Sony DSC-N1 8.1 Mega Pixel Camera: Reviewed by Gary Judd

The point and shoot miracle has occured!

I recently decided to upgrade my Sony DSC-P5 3.2 mega pixel camera to the latest Sony offering. I did look at the competition but after owning a Sony camera and being so impressed with the design, build quality and the overall feel I did not have to study the competition for too long.

The new DSC-N1 is in my opinion is the easiest to use and coolest camera available. Sony has put the emphasis on user friendly. It is not the cheapest but you will not regret spending the extra cash, as soon as you see the 3-inch touch screen.

You will love the touch screen menu system instead of the traditional array of small awkward buttons and switch settings. It makes the cameras menu system very easy to navigate. If you want a camera that will do everything automatically this is the one.

The camera has auto and programme modes, which include several scene modes like snow, twilight, fireworks, portrait or landscape. However there are endless options available for the more advanced photographer such as manual settings for exposure, shutter times and ISO sensitivity. Other features include contrast, white balance, saturation and sharpness. The image size menu allows you to change the size of the image, i.e. 8.1MP (Mega pixels), 5 MP, 3.2 MP or VGA mode.

The lens is a 3x digital zoom Carl Zeiss lens and can be focused by using the touch screen; just touch the area of the screen you want in focus!

It goes without saying that the still pictures are stunning. The miracle comes when you replay the photos in one of the album slide show modes. The slide show manipulates the images and replays them in a professionally styled sequence of transitions, this would normally take a few hours to put together on the PC but now it is set up with a couple of touches on the touch screen.; you have to go to the shop and have a demo to believe how cool this option is. There are four different slide show effects all set to the relevant style music; you can even add your own music by using the software that comes with the camera. The software is a video/photo editing tool, which enables you to produce your own photo shows in minutes.

Transferring your photos to the PC is very easy, just plug the cable into the camera and pc and hit the power button and the software transfers your pictures automatically. You can put a small video/slide show together and email it within minutes or you can burn projects to a DVD and impress your friends and family. It could not be easier! The same cable can also be connected to your TV for added viewing pleasure.

The movie mode is far superior to my previous camera. You can replay the movie through a PC and the quality is very good; even in full screen it is quite good. The only down side to the movie mode is that you cannot use the zoom.

You will need to buy a memory stick duo (half the size of a memory stick) to add to the 28mb internal memory. I bought a 512mb stick, which is good enough for over 100 photos at 8.1. It will take a lot more on a lower resolution. The 512mb memory stick duo comes with a normal memory stick adapter so I can still use in my laptop and printer.

In addition to the camera and Memory stick Duo you will need a camera case. I managed to buy my package with a free mini tripod, which comes in handy when operating with the PC.

Go and buy one today!