We've just received a pre-production DSC-U10 from Sony, while we can't yet publish sample images from this ultra-tiny digital camera I have prepared a short preview article. The U10 is the smallest Sony digital camera to date, it has a 1.3 megapixel CCD sensor, a fixed focal length lens and writes to normal MemoryStick. Power comes from two AAA batteries and the U10 also features a power saving 1.0" daylight LCD (reflective).

Sony CyberShot U-10 Quick Preview

More pictures

As you can see from the pictures above the DSC-U10 is smaller than you would think. Small enough to slip into any pocket yet protected by its sliding lens cover. The lens cover has a very smooth mechanism which when opened powers up the camera. Power on time is very quick with a small card (around 2 seconds), larger cards can take a couple of seconds longer. This means the camera is ready to shoot straight out of your pocket.

The LCD screen is also interesting, switch off the backlight and I was surprised how bright the screen remains (outdoors). Overall this is a simple, easy to use and tiny digital camera which you really can take anywhere.

At this stage (pre-production) we have made no analysis of image quality.

Operation

As you'd expect the DSC-U10 is designed to be as easy to use as possible, that said you can still control flash mode (press the Scene button upwards) and select built-in Scene modes (press the Scene button downwards). Power on/off is intuitive as all you need to do is slide the cover open or closed. You can also power the camera on or off using the Power button on top of the camera (useful for playback with the cover closed). Shutter release is surprisingly fast, that fixed focal length lens means that the camera's AF system (and at least it does have AF!) can work quickly and the shot is taken in a jiffy. Overall it's a nice little camera to shoot with.

Display / Menus

Startup logo, displays for a few seconds if you startup in Play mode otherwise you'll only see this very briefly in Record mode.	Record mode live view, information overlaid: Battery status, Image size, Memory Stick status, Flash mode, Frames remaining.
Record menu: The top page (as indiciated by the vertical tabs) provides control over record options; image size (see next capture), focus mode, self-timer and picture effect.	Image size: 1280 x 960, 640 x 480 or 640 x 480 burst capture.
Play mode, information overlaid: Battery status, Image size, Frame count, Folder / Filename, Date & Time.	Play menu: Delete, Delete All, Index browse, Print mark.

Record Menu

Play Menu