Sony's F707 Gets It Mostly Right
Written: Jul 15 '02 (Updated Jul 15 '02)
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Pros: Quality Images, Lots of Features,
Cons: Sony Proprietary Memory, Occasionally Difficult Manual Focus
The Bottom Line: I absolutely recommend this camera, especially for those who wish to use a superior digital camera without moving into the realm of professional-level cameras.
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| cmutchler's Full Review: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F707 Digital Camera |
Sony's F707 is really for the most part an excellent entry in the 5 megapixel category. The quality of the shots and its versatility make it an easy to recommend camera.
1. Photo quality
At the lower resolutions, the camera takes decent shots, but it shines when you are making use of the full resolutions. The down side, naturally, is that these shots take up a lot of memory, and the 16 meg stick that comes standard with the camera will only hold a handful when you use this resolution. It's a tired refrain in digital camera reviews, and in reviews of the F707, but you will want to get your hands on a bigger memory stick. The 128 meg stick holds about 51 shots at the highest resolution jpeg shot. But it definitely shows off the 5 megapixel resolution abilities of the camera when you take shots in the highest resolution. At this resolution minute details come out vividly. Small details in shots are clear, and the presence of 'jaggies' are generally limited or not noticeable.
One impediment that tends to hinder good looking shots is the LCD and EVF viewfinder. The LCD is better overall, given the wider display area, than the EVF, but both can mislead your shot-taking on occasion. Even very skilled and experienced photographers (of which I am definitely neither), may find that you have a shot that appears well focused on the screen will turn out poorly focused when you examine it later on the computer. This is a complaint of the view screens more than the picture quality potential of the camera, of course, but ends up taking away from some shots when they end up being hindered in this way.
2. Flexibility
For a digital camera, the F707 is definitely flexible. With the Aperture and Shutter priorities, it has a lot of the feel of a 35mm SLR camera. It carries this out pretty well, too, for the most part. After you play with some of the settings and combinations, you'll soon get a sense of the great range of abilities and even some of the limitations of the camera. The burst mode is notable, but be prepared to let the camera record the images after three shots. This can take a few seconds to do, but it's not a bad trade-off for the function. The autofocus is pretty fast, usually resulting in sharp, in-focus images.
On top of all these SLR-ish settings that you get, the camera offers a lot of extras. The Nightshot/Nightframing is nice, but I found it's usefulness beyond being a novelty fairly limited. The MPEG function is fun, but again, it feels more like a novelty.
Another area of flexibility of the camera is the 58mm filter thread. As with an SLR lens, you want to get a UV filter to protect your lens. I've also used a polarizer, some colored filters for b&w shots, and a wide angle lens attachment. The camera handles all of these pretty well. However, be wary of using any filters on the camera when you're using the Nightframing/Nightshot or the laser hologram autofocus in lower light. These are located on the front of the lens, and as the filter covers the area from which they are projected, any filter reflects these and will interfere with your shot. It is not too bad with the laser, because it shuts off, but the Nightshot is very noticeable.
Bear in mind, though, that these complaints are minor, but items that I felt needed to be mentioned. The camera has more flexibility and options than you can use in many sessions, and even a seasoned photographer will find that it offers a lot of versatility for a camera in its class.
3. The Rest
I do have one gripe left to address. The manual focusing ring is just not big enough, or precise enough. Lots of people seem to initially complain about the placement of the zoom, but in my experience it actually becomes very intuitive, after you learn to hold the lens with your left hand underneath it. However, the focus ring is the subject of my ire. At first, as I was learning to use the camera, and relied on the autofocus for a lot of my shots, I didn't notice this. However, the ring simply lacks the big and smooth feel of a conventional SLR lens for focusing. Sometimes, it seems when you turn the focus, the distance will jump from 1 meter to infinity very quickly. It's a shame that they couldn't have made it feel more 'analog'. I want to be able to grab ahold of the lens and adjust it without necessarily feeling like I have to finesse it. But, in spite of my frustrations, I am getting a better feel for it. And this is really true with any good camera, in some ways. You have to learn some it's more subtle points to bring out some it's greatest potential. Point and shoot cameras will pretty much work out of the box, without requiring any increase in your skill. So, take my whining on that point with a big grain of salt.
I have this suspicion that this sort of camera will soon become an anachronism. It is light-years ahead of digital point and shoot cameras, but doesn't cross the line into such higher-end entries from Nikon and Canon that offer a near true SLR functionality in a digital format. Point and shoot cameras will probably become less expensive and offer more resolution, and these higher-end cameras will likely come down in price as more manufactures enter into this arena. The F707, and other 5 megapixel cameras like it, almost seems to offer a bridge between technologies. It is almost too much camera for the hobbyist, and almost not quite enough for the serious camera enthusiast. This works well for me, as I figure I'm somewhere in-between. This is definitely the most advanced camera I've owned. That's the problem: it's almost too good for it's own good. As you start to push the limits of this great camera, you start to whet your appetite for even more SLR functionality. But, I do not want to damn this camera for what it isn't. It has definitely earned lots of praise for what it is.
4. The Bottom Line
This is an excellent camera. Even though I certainly have some complaints about it, I want to emphasize that this is like going to a five-star restaurant and complaining that you didn't like your server's hairstyle or maybe their choice of ice-cube shape for your glass of ice water. In other words, put my gripes in context. They are minor in comparison to the whole camera. The cost now on this is relatively low. I've seen it retail at major chain stores below the $900.00 price point, so I can only imagine that it can be found on the internet for much less.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 822.00
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Epinions.com ID:
cmutchler
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Reviews written: 2
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