January 06, 2005

Sony Pushing the Cyber-shot DSC-M1 Camera


With a full page ad in today's Wall Street Journal, Sony is really doing the full court press for their new 5.1 megapixel hybrid digital picture and video camera. It has a unique feature of recording a few seconds of video right before and right after each picture shot for a better memorable experience. Specs include:

-Imaging Device: 1/2.4" 5.1 Megapixel Effective Super HAD™ CCD
-Recording Media: Memory Stick Duo™ Media, Memory Stick PRO Duo™ Media
-Zoom: 3X Optical, 2X Digital, 6X Total Zoom
-Color LCD: 2.5" 123K TFT Pixels Hybrid LCD Screen
-Audio/Video Output: Yes, by Supplied Multi-connector Cable
-Hybrid Record Mode: Continuously accumulates 320x240 15fps video with sound, and records 5 seconds before still image capture and 3 seconds after
-MPEG Movie Mode1: MPEGMOVIE 4TV (MPEG4) with Stereo Audio (640 x 480, 30 fps/2.88 Mbps Bit Rate)

With up to an hour of 30 fps of full motion video at VGA resolution, this may be a nice stop gap solution for people who don't want to buy a big bulkly camcorder. The camera goes for around $600 and is available now.