Did I Drink the Cool-Aid?

I’ve been putting this post off. The problem is not the product I want to review here—the Sony Cyber-shot T2—it’s me.

I’m afraid I’ve been brainwashed. I spent two all-to-pleasant days with a group of bloggers, Sony staffers, and outrageously fun photographers at the delicious La Valencia hotel in La Jolla, California. I was treated so well that I frequently had to pinch myself to be sure it wasn’t a dream. And Sony asked me to take home and try out some of their new cameras. The problem is that I love each of the cameras. I’m normally very cynical about gadgetry but I keep showing people my pale blue Cyber-shot and waiting for the oohs and aaahs (which are instant), gazing proudly at my new gadget companion, and whipping it out to take photos. So I’ve been frequently checking the mirror for signs of brain-washing. (If anyone knows what the symptoms are, please email me at once.) I’ve even asked friends and family if I seem brain-washed. My husband said, “Yes!” with no hesitation. But I think I detected some signs of envy in him, too. So I’m still not sure. Now that I’ve said that, though, I feel that I can admit how enamored I’ve become with my new point-and-shoot camera—pictured here. (I am equally in love with the Sony Alpha DSLR but that’s a more complicated relationship and I’ll get to that later.)

Sony touts their somewhat disconcerting smile-technology as the hot new feature on this camera. And it is pretty cool. You choose the option from the camera’s LCD screen, point the camera at any dour, frowning subject, and press the shutter. Nothing happens till you persuade Gloomy Gus to smile and then, FLASH, you caught it for posterity. Even if that was the only smile—ever—you got it on film. This is great for documenting depressives or anyone who suffers from excessive frowning syndrome, which is pretty much my entire family. The only problem with the technology is that if you first tell people about the feature, they tend to smile like Dan is doing here. Though I’d wager that if you then post that picture to your blog, they’ll never do that again. Right, Dan?

But, seriously, there is no one technology that makes me so fond of this little camera. It’s the whole package: the super-portable size, the cute colors, the 4 GB of internal memory (you can also add a memory card), the 8.2 Megapixels, and the easy-to-use interface that offers text prompts to help you navigate and take better pictures. I honestly believe that, even though Sony was so amazingly nice to me and introduced me to a bunch of women I would love to call BFFs, that I would still tell you if I thought any of these cameras sucked. Then again, if this is the Cool-Aid talking, I say bring it on.