Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX66 review: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX66

Though it might seem like the whole world is trading in point-and-shoots for smartphones, there are still plenty of people who don't have or want a smartphone, or who want something faster and with better photo and video quality that won't kill their phone battery while shooting all day. That's why Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-TX66 exists. It's a powerful camera that can outperform a smartphone in many ways, in a body that weighs just a few ounces and is no thicker than a AA battery.

7.4

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX66

$260 at Amazon

The Good

The <b>Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX66</b> captures very good snapshots and video, is fast to focus and shoot, and has plenty of fun shooting options for those looking to do more than just take pictures.

The Bad

The TX66's 18-megapixel resolution results in large file sizes, but doesn't make the photos any more usable for enlarging and cropping. Plus, its size and controls will be too small for some users.

The Bottom Line

Sony's slimmest Cyber-shot, the DSC-TX66, is a fun and powerful snapshot camera that might be too small and have too many megapixels for its own good.

The TX66 is almost the same as 2011's DSC-TX55, so if you have that already, you probably don't need to dump it for the TX66. The 5x f3.5-4.8 26-130mm lens and 3.3-inch OLED touch screen are carried over, but Sony bumped up the resolution from 16 to 18 megapixels. That extra resolution won't help your regular snapshots much; with the exception of close-up shots, you probably won't like what you see when you view photos at full size.

If you view photos at 100 percent you'll see noise, and subjects look soft and painterly, especially once you get above ISO 200. Despite its having a resolution you might find on a larger digital SLR, the photos do not compare.

That said, at reduced sizes, photos do look very good even at higher ISO settings. If most of your shots end up on Facebook or get turned into photobooks or 8.5x11 prints or smaller, you'll probably be pretty happy with what this tiny camera turns out. (For a closer look at the TX66's image quality, see the sample photo slideshow.)

Sample photos:
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX66

If you're looking for accurate colors, you won't get them with the TX66. However, they are bright and vivid, which, frankly, is what most people want from a point-and-shoot. If you don't fall into that category, Sony's added simple sliders for brightness, hue, and saturation, so you can tune them to your liking. What's better is that they're available in the auto modes, which is unusual but definitely welcomed.

Movies captured by the TX66 are very good. The 60i frame rate and image stabilization make for some smooth movement, too. You might see some ghosting with fast-moving subjects, though, and things look a little oversharpened on occasion. The TX66 won't replace a full-fledged HD camcorder, but if you'd like a single device for capturing good photos and videos, this is a decent choice. The optical zoom does work while recording and can barely be heard when you're using it. The stereo mic on top is a nice extra, though you'll have to be careful not to cover the left side of it when holding the camera.

Sony continues to do an excellent job of getting the most from its speedy Exmor R sensors and high-performance Bionz image processors to give snapshooters better results. There are plenty of shooting options on the TX66 to play with, including nine creative modes for those of you who are addicted to filters and effects.

For those who like to leave it in auto, there are three options: Easy, Intelligent Auto, and Superior Auto. Easy mode takes away all options except for image size (large or small) and enlarges onscreen text. Intelligent Auto picks from 10 scene types and turns on face detection, dynamic range optimization, and image stabilization. Superior Auto takes Intelligent Auto and adds three multishot modes: Handheld Twilight, Anti Motion Blur, and Backlight Correction HDR.

Shooting performance is for the most part very good. True to Sony's claims, the TX66 does focus and shoot quickly, making it easy to catch that one-off shot of your kids or pets. Slide the lens cover down and it's ready to shoot in less than a second. Shutter lag is low at 0.3 second in good lighting and 0.6 second in dim conditions. It burst shoots at 10 frames per second at full resolution; however, as with past Sony models with this feature, you're stuck waiting for the pictures to get stored on your memory card before you can shoot again. Plus, focus and exposure are set with the first shot, so if your subject is moving, there's a good chance they won't be in focus for all 10 shots. Regular shot-to-shot times were a bit longer than I expected at 2.1 seconds without flash and 4.8 seconds with flash.

To get the TX66 so small, some sacrifices were made, like needing an adapter to use it with a tripod.

What's most remarkable about the TX66 is that you get all of the above in a camera that is roughly the height and width of a business card and the thickness of a AA battery. Being that small, though, it's not the easiest camera to operate and hold steady. Sliding down the lens cover is a bit of a challenge even if your fingers are completely dry. It is quite possibly too small for some users, and you have to be very careful to keep your fingers out of your shots.

To get the camera that small, some sacrifices are made. For one, the only physical controls are the tiny, closely spaced power button, shutter release, and nub of a zoom lever. Everything else is done with the touch screen, which, thankfully, is very responsive and customizable. It can be very difficult to see in bright sun, however, making setting and shooting mode changes tricky. In order to attach the camera to a tripod you need a little included adapter that's destined to get lost.

Instead of using a full-size SD card or Memory Stick, the TX66 stores to microSDHC or MemoryStick Micro cards. It also has a very small battery pack that runs down pretty fast if you're doing more than snapshots. Along with that, it has a proprietary USB port for charging, so if you lose the cable, you can't just use an off-the-shelf Micro-USB cable.

Conclusion
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX66 is a lot of fun to use and turns out some very good photos and movies. Don't get too excited about the 18-megapixel resolution, though. Sony takes advantage of the extra resolution for some things, but for the most part, it's just marketing. You'll also definitely want to try one out to see if it's too small for you to use.

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