Sony DCS-FX77

The 4megapixel DCS-FX77 is the first Sony digital camera to boast compatibility with Bluetooth-enabled devices supporting Basic Imaging Profile.

However, for those who aren't quite ready to take the plunge into the wireless world, there is also a USB cradle.

The camera itself is well designed and fits comfortably into a shirt pocket. The lens, flash and viewfinder are all housed in a separate section of the camera's body, which rotates through 300 degrees on a horizontal axis at the top of the unit.

Turning this section so that the lens, flash and viewfinder are exposed powers up the camera, but be warned that this also works in reverse: if you angle the lens too far down towards your feet, you risk turning it off completely.

A mode dial mounted on the right-hand side of the unit gives fast access to shooting and scene modes, while flash, macro mode, quick review and self-timer controls are all located on a button at the back, next to the 1.8in LCD display and under the zoom rocker.

Now we come to the crunch. Due to the design, this camera has no optical zoom. Instead, Sony has included a so-called 'smart zoom' feature, although we failed to see what was so clever about it.

It allows you to zoom digitally by up to 1.4 times (in 1,600 x 1,200 image size) and down to 3.5 times (in 640 x 480). You lose the zoom facility altogether at 2,272 x 1,704 resolution.

As you would expect, this has an impact on image quality. Our outdoor shots using the digital zoom were soft and the edges of objects lacked clarity.

Colours, on the other hand, were very well rendered and realistic and the camera did perform better indoors, coping well with some tricky textures such as fur and metallic objects.

Specs

• 2,272 x 1,704 max resolution
• 1.8in LCD
• 1.4x digital smart zoom
• 37mm focal length
• Auto, on, off, red-eye reduction, AF illuminator
• 16MB Memory Stick
• 98.1 x 27 x 71mm (w x d x h)
• 157g
• USB cradle
• 1yr carry-in warranty

Contact: Sony 08705 111 999