Sony CyberShot DSC T500 Digital Camera - Buyer's guide

This isn't an-depth review of the Sony CyberShot T500 Digital Camera, just hints and tips if you're thinking of buying this camera.

If you're looking for a good Sony T500 price then check here last! Be aware that Sony's about to release the new Sony Cyber-shot DSCT900B Digital Camera - Black (12.1 MP, 4x Optical Zoom) 3.5 which is over £130 more expensive than the T500, but comes with some of the features that should have been included in the T500 to start with! Looking at the difference in spec, is it worth the difference? - obviously yes if you can afford it!

Memory: Note that the on board memory on the T500 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 high street Sony shop and the Sony LCS-THM Soft Leather Carry Case in Black 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. If you're looking for a memory card reader then the "Sony MRW62E-S1 Card reader - 17 in 1 Hi-Speed USB" is one of the fastest and best ones that I've used, but you have a lot of choice out there. It's also expensive and Amazon don't sell them (the link is to one of their Market place sellers).

Battery: Battery life's reasonable. It wasn't too impressive to start with, but after a bit of use it's performing well. I've also bought a Sony NP-FD1 Type D Battery for around £23.38, you don't really need it, but handy to have as a spare.

One last thing, I was given the Joby Gorillapod Go-Go! as a present and I find it very useful. It also supports the weight of my Canon D400 SLR comfortably. Last week I had my T500 attached to the Joby gripping on to the head rest of our passenger seat videoing my drive in HD. It worked well especially because of the T500 anti-shake feature.

Overall, the T500 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.