SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-T90
Thin & Oval Shape Digital Camera
A review and Photo Examples of the Sony Cybershot DSC-T90.
Table of contents
Gallery
Review
1．Usage
The Cyber-shot T90 is a compact digital camera released by Sony in 2009.
It has a 12 megapixel CCD sensor, and the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity are basically left to the camera, with almost no room for adjustment. The lens is made up of 12 elements in 10 groups (4 aspherical lenses and 1 prism), which is a common level of complexity for a zoom lens, and the focal length is 35mm to 140mm in 35mm format equivalent, a 4x zoom.
It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the lens cover has hairlines, and the camera body has an oval shape with rounded ends like a Leica M body. The body is very thin, at 14mm thick excluding the lens cover.
The built-in memory has been reduced sharply to 11MB from the previous model’s 4GB. Therefore, an external storage medium is essential, and when using an external memory, a Memory Stick Duo is required. The Memory Stick Duo is one of the storage media that was defeated by the SD card alliance, with Sony’s own memory card standard.
The battery is a lithium-ion battery NP-FD1 as standard. The InfoLithium version of NP-BD1 can also be used.
2．Usage
The T90 was released as a lower grade camera than the T700, the successor model.
The T90 I purchased is an ice blue model, a rare color among compact digital cameras. This ice blue is a color not seen on other cameras, and the vivid blue is very impressive. I found a used one in good condition and purchased it without hesitation. As noted in the additional information, this color does not exist on the T900.
The image quality has increased from the 10 megapixels of the T700 to 12 megapixels, but there is no significant improvement in the captured image itself, and the image quality is decent during the day and hopeless at night, following the standard of compact digital cameras of the time.
The focal length is 35mm starting with a 4x zoom, which is standard for this era and not wide enough for wide-angle lovers.
I would like to see a successor model that starts at 28mm or 24mm, but the successor cameras that meet the lens specifications are not as well-designed as the T700 and T90, so they do not arouse my desire for them.
The lens is a Carl Zeiss brand, but ghosting occurs in backlit situations, and due to the limitations of the sensor, the resolution of the captured images is not particularly high, so there is little to no sense of it.
The back is taken up by an LCD display with no buttons. The display is a touch panel, and shooting settings are made here, although the poor response of the touch panel shows its age.
The top of the body has a minimum of buttons: power, shutter, playback, and zoom. The camera is difficult to grip, so it is not particularly easy to operate. Pulling down the sliding cover on the front turns the power on and allows you to shoot.
3．Add info.
The differences between the T90 and T900 are slight differences in dimensions and weight, the size and resolution of the rear LCD display, and the body color. The T90 has more vivid colors, while the T900 has more chic colors.
The lens cover of the T900 is better because it does not have a plated Cybershot logo, but the T900 does not have ice blue.
| Items | DSC-T90 | DSC-T900 |
| Rear LCD | 3.0-inch 230,000 dots | 3.5-inch 921,000 dots |
| Size W x H x D | 93.6×57.2×15.0mm *13.9mm at its thinnest point (excluding lens cover) | 97.9×57.8×16.3mm *15.1mm at its thinnest point (excluding lens cover) |
| Weight(g) (Memory card and battery included) | 151 | 147 |
| Color | White Brown Pink Blue Black | Bronze Brown Red Silver Black |
There was a time when each company competed over the color of compact digital cameras. Sony had a lineup of up to five colors for one camera body. Different colors were used for each series, and the ice blue of the T90 was not used anywhere else.
Around 2007 to 2010, camera models were changed as often as once every three months for the shortest model, and once every six months at the longest. During this time, it seems that a camera was released after one lot was made, so it’s impressive that planning and production was still going on.
Below is a chronological list of the names and release years of Sony’s slim cameras. There are 35 models available.
- DSC-TX30 2013
- DSC-TF1 2013
- DSC-TX20 2012
- DSC-TX300V 2012
- DSC-TX66 2012
- DSC-TX55 2011
- DSC-TX100V 2011
- DSC-TX10 2011
- DSC-T110 2011
- DSC-T99D 2010
- DSC-TX9 2010
- DSC-T99 2010
- DSC-TX5 2010
- DSC-TX7 2010
- DSC-TX1 2009
- DSC-T900 2009
- DSC-T90 2009
- DSC-T77 2008
- DSC-T700 2008
- DSC-T300 2008
- DSC-T2 2007
- DSC-T70 2007
- DSC-T200 2007
- DSC-T20 2007
- DSC-T100 2007
- DSC-T50 2006
- DSC-T10 2006
- DSC-T30 2006
- DSC-T9 2005
- DSC-T5 2005
- DSC-T7 2005
- DSC-T33 2005
- DSC-T3 2004
- DSC-T11 2004
- DSC-T1 2003
Specification
| Items | DSC-T700 | DSC-T77 | DSC-T90 |
| Camera effective pixels | 10.1-MP | 10.1-MP | 12.1-MP |
| Lens | Vario-Tessar f=6.18-24.7mm (F3.5-4.6) 35mm equivalent: 35-140mm | Vario-Tessar f=6.18-24.7mm (F3.5-4.6) 35mm equivalent: 35-140mm | Vario-Tessar f=6.18-24.7mm (F3.5-4.6) 35mm equivalent: 35-140mm |
| Image sensor | 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor | 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor | 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor |
| ViewFinder | – | – | – |
| Rear LCD | 3.5-inch 921,000 dots | 3.0-inch 230,000 dots | 3.0-inch 230,000 dots |
| Recorded Media | Memory Stick Duo 4GB built-in memory | Memory Stick Duo Built-in memory 15MB | Memory Stick Duo Built-in memory 11MB |
| Battery | NP-FD1 NP-BD1 | NP-FD1 NP-BD1 | NP-FD1 NP-BD1 |
| Size(mm) W x H x D | 95 × 58.4 × 16.4 | 93.6×57.2×15.0 | 93.6×57.2×15.0 |
| Weight(g) (Memory card and battery included) | 160 | 151 | 151 |
| Color | Silver Grey Red Pink Gold | Silver Black Green Pink Brown | White Brown Pink Blue Black |
Options
Reference links
Update history
- 2024.12.29
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