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!<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 9/2/2002 |
Viewfinder
The F717 offers both a 1.8-inch, 123,000-pixel, rear panel LCD monitor and a smaller
electronic viewfinder (EVF) in place of a true "optical" viewfinder.
The EVF actually uses a tiny (and slightly lower-power) LCD screen to show
the same view you'll see in the camera's monitor display. What makes the EVF so
useful is the information display, identical to that shown on the LCD monitor
(complete with navigable menus). As I on earlier Sony digicams using EVFs, the
idea of being able to see the exposure settings in the eye level viewfinder is
a good one, but navigating the menus through this small viewfinder is pretty tricky.
I found it much easier to simply switch on the LCD monitor when I needed to change
menu options. The EVF does feature a diopter adjustment dial on top of the eyepiece,
and the viewfinder optics have a remarkably high eyepoint, leaving plenty of room
for even the thickest eyeglass lenses. - This is an unusually "eyeglass-friendly"
digicam, although the soft rubber eyecup can leave smudges on your glasses. A
sliding switch on the rear panel controls where the view is displayed, either
on the larger LCD monitor or in the smaller eyepiece.
As I've noted in the past, I'm generally no fan of EVFs, finding them a poor substitute
for true optical viewfinders. On the F717 though, the EVF seems to have more resolution
than I'm accustomed to seeing (as did the F707), which helps a great deal. Plus,
the NightShot and NightFraming modes eliminate one of my biggest objections to
EVFs -- that they're generally useless in low light conditions. Overall, even
the F717's EVF doesn't take me entirely out of the anti-EVF camp, but it goes
a long ways in the right direction.
The Display button
on the back panel controls the information display, with a choice of full or partial
readings in Record mode. The basic information display reports Flash mode, exposure
settings (aperture and shutter speed), and Focus mode. The detailed display also
shows the remaining battery power and image quality and resolution. A new feature
on the F717 is the histogram display, which appears in response to a third press
of the Display button. The histogram graphs the tonal distribution of the image,
useful in determining under- or overexposure before snapping the shot. (Very nice,
but I'd really like to see a "blink highlights" feature as found
on some Nikon models.) Both the EVF eyepiece and rear panel LCD monitor have adjustable
brightness functions. The LCD Brightness adjustment is the first option in the
camera's "Setup 1" menu, with Dark, Normal, and Bright settings. When
the camera is running on battery power, the second and third menu item are for
LCD and EVF Backlight adjustment respectively. The backlight settings have Normal
and Bright options, the latter of which is particularly helpful when shooting
in bright, sunlit conditions. When the camera is plugged into the AC adapter,
the LCD Backlight option disappears, because the backlight automatically switches
to the "high" illumination setting.
In Playback mode,
the Display button also controls the information display, but in this case, turns
it completely on or off. The histogram is also available in Playback mode. An
Index Display mode shows as many as nine thumbnail images at a time on the LCD
monitor with the first press of the Index button. Pressing the Index button a
second time displays exposure information about the selected thumbnail, including
aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, ISO, metering mode, flash, and
white balance (in two screens). The Zoom control on the side of the lens barrel
controls the playback zoom, enlarging captured images as much as 5x. (Note though,
that the lens ring doesn't control playback zoom, even if the lens switch is set
to the AF/zoom position.)
One advantage of an eye-level viewfinder, as provided by the F717's EVF, is that
it promotes a more secure camera grip (arms clamped to your sides, camera body
braced against your face), which helps with long telephoto and low-light shots.
It also provides a more natural "look-and-shoot" operation than when
you're forced to rely on a rear-panel LCD display. On previous Sony digicams,
I found the smaller EVF eyepieces difficult to work with in low-light situations,
as the electronic viewfinder system typically requires more light to operate.
Sony has answered this challenge with the NightFraming and NightShot modes, which
are very effective in making the EVF usable at low light levels. (The NightShot
technology was first pioneered by Sony in its consumer camcorder lines, and made
its debut in digital camera form on the F707._
NightShot and NightFraming take advantage of the CCD's sensitivity to infrared
light, which is normally filtered out, because it tends to skew the camera's color
rendering in bright sunlit scenes. Sony's NightShot technology uses a movable
IR filter that lets the camera take advantage of this IR sensitivity in low-light
situations and block it at other times.
In NightShot
mode, the camera flips the IR filter out of the way for both the framing and exposure.
Any natural IR light in the scene is augmented by two infrared LEDs on the front
of the lens, which project IR beams onto the subject. These lamps don't completely
cover the field of view at wide angle, but they do a pretty good job from about
halfway up the zoom range toward telephoto. The built-in illuminator lamps let
you shoot in total darkness, but the pictures you capture will be monochromatic,
with the majority of light areas of the subject showing a green cast (as is typical
with Night Vision goggles). Some colors will render as different shades of gray
than they would in a normal black-and-white photo. This is because the reflectance
of objects is often different in IR than in visible light, so a "dark"
color in daylight may actually appear quite bright in IR. (Note that when shooting
reflective surfaces close-up, you'll be able to see the glow of the camera's IR
lamps in the center of the image.)
In NightFraming mode, the camera also flips the IR filter out of the way and turns
on the illuminator lamps, but only while you're framing your shots. As soon as
you half-press the Shutter button, the IR filter flips back down, and the camera
takes a normal visible-light photo, using the built-in flash. This is particularly
handy for nighttime flash shooting, when you wouldn't be able to see (or focus
on) the subject otherwise.
I'd (still) really like to see the NightFraming made available for other exposure
modes besides Auto, and to be able to choose whether or not to fire the flash.
I enjoy taking night shots from a tripod, and the NightFraming feature would be
a nice way to take advantage of the F717's 30-second maximum exposure time and
excellent noise reduction. Of course, if you're shooting from a tripod, you can
still use the NightFraming like this, it just takes two steps: Turn on the NightFraming
and switch the camera to Auto mode, compose your picture, then turn it off again,
switch back to the mode you want to shoot in, and take your shot. This isn't a
huge inconvenience, but I'd still like to see NightFraming work independently
of the shooting mode, and also not mandate use of the flash. (This is one of the
few remaining "improvement requests" from my review of the F707 that
Sony hasn't addressed.)
Overall, NightShot and NightFraming are tremendous extensions to digital photography,
clearly taking it into realms that film-based cameras just can't touch. Sure,
you can shoot with IR film in a conventional camera, but the no-light viewfinder
capability of NightFraming simply isn't available in the film world. Combined
with the Hologram AF feature, it makes in-the-dark digital photography more practical
than it's ever been. Big kudos to Sony for bringing these innovations to digital
photography!
Trimming
This
isn't strictly a "Viewfinder" function, but I didn't know where else
to mention it. Since it at least uses the LCD display, I figured I'd go
ahead and talk about it here.
One of the best things most amateur photographers could do to improve their photos
would be to simply crop them a little, cutting out distracting objects, and filling
more of the frame with their primary subject. It turns out that virtually all
Sony digicams let you do this right on the camera! (I have to admit I just learned
about this myself.) Zoom in on an image in playback mode, and use the Four Way
Arrow pad to adjust the framing to your preference. Then hit the Menu button,
and you'll see options labeled Return and Trimming. Select Trimming, and you'll
see further options to select an image size. (Keep in mind that enlarging the
image back up to full size after cropping it down only softens the detail, since
no new information is added to the image file - The reduced number of pixels in
the cropped image are simply enlarged to fill the full-size pixel array.) Select
a size option, and the camera will save the image the way you've zoomed and cropped
it on the LCD display into a separate file on the Memory Stick. Very slick! The
screen shot at right shows the steps in this process.
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