Sony MVC-CD500Sony further expands its CD-equipped camera line, adding a five megapixel CCD and a host of other features to last year's top-of-the-line CD Mavica model.<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 06/09/2003 |
Viewfinder
For composing images, the CD500 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. This button cycles through three states: viewfinder display with information
overlay, viewfinder without information, and LCD off. But even when the information
overlay is disabled, critical information relating to camera operation and mode
settings still appears on the LCD display. Things like 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 CD500 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 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 its 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 CD500'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.
When I posted the original CD-300 review, Sony emailed me about 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 magnifies the image on the high-quality TFT LCD enough to
focus manually. U.S. selling price is $79.95. 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 earlier CD300 model) also fits the LCD
on the CD350 and 500 as well. This could be very handy if you need to shoot
a lot 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, f/stop,
shutter speed, flash mode, and an excellent feature unique to Sony cameras:
the number of minutes remaining on the battery. In Automatic and Scene modes,
a half press of the Shutter button is necessary to display the current shutter
speed and aperture settings, and in some capture modes, only applicable readings
will be displayed.
I liked the Manual Focus display, which eschews the usual focus bar, reporting instead the current distance setting in a single, numeric reading, which can be changed by turning the Command wheel (when the focus distance is highlighted on the LCD screen). The ability to set lens focus to a specific (numeric) distance can be invaluable when setting up for shots in low-light conditions. I also noticed that when you manually adjust the focus, the LCD monitor snaps into focus as soon as you select the right distance. (I first noticed this on the DSC-S75 camera.) I'm not sure how Sony managed to make focus changes so dramatically visible on the LCD, but whatever they did seems to work well, and makes the Manual Focus option much more useful than those I've seen on many other cameras.
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 let you scroll around inside the image. The
Display button controls the information and image display in Playback mode,
cycling through three modes: Image with information (including a histogram),
image without information, and no display. 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. There's also a more extensive
information display, accessed by pressing the thumbnail/zoom toggle at the
thumbnail display itself. The CD500 provides an LCD brightness adjustment
through its Setup menu, which lets you change the display to Bright, Normal,
or Dark to accommodate the shooting situation.
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