Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1

Posted 06/27/2005 at 10:00am | by

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Beauty is only skin deep

From an engineering perspective only, Epson’s 500v is a Honda; Fuji’s E550 is a truck; and Sony’s new DSC-M1 is a Corvette. Heads will turn when you pull out this camera.

But you’ll find the “wow” factor to be short-lived. The M1 is capable of doing double-duty as both a camera and a video recorder, but it doesn’t excel in either role. Picture quality is good, but it’s not up to Cyber-shot standards, and while the new MPEG-4 movie mode is decent, you’ll still want to hang onto your bulky camcorder.

Designed to be used vertically, the M1 has a 2.5-inch LCD screen that swings out and rotates 270 degrees. The LCD isn’t as sharp as the others in this roundup, but it’s good and does “gain up” for easier viewing in low-light situations. Dual shutter-release buttons for movies and pics are located in the center of the body, within easy reach of your thumb, and they’re replicated on the left portion of the LCD itself. Unfortunately, while the rest of the camera controls—menu, mode, zoom—are logically placed, they’re too small to manipulate quickly and confidently in the field (this is particularly true of the zoom control). The M1 looks cool—
and it’s extremely well built—but it’s awkward to use. (Even the top-mounted lanyard is a pain, because it drapes in front of the lens.)

One of the M1’s claims to fame is a fairly innovative hybrid mode that records 320x200, 15fps video five seconds before a picture is taken, and then three seconds after. The theory behind this feature is to capture a picture’s context; unfortunately, awkward playback pauses before and after the still reduce the feature to a gimmick.

The M1 performs respectably, with a cycle time between shots of about one second, and it suffers little shutter lag. The M1’s battery life, on the other hand, was the worst of the group—we captured less than 200 shots on a charge (heavy video use drains the battery quickly). Although there are seven auto-program mode settings that cover just about every shooting condition, manual control options for exposure, shutter, and white balance are AWOL.

The M1’s 5.1 megapixel image-sensor is paired with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 3x optical zoom, and the pair produces pics with good color balance and exposure. Images nonetheless tended to be soft, with background objects often appearing “fuzzy.” Video captures look—and sound—quite good (the stereo microphone really helps). It doesn’t approach the quality of a conventional DV camcorder, but the M1 would be handy in a pinch—especially when you consider that a 1GB Memory Stick Duo or Pro card can hold up to 45 minutes of 640x480/30fps video.

The M1 includes a cradle that must be used to connect to a PC (USB 2.0) or TV, or to recharge the battery. There’s no direct-connection option to view your pics and movies on a TV—you must use the cradle, which is very inconvenient.

Like a futuristic concept car at an auto show, the M1 looks impressive, but it’s just not practical for road use.
—Steve Klett

+ ZERO TRANS FAT: Good video quality and sound; interesting design.

OLESTRA: Awkward to use; picture quality not up to snuff; missing manual controls; expensive.

Month Reviewed: May 2005
Verdict: 6
URL: www.sony.com