Sony MVC-CD400Sony expands its CD-equipped camera line, adding a four megapixel CCD, a huge buffer memory, Hologram Autofocus, and a standard hot shoe!<<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:OpticsReview First Posted: 2/20/2002 |
OpticsThe CD400 is equipped with the same 3x, f/2-2.5, 7-21mm Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens (equivalent to a 34-102mm lens on a 35mm camera) included on the earlier CD300 model (and the S75 and S85 Cyber-shot models before that). This lens produces unusually sharp images from corner to corner, noticeably crisper than what I've seen from many other digicams. The lens is protected by a removable, spring-lock lens cap, which comes with an easy-to-thread lens-strap opening and a small tether strap to keep it from getting lost.
In Aperture Priority and Manual modes, the aperture is manually adjustable from f/2.0 to f/8.0, in nine steps. Shutter speed is adjustable from 1/1,000 to eight seconds, with 40 available settings. Macro mode is engaged by pressing the right Arrow button, which changes the focus range to 1.62 to 8 inches (4 to 20 centimeters), when the lens is set at its shortest (wide-angle) focal length.
Focus can be controlled either automatically or manually, with a normal focal range from 19.7 inches (50 centimeters) to infinity, and a macro range extending down to 1.6 inches (4 cm). Pressing the Focus button under the LCD screen cycles between Manual and Auto Focus control, and manual focus point selection. In Auto focus mode, a central focus bracket appears in the center of the LCD display to help you line up shots. When Manual control is selected, you make adjustments by turning the same Command wheel used for aperture and shutter speed selection. As you turn the wheel, the focus distance is displayed on the LCD monitor next to the Command wheel arrow, which is a great help when shooting in low-light conditions. The 2002 Sony digicam lineup includes several models employing a multipoint autofocus system, that can focus on subjects at multiple locations within the frame. The CD400 has a total of 5 autofocus areas. The CD400's autofocus system normally selects the most appropriate AF point automatically, based on its internal AF algorithms. If you like though, you can select which of the five AF areas the camera uses manually. You do this by pressing the Focus button under the LCD repeatedly until the little focus bracket icon appears in the LCD's upper righthand corner. Once it does, rotating the Command wheel cycles between the normal central-area autofocus region and the five discrete AF areas. All five areas are clustered fairly closely around the center of the frame, but there's still enough separation to be useful in some situations with off-center subjects. - The screen shot above right shows the position of the AF points within the viewfinder frame, captured with the lens blocked to produce a black background that would show the AF markers more clearly.
Also helpful in limited lighting is the Hologram AF assist light, selected via the Setup menu, which helps the camera make adjustments in Auto Focus mode. I first saw Sony's Hologram AF system on the Cyber-shot DSC-F707, and was again impressed by it here. It uses a laser diode and tiny holographic diffraction grating to project a crosshatched pattern of bright red lines on the subject, allowing the camera to focus in total darkness. The nifty thing about the hologram is that the projected pattern stays crisply defined almost irrespective of subject distance, so there's always a sharp pattern for the camera to focus on. Hologram AF isn't only for low light, you'll sometimes see the camera use it in fairly normal lighting as well, if there's not enough contrast in the subject to use the normal contrast-detect AF system. Try pointing the camera at a blank wall in normal home / office lighting, and you'll see the pattern. The screen shot above right shows a camera's eye view of the Hologram AF pattern, as the lens zooms from wide to telephoto.
The lens also features filter threads to accommodate a variety of Sony lens conversion kits. These kits rely on a barrel adapter that screws onto the camera's body threads, providing a set of fixed filter threads ahead of the furthest extension of the telescoping lens assembly. The adapter by itself can also be used to attach non-Sony accessory lenses, such as macro adapters, etc. When working with a Sony lens conversion kit, you need to inform the camera (via the Setup menu) that the lens is attached, so the camera's autofocus can allow for the additional optical element. (I don't have a thread size spec from Sony for this camera, so check with your dealer to insure lens-kit compatibility between other Sony models.)
The 2x Precision Digital Zoom function is enabled through the camera's Setup menu, effectively increasing the CD400's zoom capabilities to 6x. When engaged, digital zoom takes over once you've zoomed past the normal telephoto range. You can see the change from optical to digital zoom by observing the marker in the zoom range indicator on the LCD panel. As always though, I warn readers that digital telephoto is not the same as optical zoom and that it causes noticeable deterioration in image quality by adding excess noise and possibly softening the image. That said, I've always experienced great results with Sony's Precision Digital Zoom, as it does a nice job of holding on to image detail and sharpness. Also, as we get into larger and larger CCD imagers, digital zoom becomes useful at correspondingly larger file sizes. - In the case of the CD400, with its 4 megapixel CCD, you can use the digital zoom without any loss of quality at image sizes as large as 1280 x 960.
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