Sony DSC-G1 Review

The Sony DSC-G1 has a body design that features a horizontally sliding panel that functions both as protection for the lens when closed, and as a power control to switch the camera on when opened. A six megapixel CCD image sensor is coupled to a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 3x optical zoom lens with a 35mm-equivalent focal range of 38 to 114mm - a moderate wide angle to a moderate telephoto. A whopping 3.5" LCD display offers a whopping 921,000 pixels (equating to a 640 x 480 pixel resolution, with 3 colors for each pixel location). The Sony G1 also includes built-in wireless connectivity, and is compatible with the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) standard. What this jargon means for the end user is that they should be able to transfer images from the camera to their DLNA-compatible PC with ease, as well as being able to share images with up to four other Sony G1 users simultaneously.

One further unusual feature of the Sony Cyber-shot G1 is its inclusion of a whopping two gigabytes of memory - enough, says Sony, to store 600 images at the camera's full six megapixel resolution. Throw in a Memory Stick Duo / PRO Duo card slot, and you've got a camera that should easily consume the average vacationer's photos without the need to keep swapping cards all day long (and one that will likely end up serving its users well as an electronic photo album, to boot). Of course, given the ability to store such massive quantities of photos on your G1, you'll need a way to find them all later - and Sony has catered for this with the ability to tag images with keywords / labels and organize them by events. Perhaps more impressively, Sony notes that the G1 can also search for images containing a certain face, color or composition found in another image.

As well as its DLNA-compatible wireless connectivity, the DSC-G1 offers USB 2.0 High Speed connectivity, and NTSC / PAL video output. Power comes from a proprietary NP-FR1 InfoLithium battery. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 ships from April 2007, priced at $600.