Sony DSC-TX55 hands-on

Sony DSC-TX55 Sony's created what it claims is the world's thinnest compact camera measuring just 12.2mm thick and we of course have already played with the new Sony DSC-TX55 model at a "behind closed doors" preview.

While we sadly weren't allowed to take away photos or leave the very dark room where we were shown the new camera, we were able to get a quick play with the new DSC-TX55 camera, the touchscreen interface and snap a few shots off of objects in the room (we just can't share those with you).

So what do you get? Well, it's 5mm thinner than the DSC-TX10, comes with a 26mm wide-angle recessed 5x optical zoom, and according to Sony, a new technology that can take that 5x optical zoom and turn it in to 10x.

Before you can say "digital zoom is shit", it's not digital zoom. Sony are using something called by pixel super resolution.

Instead of magnifying the image and then adding more pixels, the technology Sony says uses "pixel creation and pattern matching" so that the magnified image will be clearer and sharper.

Sadly we weren't able to check this feature out, but we will be bringing you more on it when we get one in for review.

On the sensor front, Sony is telling us that the TX55 will feature a 16 megapixel EXMOR sensor. That's the same one as found in many of it's other recent models. 

Back to what we can tell you though from our play. It's very small, very slim, and very dainty, without being flimsy or cheap. The model is cased in a black anodised metal, and while there is a sliver model too, Sony has confirmed to Pocket-lint that it won't be coming to the UK.

The touchscreen dominated the back of the camera - it's 3.3-inches (slightly smaller than the iPhone (it's 3.5-inches) and has a resolution of 1.2m which means everything is very crisp and bright. You'll be happy to show your pictures off.

Other features we gleamed from our play was that it offers a 10 frames per second burst mode, 3D-stills, panoramic sweep options, and the ability to apply special effects to your images in camera similar to Olympus' Art Effects. Sony say there are six in total including things like colour removal and polarisation.

It does 1080i video, but we weren't able to test this.

The new camera is expected out in September. In the US it will cost $350.

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