Sony Debuts New High End Digital Camera

New Cyber-shot DSC-R1, Sony says, is the first integrated lens digital still camera to combine a 10.3 megapixel image sensor with live preview while shooting.

Sony today said they were looking to make a major splash in the digital photography world as they unveiled their new Cyber-shot DSC-R1 digital camera. This product, available in mid-November for around $1,000, is what the company is calling the first integrated lens digital still camera to market to combine a 10.3 megapixel image sensor with live preview while shooting.

The DSC-R1, said Sony, features an ultra-wide Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 5x optical zoom lens and a free angle, two-inch LCD. A technology known as Sony Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor allows the camera’s APS-class CMOS image sensor to provide the live preview mode.

Other features of the high-end DSC-R1 include a one-second shot-to-shot time, shutter release time of 7.5 milliseconds, three different modes of color reproduction, a user selectable image optimization system, digital dual media capability and support for JPEG and RAW digital image formats.

“The R1 represents a breakthrough in digital camera technology and construction,” said James Neal, director for digital imaging products at Sony Electronics. “You can grab this camera and go, confident that you will be prepared for a wide range of shooting situations. Its many convenience features and exceptional performance can not easily be matched with a typical consumer-level digital SLR.”