zoom
39 - 117mm (35mm equivalent)
Specs
 S60 shot at 11:2 with [f]
 S60 shot at 12:1 with [f]  
W5
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W5
5.1 Megapixels
3.0x Zoom
38 - 114mm (35mm equivalent)
Specs
 W5 shot at 12:2 with [g]
W7
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W7
7.2 Megapixels
3.0x Zoom
38 - 114mm (35mm equivalent)
Specs
 W7 shot at 13:2 with [h]
 W7 shot at 14:1 with [h]  W7 shot at 14:2 with [h]
HVL-FSL1 Cyber-shot Slave Flash
HVL-FS1 Cyber-shot Slave Flash
Works with F, H, P, S and W series cameras
Compatible with red-eye / pre-flash
Guide number 14
 HVL-FSL1B shot at 15:2 with [i]
Concept HDD Photo Storage Viewer
Concept HDD Photo Storage Viewer
Not yet announced as an official product
 Concept.Storage.Viewer shot at 16:2 with [j]
HDR-FX1 HDV Handycam camcorder

HDR-FX1 HDV Handycam camcorder
1080i high definition video recording
MPEG2 video compression
12x zoom Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens
3.5" swivelling LCD display

 HDR-FX1 shot at 17:2 with [k]
 HDR-FX1 shot at 18:1 with [k]  
MCS1 PhotoVault Mini CD-R Station
MCS1 PhotoVault Mini CD-R Station
Connects directly to digital camera
Burn images to CD-R disc
Video-out for TV playback
 MCS-1 shot at 18:2 with [l]
 MCS-1 shot at 19:1 with [l]  MCS-1 shot at 19:2 with [l]
UP-DR150 Digital Photo Printer

UP-DR150 Digital Photo Printer
Dye sublimation printer
USB 2.0 High-speed connection
4" x 6" print in 8 seconds
6" x 8" print in 20 seconds

 UP shot at 20:2 with [m]
 UP shot at 21:1 with [m]  UP shot at 21:2 with [m]
CSS-PHB Cyber-shot Station
CSS-PHB Cyber-shot Station
Transfer images from camera to PC
Charge digital camera batteries
View images or video on television
Compatible with DSC-P200
 CSS-PHB shot at 22:2 with [n]
1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
Supports MagicGate
 1GB.MSDUO shot at 23:2 with [o]
4GB Memory Stick PRO
4GB Memory Stick PRO
Support MagicGate
 4GB.MS shot at 24:2 with [p]
SPK-SA Cyber-shot Sports Pack
SPK-SA Cyber-shot Sports Pack
For S-series Cyber-shot cameras
 GSPK-SA shot at 25:2 with [q]
HDPS-M10 HDD Photo Storage
HDPS-M10 HDD Photo Storage
Portable hard-disk storage device
40GB capacity
 HHDPS-M10 shot at 26:2 with [r]
Copyright 2005 by The Imaging Resource. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED 2005-02-25 00:20ET: Updated with lots more products and photos...

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