PMA 2009

(Credit: Sony)

Camera manufacturers seem to have chosen megazooms as their latest battlefield--and thankfully, the fight isn't just about who's got the biggest lens. In this case, the latest player comes from Sony, whose new Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 incorporates several technologies from its Alpha DSLR products, including a 1/2.4-inch 10-megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor (for 9-megapixel images) and 20X f2.8-5.2 28-560mm-equivalent optically stabilized lens based on the company's higher-quality G series lenses.

In theory, the combination should deliver better photo quality than we're used to seeing in this class. (We haven't yet had a chance to review its primary--and also CMOS-based--competitor the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS, but it's been shipping overseas for a little while, so you can read CNET Australia's take on it).

In addition, Sony introduces several interesting continuous shooting modes: an intriguing Dynamic Ultrawide panorama mode that captures sequential images as you slowly pan across a scene and automatically stitches them into a 7,152x1,080 photo; a 10 frame-per-second 10-shot continuous shooting mode that uses a mechanical rather than electronic shutter for, the company claims, less distortion; and Handheld Twilight mode, which combines multiple exposures for a theoretically lower noise, higher detail low-light photo.

The W290 comes in a rather subdued palette of colors.

(Credit: Sony Electronics)

Joining the lower-middle middle-class W220 that Sony announced at CES are the $199 middle middle-class W230 and $249 upper-middle middle-class W290. (Sorry folks, but I'm running out of ways to describe midpriced cameras.) While the W230 only differs from the W220 by $10 and LCD size--it's 3 inches vs. 2.7--the W290 has the same resolution and LCD as the W230 but with a significantly more flexible lens and better movie capture capabilities.

Photos: Sony Cyber-shot W models for spring

In fact, based on the specifications the W290 sounds like a better deal than the W300. It's about $80 less (including Sony recent price drop on the W300 by $20). And though it's only 12 megapixels compared with the W300's 13.6, that's a pretty trivial difference compared with the nontrivial advantage the W290's 3-inch LCD, wide-angle 5x 28-140mm-equivalent lens, and 30fps 720p MPEG-4 movie capture offer over the W300's 2.7-incher, narrow angle 3x zoom lens, and VGA video. The W290 also includes Sony's latest automatic scene- and face-detection technologies, and doesn't include the hideously annoying and confusing Home menu anymore. If it's not abysmally slow and doesn't produce terrible photos, I think the W290 might be a mainstream contender for 2009. We'll get one, get going, and get back to you when it's available later this spring.

The Sony Cyber-shot S950 gets a more megapixeled brother.

(Credit: Sony Electronics)

Because the way sales channels operate forces manufacturers to create too many product SKUs, Sony has announced the Cyber-shot S980--it's identical to the S950, but costs $20 more for 12 megapixels rather than 10. Chances are the street prices will converge a month after it ships in March for $149.

(Credit: Sony Electronics)

(Credit: Sony Electronics)

A modest upgrade over last year's Cyber-shot DSC-H10, this spring's DSC-H20 nevertheless offers a few new nice improvements over its budget megazoom predecessor. Though it keeps the same 10x f3.5-4.4 38-380mm (35mm equivalent) lens and 3-inch LCD, the $279 camera bumps up to a 1/2.3-inch 10-megapixel CCD from 8 megapixels. We complained about the H10's lack of optical zoom in movie capture, and the H20 now supports it. Plus, it now shoots 720p MPEG-4 videos. Like many of the spring models, the H10 will include Sony's updated intelligent auto features, including more advanced automatic scene recognition and auto face detection.

(Credit: Sony Electronics, Inc.)

Last year when Sony released the Cyber-shot DSC-T500, I was initially impressed with what the camera had to offer. But since testing it, the only thing to really prove its promise was the quality of the 720p video produced by the little pocket camera.

The T900 shares the same video abilities as the T500, but improves the resolution and adds Sony's Bionz image processing. Let's hope the T900 lives up to its flagship status.

Facts about the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900:

• 12-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch Super HAD CCD sensor.
• 4X f3.5-4.6 35-140mm-equivalent lens.
• 720p HD movie capture with stereo mic.
• Bionz processor.
• Features a 3.5-inch Xtra Fine touch-screen LCD that delivers high resolution images (921,600 dots), which is approximately four times higher than conventional LCD screens (this is the same excellent screen found on last year's T700).
• Optical image stabilization
• Multi-output dock included and features HDMI
• Intelligent scene recognition, face detection with child/adult priority, and Smile Shutter.

The T900 camera will be available for pre-order in March and shipping in April in silver, black, red, and bronze for about $380.

(Credit: Sony Electronics, Inc.)

There's very little that's different between the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 and the DSC-T900. The T90 has a 0.5-inch smaller screen that has a significantly lower resolution (910K to 230K dots). It also doesn't have a stereo mic or have HD output via HDMI, only component. But, that's pretty much where the feature shed ends.

Basic specs for the ultracompact include a 12-megapixel sensor, 4X optical zoom with stabilization, 3.0-inch LCD, and 720p HD movie recording. You also get Sony's intelligent scene recognition, intelligent auto mode, Smile Shutter, and face detection with child and adult priority.

The T90 model is available in silver, black, pink, blue, and bronze for about $280.