HIGH

• completely waterproof, sandproof
• features packed
• quick, easy to use
• very good image quality
• wide 25-100mm zoom lens
• effective optical image stabilization
• nice 3" touch-screen LCD
• good 720HD video with optical zoom
• sweep panorama mode
• stylish, beautifully built

 

MIND

• no black & white mode

WISE

• easily a nomad's favorite: hippest beach camera

The Sony Cyber-shot TX5 is completely sealed and waterproof despite being very small and stylish. It comes with a good 3" LCD and a touch-screen menu interface which is easy to use both in and out of the water. We took our green TX5 snorkeling in Maui and had no problem changing modes underwater. Focusing and shooting are very quick for a compact camera, and they are important features in capturing actions.

The TX5 is packed with Sony's unique and useful shooting modes: hand-held sweep panorama, hand-held twilight, anti-motion blur, backlight correction HDR, and high-speed burst. The lens is very wide for being so small, but Sony does a good job correcting lens distortion and purple fringes. The wide angle is also useful for taking underwater seascape pictures and expansive looking panoramas. Image quality is very good for this type of camera. It can also capture excellent HD videos, with optical zoom.

We love the sweep panorama feature of recent Sony cameras and were delighted to use it with the TX5, especially underwater. The vertical resolution of the panoramas is 1080 pixels, which is good for smaller prints, and more than enough for email or the web.

The Sony Cyber-shot TX5 is a great ultra-slim. On dry land, it does just as well, and we like it as much as its more decked-out sibling: the TX7, which can't go in the water. Underwater, it does as well as the excellent Panasonic Lumix TS2 in normal snorkeling depth. Overall, there's simply no other camera as interesting or versatile at the beach as the TX5.

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