Sony’s new Cybershot TX5, TX7 and Bloggie

Sony’s latest Cybershots have changed my wish list for a new range finder camera. Up high on the list is the all-around Cyber-shot TX5 made for rugged and extreme conditions.

During the Sony event at Shangri-la, Boracay, we were able to use all these new toys for the team competition. Unfortunately, I was too engrossed in the race I completely forgot to take photos and sample shots.

Coming in from the Cyber-shot TX1 model, Sony’s TX5 is the waterproof (10 feet), shockproof (5 feet), dustproof, and freeze-proof (14°-104 °F) version. Its got a 10.2MP sensor, a 3.0″ touch screen display, and able to do 720p HD (1280×720) movies at 30 fps.

One of its nicest feature is the intelligent Sweep Panorama Mode — just shoot in a swiping direction (sideways or downwards) and it will automatically generate a panoramic shot. This is a departure from the 3-shot stitching function we’ve seen in other models.

On the other hand, the Sony Cyber-shot TX7 is a similar model with the same 10.2MP sensor (25mm equivalent), 4x optical zoom, 1080i AVCHD Movie Mode, with a special 10-frames-per-second shooting mode (burst mode) and Sweep Panorama Mode. It’s also got a bigger 3.5″ touch screen display and an ISO of up to 3200.

Sony also introduced it’s own Bloggie camera (MHS-PM5/V) for shooting short HD videos. This is their answer to the popular Flip Mino HD.

The Bloggie takes full HD 1080p videos at MPEG4 AVC/H.264 (MP4) format. I can also do still images at 5MP. Storage is via Memory Stick PRO Duo 4GD with another slot for SD card for expansion (SRP: Php14,999). The camera lens rotates a good 270-degree and comes with a secondary lens attachment that can record a full 360-degrees all at once.

Our team actually won this during the competition so I should be able to demonstrate that 360-degree shooting mode once they ship it to us. See photos of the Shangri-la Boracay Spa & Resort here.