Two amazing pics taken with a Sony DSC-F717

[RossMAN]

Ripped from Toddlizzle's post in this Ferengi thread:

Man, have you used this camera? The shape is one of the BEST things about it. You can rotate the LCD and shoot from any angle...I get a TON of shots I wouldn't be able to get otherwise by shooting over crowds or shooting real low to get my kids. Plus, the design means the tripod socket is perfectly centered with the lens, unlike almost every other digital camera out there, and you can still swivel the LCD when the camera is mounted. The shape is awesome once you spend a little time with it.

I took this picture the other night at about 1:30am during the lightning storm and tornadoes that swept through here. There are very few cameras, if any, that perform nearly as well in low-light situations. I also took this picture of my wife and daughter during a recent snow this spring. Taking such high-contrast pictures is another difficult task for digital cameras, and the F717 excels at this as well. Plus, if you get into infrared photography at all, the F717 is the undisputed king of IR digital photography, thanks to its extreme IR sensitivity and its nightshot mode.

As for the speed, well unless you spend $10,000 on truly pro gear, all digital cameras are slower than film. But this camera is relatively fast. Learn to pre-focus and your snaps will be right on the money.

Obviously I love the camera, so I won't bore you with all the good things about it. The worst thing about it? The size. It's huge and heavy compared to most other digital cameras but that is because it's got that enormous Zeiss 5x lens. The lens is part of the magic though, because it is so large and you can really get that pro photographer look (nice portrait closeups with that huge diffused background).

If this is your only camera, it's maybe too big to take to the amusement park. It's probably not your "go everywhere" camera. I've also got a Sony P72 for that. This is the big boy. But I'm the hit of holidays and family gatherings. Since I started using the Sony F717, I've got everyone telling me I should go into photography. It's made picture taking so much fun, it is truly a fantastic camera.

BTW, just for the record, my pics have been resized (reduced & compressed) and edited to some degree in Photoshop.

How do the Canon 5MP digicams compare with this?

 

[Ornery]

Even a year on from my DSC-F707 review I find myself unable to name a new five megapixel prosumer digital camera which takes better pictures than the DSC-F717, and that is saying a lot. - Philip Askey

 

[DuallyX]

Canon's digicam's are generally good with noise reduction, so long exposure is generally pretty good.

As for spending 10,000 on pro equipment, that is a HUGE exaggeration. I spent $1k on my D60 and another $65 for the 50mm 1.8 (SUPER-sharp). D60's can take VERY clean 4+ MINUTE exposures.

Kudos to the photographer for capturing that lightning, though.

 

[RossMAN]

Nice link, thanks!

Are any of these major con's?

Conclusion - Cons
Storage capacity - Memory Stick still limited to 128 MB
No ability to control colour saturation, tone or noise reduction
No user settings / memories
Limited burst ability, very fast but only 3 frames
Visible sharpening 'white halo' around black lines
Visible lens distortion with wide angle macros
Some barrel distortion at wide angle
Only two JPEG compression levels
Auto / Program AE limited by minimum 1/30 sec shutter speed
TIFF file save locks camera during write operation
Some may not like the design, camera must be held unconventionally
No highlight indication in record or playback modes

 

[RossMAN]

What is noise reduction?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Even a year on from my DSC-F707 review I find myself unable to name a new five megapixel prosumer digital camera which takes better pictures than the DSC-F717, and that is saying a lot. - Philip Askey

Key words being "five" and "megapixel." I think Phil puts of F717 on par with the G3.

 

[DuallyX]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Nice link, thanks!

Are any of these major con's?

Conclusion - Cons
Storage capacity - Memory Stick still limited to 128 MB
No ability to control colour saturation, tone or noise reduction
No user settings / memories
Limited burst ability, very fast but only 3 frames
Visible sharpening 'white halo' around black lines
Visible lens distortion with wide angle macros
Some barrel distortion at wide angle
Only two JPEG compression levels
Auto / Program AE limited by minimum 1/30 sec shutter speed
TIFF file save locks camera during write operation
Some may not like the design, camera must be held unconventionally
No highlight indication in record or playback modes

I always think of memory sticks PERIOD as being a negative. Compact flash is the way to go, as it is the most universally used. Lens distortion can be expected with a 5x lens. For that much zoom, the lens on the F717 is actually very small, compared to 35mm SLR lenses. Only 3 frames of burst means you have to wait until the camera is done writing and the buffer is free to take another shot- might be a big deal for you, might not. A lot of these 'cons' depend on the photographers style of shooting, and what the photo will be used for.

Noise reduction can be accomplished multiple ways, but it removes from the digital image what would be considered "grain" on film. Noise is a result of shooting at higher sensitivity (iso) or longer exposure.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
What is noise reduction?

It's kinda like what you see on this page going from ISO 50 to 400, the last having the most noise. Some, lesser cams have such noise at lower ISO ratings. A good CCD sensor mated to a good lens won't have much noise. (CMOS sensors are VERY good about eliminating it.)

 

[RossMAN]

Rank these in order of your personal best to worse:

Canon G3
Canon S50
Sony F717

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Rank these in order of your personal best to worse:

Canon G3
Canon S50
Sony F717

1) Canon G3
2) Sony F717 (mainly because of the Memory Stick crap)
3) Canon S50 (5.0mpx sensor with such a small lens creates a decent amount of noise, so I hear)

 

[Ornery]

Memory stick ain't no problem for me. If I use two sticks during a shoot, that's about 200 pictures! Plenty! If I go on vacation, I'll buy more sticks before I go. It takes less than 30 seconds to swap one out, so BFD.

That camera takes the sharpest images out there at that price point. Some people say that's because the "in camera" sharpening is too aggressive. From what I've also heard, you'll be hard pressed to PhotoShop sharpen your other camera images to match this. There are many comparisons' at Phil's site, as well as others.

 

[DuallyX]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Rank these in order of your personal best to worse:

Canon G3
Canon S50
Sony F717

Once again, it really depends on what kind of shots you are trying to get and what features you feel you would be using. For me, it would be G3, S50, F717- but it could be totally different for you. I HIGHLY suggest reading the reviews of all of these cameras, learn about the features and what the different terms mean. If you don't want to learn any of that, than I suggest none of them- just pick up a cheaper camera with less manual features.

 

[RossMAN]

Dual700s - Thanks for the sound advice. I'm just curious and learning more about these stellar 5MP digicams. I'm already a happy owner of a Canon PowerShot A40 (2MP).

 

[DuallyX]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Dual700s - Thanks for the sound advice. I'm just curious and learning more about these stellar 5MP digicams. I'm already a happy owner of a Canon PowerShot A40 (2MP).

I bought an A40 for my wife for Christmas- great little point and shoot.

 

[Ornery]

The tie breaker for any of those choices ought to be the low light shooting ability, NOT the damn memory media it shoots on! I can't believe the priorities around here.

 

[Moonbeam]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Noise reduction allows you to say the same thing in five hundred.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Dual700s - Thanks for the sound advice. I'm just curious and learning more about these stellar 5MP digicams. I'm already a happy owner of a Canon PowerShot A40 (2MP).

The S30/S40/45/50 cameras are geared to be the perfect blend between the Digital "Elph" cameras (S100/S230/S400) from Canon on their Prosumer cameras (G2/G3), offering both a degree of portability and manual features. If size is not an issue, go with the G2/G3 for the larger, swivel LCD, more manual features, better lens. Or, wait for the G4, Canon's rumored 5.0mpx variant of the G3.

Sony makes a great sensor and they use great lenses. As I've said, I don't like their use of Memory Stick technology, don't think their OS is as easy to use as Canon's, and having handled the F707, I did't like how that particular camera felt.

 

[SCSIfreek]

Ross,

don't tell me you're planning on a NEW digital camera .

 

[vi edit]

Hey Ornery, hows the battery life on your Sony? I've heard mixed reviews on it. I've shot over 500+ pictures on my G2 and didn't really make a dent on battery indicator. The battery seams to run forever on the blasted thing. Roughly how many pictures can you get out of the F707 before you have to recharge?

 

[Looney]

As for spending 10,000 on pro equipment, that is a HUGE exaggeration. I spent $1k on my D60 and another $65 for the 50mm 1.8 (SUPER-sharp). D60's can take VERY clean 4+ MINUTE exposures.

He meant DIGITAL cameras.

 

[DuallyX]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic

As for spending 10,000 on pro equipment, that is a HUGE exaggeration. I spent $1k on my D60 and another $65 for the 50mm 1.8 (SUPER-sharp). D60's can take VERY clean 4+ MINUTE exposures.

He meant DIGITAL cameras.

Funny, cus my D60 is DIGITAL.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Hey Ornery, hows the battery life on your Sony? I've heard mixed reviews on it. I've shot over 500+ pictures on my G2 and didn't really make a dent on battery indicator. The battery seams to run forever on the blasted thing. Roughly how many pictures can you get out of the F707 before you have to recharge?

Superb battery life, still the best we've tested - Phil Askey

I've got two batteries, but the second is just a backup. Never have to dip into it, though I've shot as many as 200 pictures in a day, with 70% using flash.

The F717 is the current benchmark due to it's unbeatable sharp image, zero light focusing ability and general high quality. Only down side I've found is the size.

 

[LeeTJ]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Memory stick ain't no problem for me. If I use two sticks during a shoot, that's about 200 pictures! Plenty! If I go on vacation, I'll buy more sticks before I go. It takes less than 30 seconds to swap one out, so BFD.

That camera takes the sharpest images out there at that price point. Some people say that's because the "in camera" sharpening is too aggressive. From what I've also heard, you'll be hard pressed to PhotoShop sharpen your other camera images to match this. There are many comparisons' at Phil's site, as well as others.

why get more sticks?? i just take my laptop and i can copy everything over to my laptop and reuse the memory stick.

i have never (in my life) taken more than 200 pics in 1 day. of course that's just me tho, i don't take a lot of pics. i'm sure there are some of you that do take more. but i can't imagine a lot of people go around taking more than 200 pics in a day.

 

[RossMAN]

How does video capture with the Sony F707/F717 compare with the Canon's?

I believe the new Canon A60/A70 can capture up to 3 minutes with audio.

 

[MainFramed]

WOW, those are some seriouls cool pictures