Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T2 review

The DSC-T2 is a camera that will get itself noticed.

It's one of the best-looking compacts we've ever seen, and don't worry, if metallic lime green isn't your idea of glamour, there are four other colours to choose from. The large and bright 2.7in LCD that dominates the back isn't just a display but a touchscreen. Optical image stabilisation is built into the image sensor, and with a massive 4GB of built-in memory you'll have more than enough room for pictures without even using the card slot.

Icons around the edge of the screen control the main settings, which can be adjusted with just a couple of prods on the screen. A spot focus mode works simply by tapping the part of the image you want to focus on. The shutter release, power, zoom and playback controls have their own buttons, although the latter two are fiddly and seem to have been designed for their looks more than their function. Otherwise, though, we found the camera friendly and responsive. We were able to capture a photo every 1.5 seconds in the standard shooting mode, or 2.3 seconds using the flash.

The T2's most unusual feature is its Smile Shutter scene preset. This uses face detection to help with focus and exposure settings, and only takes a picture when it spots a beaming smile. It's not really quick or smart enough to warrant regular use, but it's perfect for entertaining friends and family, and pretty much guarantees you'll end up with lots of photos of inane grins.

With so much going for it, it's a shame the T2's image quality isn't up to much. Colour accuracy is hard to fault and noise levels are lower than usual, but there's a distinct lack of sharpness and detail that's hard to forgive at this price. It's not a great camera, then, but as a form of entertainment it's pretty irresistible.

Author: Ben Pitt