Sony announced the Cybershot DSC-T33 today, and it looks to be a kick in the pants. Billed as the successor to the DSC-T11, the T33 improves upon two areas: the LCD screen, and the exterior. Plenty more details inside.

Sony will release the "Cybershot DSC-T33" thin-type compact digital camera o­n January 21st. While it is listed as Open Price, the estimated retail price is around 53,000 yen.

This is the successor to the "Cybershot DSC-T11" release in April of 2004. Most specifications are the same, such as the image sensor and lens. Major modifications include the change of the standard LCD monitor to a 2.5" 230,000 pixel "Clear Photo LCD" hybrid LCD, and the appearance.

The externals of the camera have been completely renewed, with an increase in the number of chrome parts, and application of hairline construction throughout. Also, four body colors will be available: gold, blue, brown, and white -- each color variation also has different colored buttons giving a sense of unity to the camera.

A 1/2.4 type Super HAD CCD with a 5.1MP effective resolution is used as an image sensor, and it is equipped with a primary color filter. The recording resolutions are 2592 x 1944, 2592 x 1728, 2048 x 1536, 1280 x 960, and 640 x 480. The recording format is JPEG. It can also record MPEG-1 video at 640 x 480, 30fps.

The lens is a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar with a 3x optical zoom. This 35mm conversion lens has a focus range of 38 ~ 114mm, with an open F value of 3.5 ~ 4.4. The photographing distance is from 0.5m to infinity. Under macro mode, it is from 0.08m to infinity (wide-angle), and 0.25m to infinity (not wide-angle). It also features a "Magnifying Mirror Mode" enabling recording at wide-angle from a distance of 0.01 to 0.2m. (Note: those of you not familiar with the metric system may have missed this; 0.01 meters is 1 centimeter. That's a damn close picture.)

Only a LCD monitor is o­n the camera, and it does not have an optical viewfinder. The recording media is Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo. It connects to a PC with USB. Power is suppled by a rechargable lithium ion "NP-FT1." Under the CIPA standard, this allows for about 180 pictures.

The body size is 99.4 x 20.7 x 60.9mm (W x D x H), and it weighs about 150g. A cradle, tripod holder, and other items are included.



Inspired by:
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/compact/2005/01/06/710.html

Press Release:
http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200501/05-0106/

Product Information:
http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/DSC/DSC-T33/index.html