Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58832 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DSCT500B.CEH
• Released on: 2008-08-29

Manufacturer's Description
This 10.1 Mega Pixel cybershot from SONY has High definition movie capability. Optical image stabiliser, face detection and a BIONZ processor. It has a large 3.5" LCD screen, 5x optical zoom and wide angle lens. Great image quality is guaranteed is the compact and stylish T500.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Sony T500 STUNNING!!!
I first purchased the Lumix TZ5 after discovering that it took HD video footage and soon found out it was a mere after thought as it definitely needed ironing out! First few problems where evident as it made a horrific grinding sound that was recorded every time you zoomed in and out not to mention the tortoise like speed of the zoom function whilst videoing. It also had Mono sound recording and most importantly you can only take 10 minutes or so on a 4GB Card whereas you can capture 50 Minutes of the same quality 720p video footage with the Sony and yes with very high quality stereo sound! This is due to the fact that the Sony is compressing the video whilst capturing it (V impressive).

Any way this is about the T500 and my goodness what a machine being able to do all what the Lumix can do bar the 10x optical zoom (Which wasn't great anyway) as the Sony has 5x Optical zoom. However the optical zoom of the Sony is very well hidden as the mechanism is hidden in the casing so no protruding lens to damage or knock. It is aprox 1/2 the size of the Lumix and packs a lot more power behind its punch too. It has a very simple to use touch screen which is very intuitive. I didn't need to consult the manual except for the battery charging times! The build quality is second to non comparable in fact with that of Apple or all the other Sony products. The metal casing feels strong and rigid. The Photos are sharp and very vivid still allowing you to use all the normal features including ISO ranges, macro etc etc. In fact even though the lens is comparably smaller to the Lumix at full zoom I preferred the accuracy of pixel attainment and color capture of the Sony as well. In conclusion the Sony is all round brilliant in all aspects I strongly suggest taking a look!

Just as a last thought a lot of the web reviews floating about say that the Sony has 4GB internal Memory this is not so and is in fact only 4MB which in no use to man nor beast so I would suggest a 4GB card, but most importantly a high speed one 15mbps or higher. I would suggest and in fact bought myself the Memory stick pro duo MARK 2 as it is quick enough for the HD video capture If you do not get a high speed card when you try to take HD footage it will simply say no space available, (When it actually means the card is not fast enough).
This is my first review of any product ever but this camera is worth a go so I hope it OK, Thanks for reading.

PS other review insinuates you need to buy a cradle this is not so everything you need with exception of the component (HD) cable is present in the box :-)

If you decide to buy the T500....
I haven't had a chance to put this thing through its paces yet, but here are some pointers in case you do decide to get one anyway:

Memory: Note that the on board memory is 4Mb (not 4Gb!), that's room for one high quality picture (or 25 VGA quality pictures), or three seconds of HD video! To get started I've bought the 4Gb Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark 2 (which you can pick up online for around £17). There are a lot of fakes around, so please watch out for that.

Case: You also need a case, I had a look at a few at the Sony shop and the Sony LCS-THM Soft Carry Case in Genuine Leather For T Series - Black from Amazon is the one that fit perfectly and was the most elegant, with a belt loop. Nothing exciting from LowePro/Crumpler or Vaja to write home about, as they say.

Connecting to TV/PC: No USB/HDMI/AV connector on the camera itself. You'll need your docking cradle to connect the camera to your PC/Mac or your TV, or a memory card reader to get the pictures on to your computer, so a bit inconvenient, thus the 4 marks out of 5.

Battery: Generally, the battery indicator shows half charge within minutes of powering up after a full charge. I'm not sure if it's mis-reporting or if the battery does drain that quickly. I did charge the battery for 16 hours before using it for the first time. Anyway, I just bought a Sony NP-FD1 InfoLITHIUM® Type D Battery for £23.38 from Amazon, so I'll update on this as soon as I know.

Overall, it looks lovely, it's compact (yet slightly heavy), and takes nice pictures. Shutter response is quick, and also quick to take pictures from power up.

I hope that helps.

Like no other
At the time of writing this Sony is by far the best on the market at recording movie's it is also one of the very few cameras on the market that is built in japan and that includes all of the accessory's that go with this camera. The picture quality is also exceptional and can without doubt wholeheartedly recommend this camera!!!