Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2

Sony has had the Cybershot DSC-N1 on the market for years.

Several accessories are available for Cybershot cameras, such as a Marine Pack, an extra Battery Pack and various Carrying Cases (photos above). Sony has meanwhile released the Cybershot DSC-N2 camera (photo below).
It features:

• 10.1 megapixel sensor for pictures with a resolution up to 3648 x 2736 pixels


• 3 x optical zoom


• 3.0 inch LCD touch screen


• store picture on 4GB Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo media cards
  
• shoot audio-video clips with 640 x 480 resolution (VGA) @ 30 fps (MPEG VX Fine Mode)


• shutter speed of 1/2000 of a second
  
• Free Spot AF allows you to focus on an object simply by touching it on the screen
  

Sony also makes a 8GB Memory Stick (photo left), but check first whether it will work with the N2. According to some sources, it can be used with any Cyber-shot and Handycam launched from CY2007 and after. A 4GB one will work (photo above right), but movie recording on the camera will stop when the maximum file size of approximately 2GB is reached.

For more details:

http://esupport.sony.com/EN/info/mspro-camera.html

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/+INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Print?ProductSKU=MSXM8GS

http://www.sony.com.au/catalog/product.jsp?id=MSXM8GSX§ion=prod&term=MEMORY+STICK

One thing that's lacking in the camera is GPS positioning, to record location data alongside time and date of the pictures taken. For some time, Sony has had a separate GPS-device on the market, the GPS-CS1 (photo above). It only records a location log every 15 seconds. If you carry it with you when taking pictures, the time and location data of the GPS-CS1 can be matched to the time stamp of a photo taken by a digital still camera or a movie frame from a camcorder. Once synchronized, your photos can become virtual push pins on an online map by activating the Picture Motion Browser software that is bundled with the latest Sony cameras and camcorders (mapping courtesy of Google Maps).

But the process is cumbersome. What we're waiting for is a camera with the functionality of the Helio Drift, a GPS-enabled phone with online access to Google Maps. For more details, see:
http://groups.google.com/group/TheMobileRevolution/web/helio-drift---a-gps-enabled-cellphone

One further accessory device deserves to be mentioned, the SDV2-A-A30 SanDisk Digital Photo Viewer (photo above). It allows you to display your pictures or video clips on your TV through an audio-video input and while using a remote control. It's compatible with eight flash memory card formats as well as portable USB flash drives. You can also use it to play MP3 music files on your home audio system and to add soundtracks to photo slide shows viewed on your TV.

Eight flash memory card formats are supported in four slots--CompactFlash Type I/II, Secure Digital (SD)/MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick/Memory Stick PRO, and SmartMedia/xD. The rear of the SPA has two USB ports--one that can connect to a PC (enabling you to use the SPA as an 8-in-1 card reader/writer) and another that can host a portable USB flash drive.

There is also a slot for a second CompactFlash Card can be used as "archiving memory" for storing extended slide shows from images that are displayed from flash cards on the front side or from the USB flash drive, as well as store and replay video clips and MP3 music selections.

Anyway, if you want to carry the above lot with you, you'll need a bigger bag. Or, preferably, we'll see devices on the market soon that integrate more of the above functionality.