Introduction

Ease of Use

Being another in Sony's popular T-series of flat-fronted, credit-card sized cameras activated/deactivated by sliding open the lens cover, the Cyber-shot 10.1 million effective megapixel DSC-T77 is slender enough to engender a size zero-style debate on 'how slim is too slim?' The lurid lime green version Sony's PR department supplied us with - it's available in a jellybean-like selection of five different colours - is also definitely love it or hate it. If that's not enough to cause you to stop reading immediately, the other talking point is that, like its T500 bigger brother announced in tandem (nearly twice the width, incidentally), this is a touch screen model. Thus the central portion of the back of the camera is entirely clear of any physical controls except its prod-able 3-inch widescreen LCD. The front plate also looks very clean: the lens is vertically stacked so that at no point does the optic (here again of Carl Zeiss branding) protrude from the bodywork.

Its manufacturer further claims the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 is the world's thinnest compact to boast a 4x optical zoom (35-140mm equivalent) - being 13.9mm at its thinnest point, 15mm 'thick' otherwise - and, holding it in my palm as gingerly as a baby bird at the time of writing, that's very probably true. It weighs 126g, so will slip easily into a shirt or blazer top pocket. At this point you'll probably be thinking 'uh-oh, camera shake'! And it's certainly true with its slim dimensions and slippery polished surfaces there's not much of the T77 to get a firm hold on. Fortunately there is optical image stabilisation on board as standard.

So, with the above in mind, let's explore whether Sony's budget compact - well budget for Sony that is, with a new asking price of £209 / $300 - is anything other than a pretty fascia…

With the sliding lens cover occupying roughly two thirds of the camera's frontal real estate, when slid shut the T77 barely resembles a camera in its inactive state; looks wise it's closer in fact to one of those 'executive' business card holders. When slid open, and the camera therefore activated, there is only just enough space for the pokey lens (of Carl Zeiss origin) to peep out above the rim of the cover, adjacent to which is a small circular window for the self timer/AF assist lamp and narrow strip for the built-in flash. Directly below is the built in microphone.

Looking down on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77, the top plate is a similarly minimalist affair, controls set out along a mirrored chrome strip. A small, recessed power button requires fingertip operation, glowing with a green light when in use, next to which is a narrow, raised lozenge-shaped shutter release button. An even teenier rocker switch at the end of the row is for operating the zoom, where it most naturally falls under the forefinger. Requiring a delicate fairly precise touch, this isn't the camera for the ham-fisted.

A glance at the user friendly spec sheet reveals it is in fact best suited to the happy snapper, being targeted towards the taking of portraits as much as anything. On board are Sony's proprietary Smile Shutter mode - the camera automatically firing when it detects a grin from your subject - plus, of course, face detection, and here too anti blink technology - first witnessed in the unassumingly cheap cameras from General Electric. Sony's version takes two portraits in quick succession throwing away whichever one it deems your subject has his or her eyes closed for.

Front	Rear

More useful than all of these in practice - particularly for beginners - is Intelligent Scene Recognition, which serves the same function as Panasonic's Intelligent Auto Mode: namely the camera recognizes the subject you're pointing it at and automatically swaps settings to provide the best results. Thus, point the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 at a close-up subject without manually activating the macro setting and you fortunately won't end up with a blurred result and the inclination to scratch your head.

As with the pricier T500, in the absence of any optical viewfinder the T77's entire backplate is given over to the aforementioned widescreen 16:9 ratio LCD with which to frame and review images - hence the scarcity of actual physical controls. It's smaller in size to the one found on the T500 - 3-inches as opposed to 3.5-inches - and features a wider surround, thus enabling your thumbs to get a slight degree of purchase when holding the camera steady in both hands. Like other Cyber-shots in the series though, the rear LCD does inevitably and quickly become smeared with prints from your digits. Also shared with its bigger brother in the T series is the fact that, when left on default 4:3 ratio auto mode for shooting stills, both sides of the screen display black bands, in effect cropping the image to more closely resemble what you'll get when a regular JPEG is captured and downloaded.

Still, flip the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77's sliding lens cover open and the user is ready for the first capture in just under two seconds (1.6 secs being the official quote), the aforementioned compositional display appearing on the back screen with no optical viewfinder as an alternative. Press the shutter release button down halfway and the camera is quick to determine focus and exposure, the focus point illuminating in green to signify this has happened. Go on to take the shot and there's a three second wait while the shot is captured and written to card, the screen blanking out momentarily. While this isn't bad, generally operation feels more sluggish than that of the pricier T500. To review the shot properly, press the dedicated playback button top right of the rear LCD, the only actual physical control on the entirety of its backplate. There's a further protruding 'lug' for attaching a wrist strap to, middle right of screen.

In auto capture mode the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77's screen displays a fairly similar range of icons and menus to that of the more sophisticated T500. Top left of the touch screen is a virtual button marked 'Home' which Sony intends as providing an overview of the camera's functions. Press this and you're provided with a toolbar running along the bottom of the screen that offers one touch affirmation of shooting mode, playback folder, slideshow, direct print, memory format or basic set up options.

To us this 'Home' destination has always seemed slightly unnecessary - for example, essential info such as the shooting mode you've selected is automatically displayed on screen anyway - and the bottom of the left-hand toolbar features a 'Menu' button from which you're provided with a more detailed view of the functionality on offer. 'Home' may be intended as a simplified hand-holding feature for anyone daunted by having too many options at their disposal at once, but for us serves only to confuse things.

Press Menu instead and the left hand bar changes to a white background offering the sort of shooting options you'd expect ranged over two screens. Scroll up or down, and a further toolbar extends horizontally out across the screen revealing the full array of choices for whichever feature you've paused on. Here you'll find the ability to adjust image size and quality, and image ratio, from 4:3 to 3:2 or even 16:9 for replaying on an HD TV.

Battery Compartment Memory Card Slot

We also witness here the ability to tweak the likes of exposure compensation (+/- 2EV), switch red eye reduction on or off, activate SteadyShot on a per shot or continuous basis, and switch from single capture to continuous, with, unusually for a basic snapshot model, the ability to bracket a sequence (three shots at either 0.3EV, 0.7EV or 1EV apart). The latter option on the Menu toolbar, denoted by a briefcase icon, takes the user straight to rather limited additional shooting settings, such as turning on/off auto picture orientation, likewise the AF illuminator.

Wedged between the on-screen 'Home' and 'menu' buttons left of screen meanwhile are the Smile Shutter feature (only available in auto, not Program mode), the ability to turn the self timer on or off plus call up a variety of recording modes, including several scene modes (with 'underwater' - requiring a specialist case - alongside the more regular pre-optimised snow, beach and fireworks settings) along with auto, program stills capture or video capture (no HD here, just standard definition 640x480 pixels, albeit at a better than average 30fps) Also here is a greatly simplified 'easy' mode plus access to ISO settings.

While easy mode removes most of the on-screen info and provides instead the number of shots remaining in very large letters for granny to read, selecting Program mode provides an additional toolbar along the base of the screen. Running from left to right you firstly have a button accessing focus points (multi segment, centre-weighted or spot) plus the ability to manually select focal distance, running between one metre and infinity, with three or seven metres the intervening options. The next option provides purely the choice of multi frame metering, the following one the choice of ISO options, from ISO 800 up to ISO 3200, while the third button provides direct access to +/-2EV exposure compensation.

Staying in capture mode, the second parallel black bar to the right hand side of the screen features the ability to select from the flash modes on offer (auto, forced, slow sync, off), plus, just below it, macro close up or auto focus. The bottom virtual button marked 'display' lets you tweak just that, with normal, simple or 'off' (image only) options, plus the ability to alter brightness and - unusually for a snapshot model - call up a live histogram.

Switching to playback mode, and, alongside the 'Home' and 'Menu' buttons that remain, users have the ability to access folders of images, set a slideshow in motion or delete duff shots. Cursors on the right hand of the screen allows you to scroll up and down through a thumbnail selection of captured images, while pressing your finger onto one in particular prompts it to be displayed full screen for easier scrutiny. TheSony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 responds well to each button press and efficiently too, though we sometimes found the camera paused and took a couple of seconds to display an image when switching from capture to playback, suggesting processing speed could be further improved.

The bottom of the camera meanwhile features an unprotected multi connection port (combined USB and AV out lead supplied) plus a lockable compartment that houses removable media card (here Memory Stick Duo or Duo Pro, with 15MB internal memory to fall back on) alongside wafer-thin rechargeable lithium ion battery. As we found with the T500, the T77's battery life is shorter than average for its class (220 shots, or 110 minutes of use with LCD on) suggesting a degree of compromise has been inevitable to bring a camera this slender to market.

But how about the images themselves - do the results suggest that the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 is a camera that transcends its exterior good looks, and is, indeed, as pretty on the inside? Let's find out…

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10M JPEG mode, which gives an average image size of around 3.5Mb.

For a happy snappy pocket camera, and one that practically screams 'style over substance' from the outset, the images the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 delivers are better than expected - warm, colourful and with a reasonable level of detail provided - even if the positioning of the lens means it's open to being preyed on by stray digits peeping into shot and also becoming the victim of lens flare. Also prompting a grumble is the occasional exposure problem, suggesting metering isn't that sophisticated, while our white wall test shots reveal that at its widest setting some barrel distortion is present, though when shooting the vast majority of alternative subjects this wouldn't be noticeable. Pixel fringing makes quite a pronounced appearance between areas of high contrast in an image, visible by its purplish hue, while vast expanses of one colour can unduly influence the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77's auto white balance. Pictures then, whilst still fairly successful to the untrained eye, do benefit from an application of Auto Levels in Photoshop. In terms of light sensitivity, results up to and including ISO 800 are respectably clear of image noise. Although detail is softening by ISO 1600, grain isn't by any means at ruinous levels. At top whack ISO 3200 the appearance is beginning to take on a water colour-like level of softness, but again, results are still usable. At the end of the day, in reality the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 doesn't seem any more affected by camera shake than does its big brother in the T500, twice the width and just as sturdy, which is a positive note to end on. While its performance is not perfection, it is perfectly adequate for the snapshot market at which it's aimed.

Noise

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 80 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% Crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. Unfortunately you can't change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look, so you will have to edit the images later.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 did suffer from chromatic aberrations during the review, but it was generally very well controlled. Limited purple fringing was mainly present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)	Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is just 1cm away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	Macro Shot (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 are Auto, Forced On, Slow Syncro and Forced Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (35mm)	Auto Flash - Wide Angle (35mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (140mm)	Auto Flash - Telephoto (140mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. The flash caused quite a lot of red-eye. The red-eye reduction mode did not help much, but there is post-capture red-eye removal as well, in playback mode.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Flash - Red-eye Flash	Flash - Red-eye Flash (100% Crop)

Night Shot

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77's maximum shutter speed is 2 seconds in the Twilight scene mode, which isn't good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 2 seconds, f3.5 at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Sample Images

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Product Images

Front of the Camera / Turned Off

Front of the Camera / Turned On

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera / Turned Off

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Battery Compartment

Memory Card Slot

Conclusion

Although some may view the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77's slender pocket-friendly dimensions as a boon - and in any other finish than the lime green (or perhaps pink) we were supplied with it's undoubtedly an attractive looking camera - we found its necessarily smaller controls made for fiddly operation, despite the rear touch screen's relative huge-ness at 3-inches wide. We're not entirely convinced that use of a touch screen is in practical terms any better than having the rear of the camera festooned with dedicated buttons. Certainly the heavy reliance on the screen appears to eat up batteries.

Still the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 is reasonably inexpensive with its new £189 asking price - and one high street chain selling it for £150 at the time of writing - which goes some of the way to negating a few of our niggles. Images are colourful (especially reds, greens and blues), clear and reasonably detailed, and noise is kept well under control. We had a few exposure issues and had to be watchful for not letting fingers stray in front of the lens, but once warned of such limitations, it's reasonably easy to navigate around them.

So if you need a camera that's as unobtrusive as possible, whilst still providing better image quality than your average mobile phone, and aren't put off by mainly touch screen operation, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 is worth investigating.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	3
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	3
Value for money	3.5

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Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T77 from around the web.

Specifications

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