Sony’s new DSC-T99 camera is a beautifully designed update to their popular T-series Cyber-shot cameras. Its appearance is rather interesting – the overall form is much more rounded than previous models, presumably making it much easier and more comfortable to hold. The buttons normally found on top of a Sony camera, such as the On/Off, take picture and W/T zoom buttons do not protrude from this device like they have in past models, and it looks quite good. We also noticed that the W/T zoom slider is once again at the far right top corner of the camera, which is an awkward placement that we weren’t too fond of in the TX7, which was another camera by Sony that had the same design.
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There is a T99 color for just about everyone – this camera will be available in the USA in Silver, Pink, Violet, Black and Green. As for specifications, the T99 has a 14.1 megapixel sensor (with Super HAD CCD), 3″ Clear Photo LCD Plus Touch Screen, TransferJet, Memory Stick DUO and SD storage card compatibility, Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens with 25mm equivalent wide 4x Optical Zoom, and Optical SteadyShot image stabilization. The T99 battery life capacity is 115 minutes or 230 images when viewing still images.
The price for this camera is rather aggressive – the T99 will run for $249 in the USA when it goes on sale in September.
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If you live in Japan you’ll enjoy access to some rather fancy variations of the T99 that are really keen. There is a DSC-T99D model that has two options – one in gold, and other in brown. As you can see, these decorated T99D’s aren’t just simple gold and brown colors. The gold T99D has rhinestones studded on the lens cover and decorative patterns featuring nature motifs. The brown T99D is meant to imitate the type of leather you would see on purses, and is surrounded by slick gold colored frame. Awesome!
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Did we also mention there are special engraving options for the T99 in Japan as well? Three designs, available for all five colors. The designs are shown above.
Sony has also outfitted the camera with several interesting software features, including the popular 243-degree Sweep Panorama Mode, which allows you to take wide panoramic shots with the touch of one button. iAuto mode also returns in the T99, ensuring that the camera produces good results regardless of the scene or lighting situation – very helpful for the quick shot or those who rather not have to fuss with confusing settings.
The DSC-T99 features 13 convenient scene modes: High Sensitivity / Twilight / Twilight Portrait / Soft Snap / Landscape / Beach / Snow / Fireworks / High Speed Shutter / Underwater / Gourmet / Pet / Soft Skin. According to the Sonystyle listing, the new “Soft Skin” mode Skin mode “recognizes skin tones and reduces the appearance of blemishes and wrinkles without affecting the rest of the shot.” The T99 also allows you to select up to seven ISO settings (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200).
We couldn’t mention the debut of this camera without hitting on the HD MP4 movie mode, which records 1280×720 (720p) HD movies at 30fps, perfect for YouTube, Facebook, etc. It’s always nice to see Sony continuing to use the MP4 format, as the files are good quality and easy to upload just about anywhere.
There are many more cool software features in the T99 that you can learn about at the SonyStyle page.
