AC Adapter / Battery Charger

	Like most other Sony's but unlike many other digital cameras the DSC-V3 charges its battery in-camera by connecting the camera to the supplied AC-LS5 AC adapter / charger brick. This has two advantages, the first is that you don't have to mess around removing the battery each time you want to charge and secondly you get an AC adapter in the box, with most camera's is an option.

Connections

On the left side of the camera (from the rear) are a column of connectors, the ACC terminal at the top (for Sony accessories and external flash), a USB 2.0 port (Hi-Speed) and A/V out (video and audio). With the rubber cover in place only the ACC terminal is left exposed. The final connector (not shown here) is the DC-IN which is on the rear of the camera just below the 4-way controller.

Lens

As already mentioned the DSC-V3 appears to have the same lens unit as the DSC-V1. This provides a four times optical zoom range of 34 - 136 mm with an F2.8 maximum aperture at wide angle, F4.0 at telephoto. This lens proved to be pretty good in the five megapixel DSC-V1, it will be interesting to see if it can deliver the goods higher up the resolution ladder. (It's worth noting that this lens is strikingly similar to that found on the Casio EX-P700).

Compared to other seven megapixel digital camera lenses

Base / Tripod Mount

	On the base of the camera is a metal tripod mount, and yet again it's not positioned in line with the lens and it's also too close to the compartment door to allow it to be opened when the camera is on a tripod.

Internal Flash / Auto Focus Assist Lamp

The DSC-V3 features yet another new type of flash, we're not sure if we can call it 'pop-up' or not, it flips up 90 degrees on its axis from the closed position (on the right below). The flash provides a range of 2.5m. As noted by a member of the dpreview team it's a pity the flash didn't have a third position firing directly upwards and providing a 'bounce flash'. The flip-up mechanism on our pre-production camera wasn't final and sometimes didn't close flush, we assumed this was a pre-production problem however having now received a production camera we can see that it's the same. It's not really what we expect of Sony build / design quality.

Auto Focus Assist

	The DSC-V3 features the now familiar 'Hologram AF assist'. A weave pattern is produced by a small laser mounted beside the lens. This pattern is used to assist the contrast detect AF system to lock AF in low light situations. The pattern appears for approximately one second, as per our previous experience this system works best on large subjects which are covered by virtually the entire pattern.

Flash Hot-shoe

	The DSC-V3 has a hot-shoe capable of two way communication with the flash unit. Specifically the HVL-F32X flash unit supports all of the advance features and communication protocol. Additionally the flash hot-shoe can also trigger third party flash units, although sync only.

Supplied In the Box

	• Sony DSC-V3 digital camera • 32 MB Memory Stick • Battery Pack NP-FR1 • AC adapter / charger AC-LS5 • Neck strap • USB Cable • Video Cable (A/V) • CD-ROM • Manual