Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F717Sony updates their already-impressive five megapixel F707, with improved user controls, better color, amazing white balance performance, and an external flash hot shoe!<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 9/2/2002 |
Test Results
(Late-breaking note: I've now shot and uploaded a full set of test images, from a production-level F717. The results are pretty impressive. There's still a bit of oversaturation in strong reds, but it handles greens much better than did the F707. Check out the F717's sample pictures page for all the test shots and my detailed analysis of them. I'll come back and update the Test Results digest below and other notes throughout this review in a day or two, once I can get a couple of other pressing items cleared and out of the way with. The info below is just a digest anyway though, see the samples page, for all the details.)The test sample this review is based on was an early prototype of the F717, so Sony didn't want me to post any photos from it yet. What I saw was very impressive though, so I've included a few informal comments below. Overall, it seems that Sony addressed some of the areas where the 707 was weak, really listening to users and reviewers to build on the strengths of what was already an excellent camera. As I said earlier, I think the DSC-F717 will go a long way toward convincing people (at least those open-minded enough to be convinced) that Sony can build "enthusiast" cameras to match anyone's. I'll update this section as soon as a production sample arrives, and I have a complete set of test images, but meanwhile, here are my impressions thus far:
- Color: While I can't form any firm conclusions about the DSC-F717's color (due to the prototype status of my test unit), what I saw was very encouraging. Colors were hue-accurate, and saturation was excellent across the board. (Neither too much nor too little.) Although the tendency didn't appear too strongly in my standard test subjects (which I'm now addressing by shooting a wider variety of subjects as time permits), F707 users found that it tended to oversaturate bright reds and greens. - This tendency was much less pronounced with less intense colors, but the camera did get a little carried away with bright hues in those parts of the spectrum. The prototype F717 seemed to have completely corrected that tendency, as it produced beautiful, accurate color in virtually every circumstance.
As I noted in the body of the review, the really big news with the 717's color is how well the camera handles a wide range of light sources with just its Auto white balance setting. I won't be able to make a final judgment on this until the production model arrives, but so far, this is looking like a near breakthrough in white balance processing.
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- Exposure: No detailed results to report yet. Dynamic range looked good, and the exposure system seemed quite accurate, but I'll reserve detailed comments until I can test a production model.
- Resolution/Sharpness: In a word, excellent. Resolution looks pretty much identical to that of the 707 -- No surprise there, it's the same lens and sensor, but it also appears there have been no changes in internal image processing, such as might affect sharpening, etc. I called the resolution at 1,200 lines per picture height, at the "strong detail" level. (Again, further details once I've tested a production model.)
- Closeups: Excellent, essentially identical to the F707 (again, no surprise, it's the same lens and sensor). Minimum macro area is 1.7 x 1.3 inches (43 x 32 millimeters), among the best I've seen.
- Viewfinder Accuracy: Excellent, almost 100% accuracy across the full zoom range, in both the rear panel LCD and the EVF display.
- Optical Distortion: Now this is interesting - Could it not be the same lens? At wide angle, I measured 0.3% barrel distortion on the F717, and 0.63% pincushion distortion at telephoto. These figures compare to values of 0.74% and 0.55% respectively, that I measured on the F707. Hard to figure, but I repeated my earlier measurements on the F707, and the numbers checked out. I'll test this again, once I can get my hands on a production model.
- Battery Life: As noted above, this is an area where the F717 really shines. - Nearly four hours in worst-case power drain mode (capture, using the rear-panel LCD), and over 8 hours (!) in playback mode.
Desiderata
Naturally, no camera is perfect, so it's no surprise there's still room for improvement in the F717. After reading the initial version of this review, several readers wrote to ask what I thought of criticisms that had been leveled against the F717 by other reviewers, and what I'd add/change on the camera if I could. Here are a few of my thoughts in this area:
- Tonal Adjustment: This is the one feature I'd probably most like
to see on the 717, as I think it's one of the most useful picture "tweaks"
for real-world shooting. Several recent cameras (the Minolta Dimage 7i, the
Olympus C4000) have very fine-grained control over image contrast, which comes
in very handy when dealing with subjects having extreme contrast. Of course,
the need for this is somewhat related to how well or poorly the camera in
question does at holding highlight detail - And the 14-bit A/D in the F717
does an excellent job with this.
- Saturation Adjustment: A nice feature, but generally overrated, and
not nearly as useful as the ability to adjust contrast. (At least, provided
that the camera's default saturation is appropriate, which I found the F717's
to be.
- White balance "tweak": Very useful for making minor adjustments
in a camera's default white balance settings, handy for dealing with unusual
light sources. A feature I'd like to see appear on more cameras. (See my sample-pictures
page for the Olympus C4000 for some examples of this.) - Overall, I also find
white balance tweaks more useful than saturation controls.
- White balance bracketing: Overrated, IMHO. In my experience, you
fairly quickly get a sense of how your camera responds to different lighting
conditions, so the ability to dial in a fixed adjustment is more useful (not
to mention much more efficient) than relying on white balance bracketing.
- No "Vari-Program" option: This refers to the ability to
shift the camera's exposure parameters toward larger or smaller apertures
(or faster or slower shutter speeds), while retaining the benefit of fully
automatic exposure determination. I personally find myself using cameras'
vari-program options more frequently than their Aperture or Shutter Priority
exposure modes, which basically accomplish the same thing. I like the convenience
of being able to simply twiddle a knob to force the camera to use a larger
aperture or slower shutter speed, as opposed to switching to a different camera
mode.
- Limited continuous-mode sequence lengths: I agree with my esteemed
colleagues here - The F717 has a generous buffer memory (8 or 9 large/fine
images), so why not put it to use in continous mode shooting? Limiting the
camera to 3 shots in sequence, just to keep the menu item the same as on lesser
Sony digicams seems silly. (Taking it a step further, why not increase the
burst length for Multi-Burst mode? There surely seems to be enough buffer
memory to do so.)
- Inability to disable noise reduction: Who cares? I guess I could
construct arguments for being able to do so (much faster shot to shot times
with long exposures, at the cost of higher hot-pixel noise, and more detail
in low-contrast areas of the subect), but I don't think this is a serious
issue for the vast majority of users.
- No user sets or settings memories: These would be nice to have, but
are more important if you've got things like white balance tweaks to keep
track of. Still, handy if you're hopping back and forth between indoor and
outdoor photography at the same event.
- A wider range of flash exposure control, with finer steps: Nobody
seems to have picked up on this one, but it's another really important control
for real-world shooting. I often like to use very subtle fill-flash, as a
way of opening up shadows. The trick (IMHO) is to use so little that the average
person looking at the photo won't know that you used the flash at all. To
do this well, you really want the ability to dial in -2 EV (or even more)
of flash exposure compensation.
- No "Bulb" exposure mode: Another one that nobody else seems to have noticed. The F717 does so well in very low light that I don't understand why Sony limited it to a maximum exposure time of 30 seconds. It could easily go quite a bit beyond that. - I think Sony could sell a few cameras to amateur astronomers if they permitted very long bulb exposures.
Conclusion
I was very impressed with the DSC-F707 when it first appeared, but am much more so with the F717. Sony listened to users and critics alike, and made a number of significant improvements in the F717. Shutter lag has been dramatically improved, color rendering seems to be much more even, and white balance performance and flexibility are exceptional. Sharpness and image noise seem to have been maintained at the previous (high and low, respectively) levels. Toss in a generic hot shoe for external flash usage (whether on-camera or studio-based) and a handful of user interface improvements, and you've got an "enthusiast" camera that stacks up against anything on the market. Sony innovations like NightShot and NightFraming are just further icing on the cake. Despite its sophistication though, the F717 manages to remain a very user-friendly and approachable camera - There's no reason for a novice to pass it by in favor of a lesser model, as its full-auto mode is as easy to use to use as anything out there. Final judgement will await the arrival and testing of a full production model, but the F717 should be a huge winner for Sony. (I'll go so far as to say that it's good enough that a lot of current F707 owners will be enticed into upgrading to the new model.)
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