The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 has a stylish minimalist design that is complemented by the use of high-quality materials, mostly metals. As a consequence of this, the camera weighs considerably more than you would guess from its dimensions alone. Still, it is very much a pocketable snapper that you can take along practically anywhere you go. If you don't like the idea of carrying a camera in your shirt pocket, you can also buy a well-made genuine leather carrying case for it, complete with a leather wrist strap that attaches to a small eyelet on the left side of the camera, when viewed from the front. Attaching this strap - or else the one that ships with the camera itself - is mandatory to be sure the ultra-thin T700 never slips out of your hands. My impression was that the highly contemporary styling of the camera conflicted with the decidedly retro looks of the case - but from a purely functional point of view, the combo worked well.
With the LCD serving both as a viewfinder and as the main control interface, its quality is crucial. Fortunately, Sony did not cut corners here. The 921,600-dot resolution is the highest yet on a compact digital camera, the viewing angle is wide and outdoors visibility, while not exceptional, is certainly above average. What's not so hot is that the excellent resolution of the screen is utilised neither in live view nor in instant post-view - which isn't exactly instant by the way - only in playback. As far as touch-sensitivity goes, this is one of the better screens, making the T700 somewhat less frustrating to use than a number of other cameras sporting similar touch-screens. Having said that, I shall also point out that the screen proved much more obedient to the long nails of my wife than my somewhat chubby male fingertips - which is fine as long as you consider the T700 a product targeted primarily at a hip young female crowd. Of course you can also use a stylus if that is your sort of thing. This way you can also prevent fingerprints from appearing on the screen, which don't wipe off easily (although neither do they seriously interfere with picture taking or image playback).
In record mode, the screen shows a live image with overlaid shooting info - including a very useful live histogram if enabled - plus a number of icons. Since the aspect ratio of the sensor is 4:3 - as opposed to that of the LCD, which is 16:9 - the live image does not take up all the space available on the display, which has enabled Sony to line up the most frequently used interactive icons in a vertical row on either side of the image. Thus the live image isn't over-cluttered like it is on a number of other compacts. Of course if you choose to shoot in 16:9 mode, the live image fills the screen completely, and all icons are overlaid, including those that can be interacted as well as those that cannot, which you may find a little confusing. Apart from that, the control interface is fairly intuitive to use. A 'Home' icon in the top left corner takes you to the main setup menus, irrespective of what shooting mode you are in. By contrast, the number of options brought up by touching the icon labeled 'Menu', located in the bottom left corner, varies with the chosen shooting mode.
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