Back in August we reported on the new Sony TX1 digital camera and its innovative add-on, the party shot base.

We’ve now had a week to run both devices through their paces so read on to see what we thought.

Specifications

The Sony TX1 is a compact 10.2 megapixel camera with a large screen and no optical viewfinder. The headline specifications are:

• 10.2 Megapixel “Exmoor R” CMOS sensor
• 4x optical zoom
• 3” touchscreen
• 10fps maximum shooting speed (burst for 10 shots)
• Optical image stabilisation
• “Sweep panorama” mode
• 720p HD Movie mode

Apart from the expected battery charger and USB cable Sony also include a wrist lanyard, TV connection cable and CD with PDF manual in the box.

In use

The lens of the TX1 is covered by a sliding door – opening this turns the camera on and gets it ready to shoot. The whole camera has a solid, well built feel about it and the smooth sliding action on the lens cover reinforces that.

All camera operations are controlled via menus presented on the 3” touchscreen. There are a variety of manual options possible, for example you can set the ISO and shooting parameters or tap the screen to select a focus point. In practice though the most useful setting is the “Intelligent Picture” mode which is what I left it on for the majority of the review.

This fully automatic mode is very impressive. The TX1 analyses the scene in front of it and selects one of its built in shooting programs, which it displays on the screen so you can see what’s going on. Wave it around outdoors and “Landscape” is chosen, move to a dimly lit building and you see “Twilight” mode selected. All very painless.

Optical image stabilisation works as advertised and you can choose whether to have it active all the time, or only as a photograph is taken. Having it active all the time means you get a steadier image on screen as you frame a shot but it does impact battery life. I’d leave it on because it does make a dramatic difference when zoomed in – if it worries you, you can always carry a spare battery.

The “Sweep Panorama” mode also seems to work well – you just press the shutter and turn around in a circle until the camera stops taking shots. A couple of seconds later you have a seamless panorama in your photo collection. It certainly beats spending hours stitching photos together with Hugin!

The photo on the right attempts to give a sense of scale by showing the camera against an Apple remote. It also shows the battery/memory stick door and tripod socket – an unexpected bonus and handy if you have a GorillaPod or other small travel tripod.

Picture Quality

Subjectively, picture quality is very good from what I could tell and the camera does better than most at low light/high ISO settings. Unfortunately mother nature conspired to make it difficult for me to get out and take any photos during my testing period so the gallery is a little bare – I did get a representative sample of the panorama mode though. I can’t spot the join!

Party-shot base

Available as an optional extra, the Party Shot base is a robotic moving platform that enables the camera to spin and tilt, taking photographs automatically.

When plugged into the base the camera enters a fully automatic mode using its built in smile and face detection features to scan the room looking for pictures of happy, grinning people. When it finds one it takes a photo.

You can control the degree of freedom that the base has to rotate (90, 180 or 360 degrees) so you can put it in a corner and not have it take photos of the wall. You can also choose how often it takes photos and one of 3 different criteria to determine how “smiling” people should be before they’re included. Its all fully automatic so you can just turn it on and walk away.

That’s the idea anyway. In practice I found a few hiccups – firstly, it seemed to have problems recognising people wearing glasses. Given that 4 out of the 6 people in my sample group had glasses on it meant that the camera seemed to single out 2 people obsessively and keep them in the frame! Not always admittedly, but it certainly seemed to have a preference for the naked face.

Secondly the position of the party shot in the middle of a table made for some unflattering photos – the camera is effectively looking up peoples’ noses!

To be fair the party-shot has a tripod screw thread in its base so you do have a lot of freedom in where you position it – a table top tripod would probably have made things look a lot different.

I’d say it works as advertised if you have a need for that sort of thing (I can imagine it being a fun addition to the table cameras at weddings) but in practice it would be hard to find a use for it in everyday life. 

Conclusion

I liked the TX1 – the small size and good automatic mode means it’s easy to just drop it in your pocket and take out for quick photos without thinking about settings. At an RRP of £299, Sony aren’t giving it away though and you’re undoubtedly paying a premium for the technology.

That said, the TX1 does its job well so if you want a stylish, pocket friendly digital camera with a good range of features you should put it on the shortlist.

If you were wandering what the Samsung “Tap and Take” website was all about, the answer is now clear!

The new ST550 and ST500 digital cameras have a new front mounted screen that lets you compose a picture with yourself in front of the lens instead of behind it.

The new cameras feature smile detection, so you can just prime it to go automatically when it detects happy people – neat!

In fact there is some very cool technology hidden in these pocket cameras. Highlights include:

• 3.5” Rear LCD with the highest resolution of any camera in its class (at time of launch)
• Face recognition – an advance on face detection, this one actually remembers frequently seen faces and prioritises them for correct focus and exposure
• Blink detection recognises when your subjects are blinking and takes three shots in a row to catch them with their eyes open

Other features include dual image stabilisation (optical and digital), 720p HD video recording, a 27mm wide angle lens and 12.1MP sensor.

News of this neat gadget actually arrived as a footnote to the press release for the WX1 and TX1 cameras, but I thought it was too cool to get buried and deserved a post of its own.

The IPT-DS1 is an optional accessory for the aforementioned cameras. It’s a motorised base that automatically pans and tilts to cover the room. It controls the camera using the automatic face detection and smile detection features to take photos automatically – the idea is that it is constantly on the lookout for the sort of “happy smiling people” shots people love to take at parties, leaving you free to enjoy the evening.

The only downside is it may be a little disturbing to have a robot camera tracking you around the room…

Sony have launched two new Cybershot compact cameras – the WX1 and TX1.

Both cameras use Sony’s new Exmoor R CMOS sensor which promises better low light performance than competing models. With 10.2MP resolution it should be more than enough for most uses.

The WX1 (main picture) has a 24mm wide angle lens with 5x optical zoom while the slimmer TX1 (pictured below) trades versatility for size, packing a 4x zoom into a shell 14.1mm thick.

Both cameras feature a new “Sweep Panorama” mode where the camera takes a rapid sequence of pictures as you wave it around then automatically stitches them into a single extra-wide angle image.

Specs common to both cameras:

• 10.2MP sensor
• Hand held twilight mode takes 6 images in a rapid burst and superimposes them to capture better images in low light
• 720p HD movie recording with audio at 30fps
• Optical image stabilisation
• Face Detection and Smile Detection

Samsung are set to launch a new line of point and shoot digital cameras on August 13th. They’re not telling us what the killer feature is, but as a teaser they’ve launched a bizarre website featuring videos of funky urban trendsetters.

If you think that’s you, you can check it out at (wait for it) – www.tapandtake.com.

Samsung are also going to be running a twitter giveaway from shortly after the launch date so if you aren’t down with the cool kids yet you’d better sign up for an account now!

Olympus have launched this new compact camera aimed at the outdoorsy/action-oriented (or just plain clumsy) market – It has been engineered to withstand a drop of 1.5m, temperatures down to –10 degrees Celsius and can be submerged to 3 meters.

A 12MP sensor means detailed images while a 28-102mm lens should provide enough flexibility for most needs.

The camera has face detection and image stabilisation to help take the perfect picture. It also features a range of “magic filters” which will distort the image for a more arty/fun look and a “beauty mode” to “smooth out imperfections and leave subjects looking refreshed”. Lastly you get “tap control” – a mechanism that lets you tap various points of the camera body to activate certain features. Not sure about that one myself…

Look for it in the shops from now-ish, priced around £300.

[via PhotographyBlog]

Known for it’s slim and compact range of digital cameras, Casio have launched a the EX-H10 with 10x zoom lens. It’s also apparently the world’s thinnest and lightest 10x compact zoom, but the press release fails to mention any dimensions so we don’t know what that actually means…

The highlights include:

• 12.1Megapixels
• 1000 shot battery life (impressive)
• 24-240mm equivalent lens (impressive)
• CCD-shift image stabilization (impressive, but also necessary at 10x zoom)

HD movie recording at 1280×720 pixels rounds off the spec list.

[via PhotographyBlog]

As regular readers will know I picked up an Arena at an LG event 5 weeks ago. First impressions were good but I promised to write a full review when I’d spent some time with the phone. I’ve used the Arena in place of my Sony Ericsson W980 and now it’s time to tell you what I think of it. This is one feature packed phone and so I’ll limit myself to talking about the highs and lows of the phone rather than get bogged down in too much detail. The full specification and feature list can be found here.

Touch screen and User Interface

The S-Class User Interface is one of the Arena’s major selling points but is it any good? LG have done a great job with the touch screen UI and it’s almost as precise and responsive as the iPod Touch which is high praise indeed. Yes the rotating cube is a bit gimmicky but it does at least give easy access to the four shortcut screens and can also be used to impress you mates down the pub.

The screen is bright and clear but in common with most colour screens it can be difficult to use in bright sunlight. Touch the status bar at the top of the phone screen and a neat shortcut menu drops down giving instant access to: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Alarm, Music Player, Calendar items and Phone Profile functions.

The Haptic feedback level can be changed or turned off if you don’t like it. I wasn’t a fan at first but I’ve come to like the feedback it gives me.

The UI can occasionally slow down when pressed; for instance when displaying the Multimedia favourites screen. Actually I’m only talking around 6 seconds to display the screen but compared to the speed of the rest of the phone’s UI this feels sluggish. Perhaps this is why you’re limited to just 15 favourite songs and 15 favourite videos/pictures. Your 30 favourite contacts are listed in the order they were initially selected in rather than alphabetic as you might expect.

Messaging

SMS, MMS and Email messaging are all present on the LG as you’d expect. POP3, IMAP and Microsoft Exchange email are catered for. Push Email isn’t supported however so you’ll need to keep hold of your Blackberry for now at least.

Text entry is fast and responsive helped along by a dedicated key that switches text entry in and out of T9 mode. Turning the phone on its side changes the phone keypad into a QWERTY keyboard but unfortunately the keys are then a little small for my fingers making for unreliable text entry.

SMS messaging has a Threaded Inbox view which displays messages too and from a person as a thread. This is a very useful view and it’s a shame LG don’t include this same view for email as well.

Multimedia

Video picture quality is excellent on the bright 3” WVGA (480 x800) tempered glass screen making TV shows and films very watchable. LG supply a free copy of the Mobile DIVX Convertor software to make conversion of your favourite video quick and easy.

Dolby Mobile handles volume levelling automatically so you don’t have to constantly change the volume from track to track. Music and video sound quality from the Arena’s speakers is very good allowing you to inflict your playlist on people whenever you like. The in-ear headphones are also unusually good for a mobile and remind me of my CX-300’s.

When using the music player the display can be in landscape or portrait however the menu is only available in portrait mode and not landscape. When listening from the multimedia favourites the display can only be viewed in portrait mode and no menu is available. This inconsistency means I rarely use the Favourites screen to listen to music. There is a random play/shuffle function but as it’s hidden away under a submenu I didn’t find it until recently (who reads manuals anyway?) so I’ve not been using it.

Camera

The 5MP camera is just about OK in bright light but gives turgid results in low light conditions. The LED flash does nothing to help this situation and is next to useless. If you want a good LG camera phone then you’d be better off picking up the LG Renoir.

LG have implemented a DSLR style settings dial which is a bit of fun and allows you to change settings for both the still and video cameras. Pictures can be edited on the handset but as you have to use you finger on the touch interface this is never very precise. It is however a lot of fun allowing you to add effects, colours and text to your photos. Precision editing will need to be carried out on the PC though.

Video Camera

The video camera can shoot at half, full, double and quadruple speed giving you the opportunity to shoot some interesting footage. Again results are OK in bright light but very muddy in low light conditions. Beware though the zoom level can’t be changed once you start shooting so make sure it’s set correctly before you press the record button.

Phone Lock

The Arena’s dedicated call pick-up and end call buttons are unlocked when a call arrives and this makes it very easy to hit one and hang up on someone as you pull it out of your pocket. Also when an alarm goes off the phone screen unlocks itself leading to alarms accidentally being snoozed or turned off without you realising.

Battery Life

Battery life is reasonable although it obviously suffers when Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or video playback is used. When simply using the Arena as a phone I find myself charging it every third day as I do with my W980. This falls to every day and a half if Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are left on all the time. The battery meter is only made up of three blocks making it hard to judge how much battery life is remaining. Coupled with this that final block does seem to disappear in a big hurry.

To put the battery life into some perspective I’m a light to medium phone user. The standard battery is only 1000mAh and heavy users will wish LG had supplied a higher capacity battery.

Using video playback continuously will display the low battery warning in a little over 3 hours so you’d better keep a charger or spare battery around if you like to watch a lot of video content.

Conclusion

The Arena’s been in my pocket with no cover or screen protector for the entire period of the test and it still looks as good as new with no obvious blemishes or scratches. This bodes well for the longevity of the Arena.

The Arena isn’t perfect but it is a good solid multimedia phone that’ll keep you entertained on the commute and impress your mates in the pub. LG tell us that the Arena is targeted at that all important 16 to 24 age group. It certainly impressed the people in that age range that used the phone. The only negative comments were on the quality of the games that are shipped with it.

Pros

• · Stylish looks and good build quality.
• · Call and multimedia sound quality is very good through both the speakers and standard headphones.
• · The neat Shortcut menu means you can easily turn Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on and off at will and save that battery.
• · Good keypad for number and text entry.
• · 8 GB of built in memory expandable up to 32GB’s with a Micro SD card.
• · Video quality is top notch.
• · Slide cover over the PC/Charging port

Cons

• · The screen is difficult to see in full sunlight.
• · Weak vibration alert makes missed calls a possibility.
• · Phone lock can lead to lost calls and alarms.
• · Inconsistent UI in places.
• · Occasional lock-ups.
• · Very occasionally a DIVX fails to play but will then play on the second try.

JOBO have just announced a new range of ultra-slim digital photo frames. Named the “Nano” series, these 7” frames are 0.35” thick (0.9cm for anybody born after 1970).

The buttons you see on the picture are normally invisible and only show when you touch the screen – a nice touch. Basic screen resolution is 480×234 but the top end “media” version gives you an 800×480 screen and displays photos or slideshows (with audio) from SD/MMC cards.

Right now we only have US pricing ($119 for the media version) but since Jobo are a German company I would expect them to hit our shores soon…

The Eye-fi still has to count as one of the most innovative gadgets I’ve seen for a while – even now, 2 years after the original card first appeared.

The idea, if you’ve not seen them before, is a simple one. The card is a 2 or 4GB SDHC card for compact cameras, which includes an onboard Wifi transmitter. It will send your photos either to your PC or (via any handy access point) across the internet to your photo sharing website of choice.

Pretty cool stuff – but the latest “Explore” version has a new trick. By sensing the available Wifi hotspots when the photo is taken it can attempt to “geotag” the image, using the location of the hotspots to estimate where the photo was taken.

OK, so it’s not as slick as a proper camera GPS and won’t work out in the sticks where there’s no wireless network coverage. It’s still a cool piece of innovation though and should work well in town – possibly even better than GPS in some densely packed urban environments.