Sony MVC-CD250Sony adds features, and brings the price down on a 2 megapixel CD Mavica!<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 02/20/2002 |
ViewfinderFor composing images, the CD250 features a color LCD monitor that automatically activates whenever the camera is powered on. The Display button just below the LCD monitor controls both the information and image display, turning both off or on. (Multiple actuations of this button cycles through viewfinder display with information overlay, viewfinder without information, and LCD off. (Note though, that even when the information overlay is disabled, certain critical data relating to camera operation and mode settings still appears on the LCD display. - Such things as flash, autofocus and metering modes in programmed exposure mode, and shutter and aperture settings in aperture priority, shutter priority and manual exposure modes.)
The LCD on the CD250 incorporates a "Solar Assist" (tm) feature, which
I've seen on other manufacturers' cameras, and which was actually introduced
by Sony a few years ago, on the MVC-FD81 camera. It consists of a small translucent
window at the top of the LCD (visible in the photo above as the very bright
bar on top of the LCD), which lets in ambient light behind the LCD screen to
boost the effective brightness of the backlight. This feature works only in
very bright surroundings, and the effectiveness will vary, depending on the
orientation of the camera relative to the primary light source. (It works best
when the sun is directly overhead.) Overall, I found the "assist"
window to be quite helpful when using the LCD outdoors on a sunny day, making
the CD250's LCD one of the most usable I've encountered for outdoor shooting.
You can change the strength of the LCD backlight through the Setup menu, with
options of Normal and Bright.
Back when I posted the original CD-300 review Sony emailed to inform me of
their clip-on eye-level viewfinder/magnifier for the CD Mavicas. Called the
DSAC-MVC, this gadget has a complete optical system in it, including a diopter
adjustment, and purportedly provides enough magnification of the high-quality
TFT LCD that it's quite usable for manual focusing. US selling price is $79.95
US. I haven't had the opportunity to test this gadget extensively, but have
played with it a bit at shows, and it seems to work pretty well. (It is a
tad bulky though.) This optical viewfinder adapter (shown above attached to
the CD300) also fits the LCD on the CD250 and 400 as well. - This could be
very handy if you need to do a lot of shooting in very bright outdoor ambient
lighting, or if you're in an environment where the large, bright LCD screen
would be a distraction for others. (Theatre photography?)
In
Record mode, the LCD monitor's information display reports a bounty of information,
including image resolution, JPEG compression level, number of remaining images
(plus available CD-R space), exposure compensation, flash mode, and an excellent
feature unique to Sony cameras: the number of minutes remaining on the battery.
The LCD also reports the current shutter speed and aperture settings, when
the Shutter button is halfway pressed.
In my testing, I noticed that the CD250's viewfinder was a little "loose,"
in that it showed a larger image area than what was actually in the captured
frame. So, you'll need to back off a little when framing subjects, ensuring
you have enough extra space around all four sides.
In
Playback mode, the LCD monitor offers an Index display mode as well as a 1.1
- 5x Playback Zoom, which enlarges captured images for closer inspection.
Once enlarged, the arrow buttons enable you to scroll around inside the image.
A Trimming function lets you crop the enlarged image, which I found to be
a useful tool. A very detailed information display includes all exposure settings,
and is accessed through the "W" side of the Zoom control. The Playback
image information includes the file type (movie or still), image size, where
the image falls in the Playback index, remaining CD-R capacity, file name,
date and time the image was taken, and the remaining battery power. The CD250
provides an LCD brightness adjustment through its Setup menu, which changes
the display to Bright, Normal, or Dark, depending on the shooting situation.
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