Sony unveils two compact cameras

Sony has unveiled a pair of compact cameras - the Cyber-shot TX55 and WX30 - both featuring a 16.2MP Exmor R CMOS image sensor and full HD 1080i AVCHD movie recording capabilities, Gizmag.com reports.

The TX55 is billed as the world's thinnest full HD camera, at 12.2mm (0.48 in) thick. The new arrivals are due out in September.

According to PCMag.com, the TX55 can capture both 16MP still photos and 1080i/60 video.

More interestingly, the camera can take 12MP photos while taking 1080i/60 video, a seldom-seen feature.

It packs a 5x optical zoom lens into its 12.2mm-thick frame, less than half an inch thick not counting the sliding lens cover. Because it's so small, the TX55 can only accept the 'micro' varieties of flash memory: Memory Stick Micro or microSD/SDHC cards.

DigitalVersus points out that these two cameras do have different lenses.

The TX55 has a periscopic lens with an equivalent focal range of 26-130 mm. The WX30, on the other hand, has a 25-125 mm periscopic lens that's probably already been seen in the W570 and WX7.