Sony DSC-F828 Review

The Cybershot DSC-F828 was announced on 15th August, this new camera is very obviously a development of the DSC-F717 design. Just under a year since the F717 and Sony's flagship prosumer digital camera has certainly undergone a large number of changes, not least of which is the switch from the electronically zoomed five times lens of the F707/F717 to an all new mechanical zoom seven times lens with Carl Zeiss T* coating and a wide angle 28 mm equiv. capability. Sony has also chosen to go with their latest sensor, the all new eight megapixel four-color (RGBE) 2/3" type (8.8 x 6.6 mm) CCD. Ignoring all other changes this makes a formidable combination, a high quality mechanically linked zoom lens combined with the resolution of an eight megapixel CCD. This camera is arguably the most important prosumer digital camera this year.

Specifications

More information : Announced 15-Aug-03
Max resolution : 3264 x 2448
Low resolution : 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480
Image ratio w:h : 4:3, 3:2
Effective pixels : 8.0 million
Sensor photo detectors : 8.3 million
Sensor size : 2/3 " (8.80 x 6.60 mm)
Sensor type : CCD
Colour filter array : RGBE
Sensor manufacturer : Sony
ISO rating : Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800
Zoom wide (W) : 28 mm
Zoom tele (T) : 200 mm (7.1 x)
Digital zoom : Yes, 2 x
Image stabilization : No
Auto Focus : Yes
Manual Focus : Yes, focus ring, inc. magnification
Auto focus type : Multi-Point AF (5 area), Center AF, Spot AF (flexible)
Normal focus range : 50 cm
Macro focus range : 2 cm
White balance override : 5 positions plus manual
Aperture range : F2.0 – F2.8 / F8.0
Min shutter : 30 sec
Max shutter : 1/3200 sec
Built-in Flash : Yes, pop-up
Flash guide no.
External flash : Yes, hot-shoe / ACC
Flash modes : Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye reduction, Ext
Exposure compensation : -2 EV to +2 EV in 1/3 EV Steps
Metering : Multi-Segment, Center weighted, Spot
Aperture priority : Yes
Shutter priority : Yes
Focal length multiplier
Lens thread : 58 mm
Continuous Drive : Yes
Movie Clips : Yes, MPEG VX (VGA, 16/30 fps, unlimited)
Remote control : Optional wired
Tripod mount : Yes
Self-timer : 10 sec
Timelapse recording : No
Orientation sensor : No
Storage types : Memory Stick / Pro, Compact Flash (Type I or II)
Storage included : None
Uncompressed format : RAW, TIFF
Compressed format : JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
Quality Levels : Standard, Fine
Viewfinder : EVF
LCD : 1.8 "
LCD Pixels : 134,000
Video out : Yes
USB : Yes, 2.0
Firewire (IEEE 1394) : No
Battery / Charger : Yes
Battery : InfoLithium (NP-FM50) & charger
Weight (inc. batteries) : 906 g (32 oz)
Dimensions : 134 x 91 x 156 mm (5.3 x 3.6 x 6.1 in)
Notes : Carl Zeiss T* lens, mechanically linked zoom ring

Review

Large for its class; no Adobe RGB color-space support; very slow RAW capture; frequent chromatic aberration; no override for automatic power-off; JPEG-only continuous shooting; no custom settings. Despite a few unfortunate flaws, the DSC-F828 has a lot to offer enthusiasts who don't shoot a lot of RAW images.