There seem to be a lot of reviews complaining about blurry stills with this camera and lousy lighting on the videos. The latter is somewhat true, due to the tiny lens, video taken in low light, indoor situations are sub-par. Video taken outdoors is fantastic (much better than hi-8). I don't understand the complaints about the stills though. I replaced a fine Canon PowerShot s50 (gave it to my wife) and I can honestly say that the DSC-M1 takes as good and possibly even better stills. The colors are richer and I've had no problems with blur or fuzzy edges in any situations.

I've also read reviews that complain about the DSC-M1 not being pocket-size or compact enough and I'm wondering how tight their pants are??? This camera fits in my shirt, pants or jacket pocket quite comfortably.
I'd recommend this camera to anyone who wants a compact, high quality still camera with good (but, not great) video ability and can handle the $500-$600 price tag.

This one replaced the DSCT-1 I had because the screen had cracked and the cost of repairs was equal to the cost of replacement. The other reviews of the M-1 are accurate. The major problem I found was the "upgrade" to MPEG4 videos. Yes, they are better, but they are, also, useless to send in e-mails because the recipents would have to have MPEG4 software in the computers to play them, and to quote another reviewer, "What's the point of shooting video if you can't e-mail it to friends&relatives." I preferred the T-1!

This camera has a good combination of digital still and video. The Panasonic AV-100 does a better job on the video but doesn't even come close on the still. I would have given this camera a perfect score except for one very large gripe, if you zoom while shooting video, the noise from the zoom is very noticeable on playback.

I have to agree with the guy that said read the manual . you need to keep in mind what you are trying to do with this camera when shooting . It Does take very clear pictures . I used to have the 3.2 sony cybershot . This camera is great !!! and user friendly both in shooting pictures and downloading .

First off I'm using a Mac with iphoto so I won't be reviewing the included Windows software. For Mac owners, iphoto works great with this camera and the camera also loads as an external disk for manual transfer of pictures and movies through USB.

Pros:
- small size- fits nicely in my jean pocket.
- excellent video quality at very reasonable file sizes- full motion video w/ stereo sound. There will be some artifacts on playback on a tv with fast jerky motions with the camera or low light situations. I'd say the playback is VHS quality or slightly better, but don't expect DV quality. I get about 22 minutes of video off of my 512mb memory stick which isn't bad at all when considering the quality of the video. -MPEG4 playback works perfectly well on my Mac without any extra software installed.
- excellent sized lcd screen. The screen is very large and makes sharing freshly taken videos or pictures a pleasure
- excellent camera options- almost every option you need is there in the camera, however I just stick to "auto" unless I'm getting really fancy.
- Picture quality- great 5 megapixel quality, nice lens. Honestly, I prefer Canon to any other digital camera brand, but the output of this Sony definitely is beautiful.
- hybrid mode- a gimick? actually it isn't. I find this function quite usefull and powerful. with the camera in this mode the camera always records 5 seconds before hand so whenever you take a picture the camera will save the already recorded 5 seconds before the shot and 3 seconds after the shot. So you get a photograph sandwiched between two short video clips.
- swivel LCD screen- makes taking shots from any angle a breeze, including shots of yourself. Also it is very nice to have a swiveling LCD when taking movies.
- charging base- the design of the base is very nice. It has a sliding mechanism that pretty much guarantees that you will always plug in the camera correctly and smoothly.
-3x zoom- a lot of comapct digital cameras have a 3x optical zoom... but they don't allow you to zoom while recording video. With the Cybershot DSCM1, you can zoom while taking video! This option really makes a difference between a having a neat movie function on your photo camera and having a photo/movie camera. You can also use the digital zoom for even closer shots.
- stereo mic and speaker- this camera not only comes with stereo sound recording capapbilities but it also has a speaker so you here audio playback with the video you just shot. This is a function that is missing in most digital cameras that play movies.

Cons:
- size- yeah I know, it was a pro too. But this camera is larger when compared to the many, many small 4-5 megapixel cameras out there now. If compact is your main concern, then there are quite a few smaller cameras with the same resolution and full motion video (although the quality of the video is another matter).
- battery life- A full day of picture taking and movie making will drain this battery. Photos themselves don't seem to drain the battery badly, but movies do seem to drain the battery quickly. To be safe I'd invest in a back-up battery.
- Inputs- to connect this camera to your computer or a tv you need to hook it up to the camera base. That means you have to take along the base with you when you are traveling. A minor annoyance, but worth mentioning.
-flash- I have a smaller Canon with a stronger flash than this camera. The flash on this camera is indeed weak, but that is to be expected with a small camera. The weak flash does cause blurry pictures if you focus on something outside the flash range. To remedy this I change the mode to night mode, but then the picture becomes blurry because I don't have a tripod on me 24/7. So pick your poison. I find the flash works well at about 3-5 meters.
-badly placed AF light- fingers will sometimes block this light if not careful, took me about a day to get use to it.
- busy design- really not even a real con, but also worth mentioning that there are a lot of buttons on this camera. I found the use of this camera very easy, but don't expect the button layout to be like other generic cameras.
- price- expensive for 5 MP camera and expensive Sony Memory Stick media.
- Swivel design- again a pro, but a con also. Try giving this camera to someone else and then try not having a heart attack when they try to pry the camera open the wrong way. I recommend to ALWAYS open the camera first before handing it to another person to play with.

Conclusion- If you can handle the price, I definitely recommend this camera. It is perfect for family outings, trips, or just everyday memory saving. Great quality video that is unmatched by any other digital camera out currently whenever you need it and great pictures at the spur of the moment... all of this tucked nicely in your pocket. I take this camera everywhere with me and it so far has been well worth it.

This is a fantastic camera, with unbelievable clarity, all the right features, and it's easy to use. AND YOU CAN GET ONE ABSOLUTELY FREE. All you have to do is click on the below link, complete one of the offers (many of them are free trials and will cost you nothing) refer a few friends to do the same, and you can have your free camera within a matter of days. This is not a scam or any other kind of sucker bet. It's simple, easy, from a reputable site, and you will actually get this camera for free. Go for it (...).

I just picked up the M1 and I love it! I was debating between this camera and Sony's other offering the Slim T7. The deciding factor for me was that I enjoy making home/vacation/special event videos and love video editing so being able to fit more video on a memory card with MP4 compression technology in the M1 won me over.

I've been playing around with the camera and the pictures turned out great. The pictures I post online look great and the pictures printed out (normal sized 4x6 for albums and frames) are as good as I can expect.

The software included (Picture Package) is pretty cool although the only feature I intend on and have been using is the mp4 to avi converter so that I can edit the videos I take using Microsoft Movie Maker 5 and Pinnacle Studio 9. Those and most programs won't work with MP4s so the conversion to avi is essential.

I have a Sony Mini DV Camcorder which is pretty small but its not exactly pocketsize so i'd rather not bring it around with me on an everday basis. The Mini DV Camcorder is fine for vacations or bigger events where i'll film hours of video. With the M1, I can put it in my pocket on everday situations or even little outings (dinner with friends / going to a basketball game / going to any event where lugging around a Camcorder would seem out of place). With the M1 i'll be able to take great quality pictures at the events and / or great videos of anything that might just pop up because you never know what'll happen! =]

This camera/camcorder is awesome! I can't say enough about it!! It does take a very short time to get used to because of the way you hold it, but the controls are well placed and easy to use so it's really quick to get the hang of and WAIT TILL YOU SEE THE PIX!! The video is incredible as are the pix that this little beauty takes. It's very small, bigger than some of the small cameras out there, but smaller than the camcorders, and it switches back and forth effortlessly! You just push either the picture button or the video button, it really is as simple as that! I have always been a huge fan of Sony camera and video products, but they have outdone themselves this time. I could not imagine being without this camera. I use it constantly with my 4yo twin girls, its even easy enough for them to use! (with close supervision of course, I don't think dropping it would be a good thing, LOL)

You will not regret getting this for even a moment! Go on, what are you waiting for???

A professional photographer I know showed me her Sony Cybershot DSCM1 5MP digital camera at a photo gallery opening recently. I was quite impressed that a camera that is as large as your typical cell phone can produce outstanding image quality. She mentioned that this has become her principal camera now, replacing her venerable Leica M 35mm rangefinder camera. I must credit both Sony and Carl Zeiss for producing this fine little camera, which I suspect will be an admirable digital camera replacement for those who've relied upon pocket point and shoot film cameras for much of their photography. I would say that the Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar lens compares quite favorably quality-wise with the Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar lenses I have seen for several film and digital Contax compact cameras.

The majority of stills I've taken with the M1 are horribly blurred. When a camera can't get a sharp picture on the beach at high noon you know you've got a problem. I was using my friends cheapo camera cell phone the other day and it was able to capture sharper fotos. The video works great, but there is a major problem in the still department.

This camera is unreal! People have been saying the photos come out blurry, but actually you get this type of blur with all digital cameras if you have movement. I have tried the high end Sony and Cannon 8mp cameras and they have the same type of blur during movement.

All I have to say is the pics come out unreal. I have a 6mp (interpolated)digital camera, the pics on that thing come out crisp but if you zoom a couple times it's all pixelated. When I take pics with the DSCM1 you can zoom in crop it and it's not pixellated at all.

The video is unreal it's about 2/3 of DVD quality.I expected a whole lot less and got a whole lot more.The bad? It only comes with 32 megs of storage.You have to upgrade to at least 1G.

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I've had my M1 for about 6 months. It's a great conversation starter. It takes great photo's, and has me finally giving up my old film camera - because it takes better pictures. I don't understand the reviews that complain of blurry stills. This camera takes fantastic stills. The ability to easily edit the digital photos makes it better than film, in terms of the final product.

The fact that it does video is a major bonus. I still prefer a digital camcorder to make movies - but you won't carry a camcorder everywhere you'll take the M1. It's the size of a cell phone - heavier than most - is easy to carry and holds up to 45 minutes of video. The video quality is fine - sound and picture. You can play back from the M1 to a TV very easily - though the A/V connector is on the charging stand - so you have to have the stand to hook it to a TV.

The one glitch ---> You can also play back movies on a computer, and here's the one big problem I haven't resolved. When I play the video back on the computer, with the provided software, it plays back poorly - the sound and picture are out of synch. One of the reviews here said you need to get an MPEG player called MPEGABLE - which I will try. My computer is a little old - but it meets the minumum specs required by the documentation.

Also, the software is clumsy in the handling of the stills. For example, you can't click on a picture to view more than a thumbnail as you go to pick which ones to print or to put on a CD. The viewer and the selector are separate and don't work together.

All in all, very glad I got it - and it gets a ton of use.

I have had this camera (Sony DSCM1) for one week and find it outstanding in all respects. The video is camcorder quality. At first I too had some still pictures less crisp than desired, especially for a 5MP camera. Following the suggestions of Tim Mouradian above, I switched from 'Auto' and 'Multi Focus' to 'Program' and 'Spot Focus'. Noticing the results at high shutter speeds were very crisp it looked like a vibration problem. The PHOTO button is in an awkward location and when pressed can give a slight jerk to the camera unnoticable to you but affecting the picture. Try placing another finger behind the camera under the button location and 'squeezing' the button rather than 'pressing' so the camera does not move.
Doing all of this I obtain results of very high crispness. There is nothing wrong with the optics of this camera.
I also changed 'Sharpness' to Plus instead of Normal and ( though perhaps this is just a matter of taste ), 'Saturation' and 'Contrast' to Plus modes. Of course you must give it the half second it needs to acquire the focus.
Best results to you,
Tom Ewing

Very easy to use. Got great shots on my vacation. Pictures are unbelievable. Loved the unique viewing angles I could get with this camera to get great shots. Pricey, yes. But WOW.

I bought this camera over 2 weeks back and its been working so well for me so far that I had to write this review! Its really a cool looking gadget that works even better, still pictures are as good as other Sony ones and the print outs are awesome at 8 x 10 size BUT the mpeg4 is really something to show off.
I have owned Panasonic Dsnap ones in the past just because I have always wanted something that would take pictures and serve as a camcorder too, the Dsnap quality doesnt even come close to this Sony M1.
I am very satisfied with my purchase and would definately recommend this to anyone who is on the go like me or going on vacation etc so that they dont have to carry digital camera and bulky camcorder seperatley. Buy this eye-catching camera, it fits in the pocket and yet is too good at its job!

When your friends see this, you will definitely be in the center of attention.

I would put 5 starts but I think it could be better designed. You can't take pictures in the regular way, it always have to be opened like in the picture, so you will need a tripod to take pictures with the timer, if not, it will just fall down.

Other than that, I found it very good, the pictures quality is awesome, as well as the movies in daylight.

I see so many people complaining of the MPEG-4 movie format here that I thought I'd put my two cents worth in. Just thought I'd mention that the MPEG-4 format for movies is quickly becoming THE standard. It is what you can use to copy your video's onto a DVD with. Recording from your TV is done in MPEG (2,3,4) formats, like on ReplayTV as well as DVD formatting of videos.

To view this, since Microsoft doesn't have the patent on innovation, Apple has implemented the MPEG-4 standard into Quicktime 7. Just simply go to [...] to get your free copy of this fabulous software. I say this because of two things, the visual quality and the implementation on the player.

You can resize these videos on your computer and they retain the same great quality in a small frame as they do in a large full-window frame. You can also pause and stop a Quicktime video that your watching over the web without having to restart it from the begining like Microsoft makes you do using Windows Media. If you're going to use the latest and greatest hardware, you need to keep your system updated with the latest and greates software.

I found this website that is giving away free digital cameras. Here are the options:

Sony Cybershot DSCM1
Sony Cybershot DSCT7
Nikon Coolpix 7900
Kodak EasyShare Z740 5MP
or... a Canon ZR200 MiniDV Camcorder

YOUR CHOICE!!!!! I got this camcorder

(...)
(...)

this is not a joke! all you need to do to get a free camera is fulfill one offer that is either free or just dollars. then you need to refer friends and it is yours for absolutely free! if you wanna try then copy and paste the link below :
(...)

This is a great camera that is vertically oriented. It takes, photos, movies for TV and hybrid photos (few seconds of movie with a photo embedded in it, so that you can get a feel about the situation). It is slim and has a non projecting lens. The macro feature which takes closeup pictures is awesome. You can use it as a media player.
However, there are two things that I really hate about this camera. 1) You cannot use the record mode (shoot pictures or movie) with the display in the compact mode. You need to swivel the display out to take pictures. 2) You need to use the provided image station to connect the camera to your PC. There is no direct USB connection on the camera.
Watch out... SONY DSC-M2 is coming soon to USA. That is why all retailers are getting rid of the DSC-M1 model. It is a new design with a USB connection and 6X digital zoom but still a 5MP camera. (not sure if you can shoot with the display in the compact mode.)
More info of DSC-M2 at
http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=DSC-M2&site=odw_en_GB&pageType=Overview&category=DPH+Digital+Still+Cameras

At first I was horribly disappointed with this camera. While the video was incredible, way too many of my stills were coming out blurry. I had upgraded from a 1.3 megapixel sony clunker, and was regretting it.

But over the next while, as I experimented more with the settings, I realized the problem wasn't the camera, it was me. This camera takes wonderful stills once you learn how to use it.

The settings I change from time to time are minor and take only a second or two, so it is easy to use on the spur of the moment.

This is a truly versatile camera, and one of the best buys I've ever made!

I bought this since I wanted both videos and stills in one compact package. This camera does not disappoint. The videos are simply outstanding (in the best mode, of course). Get a tripod, and you can get amazing stills in some of the low-light settings too. I got some outstanding pictures of Washington by night.

The one BIG complaint I have is that as an amateur photographer with limited time to go through manuals or understand photography, this camera dos not do great with automatic settings (others have complained about this here). Which means if you do some work for about 2 hours trying to understand what everything means, you could get outstanding pictures. But the far less capable canons that I have used do a better job with point and shoot than this one. If you know and enjoy tweaking the setting for stills, and like taking some amazing videos in an ultra-small pacakge, this is it.
What I like most:
You can directly watch movies from the camera on your TV with te included attachment (similar to most camcorders). And a 2 GB stick can take longer vidoes than a Mini DV. And occupies a lot less space.

I purchased this camera just a week ago. I also purchased the fuji v10 which I loved as well. Both nice point and shoot features, BUT....the fuji when zoomed up pixelated ALOT. This camera taken the same picture you can zoom up to see the color of the eyes and no pixelation..it truly is amazing. Settings definitely make a difference so over the week and 1000 shots with both cameras later playing with them, I am in love with this camera and returned the other. The battery life seems much better, the video is totally amazing. I did find a case at compusa that fit perfect for 5 bucks with a belt clip. I purchased a 2 gb card for it and am in love with it. My husband is cracking up, can't even put it down during dinner....taking pics of the food! You will have alot of fun with this. My friends are all ewwwwing and ahhhing at it.

Very nice camera with cool features and ease of use. the auto focus is a bit annoying but that's about it

The sony cybershot is fairly easy to use as camera's go. This was my first "real" camera and in no time i was taking "PRO" shots. The way it opens up is a real "grabber " for me. The screen rotates "360" for easy self portraits.

this sony hybrid cameras is definitely one of the best digital camera out there in the market. not only could you take great pictures it also records great mp4 videos as well i highly recommend this camera!!!