Sony
August 19th, 2010 by D-Photo
Ashley Kramer tries out the new Cyber-shot and finds features galore but only average image quality.
Poor low-light performance is a common complaint in reviews of compact cameras. It’s a bugbear because blasting away with the flash doesn’t always get the photo you wanted. For example, shooting family snaps indoors with soft natural light often requires a high ISO setting to maintain a decent shutter speed. On most compacts, this gives a noisy result. Also, if your camera ramps up sensitivity as part of the image stabilisation system, you can be stuck with noise when you don’t expect it.
For years, every camera manufacturer’s priority was to have more megapixels than the competition. But cramming millions of extra pixels onto a tiny sensor is just a recipe for more noise. Canon took the bold step of dropping the megapixels in the G11 and S90 advanced compacts and the results were impressive.
The Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V is Sony’s stab at getting noise under control in a compact. It’s a fully featured camera with all the bells and whistles expected at the price point, including HD video with stereo sound, a high-spec 25mm, 10x optical zoom lens and a GPS receiver, which geotags images and videos with location information. The HX5V also supports TransferJet, which sends data wirelessly between compatible devices.
To improve low-light performance, the HX5V uses a new generation 10.2MP backlit Exmor R CMOS sensor, paired with Sony’s BIONZ image processor, which assists with noise reduction.
Unfortunately, despite the sensor’s claimed prowess and sensitivity, the HX5V selects unusually slow shutter speeds in its automatic modes. Combine that with the noise reduction and there’s a faint hint of softness and lost detail on all images, even at lower ISO settings. This is only really noticeable under close examination but from ISO500 onwards the noise reduction is aggressive enough to blur edges and soften images, while at ISO800-plus, images are very soft indeed.
It seems that the sensor isn’t living up to its promise here, forcing Sony to implement specific low-light modes. Thus the HX5V offers ‘Handheld Twilight’ and ‘Anti-Motion Blur’ settings, where multiple exposures are superimposed to form one optimised shot. These modes do work and produce decent low-light images with little noise but, again, they’re not all that sharp.
On the positive side, the HX5V is compact and well laid out, with simple controls. The LCD is bright and the menu system is clear and easy to understand. There are plenty of scene modes and an intelligent easy mode plus the cool ‘intelligent sweep panorama’ feature, which produces wide panoramas almost effortlessly. Shutter lag is negligible, image processing reasonably quick and the Sony can shoot a short burst of photos at 10 frames per second, which is great for capturing fast-moving subjects. The manual control mode is of limited use because the steps between aperture settings are just too wide.
One of my pet hates pops up here in the form of a proprietary data cable connection; yes, I get that the cable combines USB and analogue audio/video but standard USB is still the way to go. You’ll need an HDMI cable to connect the HX5V to a high-definition TV but the adapter is supplied.
Sony’s DSC-HX5V is a well-built, easy-to-handle camera with a comprehensive feature set. Image quality is good at the lowest ISO setting but softens as the ISO numbers climb, which sets back the overall rating, especially at this premium price point.
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX5V -Specifications
Effective Pixels: 10.2 million
Image Sensor: 1/2.4 inch Exmor R CMOS
Lens: F3.5-5.5 – 4.25-42.5mm (35mm equivalent 25-250mm)
Image Stabiliser: Optical
Shutter Speed: 2-1/1600sec
Image Formats: JPEG, AVCHD/MPEG-4
ISO: 125-3200
Monitor: 3.0-inch LCD, 230,000 dots
Viewfinder: None
Movie Modes: 1920×1080-50i, 1440×1080-50i/25, 1280×720-25, 640x480x25
Media: SD, SDHC, Memory Stick Duo/PRO Duo/PRO Duo (HS)
Interface: USB 2.0
Battery: Lithium-ion rechargeable
Dimensions: 102.9 x 57.7 x 28.9mm
Weight: 170g excluding battery
CONTACT
www.sony.co.nz
PROS
- Well-built and user-friendly
- Fun image modes
- GPS geotagging
CONS
- Soft images, especially at high ISOs
This article is from D-Photo issue 37. Click here to check it out.
May 19th, 2010 by D-Photo
Harley Ogier gets panoramic with Sony’s new Cyber-shot
New to Sony’s Cyber-shot range of digital compact cameras, the DSC-WX1 makes full use of its high burst-shooting speed to offer some innovative and genuinely useful features.
The WX1 is a small and lightweight offering, perfect for the pocket or ultra-miniature purse. Build quality is to Sony’s usual high standards, and despite its compactness the camera still feels solid. Unfortunately for the fuller-fingered, the controls are tiny, certainly smaller than they needed to be given the space available. Even I had a little trouble and I’m usually pretty good with such things.
The real selling point of the WX1 is its high-speed capability, able to shoot at 10 frames per second in burst mode. This is particularly useful with kids or pets, if you don’t mind picking through 10 shots to find the one you were after.
Capitalising on its high speed, the WX1 offers an amazing ‘Sweep Panorama’ feature that’s sure to hook fans of landscape photography. To shoot a perfect panorama you just spin the mode dial, select a direction to sweep in (left, right, up or down) and click. You’re then free to pan across your subject as if shooting a video. The WX1’s motion detector stops you if you’re going too wildly off course, but it’s pretty easy to pan a camera in a relatively level arc.
Images shot with Sweep Panorama come out as a single, very wide JPEG – there’s no stitching together of multiple images to be done on the PC. The quality of these camera-generated images is brilliant; I only found a few very minor stitching errors in the many panoramas I shot, most of which I could have avoided with greater care.
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May 16th, 2010 by D-Photo
Harley Ogier goes full frame with Sony’s latest dSLR
The A850 is the latest addition to Sony’s Alpha range of dSLR cameras, bringing many of the flagship A900’s features back to the market at a considerably lower price.
Like its high-end predecessor, the A850 features a novel 24 megapixel full-frame image sensor. That means the sensor is the same physical size as a frame of 35mm film. This is larger than those used in lower end crop dSLRs and far larger than anything found in a digital compact. The result is a reduction in image noise, and improved performance in low light.
The full-frame sensor makes the A850 directly compatible with many Minolta lenses – great for anyone with an existing collection. The camera is also compatible with Sony Alpha crop lenses, though this restricts images to 11 megapixels. Still, if you’re moving up from a low or midrange Sony Alpha dSLR, your existing lenses remain completely usable.
Physically, the A850 is almost identical to the A900. The two share the same dimensions, weight and magnesium alloy case. The image sensor, optics and feature set are also much the same, with a few minor differences. The A850 shoots at a maximum of three frames per second while the A900 can manage five. Likewise, the A850’s viewfinder only shows 98 per cent of the frame while the A900 provides full coverage. In all honesty, moving to the top of Sony’s dSLR range won’t place you far ahead of where the A850’s capabilities lie.
Image quality is excellent. Colours appear rich and accurate with good dynamic range. The 24 megapixel sensor gives crisp, detailed images with a minimum of noise. While overkill for some, a sensor of that size certainly has its uses. I imagine it would be great for nature enthusiasts when paired with a long lens, such as Sony’s new 70-400mm f/4-5.6 zoom. Certainly, it makes taking photos of cats easier.
The A850 is great for those long shooting sessions, with a comfortable grip and well thought-out button placement. There are three user-definable banks of settings available on the mode dial, which is otherwise sparse – you won’t find the multitude of scene modes that have been creeping onto entry-level dSLRs for the last few years. There is an auto mode that works perfectly well, but to make the most of the A850 you really do need to delve into the manual controls. Beginners may have some trouble doing so, but anyone with enough of an interest in photography to go for a full-frame dSLR should be able to nut it out.
The only real disappointment was the total lack of Live View. I had hoped the A850 would boast the same highly impressive Live View implementation found on last year’s amateur A550, which turned out to be a useful tool for framing difficult shots. Sadly, it takes the more conventional route, keeping your eye locked tightly on the viewfinder.
Overall, the A850 is a well priced full-frame body, almost identical in features to the top-of-the-range A900. Serious amateurs and professionals should look closely at the A850: the extra cash that would go into many competitors’ full-frame offerings may be better spent on lenses and must-have accessories.
Sony A850 DSLR – Specifications
Manufacturer: Sony
Model: A850
RRP: $3999.95
Effective Pixels: 24.6 million
Image Sensor: 35.9 x 24.0mm CMOS
Viewfinder: 98 per cent frame coverage
LCD Monitor: 3.0 inches, 921,600 pixels (VGA), 100 per cent frame coverage
Shutter: 1/8000-30 seconds, bulb
ISO: 100-6400
Exposure Metering: Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, auto exposure lock
Media: CompactFlash, Memory Stick PRO Duo
File Format: cRAW (compressed), RAW, JPEG
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI video out
Batteries: Rechargeable lithium-ion, approx 880 images
Dimensions: 156 x 117 x 82mm
Weight: 850g without battery or memory card
Reviewed with Lenses:
Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens ($2799.95)
Sony 20mm f/2.8 fixed focal length lens ($1099.95)
Contact
www.sony.co.nz
PROS
- High resolution, full-frame
- image sensor
- Great picture quality
CONS
Design 18
Performance 16
Features 15
Image Quality 18
Value for money 17
TOTAL 84/100
This article is from D-Photo 35. Click here to check it out.
February 24th, 2010 by D-Photo
Harley Ogier reviews a dSLR that has a particular penchant for Live View
The A550 is a comprehensive addition to Sony’s entry-level range, offering functionality catering to both digital-compact camera users and those with existing digital SLR experience.
Taking a clever approach to Live View, the A550 uses a secondary image sensor to capture the preview image shown on screen. This lets the camera use its fast phase-detect autofocus, instead of the slower contrast-detect method seen in most Live View implementations. The result is viewfinder-speed autofocus in Live View, the fastest I’ve seen on any camera to date.
A second mode, ‘Manual Focus Check Live View’, is also provided; this uses the camera’s main image sensor, giving you far more detail and allowing you to zoom in on screen to check focus.
Combined with the A550’s beautifully crisp variable-angle LCD monitor, the two Live View modes provide the full digital compact camera experience. For those new to digital SLRs, this is a great way to smooth the learning curve. Even to experienced amateurs and professionals, the convenience is still noteworthy.
On the downside, the A550’s viewfinder is set flat into the rear of the camera, half a centimetre back from the raised LCD monitor. I found this meant my nose was always in the way, pressed up against the screen when looking through the viewfinder. Not only is this uncomfortable, but it ensures the screen is perpetually smudged.
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February 4th, 2010 by D-Photo
Professional sports photographer Michael Bradley tries out Sony’s new zoom lens
This new Sony zoom might suit photographers in search of a 400mm lens to add to their kits, but who don’t have the budget to shell out the big-bucks for an f2.8 prime lens. There are, however, a few catches.
On the plus side, this long zoom has the added benefit of built-in image stabilisation, which really is a great feature. It allowed me to easily take hand-held shots at 1/60 of a second at 400mm with impressive results.
During field testing I used the 70-400mm on a family trip to the zoo. I decided to only pack one lens, and the Sony’s versatility was impressive. I was very happy with some images, especially at 400mm, without having to lug around a cumbersome f2.8 prime lens.
On first impression the 70-400mm’s silver finish might look a little on the cheap side. Personally, I’m not a fan, but there’s no doubt it sets the lens apart from the more common black or white chassis.
It doesn’t seem to feel as sturdy or water tight as competing lenses from the other leading brands, either. Nor does it easily zoom from wide to full zoom in one easy motion, and there is a need to readjust your grip to finish the zooming from 70mm right through to 400mm.
The aperture of the lens is only f4-5.6, which means it is a bit slow to shoot night or indoor sports. This keeps both the price and size of the lens down, but will limit its use to keen amateurs and not the professional sports photographer.
The lens was also a little slow to lock on to its focus, while tracking fast-moving subjects was not the best. In fairness, this can be the case for a lot of zoom lenses, even some high-end, professional-level models.
I was very impressed with the sharpness of the lens when shooting wide open, with images captured at 400mm of a very high standard. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) was less pleasing when compared to prime lenses, but then the price difference between the zoom and prime lenses is also unpleasant.
Although I’m not a big fan of zoom lenses, I was fairly impressed with this model, particularly keeping in mind its market: the serious amateur. Undoubtedly it’d be a great lens to have in a two-lens kit along with a 24-80mm. It would also be ideal for the likes of wildlife or travel photographers who need to keep the bulk of their kit to a minimum but still want a long lens at their disposal.
Personally, I’d be happy to take it on an overseas trip where space was at a premium, knowing that in the end, the results would be of a very high quality. n
Sony SAL70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 Zoom Lens – Specs
Manufacturer: Sony
Model: SAL70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 Zoom Lens
Lens Construction: 18 elements in 12 groups (2 ED glass elements)
Focal Length: 105-600mm (35mm equivalent)
Zoom Ratio: 5.7x
Maximum Aperture: f22
Minimum Aperture: f32
Minimum Focus Distance: 1.5m
Magnification: x0.27
Filter Diameter: 77mm
Supplied Accessories: Front and rear lens cap, lens hood, carrying case
Dimensions: 94.5 x 196mm
Weight: 1500g
CONTACT
www.sony.co.nz
PROS
- Versatile
- Built-in image stabilisation
CONS
- Slow to lock on to a subject
- Build quality could be improved
Design 16
Performance 14
Features 18
Image Quality 15
Value for money 15
TOTAL 78/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
December 29th, 2009 by D-Photo
Phil Hanson is seduced by the beauty of sony’s new compact
Sony’s T90 is such a cute and clever piece of design it’s almost irrelevant whether function follows its beguiling form. After a few minutes of handling and admiring this super-slim newcomer, its image quality could have been on a par with the Agfa Clack box camera from the mid-1950s for all I cared. Well, not quite, and more on that later.
The T90 is a member of the new Cyber-shot range introduced earlier this year. At only 15mm, it’s way thinner than the compact I often carry in my shirt pocket. Plus, the Zeiss zoom lens doesn’t telescope out when the ‘on’ button is pushed; it stays in place behind its glass cover in the top right corner. Or not — if the lens seems to be missing, that’s because the incredibly cool and sensible sliding-panel cover is in position. This slides down with finger pressure, turning on the camera at the same time. Slide it back and the power goes off.
A 3-inch screen dominates the back and the controls are… not there. This is another of the breed of touchscreen cameras, a technology that tends to polarise the marketplace.
The T90 records JPEGs and MPEG-4 video to Memory Stick PRO Duo cards and is largely automatic in operation.
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE CONTROLS …
Because the lens is out of the way in a corner, it’s easy to get a good grip on this baby body; it’s not only for the daintily handed. And a small hump on the left side gives something for the photographer’s second finger to rest against to help provide a firm, steady grip.
A tiny button on the camera’s top edge powers it up and down, if you’re not using the sliding cover. There’s also an equally wee joystick that zooms the lens, and sandwiched between these is a shutter button. Another little button on the bevelled edge immediately above the screen puts the camera in Play mode. Despite their Legoland size, the controls are surprisingly easy to use.
Everything else is worked by touching screen icons. Detractors of touch technology say it gets the screen filthy and that it’s too easy to push the wrong icon. I find I’m regularly wiping a screen anyway, and that with five minutes’ practice it’s easy to hit the icons with accuracy, even with my clumsy fingers.
IN THE PICTURE
The specs look pretty good: a 12.4 megapixel Super HAD CCD sensor and a Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar optical 4x zoom that covers the 35mm to 140mm full-frame equivalent range, and maximum apertures of f3.5 on the wide side and f4.6 at the telephoto end.
Using the camera is just so easy. For example, it focuses the scene before your finger even touches the button. Casual snappers will love this and other features such as intelligent scene recognition that make the T90 an excellent choice for those who just want the photo. More advanced photographers may become frustrated with the range of choices.
The Zeiss lens delivers a reasonable if not stellar picture, with a pleasing though slightly subdued colour palette. The camera is best used at 80 to 200 ISO speeds; by 400 there’s a lot of noise.
It’ll shoot reasonable widescreen and full-screen 720p movies at 30 frames per second.
CONCLUSION
The T90’s design is captivating and the camera has a feel of quality to it. Newcomers to photography will love how easy it is to take successful photos; but experienced photographers may find it’s a bit like a delicious-looking dessert — interesting and tasty, but why isn’t there more?
SONY
CYBER-SHOT
DSC-T90 – SPECS
Manufacturer: Sony
Model: Cyber-shot DSC-T90
Effective Pixels: 12.1 million
Lens: 6.18-24.7mm (full-frame equivalent: 35-140mm)
Aperture: f3.5-f4.6
Monitor: 3-inch colour TFT LCD
ISO: Auto, 80 to 3200
Shooting Modes: Intelligent auto, easy shooting, program auto, movie (auto adjustment, high sensitivity, underwater), custom scenes (high sensitivity, twilight, twilight portrait, soft snap, landscape, beach, snow, fireworks, hi-speed shutter, underwater, gourmet)
Exposure Metering: Nine-point evaluative, centre-weighted average
Focus mode: Autofocus
Media: Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, approx 11 MB built-in memory
File Format: JPEG, MPEG-4
Flash: Flash on/off, auto, slow synchro
Interface: USB, PictBridge
Battery: NP-BD1 lithium-ion rechargeable
Dimensions: 94 x 57 x 15mm
Weight: 151g including battery
CONTACT
www.sony.co.nz
PROS
- Great looks and styling
- Fits any pocket
- So easy to use
CONS
- Too much of a fashion statement?
- Pricey
- Few advanced features
Design 19
Performance 16
Features 16
Image Quality 15
Value for money 16
TOTAL 82/100
This article if from D-Photo issue 31.
November 5th, 2009 by D-Photo
Sony pulls out all the stops for its latest compact offering, as Phil Hanson discovers
Even if it didn’t have a Zeiss lens with a decent optical zoom range, or 12.1 megapixels or commendable build quality, there would still be one compelling reason to buy Sony’s Cyber-shot W210 compact: its dynamite user interface.
True, there are some very good interfaces out there that are intuitive and easy to understand, but the W210’s stands with the best in the business. Its graphics are so clear the photographer is left in no doubt about which feature is being selected and why. It’s a real boon to those who are new to using a camera and certainly is of no harm to the rest of us.
For example, turn the knurled mode dial and the generous 2.7-inch LCD screen reproduces a graphic image of the chosen setting as well as a written description. As a random for-instance: “Soft Snap. Shoot subject with soft background”.
BUT THERE’S MORE
The W210, which replaces the well-regarded W120 of 7.2 megapixels, includes features such as Smile Shutter and Intelligent Scene Recognition that are appearing on many compact and which, although it’s tempting to write them off as gimmicks, are actually very useful. It also has Sony’s SteadyShot image stabilisation.
For those yet to experience it, Smile Shutter automatically takes the photo of a group or solo subject when it detects a smile and can be adjusted to prioritise children’s or adults’ smiles. Here’s the neat thing: it really does work. Well, our test grouch caught it out a couple of times, but the percentage of keepers was high.
Smile Shutter also works with face detection that fine-tunes focus, exposure, white balance and skin tones. These results can look a little artificial but you can take that as either praise or criticism, depending on what you’re trying to achieve.
The Intelligent Scene Recognition automatically adjusts settings for a range of common and sometimes tricky situations like twilight portraits or backlighting. This is again a feature creeping into compact cameras and saves having to dial through a whole bunch of alternatives on a menu. Of course, it stands or falls by how well it recognises the scene. For the most part the W210 performed admirably.
YOU HAVE CONTROL
Most controls are arranged on the back, to the right of the LCD panel. These are principally two dials, the top one setting the various modes, the other for controlling the display, flash, self-timer and focusing range. Above these dials a small toggle switch zooms the lens.
THROUGH THE LENS
One of Sony’s pluses is its alliance with Carl Zeiss, among the world’s best known and best lens makers. The W210 comes with a 4x optical zoom Vario Tessar. It zooms from 5.35mm to 21.4mm, or 30-120mm full-frame equivalent. That’s only two millimetres shy of the 28mm that starts to put a smile on wide-angle enthusiasts’ faces, while the ‘long’ end is excellent for really tight portraits or bringing in action from a medium distance.
If the telephoto end of the optical zoom isn’t enough, the reach can be extended by digital zoom, with the inevitable lessening of picture quality.
A SENSITIVE ISSUE
The camera offers sensitivity of up to ISO 3200 but there’s a lot of noise and it’s a setting best used for must-get photos only.
CONCLUSION
The Cyber-shot W210 does a good job of handling most photo opportunities. Another nice pocketable solution for when you just want to point and shoot.
SONY CYBER-SHOT
DSC-W120 – Specifications
Manufacturer: Sony
Model: DSC-W210
Effective Pixels: 12.1 million
Lens: Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 4 zoom, 5.35-21.4mm (30-120mm full-frame equivalent)
Monitor: 2.7-inch TFT colour LCD, approx 230,000 dots
Aperture: f2.8-f5.8
ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
Shooting Modes: Auto, scene selection, movie.
Media: Memory Stick Duo (15MB internal memory)
File format: JPEG Exif 2.21, MPEG1
Flash: Auto
Interface: USB
Battery: NP-BG1, NP-FG1 rechargeable
Dimensions: 95 x 56 x 22mm (W/H/D)
Weight: 146g with battery
CONTACT
www.sony.co.nz
PROS
CONS
- Body styling a bit run-of-mill
Design 17
Performance 17
Features 16
Image Quality 17
Value for money 16
TOTAL 83/100
This article if from D-Photo issue 30.
