Reg Kit Watch Sony will ship is latest ultra-slim five-megapixel digicam in Japan on 29 April, the consumer electronics giant said today.

The CyberShot DSC-T11 follows on from the slimline T1 announced last October. At 186g to 180g, the new model is slightly heavier and slightly longer, too: 10.3cm to the T1's 9.1cm, largely thanks to the addition of a curved strap attachment at one end. However, the T11 is thinner - just 1.7cm to the T1's 2.1cm.

Like its predecessor, the T11 sports a 2.5in LCD and a F3.5-4.4 Carl Zeiss lens with 3x optical zoom. Inside is a 5.3-megapixel CCD capable of taking a 2592 x 1944 image. It can also handle 640×480 video at 30fps, encoded in MPEG-1 format. Sony claims the "hybrid" LCD offers much better viewing characteristics in bright lighting conditions.

Sony claims the camera's imaging processor allows shots to be grabbed and stored within 0.042s of the shutter being pressed.

Pictures are be stored on MemoryStick Pro Duo cards, and transferred to a computer via the camera's built-in USB 2.0 port. The same port can connect the digicam directly to a one of Sony's digital photo printers. The camera ships with a USB cradle/battery recharger. The T11 ships with a removable rechargeable battery.

The T11 will ship on 29 April for ¥58,000 ($544). Sony will ship the DSC-P100 on the same date, in silver, blue and red cases, followed by the four megapixel DSC-P43 and DSC-P73 on 28 and 14 May, respectively. Between those two, on 21 May, Sony will ship the DSC-W1 in silver and black versions.

Like the T11, the P100 (left) and W1 (right) contain 5.3-megapixel CCDs, with F2.8-5.2 lenses offering 3x optical zoom facilities. The compact P100 has a 1.8in LCD, but the W1 sports a 2.5in job. The two weigh 183g and 250g, respectively and measure 10.8 x 5.2 x 2.7cm and 9 x 6 x 3.6cm.

The 4.2-megapixel P43 (below, left)and P73 sport a 3x digital zoom and 3x optical zoom, respectively. The former has a fixed F=5mm (33mm) lens, the latter an F=6-18mm (39-117mm) job. Both feature a 1.5in LCD viewfinder. They weight 195g and 236g, respectively, and measure 10.1 x 5.4 x 3.6cm and 11.7 x 5.4 x 3.6cm.

Prices for the P100, P43, P73 and W1 have yet to be set. ®