Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1
Canon IXUS 240 HS
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS
Nikon D800
Samsung DV300F
Nikon Coolpix P510
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Nikon Coolpix S9300
Olympus OM-D E-M5
Sony Announces DSC-F828
The recent rumours have turned out to be true, as Sony have today announced their new flagship digital camera, the Sony DSC-F828.
Website: Sony DSC-F828 Press Release
“Expert photographers know that image quality goes beyond pixel resolution, and with today’s new product announcement from Sony Electronics, they will soon find a digital camera that measures up to their discerning eye by exceeding the capabilities of current technology.
The latest model (DSC-F828) in Sony’s popular line of Cyber-shot® F-series enthusiast cameras represents the next level of digital still photography, which these enthusiasts will surely appreciate. With its lens-centric design, the new camera is encased in a black, magnesium alloy body, and is the first to incorporate Sony’s recently announced four-color filter CCD technology and Real Imaging Processor™.”
Here is Sony’s breakdown of what the F828 has to offer:
- Resolution: Sony’s 8.0-megapixel CCD image sensor provides the Cyber-shot DSC F828 camera with a maximum image size of 3360 x 2460, equating into 11 x 17-inch prints at 200 dpi or 8.5 x 11-inch prints at 300 dpi.
- Optics: The new camera features a Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar® T* 7X zoom lens (28 - 280mm, 35mm equivalent) with manual zoom for greater framing control, to fully extract the performance of the 8.0-megapixel CCD sensor.
- Five-Area Multi-Point Auto Focus: The camera evaluates five separate areas of the frame and intelligently focuses on the subject, displaying the selected focus point, or the user can choose any of the five points for manual control.
- NightShot® Infrared System: Enables the camera to capture infrared images in total darkness at a distance of up to 15 feet.
- NightFraming System: To capture crisp images in low or no light, this feature illuminates the subject with the NightShot system for proper framing, focuses with Hologram AF™ illuminator and lights the scene with the appropriate amount of flash.
- Image File Formats: In addition to JPEG and TIFF formats, the camera supports Sony’s RAW format, which allows the photographer to change the parameters of an image (e.g., white balance and color depth). Software will be included for converting RAW files.
- Video Recording: MPEG-VX Fine mode records video at 640 x 480 pixel resolution at 30 frames per second, up to the capacity of the storage device, for TV-quality video.
- Bundled Accessories: The camera comes with an InfoLithium® M battery, AC adapter/in-camera charger, A/V output cable, USB cable, lens hood, shoulder strap and lens cap.
In addition to all that, the F828 has a Type I/II compact flash slot (MicroDrive compatible), as well as Memory Stick Pro, which in itself is a radical departure for Sony, whose digital cameras have always used the proprietary memory stick format.
The Cyber-shot DSC-F828 camera will be available in mid-November with a suggested price of about £900 / $1,200 / €1299. The DSC-F717 model will continue to be available at about $800.
As usual there are already a large number of first looks, previews, hands-on tests and news articles. Here’s a summary of the best ones:
Website: A Digital Eye
Website: DP-Now
Website: DPReview
Website: Imaging Resource
Website: LetsGoDigital
Website: Steves Digicams
Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 Review
Canon IXUS 240 HS Review
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS Review
Nikon D800 Review
Samsung DV300F Review
Nikon Coolpix P510
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Fujifilm X-Pro1
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
#1 sean
Wow and just when you thought 6 MegaPixels was enough.....
I will be interested to see some hands-on tests once this camera becomes available, and how well the 8 MegaPixel sensor on the Sony compares to a Canon 10D or Nikon D100 in terms of noise and resolution. Lens quality will need to be top notch to make the best use of such a sensor.
Sean
6:43 pm - Friday, August 15, 2003
#2 Mark Goldstein
Well, the Sony's lens certainly has a good pedigree - I'm sure you already know that Carl Zeiss lenses are well-regarded. What my posting doesn't tell you is that the lens will have an aperture of f/2 at 28mm, and f/2.8 at 200mm - that's pretty amazing and will give a very bright viewfinder.
6:51 pm - Friday, August 15, 2003
#3 William C Bert
Impressive specs and Sony, jumps over 6MP and 7MP goes for 8MP. For the specs alone I think they have a read winnner.
Bill
6:52 pm - Friday, August 15, 2003
#4 sean
Yes, I think Sony could be onto a winner here in the Prosumer market. I have just read the specs and it appears to be a fantastic all round camera.
Makes my 3MegaPixel Fuji 602 look like an antique!
Sean
7:23 pm - Friday, August 15, 2003
#5 Ryan
Beautiful spec! Seems like a well-rounded camera that should put a smile on the face of all 'prosumers' not quite ready to fork out for a true d-slr and lenses. I can't believe it takes CF too!
8:20 pm - Friday, August 15, 2003
#6 Mark Goldstein
The decision to include compact flash support is pretty inspired and well overdue. I wonder if Sony will use the F828 as a test to find out how many extra cameras they sell due to the move away from just supporting memory sticks.
8:38 pm - Friday, August 15, 2003
#7 Walter
My September holidays (tokyo) I was going to purchase the f717.
I'll settle for the dsc-f828 =)
Mr Sony can you please release it in mid September or October....I can't wait till mid Nov =(
5:11 pm - Saturday, August 16, 2003
#8 Sue
I just purchased a F717 - now I have to save up my money again!
6:08 am - Sunday, August 17, 2003
#9 Mark Goldstein
I think the F828 is quite a big step-up over its predecssor - maybe you could take the F717 back Sue?!
1:13 pm - Sunday, August 17, 2003
#10 Walter
hmmmmm One would think they would release a camera like this just before the 2003 Rugby World Cup here in Australia/Asia pacific.
10:19 am - Monday, August 18, 2003
#11 Mark Goldstein
My guess is that they're primarily targeting the Christmas Stocking market!
Do you live in and support Australia, Walter? This World Cup must be the best chance for England for a long, long time...
12:05 pm - Monday, August 18, 2003
#12 Walter
Yes your probably right Mark, but they will lose out on sales come xmas, most ppl are gearing up for the world cup.
Yes im (SYdney) a true blue Mark. I think you'll have your hands full when it comes to playing against the Kiwi's
5:08 pm - Monday, August 18, 2003
#13 Mark Goldstein
Come on you ENGLAND!!!
Rugby isn't my preferred sport - football and cricket come first - but like every Englishman, I'll support the national team whatever they're playing (and usually losing...).
Mark
7:15 pm - Monday, August 18, 2003
#14 Walter
hmmm I never knew England had a professional cricket team =)
9:11 am - Tuesday, August 19, 2003
#15 Mark Goldstein
Hey, we've just beaten South Africa! What more do you want?
Mark
12:52 pm - Tuesday, August 19, 2003
#16 Craig Barendsen
Just curious. I moved from Fuji and bought this camera and will say this overall design is really wonderful and easy to use. The only negative I have about the camera is that it still lacks, in my amateur eye, the true colour that I achieved through my Fuji FinePix. I don't believe I have fully learnt the camera and maybe my comment is unjustified at this point. There is something about the Fuji quality that seems to superceed all others. I have even looked at the Nikon D70 and Canon equivalent but the colouring just seems to lack power. Just a comment.
5:00 am - Wednesday, May 12, 2004
#17 aman
I am an aspiring photographer and decided to get this camera. I just got it a week ago and I am very impressed with it. I upgraded from a Fuji 6800, which is nothing compared to this camera. I took a picture of my daughter at distance of 6 ft; when I viewed the picture on my computer at full resolution (8mp), I could see the water in the side of her eyes and every hair of her eyelashes! I wanted to get a Sigma S10, but the price never went down from about $1600 since it’s introduction.
The Sony DSC-F828 is a great compromise for me since (unlike most pro SLRs) I can just turn it on and take a picture in any condition, but I also have all of the options of a full featured SLR! It will take me months to learn how to use all of the features this thing has. It has some features that pro SLRs don’t have, like hologram focus & night shot. It has 1 flaw: if you take a picture of something with a very bright spot, like the reflection of a flash, there is a purple halo around that bright area. I have read that this is caused by the coating on it’s lens. I found a Photoshop plug-in that fixes the problem here: [url=http://www.sd3.info/pf828/PFree/PFree0-1.html]http://www.sd3.info/pf828/PFree/PFree0-1.html[/url] Even with this problem, I love this camera.
Now, I want to take trips and do things just to make use of this camera.
1:28 pm - Saturday, October 9, 2004