Second CD Mavica announcement!
By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 18:00 EST)
MVC-CD400 expands top-end of Sony's CD-based digital camera line to new highs...
Sony Corp. today announces five new digital cameras due for sale in the US marketplace over the next few months. In the second and final of two additions to its CD Mavica lineup, the company describes its new Mavica MVC-CD400 digital camera. Aimed at advancing the technology available in CD-based digital cameras, the $899 'CD400 brings some developments likely to excite fans of the form-factor - including a 4 megapixel imager, a proper flash hot-shoe (rather than the cold-shoes of past models) and Hologram autofocusing. Interestingly, this is Sony's first camera to feature a working hot-shoe since the pro-oriented (and long-discontinued) Cyber-shot Pro DSC-D700, DSC-D770 and DKC-FP3 cameras!
Compared weight-wise to previous CD Mavicas, the MVC-CD400 is much lighter than the SLR-style MVC-CD1000 but the second heaviest of the compact-style designs. That said, it is still only 30 grams more than the lightest model... Size-wise, the 'CD400 is identical to the just-announced 'CD250, some 13% larger than the current smallest, the MVC-CD200.
Features of the Mavica MVC-CD400 include a 1/1.8" 4.10 megapixel imager, 34 - 102mm 3x optical zoom lens, a choice of five automatically or manually-selected focusing points, 13-step manual focusing, shutter speeds from 8 to 1/1000 second, the addition of multi-pattern metering, full manual exposure capability and a significantly more powerful flash. The camera bundle is improved compared to past models with the addition of two more CD-R discs for a total of 1 CD-RW and 3 CD-R discs - over a gigabyte of storage in total. One further change of note is a switch from the MGI software bundles previous Sony cameras have included to a new package, Pixel ImageMixer v1.0.
The Sony Mavica MVC-CD400 will ship at a price of $899 (street). At the current time, availability has not been announced. Full specifications for the camera are in our database, and highlights follow:
| Specification Highlights - full specifications here | | Sony Mavica MVC-CD400 |  | | General | | Model Number: | MVC-CD400 | | Camera Format: | Compact | | Price: | $899 (street) | | Date Available: | May 2002 | | Image Capture | | Image Sensor: | 4.10 megapixel | | Image Resolution: | 2272x1704, 2272x1520, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480 | | Lens | | Focal Length (effective): | 34 - 102mm (3x optical zoom) | | Digital Zoom: | 2x | | Auto Focus: | Yes (Auto / Manual 5-Area Contrast Detect) | | Manual Focus: | Yes (13 step) | | Normal Focus Range: | 50 cm to Infinity; 20.4 in to Infinity | | Macro Focus Range: | 4 - 50 cm; 1.6 - 20.4 in | | Aperture Range: | f/2.0 (wide) / 2.5 (tele) - 8.0 | | Display | | Optical Viewfinder: | No | | LCD Viewfinder: | Yes (2.5 inch, 123000 pixel) | | Exposure | | ISO Settings: | Auto (100 - 400), 100, 200, 400 | | White Balance Settings: | Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Hold | | Manual White Balance: | Yes | | Shutter Speeds: | 8 - 1/1000 second | | Exp Adj Range: | +/- 2.0EV in 1/3EV steps | | Metering Modes: | Multi-Pattern, Center-Weighted, Spot | | Exposure Modes: | Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual | | Self Timer: | Unknown | | Flash | | Internal Flash: | Yes | | Flash Modes: | Auto, Auto w/ red-eye reduction, On, On w/ red-eye reduction, Off | | Flash Range Description: | 1.6 - 16.4 feet (0.5 - 5.0 meters) | | Ext Flash: | Yes (Hot shoe, accessory terminal) | | Image Storage | | Flash Memory: | CD-R, CD-RW | | Memory Included: | See notes | | File Formats: | TIFF, JPEG, GIF, MPEG, Animated GIF | | More Information | | Weight: | 638 g; 22.3 oz | | Weight With Batteries? | Yes | | Size: | 138 x 95 x 101mm; 5.4 x 3.7 x 4.0in | | Notes & Features: | 14-bit DXP. Manual focus has 13 steps, autofocus has five areas which can be selected manually or automatically by the camera. AF illuminator is a Hologram AF type (similar to DSC-F707, projects pattern of laser light onto subject to aid focusing). Has EV indicator in Manual exposure mode. Shutter speeds of 1/2 to 8 seconds available in Slow Shutter NR mode only. Shutter speeds in auto are 1/30 to 1/1000 second. Has review and quick-delete feature (image taken can be seen and confirmed before saving to CD, or discarded to save storage if it is not a good photo). Has Clear Color and Luminance NR modes. Sharpening level can be adjusted +/- 2 steps in 1-step increments. Flash level can be set to auto, high or low. Has voice memo mode. LCD has solar-assisted backlight and is adjustable. Shows shots taken and remaining, and battery life remaining in minutes using Acu-Power Meter. Can capture a burst of 16 consecutive frames at 320x240 pixel mode, speed unspecified. Clip motion mode captures an animated GIF file at 160x120 or 80x72 pixel resolution. Playback zoom allows display of images at 1.1 to 5x zoom. Has in-camera MPEG cue and review features, as well as image trimming/resizing. Maximum MPEG file length is limited only by available CD-R/CD-RW disc space.
Supplied battery charger is part number AC-L10. Includes lens cap. Comes bundled with 6 x CD-R discs and 1 CD-RW rewriteable disc. Optional eye-level magnifier DSAC-MVC is available. | | More Photos |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | |
Source:
Sony Corp.
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