Sony DSC-M1: Good Video, Disappointing Pictures

Final Words

The DSC-M1 is Sony's attempt to make a true hybrid digicam offering both extended high quality video recording and all the still camera features that you have come to expect from a modern digicam. As with all cameras, we have found some positives and negative points throughout our review. To start, we were generally impressed with the M1's speed. It is quick to start up, showed fast cycle times without the flash, and has incredibly fast shutter lag and auto-focus times. With the flash enabled, the shot-to-shot time increases dramatically, making it a bit slower than average. Of course, what makes or breaks a digital camera in the end is image quality. The M1 performed very well on our resolution test chart. Unfortunately, the results that we saw in the studio did not translate well to the real world. Our sample images are all characterized by soft/fuzzy details. In addition, we spotted JPEG artifacts throughout several images during our testing. The M1 isn't the best in terms of noise either. Even at ISO 100, we were surprised by the level of noise that we saw in the images. We noticed a strong yellowish cast when using Auto white balance under tungsten light (which is fairly normal compared to other digicams). However, we didn't expect to see a slight bluish cast when using Auto WB under direct sunlight.

Other than taking still images, the other main selling point of the M1 is its MPEG-4 video capability. We were very impressed with the quality of the video files. The M1 can record stereo audio and video at 640x480 and 30 fps. Thanks to the M1's MPEG-4 compression, the video file sizes are much smaller than those of comparable quality from other digicams using MPEG-1 compression. The M1 allows the use of the optical zoom during video recording as well as image adjustments such as white balance, exposure compensation, etc. Overall, the video mode is very impressive. It is unfortunate that the still image quality suffers from so many problems. If the M1 were priced under $400, it might be a decent buy for someone who shoots a lot of video and is looking for a compact dual-function camera. As long as they don't plan on making still prints larger than 8x10" or doing any heavy cropping, the M1 would fit the task. However, considering the $500 price tag, it doesn't seem worth it. The M1 was a good start by Sony, but more work needs to be done to improve the still image quality. We are excited by the future of MPEG-4 video modes in newer digicams by companies such as Casio, Pentax, Samsung, and Sony. Hopefully, newer cameras will have a better balance between the video and still image functionality.

Pros	Cons
- Good resolution - Very fast startup time - Very fast cycle times w/o flash - Excellent movie mode - Live histogram - Decent battery life - AF-assist lamp - Very good movie mode - Excellent macro (magnifying glass) mode	- Fuzzy/Muddy details - JPEG artifacts - Noise in images (even at ISO 100) - Slow cycle time w/flash - Recessed option buttons - Auto WB produces yellowish cast under tungsten light - Auto WB produces slightly cool cast in direct sunlight

Thanks again to Newegg.com for loaning us the Sony DSC-M1 for review.