Our Flashback Friday articles reminisce about colorful, retro point-and-shoot digital cameras from the early 2000s. These now-popular cameras have a cool, fashion-forward aesthetic. Moreover, they promise a “different imaging experience” from today’s high-tech cameras. Just about anyone can enjoy these retro cameras. And you can find various preowned models in your local camera shop. Today, we spotlight the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 announced in February 2009.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90
This fashionable compact boasts 12.1 megapixels and a 4x, 35–140mm-equivalent Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar optical zoom, along with a 3-inch wide touchscreen LCD. Plus, it was designed to make it easier to take the best pictures without changing settings. Its intelligent auto mode helps “think” for you and detects scene conditions. It then adjusts settings, especially in difficult lighting scenarios. Additionally, intelligent auto mode enhances pictures of faces to capture natural skin tones. It also identifies when your subject has closed eyes, and it helps reduce blur without damaging image quality.
Sony combined three key technologies to make the camera smarter. 1) Intelligent scene recognition (iSCN) detects eight scenes and recognizes objects, faces as well as lighting conditions. Then, in one-thirtieth of a second, it changes the setting to get the best shot. 2) Face detection registers eight faces and adjusts focus, exposure, white balance as well as flash. 3) Moreover, since it detects motion, it combines face detection with iSCN to feature blink detection.
Of course, it also employs Optical SteadyShot image stabilization and Smile Shutter technology. OSS helps prevent blur due to camera shake, and Smile Shutter automatically captures a smile the moment it happens.
Another key feature is the ability to record 720p movies at 30 frames per second in fine, standard and VGA recording modes. And at just a half-inch thin, the T90 offers on-the-go portability. The T90 launched in silver, black, pink, blue and brown versions for about $299.
