The Super ZOOMER - Sony HX1 Review

You realise the power of a zoom lens when you capture that smile or expression which you would have missed had the subject seen the camera focused on them. This is where a camera like the HX1 with a 20x optical zoom lens, which extends from 28 mm at the wide end to 560 mm on the telephoto end, comes into play. That is not all, it can also do HD video at a full 1440x1080 at 30fps recording, has some good stereo microphones and big 3" tilting LCD screen. Features such as face detection, smile shutter, panoramic mode, twilight shooting that are standard across the Sony line are there too.

The SLR-like appearance of the camera might seem a bit intimidating for people moving on from compacts or picking up their first camera, but the design makes it very comfortable to use even for novices. The protruding viewfinder was a welcome break, but since the LCD only tilts 90 degrees, it was a bit messy with my nose coming in between and leaving oily marks on the screen. To make life easy, there is a switch that lets you move from LCD to the viewfinder mode.

Sadly, the flash on the HX1 is set to automatic or off and there is no way of firing or opening the flash manually. The second big problem with the camera is that it takes a memory stick pro card, which is expensive and not easily available.
The zoom controller and the shutter button are great to work with, though the former responds slowly after you lock the frame into focus, and at times becomes irritating.

For those of us who like to shoot in manual, there is a scroll near the handgrip to choose the modes, which are easy to setup and use.

The panoramic sweep mode is not as good as other Sony cameras, but it works if you want to use it. I encountered some shake in this mode, and would suggest you use a tripod considering the size of the camera.
But the point-and-shoot mode was bad, with the pictures turning out too bright and too flat. The results were better in manual and scenic modes.

The in-camera photo editing is good and saves the photo as a separate file without overwriting the original. So you can do some post photography effects without using the computer.
The solid built, good LCD screen, brilliant zoom and good final pictures made this an over-all winner in my books. However, HX1 lacks RAW support, which will put off some buyers and is just 9.1 mega pixels in a world were 12 mp is fast becoming the standard.

But still, there is much in this camera if you are not in the megapixel war and are want to stick to the role of an amateur photographer or hobbyist. HX1 Super Zoomer costs from Rs 24,990.


Some Pictures I took with the Camera





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The Above article appeared in the Indian Express on Sunday 21st March 2010.

Wireless TV - Review Sony Bravia ZX1

I love the way this TV looks, and would seriously consider it for a wire-free home. If only they could power it wirelessly as well
40 inches | 9.9 mm thick | 15 kg |1920 x 1080 pixel HD display
LCD TV manufacturers have slimmed down the TV. Ten years ago, no one could think that TVs would be this thin. The next most uncomfortable issue with televisions today is the mess of wires and cables that they have to be surrounded with. These are the wires that connect the TV to DVD players, video game consoles and set-top boxes. Sony has now launched the Bravia ZX1 to disentangle just that mess.

This 40 inch TV is just 9.9 mm thick and weighs 15 kg. It needs no wires other than a power cable. It has Edge LED technology, Motionflow 100 Hz and Image Blur reduction. It has full HD display resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, two integrated speakers and a woofer that deliver 20 watt of power. Its Wireless HD feature allows the user to utilise the media library located anywhere in the house, via the bundled HD media receiver. The devices are connected to the HD media receiver through wires and the TV receives input signals from the media receiver. The connectivity of the Bravia ZX1 is distinguished with four independent HDMI inputs, a PC input, composite inputs, component inputs, USB connection and an RBG compatible Scart connector.

For More information see Sony website
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The above review was printed in the Open Magazine, Issue Dated 9th October to 16th October 2009

Brand conscious - Review of the New Sony Vaio NW 13G

The Sony Vaio is for many an aspirational brand, something they dream of buying someday. But for some time, some people also associated some risk with the brand as they were not sure about the kind of service they would get for the money they were paying. All that is passé, as Sony has not only made their laptops more affordable, but also revamped their service side, making Vaio the brand to buy if you are looking for a machine that carries a luxury tag and gives value for money. And nothing epitomises this effort better than the new Sony Vaio NW 13G.

The new texture, two-tone colour and clear touchpad make the NW 13G a stylish machine. It features a Pentium Mobile Processor, T4200 2GHz with 1 MB Cache, a 15.5” widescreen Clear Bright LCD and 2GB RAM that can be upgraded to 8GB. But the 15.5” felt under-powered on 2GB; I would have made it at least 3GB, anything more would be a waste as the Windows Vista 32Bit Home Edition in the machine won’t be able to use it. The best option would be to fit two 4GB RAMs and run the machine in dual channel mode.
The 15.5” screen only supports a maximum of 1366x768 pixels. It also has a webcam, sadly only .5 megapixel, good for online chats and video conferencing, but not if you want to click a self portrait. The battery time on the machine is touted at 3.5 hours and I was able to squeeze about three hours, a bit low for a machine weighing 2.7 kg. The battery time also depends on how much you use the optical drive and wireless and at what brightness you run the machine.

To cut the price, Sony has put in only a 160GB hard disk, which I think works well for home users. It also features a DVD-RW drive as standard, though the card reader reads just Sony memory. There is a shortcut key on the top of the keyboard to launch the web browser, so that you don’t have to move around to log on to Internet—but I couldn’t see the utility value of the key. There are, however, mute and display off buttons, both of which are very handy. It also has an HDMI output so that you can hook it to a large LCD or Plasma screen without searching for S-Video and audio cables.
However, at Rs 37,990, I will recommend this machine only if you wanted a Vaio real bad, if you fell in love with the looks of the machine or if you wanted something to power your large screen TV.

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The above review appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 27th September 2009

Sony Bookshelf Stereo - CMT-EH25

Expensive homes have made us fit quite a bit into smaller rooms, and the only stereos that I think make sense any more are the bookshelf variety. I came across the Sony CMT-EH25, and was amazed. It comes with a 5+5 watt (total 10 watt RMS) output, a direct playback function for USB thumbdrives (supporting MP3/WMA/AAC tracks), a top-loading CD player, a tape player and radio. The display is a one-line LCD. The remote control is small but tidy and easy to use. It supports CD/CDR/CDRW (no DVD) playback, and lacks Dolby Pro Logic.

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The above review appeared in The Open Magazine, Issue Dated 12th to 18th September 2009