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