By Mike Lee, a freelance writer

LOOKS are definitely a key selling point of the Sony Cyber-shot T series of cameras and the TX1 is no exception.

Its subtle curves and finishing are almost sculpture-like and with a 3-inch touchscreen occupying practically the entire back panel, there is no space for extraneous control buttons on the body.

Nevertheless, you can get the TX1 to perform some nifty tricks.

Apart from the now standard fare of face and smile detection functions, the TX1 adds an interesting new tool - wide-view shoot and stitch.

With it, you can shoot and stitch panoramic photos inside the camera. Just press the shutter and swivel the camera to capture views of up to 195 degrees wide. Simple and impressive.

The usual way is to shoot a series of six to seven photos and stitch them on the computer using an editing software. This takes time and you cannot preview the result on the spot.

With the TX1, you can review the panoramic photo right after shooting, adjust your composition, shooting position or exposure settings immediately and reshoot if necessary.

This camera also touts improved low-light shooting muscles, thanks to updated image sensor technology.

Although I found that photos and videos shot in dim light exhibited some graininess, it was still better than overly aggressive noise reduction that gives pictures a wax-like look.

I also liked the touchscreen user interface.

One thing that photography neophytes may appreciate is the helpful prompts to guide shooting - like "Slide down lens cover to shoot".

Yes, duh, you say, but people do forget.

The Intelligent Auto Adjustment mode was brainy too.

It correctly ascertained that there was backlighting when I pointed the camera at a subject with an open window behind.

It also switched to the Twilight settings when I was shooting the blue evening sky after sunset and detected a macro subject when I held my hand close to the lens.

This waif can accommodate only a slim battery. As a result, battery life is not fantastic. Within 30 minutes of fiddling with the camera, the battery life indicator lost one out of four bars.

So you will definitely want to pack a second battery if you are out shooting all day.

Final say

A very stylish camera that also has a brainy automatic intelligent mode and a convenient panoramic photo function.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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