Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 Review
Review Date: July 16th 2007
Author: Mark Goldstein
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 6M Fine JPEG mode,
which gives an average image size of around 2.5Mb.
Noise
There are 6 ISO settings available
on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 which you can select at any
time if the camera is in the normal shooting mode. There
is no
discernible noise at the slowest settings of ISO 80 and 100,
as you would expect, but noise is already starting to appear
at ISO 200. There is quite obvious noise
at ISO
400, along with blurring of detail,
and by
ISO
800 it is very obvious.
ISO 1000 is virtually unusable, looking good
on the spec sheet, but terrible in reality. Here are some
100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have
been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand
image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the
camera images are just a little soft at the default sharpening
setting. Note that you cannot change the in-camera
sharpening level
if you don't like the default look.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 handled chromatic
aberrations excellently during the review, with only small
levels of purple fringing mainly present around the edges
of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples
below.
Macro
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 offers a Super Macro
setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is just
1cm away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle.
The first image shows how close you can get to the subject
(in this case a compact flash card). The second image is
a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow
Syncro, No Flash. These shots of a white coloured wall were
taken
at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto
Flash - Telephoto (114mm) |
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And here are some shots of yours truly.
Both the Flash On setting and the Red-Eye Reduction option
caused a tiny amount of red-eye.
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Flash
On (100% Crop) |
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Flash
- Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1's maximum shutter
speed is just 2 seconds in the Twilight scene mode, which
will disappoint you if you're seriously interested in night
photography.
The
shot
below
was taken
using a shutter speed of 2 seconds, aperture of f/3.5 at
ISO 100. I've included a 100% Crop of the image to show what
the quality is like.
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Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
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Anti Shake
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take
sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital
cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same
subject with the lens set to the same focal length, with
the ISO speed set to 100. The first shot was taken with anti
shake turned off, the second with it turned on. As you can
see, with anti shake turned on, the images are definitely
sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really
does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a
successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results.
Overall Image Quality
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1's image quality
is slightly above average. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1's
main drawback in terms of image quality is noise, with ISO
400
showing
obvious
noise
and blurring of detail. The noise gets progressively worse
as you go from ISO 400 to ISO 800 and finally the completely
unusable 1000 setting. The noise at ISO 400 is also clearly
evident in a 15x10 inch print. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1
handled chromatic aberrations very well indeed, with limited
purple
fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations.
The 6 megapixel images are just a little soft straight
out of the camera at the default sharpen setting (which can't
be changed). The night photograph is poor, with the
maximum shutter speed of 2 seconds severely limiting what
can be achieved. Macro performance is a stand-out highlight,
allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject,
although
there is lens distortion and shadowing at such a close distance.
Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart from
its competitors and one that works well when hand-holding
the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto
end of the zoom range. The built-in flash worked OK
indoors, with little red-eye, and satisfactory overall
exposure.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1 have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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