Bye TX-5, Hello TX-10

I just wanted to share, though pretty late I guess, this amazing gadget I purchased about 3 months ago.

Almost 2 years ago, I had this wonderful underwater camera, my Sony Cybershot TX5. It served me well and got great images not only underwater but also in my daily life’s adventures in daylight/outdoors. However, early this year it broke down. I’m not sure what really happened but I can’t turn it on.

Since I feel that I have the need of owning an underwater camera, I searched for a new one. Luckily, Sony has an upgraded version of Sony Cybershot TX5. Now, say hello to my new Sony Cybershot TX10!

The new Sony Cybershot TX10 was released last February 2011. I already had my TX5 that time so I wasn’t paying attention to new releases. Anyway, the camera according to the brand’s website has the following highlighted features:

Certified waterproof, dustproof, shockproof and freeze-proof, 16.2-megapixel “Exmor R” CMOS sensor, 3.0″ touch screen, iSweep Panorama Mode, Full HD 1080/60i, Superior Auto — Sony Website

I am not a gadget guru so I will only share what I experienced first had with my camera. So don’t expect too much technical information in this blog post.

Here’s a top view of the two camera. YOu can see that there is a difference with the design and the thickness. I feel that TX10 is thicker than TX5.

The color has changed too. From the shiny reddish pink to a matte lighter pink shade. I like the new color better as well as the matte feature. Notice that my TX5 was already deteriorating. The color in the slide panel chips off everytime I use it in salt water. I intended to remove the whole pink thing but I can’t take it off in one sitting. It takes patience to completely remove it.

The screen view of the new TX10 is wider and bigger than the TX5 model. I believe that it has a built in screen guard now compared to the old model.

There is a difference with the buttons too. The most prominent change is the recording button. In the old model, the record button is not visible. In the new model, you can just push the button to record a video and even capture pictures while recording.

Basic Comparison from the old model and the new one:

Image Size: TX10 – 16.2 MP; TX5 – 10.2MP

Waterproof Capacity: TX10 – 5ft; TX5 – 3ft

Additional Built In Modes: TX10 – Background Defocus, 3D Shooting

As for the images, I can say that the Sony TX10 produces clearer images than the TX5. Despite the more attractive images, it sometimes has flaws. I’m not sure what settings I used but it can be more pixelized than expected. You’ll notice it if you zoom in the image and you’ll find the image pretty much distorted. The noise can be very overwhelming at times. I still need to see what mode works best during low lights, indoors and the like.

Nevertheless, I liked my new underwater camera. It has a 3D feature that until now I don’t know what difference it makes in the image. Still, the panoramic shot is also available. Another preset that I like is the “background defocus“, where the background becomes blurred similar to the shots when using a DSLR. Pretty amazing!

For me, I still choose Sony Cybershot TX10 over Canon’s underwater camera even though I’m a Canon digicam user. This would be the exemption. Hahaha! The very reason I chose Sony over Canon for this one is because of the sleek design. This comes in slim while the other one comes a bit bulky for me.

If you want to see comparison of underwater cameras out there, you can check a detailed post from DPReview. Check it here: Waterproof Compact Group Test.

The winners of the test were the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 and Sony Cyber-shot TX10! Woohoo! Really a good buy for me!

By the way, I got my camera again in DBGadgets Multiply Store.

Do you own an underwater camera?
What’s yours?

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