Rating

I am an amateur photographer and have used many fine cameras including Leica M7, Konica Hexar, Contax G2, Canon EOS 3, EOS 5D, among others. They were all incredible cameras but over the time there is one thing I realized: the best camera is the one that could capture the moment. In other words, you must have it when the moment comes and it must function to catch the millisecond. All the aforementioned fantastic cameras failed to meet the challenge. They were either too huge for me to have it on the scene or too complicated to capture the moment (uhhh… I was focusing…). On the opposite side of the pole, most compact cameras had problems of their own: (i) slow operation (you have to turn it on and after 2 seconds it starts to work — more like an electronic appliance than a camera) and (ii) (if any bit quicker and simpler than that) unacceptable picture quality. Clearly, there was a sore need for a solution. But most cameras were a compromise between the two poles rather than a clear solution.

Enter TX7. This one works wonder. Incredible size: it is even smaller than the previous cybershot I had — W170. It is a tad bit thicker than an Iphone, but far shorter in legnth and you can carry the two easily together in a pocket. Its controls work like Iphone as well: you can shift pictures with your fingers when viewing. Its response time is nearly the same as heavy DSLRs, which used to be a much more vital reason than photo quality to dismiss a compact camera over a DSLR. What I disliked most in many compact cameras was the lens coming out when you turn the camera on, and this small camera is utterly devoid of the vice.

Now about the photo and video quality. Two things to comment on: fantastic low-light performance and absolutely terrific video performance. Intelligent mode takes care of most photo needs intelligently, including automatic exposure correction for facing sunlight. If the situation calls for a shake-proof photo, there is a special setting for such (the processing time will be a bit longer, but not a problem if you don’t shoot multiple in sequence.) These two features get rid of number one reason amateur photos fail — no exposure compensation and shaken photos. In addition, the quality of low-light photos (ie high ISO) is significantly better than most compact cameras, including Sony’s own W170.

As for the video, leave your camcorder home. I went to Boracay with both this one and my trusted SONY HDR-CX12 camcorder, and guess what? To my disbelief, I found out when I returned home there was not a single motion captured with my camcorder. Both my photo needs and camcorder needs have been completely taken care of by this small TX7. (This is exact opposite of what happened when I went to Europe last fall: I noticed my CX12 camcorder did all the work including photo taking whereas as my EOS 5D stayed in my trunk back in hotel room. Size and weight are crucial considerations for trips. The only other camera I would consider carrying from time to time in the future would be a film camera such as Leica M7, since they offer something a digital experience cannot. I see a very small reason to carry a DSLR and a camcorder — now they have been relegated to strictly home shooting.) At home, when I blew up my videos taken with TX7 on my 120 inch projection screen, I could not really find any quality problem. When something that small and light does a task just as well, why carry the huge one?

All in all, Sony has a winner with this one. I will not hesitate to recommend this one and if I were in Japan I would even consider buying Sony shares. A company making this kind of product can’t go incorrect.

Rating

I wanted to compare this to the T100 which is my previous point and shoot.

External Design: Both cameras are honestly similar in design but I would certainly give the edge to the T100 in the looks dept. Sony clearly is cheaping out on the housing, perhaps they wanted it to be more lightweight but the T100 was finished in a kind of brushed aluminum.. the TX7 is plastic. The sliding front cover was firm yet smooth on the T100, on the TX7 it required considerable force… at least 4-5 times more, first couple times I had to use both hands or get my nails to engage the edge and then yank it down. Sony certainly failed on this front.. thankfully, that’s the only thing thats worse.

Features: The quality of photos with flash is pretty terrible in certain scenarios but non-flash pics are a huge improvement. The menu design is a HUGE improvement. I despised having to go through menus to go between movie and photo mode, it took many valuable seconds… now once you’ve made your movie settings, no never need to go back to the movie mode.. you can take photos or video from the same setting. The movies in lower light do have a honest amount of weird chromatic artifacts, but the low light ability is way better than the T100. This is the primary reason I am replacing my T100, fed up with videos looking too dark… also the battery life seems to be improved.. the T100 was ridiculously poor. This is way better now but still gets drained quickly.

Rating

This is one of the simplest digial cameras to us for both pictures and video. Fantastic HD quality. Simple touch screen menu. Brilliant panoramic feature. Clear pictures in low lighting.

The only knock that i have is the battery life is very small. I used the camera at Carrie Underwood concert and took about 99 pictures and two videos about 5 minutes in length total.

Rating

This is fascinating. My first TX7 produced significant flare in backlit scenes. Flare makes milky areas or streaks in the image, and is caused by stray light bouncing around inside the lens. Very hard, if not impossible, to right in editing.

I didn’t know if this was something inherent in the lens design or whether I just got a defective camera. So I bought a second TX7 and ran side-by-side comparisons. The first continued to show flaring, the second did not. So when you read a review that says “This camera takes dreadful pictures!” there may be nothing incorrect with the camera design–the person probably just got a terrible one, like I did. (BTW, the return of the first TX7 couldn’t have been simpler. Amazon sent a UPS truck to pick it up at my home, free of charge. No wonder it’s a successful company.)

PROS:

Brilliant resolution

For a compact, excellent performance at higher ISO’s

Slim design fits easily into your pocket

Innovative low-light functions

Touchscreen is quick and intuitive

Wide angle on the zoom is truly wide angle, and distortion-free to boot

Overall feeling of quality

CONS:

Disappointing HDR

No auto exposure bracketing

Telephoto isn’t much of a telephoto

Low battery life

Purple fringing at high magnifications

I also got an HX5V, so I could compare the two. See my separate review on that camera.

Anyway, I’ve been doing photography for four decades, and during that time the technological strides have been profound. In 1970, when I got my first SLR, a camera like the TX7 would have been pure science fiction–in fact, it would have seemed more science fiction-y than colonies on Mars. But despite these advances there are still two major challenges in photography: dynamic range and low-light performance. That’s why I was interested in the two Sonys, since they attempt to address these problems.

The HDR Mode on the TX7 tries to increase the dynamic range of an image by taking two shots in succession, one slightly underexposed and the other slightly overexposed, and then integrates the two to get the best of both worlds. A excellent thought, but the results are merely OK. Sony doesn’t say, but my tests show that the range is just -1EV/+1EV. That’s not enough. If you’ve done research on this, or if you have an HDR program like Photomatix, you know that you need -2EV/+2EV to get a really excellent range. I’m surprised Sony stopped so small here, since expanding the range would have been simple. In fact, you can manually adjust the exposure by 2EV either way in Program Mode.

But if you do this, you’ll have to have a tripod, because you’ll have to change the exposure each time. There’s no auto exposure bracketing, where one touch of the shutter takes three successive shots at your preset exposure range. This is surprising, nearly shocking, since AEB doesn’t add to the cost. If this were a middle-of-the-road compact selling for $150 the omission would be understandable, but the TX7 is supposed to be a top-of-the-line, full-featured, as-excellent-as-it-gets compact (it’s certainly priced that way). It makes you wonder just what the people at Sony were thinking when they designed this camera–it’s hard to believe someone didn’t bring this up.

Sony makes up for this, though, with very excellent low-light performance. First, Sony has traded lower MPs (10 vs. the 12 or 14 in most compacts) for better quality at higher ISOs, an brilliant trade. The TX7 beats every other compact except the Canon S90 at higher ISOs, and the Canon achieves this through a larger sensor and hence a larger camera. You can see this for yourself by visiting [...] and comparing the full-size images of various cameras (as of this writing there are no samples for the TX7, but those for the TX5 would be identical).

You will also see that there is no better compact than the TX7 on lens resolution. This is quite surprising since the TX7′s lens is so small. The suberb resolution by itself makes the price of this camera worthwhile.

But, I did notice some purple fringing at the juncture of certain bright and dark parts of the image, which is due to the lens design. But this is noticeable only at very high magnifications.

The second way Sony addresses the low-light problem is to offer two different low-light shooting modes: Twilight Mode and Anti-Blur Mode. Both take a series of six shots and then merge them into a single image–in other words, you get six times the amount of light that you’d get with a straight shot. The Twilight Mode uses slower shutter speeds and lower ISOs, while Anti-Blur does the opposite. Also, the white balance on the Twilight Mode is distinctly warm, no doubt to compensate for the bluish light in twilight or early morning scenes.

What if you want to use the Twilight Mode indoors under incandescent lighting so you can get the lower ISO? You’d want to do this if you didn’t need the higher shutter speed that Anti-Blur gives. To avoid an overly-warm image simply switch the white balance from auto to incandescent and you’ll be fine.

Which leads me to the touchscreen, which has turned out to be my favorite feature on the TX7. Changing the white balance, and doing anything else, is quick and simple with the touchscreen. I’ve seen some reviews which say that you have to use the supplied stylus, but I’ve never had to. Plus, the text and icons are very readable and even elegant in appearance.

In fact, the overall build of the camera is quite excellent. You might even say luxurious. This is an expensive camera for a compact, but it looks and feels expensive.

The panorama feature is fascinating, but a bit gimmicky. You can do panoramas yourself in Photoshop or other editors in those few occasions when you need a panorama, which in my experience isn’t very often. Plus, when you take your own pictures for subsequent integration into a panorama each shot is separately (and hence correctly) exposed. Not so with the Panorama Mode on the TX7. When you press the shutter the exposure is set for the entire panorama, so if you start in an area that is a lot lighter or darker than the rest of the scene your integrated shot won’t be properly exposed. But, you can adjust for this by using the AE lock.

I’m not a Scene Mode fan, but if you are this camera’s for you. There’s even a Gourmet Mode (for taking pictures of food), a Beach Mode, and a Pet Mode. OK, say you’re spending a day at the beach and you want to take a particularly cute shot of your dog eyeing a hamburger. What to do? Beach Mode? Pet Mode? Gourmet Mode? You could make a case for any of them. While you’re dithering over this the moment has passed. Just take the damn picture!

The TX7 has a Burst Mode, for taking up to 10 shots in rapid succession. How rapid this is depends on the three choices the TX7 gives to you. At first I thought that this was a bit over-the-top, but in actual use I’ve liked having the three different rates. It’s hard to clarify, but in some action scenes it’s better to have one over the other. Be careful with this feature, though. It’s simple to load up lots and lots of images that are a pain to go through.

The camera has a limited zoom range, but it’s a excellent one: an effective 25mm through 100mm. Yes, 100mm isn’t much of a telephoto, but remember that you can always crop. You can’t make a photo any wider than the widest zoom range on the camera, and as far as I know there’s no compact which gets any wider than 25mm. Moreover, there’s no distortion at this focal length. My previous compact, a Canon SD700IS bought in 2007, goes out to only 35mm and has pronounced barrel distortion at that setting. This is another huge plus for the TX7.

Most reviews mention the small battery life, and that’s indeed right. Of course, that’s the price you pay for a tiny camera like this.

What Sony should have done is to enable recharging through the dock. As you probably know, there is no direct cable from the TX7 to your computer. Instead, Sony provides a dock. You set the camera in the dock, and then transfer the pictures. Some reviewers have complained about having this separate item, but I found it slightly more convenient than inserting a cable. As I said, though, it would be fantastic if the camera could be recharged through the dock. My first compact, a Fuji I got in 2002, did this, so I don’t see why Sony does not.

One last thing: I bought what is described as the “blue” model. This is a joke. The camera is jet black. There’s not even the slightest hint of blue.

Overall, the TX7 is a fantastic camera. It’s small size, especially the slim profile, means you can easily slip into your pocket, even your shirt pocket. If in the next generation Sony expands the HDR, provides for AEB, and allows charging through the dock it will have close to a perfect small camera.

This is fascinating. My first TX7 produced significant flare in backlit scenes. Flare makes milky areas or streaks in the image, and is caused by stray light bouncing around inside the lens. Very hard, if not impossible, to right in editing.

I didn’t know if this was something inherent in the lens design or whether I just got a defective camera. So I bought a second TX7 and ran side-by-side comparisons. The first continued to show flaring, the second did not. So when you read a review that says “This camera takes dreadful pictures!” there may be nothing incorrect with the camera design–the person probably just got a terrible one, like I did. (BTW, the return of the first TX7 couldn’t have been simpler. Amazon sent a UPS truck to pick it up at my home, free of charge. No wonder it’s a successful company.)

PROS:

Brilliant resolution

For a compact, excellent performance at higher ISO’s

Slim design fits easily into your pocket

Innovative low-light functions

Touchscreen is quick and intuitive

Wide angle on the zoom is truly wide angle, and distortion-free to boot

Overall feeling of quality

CONS:

Disappointing HDR

No auto exposure bracketing

Telephoto isn’t much of a telephoto

Low battery life

Purple fringing at high magnifications

I also got an HX5V, so I could compare the two. See my separate review on that camera.

Anyway, I’ve been doing photography for four decades, and during that time the technological strides have been profound. In 1970, when I got my first SLR, a camera like the TX7 would have been pure science fiction–in fact, it would have seemed more science fiction-y than colonies on Mars. But despite these advances there are still two major challenges in photography: dynamic range and low-light performance. That’s why I was interested in the two Sonys, since they attempt to address these problems.

The HDR Mode on the TX7 tries to increase the dynamic range of an image by taking two shots in succession, one slightly underexposed and the other slightly overexposed, and then integrates the two to get the best of both worlds. A excellent thought, but the results are merely OK. Sony doesn’t say, but my tests show that the range is just -1EV/+1EV. That’s not enough. If you’ve done research on this, or if you have an HDR program like Photomatix, you know that you need -2EV/+2EV to get a really excellent range. I’m surprised Sony stopped so small here, since expanding the range would have been simple. In fact, you can manually adjust the exposure by 2EV either way in Program Mode.

But if you do this, you’ll have to have a tripod, because you’ll have to change the exposure each time. There’s no auto exposure bracketing, where one touch of the shutter takes three successive shots at your preset exposure range. This is surprising, nearly shocking, since AEB doesn’t add to the cost. If this were a middle-of-the-road compact selling for $150 the omission would be understandable, but the TX7 is supposed to be a top-of-the-line, full-featured, as-excellent-as-it-gets compact (it’s certainly priced that way). It makes you wonder just what the people at Sony were thinking when they designed this camera–it’s hard to believe someone didn’t bring this up.

Sony makes up for this, though, with very excellent low-light performance. First, Sony has traded lower MPs (10 vs. the 12 or 14 in most compacts) for better quality at higher ISOs, an brilliant trade. The TX7 beats every other compact except the Canon S90 at higher ISOs, and the Canon achieves this through a larger sensor and hence a larger camera. You can see this for yourself by visiting [...] and comparing the full-size images of various cameras (as of this writing there are no samples for the TX7, but those for the TX5 would be identical).

You will also see that there is no better compact than the TX7 on lens resolution. This is quite surprising since the TX7′s lens is so small. The suberb resolution by itself makes the price of this camera worthwhile.

But, I did notice some purple fringing at the juncture of certain bright and dark parts of the image, which is due to the lens design. But this is noticeable only at very high magnifications.

The second way Sony addresses the low-light problem is to offer two different low-light shooting modes: Twilight Mode and Anti-Blur Mode. Both take a series of six shots and then merge them into a single image–in other words, you get six times the amount of light that you’d get with a straight shot. The Twilight Mode uses slower shutter speeds and lower ISOs, while Anti-Blur does the opposite. Also, the white balance on the Twilight Mode is distinctly warm, no doubt to compensate for the bluish light in twilight or early morning scenes.

What if you want to use the Twilight Mode indoors under incandescent lighting so you can get the lower ISO? You’d want to do this if you didn’t need the higher shutter speed that Anti-Blur gives. To avoid an overly-warm image simply switch the white balance from auto to incandescent and you’ll be fine.

Which leads me to the touchscreen, which has turned out to be my favorite feature on the TX7. Changing the white balance, and doing anything else, is quick and simple with the touchscreen. I’ve seen some reviews which say that you have to use the supplied stylus, but I’ve never had to. Plus, the text and icons are very readable and even elegant in appearance.

In fact, the overall build of the camera is quite excellent. You might even say luxurious. This is an expensive camera for a compact, but it looks and feels expensive.

The panorama feature is fascinating, but a bit gimmicky. You can do panoramas yourself in Photoshop or other editors in those few occasions when you need a panorama, which in my experience isn’t very often. Plus, when you take your own pictures for subsequent integration into a panorama each shot is separately (and hence correctly) exposed. Not so with the Panorama Mode on the TX7. When you press the shutter the exposure is set for the entire panorama, so if you start in an area that is a lot lighter or darker than the rest of the scene your integrated shot won’t be properly exposed. But, you can adjust for this by using the AE lock.

I’m not a Scene Mode fan, but if you are this camera’s for you. There’s even a Gourmet Mode (for taking pictures of food), a Beach Mode, and a Pet Mode. OK, say you’re spending a day at the beach and you want to take a particularly cute shot of your dog eyeing a hamburger. What to do? Beach Mode? Pet Mode? Gourmet Mode? You could make a case for any of them. While you’re dithering over this the moment has passed. Just take the damn picture!

The TX7 has a Burst Mode, for taking up to 10 shots in rapid succession. How rapid this is depends on the three choices the TX7 gives to you. At first I thought that this was a bit over-the-top, but in actual use I’ve liked having the three different rates. It’s hard to clarify, but in some action scenes it’s better to have one over the other. Be careful with this feature, though. It’s simple to load up lots and lots of images that are a pain to go through.

The camera has a limited zoom range, but it’s a excellent one: an effective 25mm through 100mm. Yes, 100mm isn’t much of a telephoto, but remember that you can always crop. You can’t make a photo any wider than the widest zoom range on the camera, and as far as I know there’s no compact which gets any wider than 25mm. Moreover, there’s no distortion at this focal length. My previous compact, a Canon SD700IS bought in 2007, goes out to only 35mm and has pronounced barrel distortion at that setting. This is another huge plus for the TX7.

Most reviews mention the small battery life, and that’s indeed right. Of course, that’s the price you pay for a tiny camera like this.

What Sony should have done is to enable recharging through the dock. As you probably know, there is no direct cable from the TX7 to your computer. Instead, Sony provides a dock. You set the camera in the dock, and then transfer the pictures. Some reviewers have complained about having this separate item, but I found it slightly more convenient than inserting a cable. As I said, though, it would be fantastic if the camera could be recharged through the dock. My first compact, a Fuji I got in 2002, did this, so I don’t see why Sony does not.

One last thing: I bought what is described as the “blue” model. This is a joke. The camera is jet black. There’s not even the slightest hint of blue.

Overall, the TX7 is a fantastic camera. It’s small size, especially the slim profile, means you can easily slip into your pocket, even your shirt pocket. If in the next generation Sony expands the HDR, provides for AEB, and allows charging through the dock it will have close to a perfect small camera.

This is fascinating. My first TX7 produced significant flare in backlit scenes. Flare makes milky areas or streaks in the image, and is caused by stray light bouncing around inside the lens. Very hard, if not impossible, to right in editing.

I didn’t know if this was something inherent in the lens design or whether I just got a defective camera. So I bought a second TX7 and ran side-by-side comparisons. The first continued to show flaring, the second did not. So when you read a review that says “This camera takes dreadful pictures!” there may be nothing incorrect with the camera design–the person probably just got a terrible one, like I did. (BTW, the return of the first TX7 couldn’t have been simpler. Amazon sent a UPS truck to pick it up at my home, free of charge. No wonder it’s a successful company.)

PROS:

Brilliant resolution

For a compact, excellent performance at higher ISO’s

Slim design fits easily into your pocket

Innovative low-light functions

Touchscreen is quick and intuitive

Wide angle on the zoom is truly wide angle, and distortion-free to boot

Overall feeling of quality

CONS:

Disappointing HDR

No auto exposure bracketing

Telephoto isn’t much of a telephoto

Low battery life

Purple fringing at high magnifications

I also got an HX5V, so I could compare the two. See my separate review on that camera.

Anyway, I’ve been doing photography for four decades, and during that time the technological strides have been profound. In 1970, when I got my first SLR, a camera like the TX7 would have been pure science fiction–in fact, it would have seemed more science fiction-y than colonies on Mars. But despite these advances there are still two major challenges in photography: dynamic range and low-light performance. That’s why I was interested in the two Sonys, since they attempt to address these problems.

The HDR Mode on the TX7 tries to increase the dynamic range of an image by taking two shots in succession, one slightly underexposed and the other slightly overexposed, and then integrates the two to get the best of both worlds. A excellent thought, but the results are merely OK. Sony doesn’t say, but my tests show that the range is just -1EV/+1EV. That’s not enough. If you’ve done research on this, or if you have an HDR program like Photomatix, you know that you need -2EV/+2EV to get a really excellent range. I’m surprised Sony stopped so small here, since expanding the range would have been simple. In fact, you can manually adjust the exposure by 2EV either way in Program Mode.

But if you do this, you’ll have to have a tripod, because you’ll have to change the exposure each time. There’s no auto exposure bracketing, where one touch of the shutter takes three successive shots at your preset exposure range. This is surprising, nearly shocking, since AEB doesn’t add to the cost. If this were a middle-of-the-road compact selling for $150 the omission would be understandable, but the TX7 is supposed to be a top-of-the-line, full-featured, as-excellent-as-it-gets compact (it’s certainly priced that way). It makes you wonder just what the people at Sony were thinking when they designed this camera–it’s hard to believe someone didn’t bring this up.

Sony makes up for this, though, with very excellent low-light performance. First, Sony has traded lower MPs (10 vs. the 12 or 14 in most compacts) for better quality at higher ISOs, an brilliant trade. The TX7 beats every other compact except the Canon S90 at higher ISOs, and the Canon achieves this through a larger sensor and hence a larger camera. You can see this for yourself by visiting [...] and comparing the full-size images of various cameras (as of this writing there are no samples for the TX7, but those for the TX5 would be identical).

You will also see that there is no better compact than the TX7 on lens resolution. This is quite surprising since the TX7′s lens is so small. The suberb resolution by itself makes the price of this camera worthwhile.

But, I did notice some purple fringing at the juncture of certain bright and dark parts of the image, which is due to the lens design. But this is noticeable only at very high magnifications.

The second way Sony addresses the low-light problem is to offer two different low-light shooting modes: Twilight Mode and Anti-Blur Mode. Both take a series of six shots and then merge them into a single image–in other words, you get six times the amount of light that you’d get with a straight shot. The Twilight Mode uses slower shutter speeds and lower ISOs, while Anti-Blur does the opposite. Also, the white balance on the Twilight Mode is distinctly warm, no doubt to compensate for the bluish light in twilight or early morning scenes.

What if you want to use the Twilight Mode indoors under incandescent lighting so you can get the lower ISO? You’d want to do this if you didn’t need the higher shutter speed that Anti-Blur gives. To avoid an overly-warm image simply switch the white balance from auto to incandescent and you’ll be fine.

Which leads me to the touchscreen, which has turned out to be my favorite feature on the TX7. Changing the white balance, and doing anything else, is quick and simple with the touchscreen. I’ve seen some reviews which say that you have to use the supplied stylus, but I’ve never had to. Plus, the text and icons are very readable and even elegant in appearance.

In fact, the overall build of the camera is quite excellent. You might even say luxurious. This is an expensive camera for a compact, but it looks and feels expensive.

The panorama feature is fascinating, but a bit gimmicky. You can do panoramas yourself in Photoshop or other editors in those few occasions when you need a panorama, which in my experience isn’t very often. Plus, when you take your own pictures for subsequent integration into a panorama each shot is separately (and hence correctly) exposed. Not so with the Panorama Mode on the TX7. When you press the shutter the exposure is set for the entire panorama, so if you start in an area that is a lot lighter or darker than the rest of the scene your integrated shot won’t be properly exposed. But, you can adjust for this by using the AE lock.

I’m not a Scene Mode fan, but if you are this camera’s for you. There’s even a Gourmet Mode (for taking pictures of food), a Beach Mode, and a Pet Mode. OK, say you’re spending a day at the beach and you want to take a particularly cute shot of your dog eyeing a hamburger. What to do? Beach Mode? Pet Mode? Gourmet Mode? You could make a case for any of them. While you’re dithering over this the moment has passed. Just take the damn picture!

The TX7 has a Burst Mode, for taking up to 10 shots in rapid succession. How rapid this is depends on the three choices the TX7 gives to you. At first I thought that this was a bit over-the-top, but in actual use I’ve liked having the three different rates. It’s hard to clarify, but in some action scenes it’s better to have one over the other. Be careful with this feature, though. It’s simple to load up lots and lots of images that are a pain to go through.

The camera has a limited zoom range, but it’s a excellent one: an effective 25mm through 100mm. Yes, 100mm isn’t much of a telephoto, but remember that you can always crop. You can’t make a photo any wider than the widest zoom range on the camera, and as far as I know there’s no compact which gets any wider than 25mm. Moreover, there’s no distortion at this focal length. My previous compact, a Canon SD700IS bought in 2007, goes out to only 35mm and has pronounced barrel distortion at that setting. This is another huge plus for the TX7.

Most reviews mention the small battery life, and that’s indeed right. Of course, that’s the price you pay for a tiny camera like this.

What Sony should have done is to enable recharging through the dock. As you probably know, there is no direct cable from the TX7 to your computer. Instead, Sony provides a dock. You set the camera in the dock, and then transfer the pictures. Some reviewers have complained about having this separate item, but I found it slightly more convenient than inserting a cable. As I said, though, it would be fantastic if the camera could be recharged through the dock. My first compact, a Fuji I got in 2002, did this, so I don’t see why Sony does not.

One last thing: I bought what is described as the “blue” model. This is a joke. The camera is jet black. There’s not even the slightest hint of blue.

Overall, the TX7 is a fantastic camera. It’s small size, especially the slim profile, means you can easily slip into your pocket, even your shirt pocket. If in the next generation Sony expands the HDR, provides for AEB, and allows charging through the dock it will have close to a perfect small camera.