1. Introduction 2. Specifications 3. Body & Design 4. Body & Design 5. Operation & Controls 6. Displays 7. Menus 8. Timings & Sizes 9. Features 10. Photographic tests 11. Compared to... 12. Compared to... 13. Conclusion 14. Samples

Sony DSC-P9 Review

Review based on a production Sony DSC-P9

Sony's DSC-P9 is a natural progression from the three megapixel DSC-P5 (which itself succeeded the original DSC-P1). The DSC-P9 (expected street price around $600) joins a growing segment of four megapixel ultra-compact digital cameras which also includes the Canon PowerShot S40 ($650), Pentax Optio 430 ($700), Olympus D-40Z ($700) and the new Minolta DiMAGE F100 ($700). Interestingly three of that bunch have gone for the long / thin body design which we first saw with the DSC-P1.

Note that because the DSC-P9 is very similar to the DSC-P5 many sections of this review are based on that review, notably the body/design and operation sections.

Sony DSC-P9 compared to Sony DSC-P5 (differences only)

	Sony DSC-P9	Sony DSC-P5
CCD	1/1.8" 4.1 megapixels	1/1.8" 3.3 megapixels
Effective pixels	3.9 megapixels	3.1 megapixels
Image sizes	2272 x 1704, 2272 x 1520 (3:2), 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480	2048 x 1536, 2048 x 1360 (3:2), 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480
Image formats	JPEG	JPEG, TIFF
Lens	3 x optical zoom 39 - 117 mm equiv. (F2.8 - F5.6)	3 x optical zoom 39 - 117 mm equiv. (F2.8 - F5.6 )
Auto focus	Multi AF (3 point), Center AF, Manual Focus	Center AF, Manual Focus
White balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Tungsten	Auto, Indoor, Outdoor, Hold
Program AE modes	Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape	Twilight
Noise reduction	Clear Color / Luminance NR, Dark frame subtraction (slower than 0.5 sec)	Dark frame subtraction (slower than 0.5 sec)
Flash range	0.5 - 3.8 m (1.6 - 12.5 ft)	0.5 - 2.8 m (1.6 - 9.2 ft)
Burst mode	Yes, Multiburst (7.5, 15 or 30 fps, 16 320 x 240 frames)	Yes, 2 frames (1.4 fps)
MPEG	Yes, HQX (320 x 240 inc audio) only space limited	Yes, EX (320 x 240 inc audio) only space limited
Displays	LCD Monitor	LCD Monitor, status LCD panel
Storage	Memory Stick, 16 MB included	Memory Stick, 8 MB included
Compartment	Door opens vertically	Door opens horizontally
Grip	Front metallic finger 'hook' grip	Plastic dots
Dimensions	113 x 53 x 36 mm (4.4 x 2.1 x 1.7 in)	113 x 53 x 36 mm (4.4 x 2.1 x 1.4 in)
Volume	216 cm3	216 cm3
Weight (inc. batt)	203 g (7.2 oz)	214 g (7.8 oz)

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (normally 960 x 720 or smaller if cropped) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This review is Copyright 2002 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.

1. Introduction 2. Specifications 3. Body & Design 4. Body & Design 5. Operation & Controls 6. Displays 7. Menus 8. Timings & Sizes 9. Features 10. Photographic tests 11. Compared to... 12. Compared to... 13. Conclusion 14. Samples