Sony Electronics has announced five new Cyber-shot digital cameras—the DSC-T900, DSC-T90, DSC-W290, DSC-W230, and DSC-H20—four of which feature an intelligent auto mode that "thinks" for photographers, adjusting setting automatically to capture skin tones, reduce blur, and make sure subjects have their eyes open—even in situations where lighting conditions make taking a perfect picture difficult.
"This camera provides a seamless experience," said Sony senior product manager Karim Noblecilla, in a statement. "You can go from a walk in the park to taking pictures of a flower and then back to beautiful landscapes or indoor birthday parties, and the camera will know what to do to get the best shot."
The technology combines intelligent scene recognition (that can detect and switch between five to eight basic scene types in as little as a 30th of a second) with face detection that can register up to eight faces in a single shot. Two of the models also feature selected-face memory, enabling photographers to assign priority to a selected subject’s face. The cameras can also be configured to take two quick snapshots in low light situations using two alternative settings, so users are more likely to get a good shot even in bad light.
The T900 features a 3.5-inch display, 12.1 megapixel resolution, stereo microphone, and a 4× optical zoom; the T90 is similar but with a 3-inch LCD display. The W230 also features a 12.1 megapixel resolution. 4× optical zoom, and 3-inch LCD display, while the W290 adds a 5× optical zoom. The H20 offers a 10.1 megapixel resolution, a 10× optical zoom, and a 3-inch LCD. All these cameras except the W230 can also capture full-screen 720p MPEG-4 video at 30 frames per second.
All five cameras will be available for pre-order beginning in March, with availability coming in April. The T900 will carry a suggested price of $380 and be available in red, bronze, silver, and black; the T90 will be available in silver, black, pink, and brown for about $300. The W290 will go for about $250 in blue, bronze, silver, and black, while the W230 will be priced at about $200 in blue, red, silver, and black. Finally, the H20 will only come in black with a $280 estimated price tag.
