Formula for a nice compact camera?

[KevinBarrett]

So I was just reading about an inexpensive but interestingly-featured compact camera from Sony with a 2010 release. See if you can guess where it fits in the line up as I list the specs:

5x zoom with constant f/3.3 aperture
20.15 MP/cm density (compared to 37-50 MP/cm for current Sony compacts)
SteadyShot image stabilization
1/4000 sec. maximum
Full HD video
2.5" articulated 230k pixel LCD
Memory Stick and SD/SDHC compatible

Sounds good, right? Wouldn't you love to get a camera with that sensor and lens combo and a few manual controls to make the most of it? Sounding like a Canon G11-fighter so far? What if I told you it's just two hundred bucks? But let me go on...

Auto-focus only
No RAW
AWB only
Wide angle is 38mm (35mm equivalent)
Program and Automatic exposure modes only
No fash

Wait a minute, we're going the wrong way now, aren't we? That's because this camera is the Sony MHS-CM5 Bloggie, and the lens and sensor are carried over from the MHS-CM1 Webbie. That's right, a budget mini-camcorder designed for YouTube gets a big awesome lens the still camera world would drool over. So maybe it wouldn't resolve 10 MP very well, but this one only has to resolve 5 MP in the Bloggie. Stupid consumer-driven nonsense. There is no justice.

[pakodominguez]

Wait a minute, we're going the wrong way now, aren't we? That's because this camera is the Sony MHS-CM5 Bloggie, and the lens and sensor are carried over from the MHS-CM1 Webbie. That's right, a budget mini-camcorder designed for YouTube gets a big awesome lens the still camera world would drool over. So maybe it wouldn't resolve 10 MP very well, but this one only has to resolve 5 MP in the Bloggie. Stupid consumer-driven nonsense. There is no justice.

Why do you want to put a 10MP sensor on a *Video* camera that "only" shoot 1080P?
Better to shoot HD with a Cybershot DSC-TX7 or a DSC-HX5V (but these are 300+ US$ cameras)

[David Kilpatrick]

Don't diss the Bloggie until you have seen its accessories and what it does. It's a very clever device. The 360 degree panorama head is awesome for £20 (I think that's what they said it would cost).

David

[pakodominguez]

Don't diss the Bloggie until you have seen its accessories and what it does. It's a very clever device. The 360 degree panorama head is awesome for £20 (I think that's what they said it would cost).

David

That's the MHS-PM5, with a fix lens and the 360 panorama accessory.
Kevin is talking about the one with zoom, the MHS-CM5, that I find a little more interesting, but I'm still wandering if I buy it or if I buy a Cybershot DSC-HX5V or if I just beehive and wait for the Slimline, supposed to show up "sooner tan expected"

[KevinBarrett]

I was just curious to learn that Sony was producing a fast zoom lens for a compact camera, and that it was projecting onto a low pixel-density CMOS sensor. Why can't we get that kind of thinking in the Cybershot division? Doesn't Sony realize that such a camera with raw output and manual controls would sell like hotcakes?

The HX5 sure does look like a good package, but I've got the TX7 on the way. The size and weight should be a better fit for cycling. Also, the big, high-resolution touch screen should be nice for viewing the contents of a Memory Stick transplanted from my a700 after a shoot.

[Javelin]

but thats going to be one of those tiny webcam sensors isn't it? the IQ is going to be hampered by that. If that lens was in front of APS-c I don;t think it would seem so good spec wise.

My Ff1f had a constant F2.4 CZ lens that I really liked but I doubt it would be big enough to work on anything but the little CCD the camera had.

[KevinBarrett]

but thats going to be one of those tiny webcam sensors isn't it? the IQ is going to be hampered by that. If that lens was in front of APS-c I don;t think it would seem so good spec wise.

It's a 1/2.5" sensor; marginally smaller than that of the HX1/TX1/WX1/TX7/HX5/TX5 cameras (1/2.4"), but with just 5MP instead of the 10-14 MP that are in today's compacts; hence 20 MP per square cm instead of 37. By contrast, Sony's APS-C sensors are in the realm of 2.8 to 3.9 MP per square cm... apples to oranges, or more like apples to pumpkins, really.

BTW, my Mavica FD-73 had a 10x zoom that goes from f/1.8 to f/2.9...but that sensor is a puny 1/4"