Sony DSC N1 Review

The Sony DSC N1 is an eight megapixel digital camera. It is an ultra compact model. One of its most attractive features is its extremely large 3 inch LCD screen. The LCD screen is also a touch screen. As far as I am aware this is the first digital camera to offer this feature. It helps to make the DSC N1 easy-to-use and fun as well.

This latest technology does not come cheap and you will find yourself paying a premium for this camera. It is likely to appeal to someone who likes to have the latest gadgets and does not mind paying that bit extra for the privilege.

The most striking feature of my test pictures are the vibrant colours the camera manages to produce. This is not just for greens and blues, but all colours are given the full treatment and appear very vivid. This augurs well for just about any type of photo you take.

As you would expect the colours show up very well in my outdoor scenic shots. This certainly adds life to the photos and the boats on the river in particular stand out well. I can foresee some impressive holiday photos being taken with this camera.

The outdoor test shots also highlight some areas where I feel the camera is less than perfect. Looking at the skies I feel there is a small degree of pixilation. This is where you are left with an effect that stops the sky from being a smooth sea of blue. Instead you can see some areas of the sky appear to be rough where individual pixels show up. Also although the centre of each picture is sharp and the high resolution helps to show a pleasing level of detail, the sharpness does tend to tail off towards the edges of each photo. Towards the corners there can also be a tendency for the pictures to become a little darker than they should be.

Both the indoor and outdoor portrait shots are good without being anything exceptional. One disappointment is the level of red eye that shows up in the picture. This is despite the fact I had followed the tips in my article covering how to reduce red eye.

The other indoor shot taken of beer bottles in more or less complete darkness produces a good result. The shot is well focused and is well lit too. Coupled with the indoor portrait shot this suggests the camera should work well in lowlight situations.

The dedicated test for colour supports my earlier observation that this camera captures vivid colours. No one colour really stands out. They all have plenty of depth. This is the way it should be.

Finally the macro photo is good. It is a bright and clear shot. This camera should be good enough for most types of macro shot within reason as long as the lighting available is adequate.

I have grown used to seeing fast times recorded by Sony cameras and the DSC N1 is very quick indeed. I managed to take a single shot in 0.17 seconds. This is pretty rapid. It took 6.13 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo every 1.2 seconds. This is also a very fast time. Shutter lag should not be an issue at all with this camera and it beats many of its rivals hands down.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The three times optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 38 to 114 mm in 35 mm format. The maximum aperture of the lens is f2.8 - f5.4. The camera also offers 6x digital zoom and also 15x smart zoom. For close-up photography the DSC N1 has a macro mode capable of getting in as close as 6 cm from the subject.

The 3 inch LCD screen is made up of around 230400 pixels. Owing to the size of the LCD screen there is no room for a viewfinder. The LCD screen is also used to display useful information such as a histogram, memory stick remaining indicator and an exposure warning indicator. A hand shake alert is also displayed as and when required.

As well as offering a completely automatic mode the DSC N1 also has a small number of preset scene modes. All you need to do when working with scene modes is select the most appropriate scene and the camera will we use the optimum settings to take the best possible picture. The available scene modes are Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Candle.

There are four flash modes available. These are automatic, always on, always off and slow synchro. The maximum flash range is a 5 m. This falls to just over 2.5 m when the zoom lens is in use. Redeye reduction is available for taking portraits in poor light. This needs to be turned on via the menu. An Autofocus illuminator is also available to help the camera focus in lowlight situations. Flash white balance is also available.

To help you get the focusing right you can choose between Multi Point and Centre Weighted focusing. Manual focusing is not available.

For when that you would like to appear in the picture there is a self timer facility. This gives a 10 second delay before the picture is taken.

Among the more advanced features are shutter speeds ranging from 1/8 - 1/2000, exposure compensation (+/-2.0 EV, 1/3 EV step), white balance (Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash) and three types of metering (multi pattern, centre weighted and spot). You can select ISO sensitivity ratings of Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400 and 800.

A burst mode is available. This allows you to take up to four shots at approximately one shot every 1.1 seconds. A multi burst mode also exists. This allows you to take more photos at a slower rate.

The DSC N1 has a manual exposure mode. This allows you to select the shutter speed and aperture to use when taking a shot. Aperture and shutter priority are not available.

To give it your photos different effects you can also adjust the sharpness, saturation and contrast settings.

The camera has a 16:9 resolution for displaying photos on a widescreen television set.

Once a picture has been taken there are few options to change the picture. A picture can be trimmed or cropped. You can also create a small copy of a picture suitable for sending by e-mail or for use on the Internet.

TV quality movies can be recorded. The maximum resolution is 640 x 480 and the maximum speed is 30 frames per second. The length of each movie is only limited by the capacity of the memory card. Movies are recorded with sound, but you are unable to zoom in and out while shooting a movie.

Sony supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the DSC N1 to a computer, television set and PictBridge compatible printer.

The touch screen menu system is excellent. It makes the camera very easy to use and you will be able to find your way around without a problem. The fact that the camera is not overloaded with features also helps to make it easy to use. One other benefit of the touch screen system is that the back of the camera is relatively free of buttons. This helps to eliminate any real confusion as to which button you need to press to perform different functions. Although to be honest I miss a simple flash button to turn the flash on and off.

A further advantage of such a large screen is that it really helps you when you are lining up a picture.

You can pick up a Sony DSC N1 for around £320. This compares to around £270 for a Canon IXUS 750, £225 for a Casio Exilim EX-Z750 and £220 for a Sony DSC T5.

With the Sony DSC N1 offering something clearly different and also being a powerful 8 megapixel digital camera there are really no similar cameras to price compare against. I have selected the IXUS 750 because it is the best point and shoot digital camera I have tested recently and it is not far behind in style and megapixels. The Exilim EX-Z750 is a fairly advanced ultra compact model. The DSC T5 is included so you can see the price difference between the DSC N1 and a typical ultra compact camera.

The DSC N1 has a standard rectangular shape but with rounded corners. It is slim enough to be classed as an ultra compact digital camera as it is just 22.7 mm wide. It has an aluminium body and his silver. The large 3 inch LCD screen dominates the back of the camera.

The camera weighs 151 grams when the battery and memory card are not loaded. It has dimensions of 96.7 x 61.1 x 22.7mm.

Power is supplied to the DSC N1 by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. A battery and a charger are supplied with the camera. Sony estimates that around 300 photos can be taken before the battery will need to be recharged.

Images are stored on Memory Stick Duo cards. The camera comes with 26 MB of memory built in. Therefore a card is not supplied with the camera. I was only able to take nine photos using the standard settings before the internal memory was full. Therefore it is advisable to pick up a high capacity card to go with the camera. Click here to save money on Memory Stick Duo.

Ease of use.
Large screen for composing images
Shutter response times

New technology means high price

The Sony DSC N1 is an expensive digital camera and the big question is what do you get for your money? The big innovation is the touch screen. This means that the number of buttons and controls on the back of the camera are greatly reduced. The LCD screen is also as big as you can get at 3". The other attraction is that this is an 8 megapixel digital camera.

Perhaps I am a skeptic, but I am not totally convinced that the picture quality quite lives up to the price tag. When you are planning to pay this much for a digital camera in my opinion the picture quality needs to be spot on. Sadly I feel this camera just falls short in this area. That may be harsh, because the camera takes a good picture in most situations, but there are cheaper digital cameras out there offering bettering picture quality. Therefore it would be difficult for me to part with my hard earned money for anything less than the absolute best.

Sony DSC N1 Front View

Sony DSC N1 Back View

Sony DSC N1 Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Sony DSC N1