Picked up a new Sony DSC-F717 for $474...ditch my A95?

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NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
47
91
Sears had a sale on the F717 for $474 so on an impulse I bit. I used a $30 off coupon and it came to rougly $474 with tax...but it goes against two things that I look for:

(1) It uses proprietary batteries
(2) It uses MemoryStick

With the prices on flash dropping, #2 isn't so much an issue now, and the features on the F717 sure do make up for a lot.


So, should I keep the F717 and ditch the A95, or was I just plain stupid for making such an impulsive buy? :D
 
K

Ketteringo

Banned
Feb 2, 2002
4,302
0
0
Return it, the A95 is an awesome camera!

Put that $474 in a savings account to save for that Mazda3!
 
M

MeanMeosh

Diamond Member
Apr 18, 2001
3,805
1
0
linux23, its the 828.

nfs4, that's an awesome camera you bought. i own one that i got for that price around six months ago and i have had no problems with it whatsoever. sure memory sticks aren't as cheap as flash, but once you buy a 512 memory stick pro on a good deal, you wont have to keep switching cards. my 128 alone gives me 71 pics on hi-res and i find that the 128mb memory stick and a laptop is enough for me.

the proprietary battery is the best i've seen on a camera so far. it gives me 4 hours of picture taking (and that's with the lcd on). i use my camera regularly and i don't see the battery life declining any at all. there are a TON of manual features and i've been playing around with my f717 for 6 months now and still discover new things occasionally. a ton of non-proprietary add-on filters and lenses are are available for this camera since the end of the barrel has 58mm threads. 2cm macro and a carl zeiss lens = yummy feel-good camera goodness. the ability to zoom in or focus by rotating the end of the barrel is a major plus.

i say, ditch the a-95 and keep the 717!
 
NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
47
91
Originally posted by: MeanMeosh
linux23, its the 828.

nfs4, that's an awesome camera you bought. i own one that i got for that price around six months ago and i have had no problems with it whatsoever. sure memory sticks aren't as cheap as flash, but once you buy a 512 memory stick pro on a good deal, you wont have to keep switching cards. my 128 alone gives me 71 pics on hi-res and i find that the 128mb memory stick and a laptop is enough for me.

the proprietary battery is the best i've seen on a camera so far. it gives me 4 hours of picture taking (and that's with the lcd on). i use my camera regularly and i don't see the battery life declining any at all. there are a TON of manual features and i've been playing around with my f717 for 6 months now and still discover new things occasionally. a ton of non-proprietary add-on filters and lenses are are available for this camera since the end of the barrel has 58mm threads. 2cm macro and a carl zeiss lens = yummy feel-good camera goodness. the ability to zoom in or focus by rotating the end of the barrel is a major plus.

i say, ditch the a-95 and keep the 717!
Click to expand...

I was playing around with the display model in sears and I was quite amazed by it's operatin and zoom lense.
 
M

MeanMeosh

Diamond Member
Apr 18, 2001
3,805
1
0
Originally posted by: NFS4
Originally posted by: MeanMeosh
linux23, its the 828.

nfs4, that's an awesome camera you bought. i own one that i got for that price around six months ago and i have had no problems with it whatsoever. sure memory sticks aren't as cheap as flash, but once you buy a 512 memory stick pro on a good deal, you wont have to keep switching cards. my 128 alone gives me 71 pics on hi-res and i find that the 128mb memory stick and a laptop is enough for me.

the proprietary battery is the best i've seen on a camera so far. it gives me 4 hours of picture taking (and that's with the lcd on). i use my camera regularly and i don't see the battery life declining any at all. there are a TON of manual features and i've been playing around with my f717 for 6 months now and still discover new things occasionally. a ton of non-proprietary add-on filters and lenses are are available for this camera since the end of the barrel has 58mm threads. 2cm macro and a carl zeiss lens = yummy feel-good camera goodness. the ability to zoom in or focus by rotating the end of the barrel is a major plus.

i say, ditch the a-95 and keep the 717!
Click to expand...

I was playing around with the display model in sears and I was quite amazed by it's operatin and zoom lense.
Click to expand...

i think the ability to zoom or focus with the rotating barrel ring is great, since it gives you quite good precision on the two. on full auto mode, this thing has a fast recover rate from the previous shot, something that i wanted badly. i know i sound like a sony fanboy, but i swear this camera is awesome. i got it for a little less after tax (around 430) and even for $475 its a great camera. i think this camera is the best bang-for-the-buck prosumer camera one can get.

edit: i dunno if you take nightshots often, but in the ton of nightshots i've taken i haven't gotten a single hot pixel.
 
NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
47
91
Originally posted by: MeanMeosh
Originally posted by: NFS4
Originally posted by: MeanMeosh
linux23, its the 828.

nfs4, that's an awesome camera you bought. i own one that i got for that price around six months ago and i have had no problems with it whatsoever. sure memory sticks aren't as cheap as flash, but once you buy a 512 memory stick pro on a good deal, you wont have to keep switching cards. my 128 alone gives me 71 pics on hi-res and i find that the 128mb memory stick and a laptop is enough for me.

the proprietary battery is the best i've seen on a camera so far. it gives me 4 hours of picture taking (and that's with the lcd on). i use my camera regularly and i don't see the battery life declining any at all. there are a TON of manual features and i've been playing around with my f717 for 6 months now and still discover new things occasionally. a ton of non-proprietary add-on filters and lenses are are available for this camera since the end of the barrel has 58mm threads. 2cm macro and a carl zeiss lens = yummy feel-good camera goodness. the ability to zoom in or focus by rotating the end of the barrel is a major plus.

i say, ditch the a-95 and keep the 717!
Click to expand...

I was playing around with the display model in sears and I was quite amazed by it's operatin and zoom lense.
Click to expand...

i think the ability to zoom or focus with the rotating barrel ring is great, since it gives you quite good precision on the two. on full auto mode, this thing has a fast recover rate from the previous shot, something that i wanted badly. i know i sound like a sony fanboy, but i swear this camera is awesome. i got it for a little less after tax (around 430) and even for $475 its a great camera. i think this camera is the best bang-for-the-buck prosumer camera one can get.

edit: i dunno if you take nightshots often, but in the ton of nightshots i've taken i haven't gotten a single hot pixel.
Click to expand...

Where did you get it for $430 from, and did you buy it new?

I'm really stoked about the night focusing system which really looks cool from what I've read about it.
 
M

Mday

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
18,647
1
81
1 - the battery can take 4 hours of use on a full charge... you can leave it uncharged for a month with light usage

2 - meh, mem stick pro prices have dropped a lot

I have it, and i am not selling it, its well worth the 474 you paid. you can get a wired remote that makes the camera more 1337. I have the $200 flash =P btw...

The only draw back is that it's kinda old, the buffer kinda sucks, and it has no intelligent hotshoe for the new flash. Oh, and it's mem stick pro implementation is not "full" so you wont get much speed out of the camera.

For 474, you got a hell of a deal on a camera that is well worth $700... Compared to the other sub 500 cameras out there, ... it's a no brainer.
 
O

Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,022
17
81
I'd have posted earlier, but I couldn't scrape my jaw off the floor! Speaking of which, QUIT JAWING, AND TAKE SOME DAMN PICTURES!

But seriously, my son's got the nice compact V1 available to me at all times, and I'll take my antique F707 instead, every time. I don't care how big it is. The swivel body alone makes it worth the extra bulk. The brighter lens and battery life are icing on the cake. I swear, it just can't take a bad picture. Oh well, a picture's worth a thousand words, so I'll shut up and let YOUR SHOTS speak for themselves.

BTW, nice deal ya got there!
 
M

MrBond

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2000
9,911
0
76
Keep them both.

I have a large format (not DSLR but about that size) digital camera, every time I go to a party or something I wish it was smaller so I could drop it in my pocket for candid shots. My camera is great for landscapes and times when I'm actually planning on taking photos, but for spur of the momeny photography, it's just too bulky to carry around.

When I get some extra cash, I'll probably pick up an a70-a80 so I can have a nice point and shoot camera too.
 
NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
47
91
Originally posted by: MrBond
Keep them both.

I have a large format (not DSLR but about that size) digital camera, every time I go to a party or something I wish it was smaller so I could drop it in my pocket for candid shots. My camera is great for landscapes and times when I'm actually planning on taking photos, but for spur of the momeny photography, it's just too bulky to carry around.

When I get some extra cash, I'll probably pick up an a70-a80 so I can have a nice point and shoot camera too.
Click to expand...

I can't put my A95 in my pocket (comfortably). I always have to carry it along in a bag...so that's not a problem. That's b/c I always carry around extra batteries/mini tripod/lenses/etc whenever I take my camera.

 
NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
47
91
Question, how good are those $10-$15 generic batteries on eBay? I'd just like to have one as a spare.
 
K

Kelvrick

Lifer
Feb 14, 2001
18,422
5
81
Hmm. I really like how you can adjust focus with the barrel, but the V1 is so muchj smaller!
 
O

Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,022
17
81
I bought a generic back when I first got my camera in July 2002. It never had the capacity that the original did, and it crapped out a few months ago. I'm in the market for another, so I'll let you know what kind of deals I find. SterlingTek has it for $23.99. I purchased a couple extra for my son's DSC-V1, and they wouldn't take a charge after about a week. SterlingTek sent out two replacements which have been fine. For the prices they charge, it's worth taking a chance. They do have good service.

Edit: WTF? Pricegrabber shows that SterlingTek has it for $17.90 + $4.99 shipping :confused:
 
NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
47
91
Originally posted by: Ornery
I bought a generic back when I first got my camera in July 2002. It never had the capacity that the original did, and it crapped out a few months ago. I'm in the market for another, so I'll let you know what kind of deals I find. SterlingTek has it for $23.99. I purchased a couple extra for my son's DSC-V1, and they wouldn't take a charge after about a week. SterlingTek sent out two replacements which have been fine. For the prices they charge, it's worth taking a chance. They do have good service.
Click to expand...

BTW, I just now got a chance to play around with the camera. It's plugged in now charging. I've been looking through the menus and trying to read the manual to get accustomed to the interface (I've been Canon brainwashed for the past 2 years so it takes some getting used to;)). I did play around with the night-mode and it's definitely interesting.

I picked up the leather case for $20 shipped...that's a damn STEAL in my book:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...em&item=3845037751

About the batteries, I looked around DPReview and people seem to like these guys (they say they last as long or longer than the OEM Sony battery):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...sPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

I think I may just buy that one and a charger from the same guy to save on shipping:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...em=3844529041&rd=1

All I need now is a 512MB+ Memory Stick Pro card
 
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