Sony DSC-V3By: Shawn Barnett and Dave Etchells(none) <<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:OpticsReview First Posted: 09/09/2004, Updated: 11/30/2004 |
Optics
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Focus options include both manual and automatic control, with a Macro mode for shooting close-up subjects. The manual option offers a total of 14 distance settings from 0.1 meters to infinity, and is adjusted by rotating the Command dial on the back panel. A five-area autofocus selects a focus point or points, usually homing in on the nearest object with sufficient contrast. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3 also features an adjustable AF area, with the ability to move a small spot-AF point around more than 80 percent of the screen area, an unusually wide area compared to the spot AF functions on other cameras we've tested. In straight autofocus mode, the focus area target flashes green in the LCD display once focus is locked. Three AF modes control how often the camera adjusts focus, including Single, Monitor, and Continuous. Single AF mode adjusts focus only when the Shutter button is half-pressed, while Continuous AF mode adjusts focus continuously as the subject moves, both before and after the shutter button is half-pressed. (Continuous mode is thus helpful for shooting moving subjects, although the V3's AF speed probably isn't up to the demands of full-on sports shooting. Monitor mode is probably most similar to the Continuous AF modes of most other manufacturers: It continuously adjusts focus until the user half-presses the shutter button, at which time the focus is locked. Monitor mode slightly improves shutter lag for stationary subjects.
Regardless of the mode you're running it in, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3's autofocus system is impressively fast. In full-autofocus mode, we measured shutter lag times ranging from 0.28 - 0.66 seconds, very fast indeed by current "prosumer" digicam standards.
One of the truly unique Sony features on the Sony DSC-V3 is the "Hologram
AF" system for low-light focusing. This is basically an AF-assist illuminator
system on steroids, using a laser diode and tiny holographic diffraction grating
to project a crosshatched pattern of bright red lines on the subject. The nifty
thing about the hologram is that the projected pattern stays more or less "in
focus" 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
see the camera use it in fairly normal lighting as well, if there's not enough
contrast in the subject for the normal contrast-detect AF system to work reliably.
Try pointing the camera at a blank wall in normal home / office lighting, and
you'll see the pattern. The screen shot at right shows a camera's eye view of
the Hologram AF pattern, as the lens zooms from wide to telephoto. (This shot
is copied from my original F717 review - Astute readers will note differences
in the onscreen information display, but the Hologram AF function works identically
on the DSC-V3.)In actual use, I found the Hologram AF system made low-light and low-contrast focusing practically foolproof. In fact, it literally was hard to get an out-of-focus photo with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3, in almost any situation (save for those shots with subjects close enough that Macro mode should have been enabled). This is a significant innovation in AF-assist lighting. I'd say that I wish other manufacturers would adopt this technology for their own AF-assist systems, but I suspect Sony has a patent on the approach.
Accessory Lenses
Two accessory lenses are available for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3, both of which require their own adapters (though the necessary adapter appears to be included with each lens). The VCL-DEH17VA, a 1.7x multiplier takes the lens out to 231mm, and uses the VAD-VHA adapter ring. (Currently this version of the lens is unavailable, though the only difference between this and the lens designed for the Sony DSC-V1 is the silver barrel color vs black. Here's a shopping link for that lens: VCL-DEH17VA. - SRP is $149.99) The internal lens can zoom within the adapter ring, but the vignetting is severe until you get more than 2/3 of the way zoomed in, leaving the lens only usable at the extreme telephoto end. To avoid unwanted vignetting, it's probably better to go straight out to the end of the zoom range and shoot as if it's fixed. The wide angle lens, part number VCL-DEH07VA, has a 0.7x multiplier and offers no zoom option. (As with the tele lens, only the silver version seems to be available from most places as of the review date, SRP: $149.99, VCL-DEH07V; though you can get the black version at the SonyStyle website, if you're willing to pay the full SRP price.) A sensor inside the lens screw mount detects the wide angle adapter and prevents zoom action, limiting the angle to 24mm. The adapter is slightly deeper than the adapter for the telephoto lens, tripping a small switch inside the lens bezel. A wide angle lens indicator shows onscreen, and flashes when you try to zoom.
I don't do formal testing of add-on lenses, but casual shooting with the wide and tele adapters on the V3 suggested that they're pretty high-quality optics. Add-on lenses of this sort tend to be very prone to increased distortion and optical problems, but shots taken with these two Sony lenses showed very few problems. The wide-angle lens made the camera/lens combination somewhat more susceptible to "purple fringing" when dark objects were silhouetted against bright backgrounds in the corners of the frame, but the overall effect was less than that of some cameras operating with just their built-in lenses. The telephoto accessory lens showed very little of the increased flare and decreased contrast I've come to expect from such optics. Taken as a kit, the combination of the two accessory lenses and camera together give the Sony DSC-V3 an overall focal length range of just under 10x, yet with much better optical quality than that achieved by most 10x-zoom cameras.
I do have a few minor complaints about the two accessory lenses, although other users may or may not see them as issues, depending on their own particular needs and preferences. First, neither lens has filter threads at the end, so you can't use either with front-element accessory filters such as polarizers, close-up filters, etc. Second, the bulk of both lenses blocks both the optical viewfinder and the camera's flash head, although you'll almost certainly be wanting to use the LCD viewfinder anyway given the significant change in frame coverage, and the internal flash lacks the angular coverage of the wide angle lens, and the power to be very useful with the tele adapter. A bigger issue for night shooters is that both lenses block the V3's Hologram AF Assist system's light pattern, making autofocus in low light conditions problematic. Finally the aforementioned limitation on zooming with the auxiliary lenses attached will reduce their usefulness somewhat. Despite their limitations though, the Sony accessory lenses for the V3 deliver high-quality images, and significantly extend the range of the camera's optical system.
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