Digital Cameras Ratings: Sony TX Series DSC-TX9/H 12.2MP Digital Still Camera with "Exmor R" CMOS Sensor Review

Average Reviews:
4.5 out of 5 stars

(More customer reviews)The TX9 comes with no memory card, but it does accept SDHC cards formatted to FAT32. With the 32GB card it the camera predicts that I can take around 6000 photos in 12M Pixels.

The touchscreen is not bad looking, it is reflective like the Ipod screen which makes image looks clear but at the same time it is also more prone to glare. The touch screen is resistive, not as responsive as the capacitive screen we are used to with the iDevices. This is conform by the fact that it came with a slim plastic dog tag looking contraption with a pointy end. My girlfriend ask what it was, we were puzzled until I went to read the manual... apparently it is a stylus. Only resistive screen can use random plastic object as stylus.

Besides the camera, the package came with a small docking station and a battery charger. This is a nice touch apart from the fact that is doesn't come will all the accessories for the docking station to fully function. It needs a separate AC adapter with Sony's own proprietary plugs which cost no less than $39.99 from Sony's website. Model AC-LS5, I included this, because I personally had a hard time finding this oddball adapter. The docking station has a HDMI and a AV connector, the package only comes with the RCA cable, so again you need to buy your own HDMI cable. I ordered the Amazon Basic ones, since Best Buy loves to insanely overprice these HDMI cable after Circuit City disappeared. With the HDMI cable, the TV out function is very nice. The picture displayed on the screen is amaziningly sharp and clear in 1080i HD and you won't need to bring a computer to show your photos to your friends on HD Television. On the down side you will not be able to recharge your camera on the docking station if you don't buy their AC adapter. Personally I find this really inconvenient. Update: I purchased the adapter, and it does not seem torecharge the camera's battery.

The basic modes of Photo on the Tx9 is Intelligent Auto Adjustment and Superior Auto Adjustment. The Intelligent Auto adjustment is the classic point and click and forget mode, the new superior mode take multiple photos at once then process it to improve picture quality. This does create noticeable clarity, but it needs around 5 second delay after each photo for processing. So this is not so useful if you have impatient friends that wants you to snap quickly.

There are only a few buttoms on the camera, as most of the controls can be done on the touchscreen, the physical buttoms are there for fast access. Photo Mode, Video mode, Shutter, power, zoom and thats it. There are some primitive editing tools on the camera but they seem way too simple to be useful on a small resistive screen. It is more of a gimmick.

There are 2 3D modes, the sweep panorama 3D photo which requires you to have a 3D TV to view and the Sweep multi Angle Mode which appears to changes prespective on the screen when you tilt the camera, similar to a holographic sticker. Since it depends on you to accurately perform the sweeping motion to get good photos, most of the time the 3D photo don't look correct. I also did not find a way to view the Multi Angle Mode photos outside of the camera.

The photos are automatically organized onto a calender very similar to the way Nintendo DS does it. I found this to be a nice feature. The include photo software for the PC was not so useful, it decided to scan all the photo's from my other drives on the computer instead of just the camera, which made a mess of things.

All the previous function are there, iSweep panorama,auto shutter on smiley face, etc, but unlike the TX5, the TX9 is not waterproof. I found it funny that Sony would called their trademark feature "iSweep" panorama. Without knowing the facts, if you have to guess which device the feature "iSweep" came from, Apple or Sony, which would you guess?

All in all the strongest Pro on this camera is the point and click photo quality. It can do 1080 HD movies, but it's not the best of quality, however it is very good for it's compact size (The sound seems to be too loud when recording movies). On the down side, it doesn't include everything you want right out of the box, it only includes what you need, (minus the memory card) and buying Sony proprietary accessories isn't cheap.

Update:
I don't have a 3DTV but I found a zero cost alternative for viewing the 3D pictures on your computer, at least for novelty purpose. Is the use of Nvidia 3d Vision. You just need a blue and red anaglyph glasses (came free with a one of the issues of maxim) and Nvidia 3D translate the photos for you into 3D. Note that at the time of writing, this does yet work the Nvidia release drivers, it only works with the Beta video drivers, which probably would've already been released by the time people read this.

Even if you were going for the more expensive 3d option from Nvidia (with 3D vision kit kit + 120hz monitor) it is still marginally cheaper than buying a 3DTV, plus it has the added option of playing games in 3D. But the main attraction for me was being able to view the 3D photos from the TX9 at almost zero cost, as long as you already have a PC computer with a nvidia gfx card.

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Product Description:
Photographic brilliance meets styling designelegance in the Sony's DSC-TX9. Capture impressive landscapes with iSweep Panorama and in 3D.10 and Get clear and crisp images in low light thanks to Sony's "Exmor R" CMOS sensor. You'll also Bbe impressed by Superior Auto, Background Defocus and Full HD 1080/60i AVCHD movies.8 Enjoy it all on an easy to view 3.5" touch screen1.