-Hi, I'm Josh Goldman, Senior Editor for CNET Reviews, and this is a look at the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX9.
The TX9 is Sony's top of the line, ultra compact camera, which is simply overflowing with features.
The basic specs include a 25-mm-equivalent wide angle lens, with a 4X zoom; a 12-megapixel Exmor R backside-illuminated CMOS image censor; 3-1/2-inch high resolution touchscreen on the back;
a 1080i HD movie capture in AVCHD format with a stereo mic up front; and several new shooting modes including a couple of 3D options.
One of the 3D shooting modes allows you to create panoramas for viewing on 3D-enabled HDTVs when connected by HDMI, while another takes a series of shots at different angles, and then, using the camera's built-in gyro sensor, gives you a 3D-like view by
tilting the camera back and forth.
They're interesting to play with the panoramas are only good if you have a 3D TV, and the multi-angle shots are only viewable on the camera.
Along with the 3D, Sony's taken its multishot photo modes, handheld twilight, anti-motion blur, and back light correction HDR, and put them under a superior auto mode that'll pick the appropriate mode for the subject you're shooting.
Lastly, there's a new background defocus mode that takes 2 shots and then combines them into one, isolating the subject and blurring the background to give an appearance of a shallow depth of field.
All of this stuff works, but they're not quite without their quirks.
From a performance standpoint though, the TX9 is quick with low shutter lag and shot-to-shot times, and there's a high speed burst mode capable of shooting up to 10 frames per second, though you will be waiting a bit once you're done shooting.
Photo quality is very good to excellent for its size and class.
The multishot modes do improve your chances of getting a clean shot especially in low light conditions.
I'm Josh Goldman, and that's a look at the Sony Cyber-shot TX9.
