Sony's 5-megapixel moviemaker
Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M1
The product: Sony is introducing a new mode that combines video and still capture; it continually streams video through the memory buffer. When you snap a photo, it saves the last 5 and the next 3 seconds of 320x240 video as well--definitely a feature that anyone with poor timing can appreciate. The DSC-M1 also provides a 2.5-inch articulated LCD and ups its best movie-capture quality to MPEG-4.

The price: The Cyber Shot DSC-M1 will be available in January 2005 for $599.95.

The prospects: Radical redesigns can backfire, and generally, the first iteration requires quite a bit of refinement before it becomes really usable. Also, on the inside the Sony M1 has the same sensor and postprocessing algorithms that made the photos from the Cyber Shot DSC-T1 such a disappointment. The Cyber Shot DSC-M1 is quite pricey for a 5-megapixel, 3X zoom camera--Sony plans to charge $600 for it when the camera ships in December--and it probably won't have enough time on the market during the holiday shopping season to make much of an impression. We might change our minds once we get our hands on a model, but for now we'd hold out for an M2.

By Lori Grunin, senior editor, CNET Reviews