Timings & File Sizes

The F707 is a fast camera, it powers on very quickly and has the first shot under its belt in just 4.5 seconds. Focusing never takes more than 2 seconds (normal AF) and is typically closer to 1.5 seconds. File flushing is also quite fast, Memory Stick doesn't appear to be causing any major delays in this department. The entire camera is locked during the writing of TIFF format images.

Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average of three operations. A 128 MB Sony Memory Stick card was used for any timings which included file saving. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 2560 x 1920 FINE JPEG image (approx. 2.0 MB per image).

Action	Details	Time taken (seconds)	Notes
Power: Off to Record		2.6	Very fast
Power: Off to Play		3.5	Image loading *1
Power: Record to Off		1.2
Power: Play to Off		<0.5
Mode: Record to Play		0.8	Image loading *1
Mode: Play to Record		<0.5
Play: Magnify	From x1 to x5.0	5.8	(17 steps)
Rec: Thumbnail view	3 x 3 thumbnails	1.2
Auto Focus LAG	Normal AF	1.1 - 1.6	Average *2
Auto Focus LAG	Macro AF	1.7 - 2.5	Average
Shutter Release LAG		0.1	Fast
Total LAG	Normal AF	~1.2	Fast
Off to Shot Taken		4.5	Very Fast
Shot to Shot AF	2560 x 1920 JPEG FINE	3.0	Fast *3
Shot to Shot MF	2560 x 1920 JPEG FINE	1.8	Very Fast

The F707's performance was surprisingly fast, with a very fast power-on time (just 2.6 seconds)* and fast shot to shot times you never find yourself waiting for the camera. Because the camera has a very short image review time (approximately half a second) the live view returns very quickly after taking a shot, this certainly gives a good impression of speed. Focus speeds were average, faster than the F505V but still not stellar.

* This time is a whole 1.4 seconds faster now on the final production camera compared to the pre-production unit used for the original review.

Burst 3 Mode

The F707 has a dedicated continuous shooting mode named 'Burst 3', in this mode one press of the shutter release records three frames over a 1 second period (thus 3 fps). Depending on the selected image size / quality you will have to wait for these images to be written away to the Memory Stick before you can shoot the next burst.

File Flush / Display Timing

There are three timings below, I'll describe each in turn:

• Time to process - this is the amount of time after pressing the shutter release button before the camera returns control to you, the image may still be being written away to the Memory Stick but you can begin to take the next shot.
   
• Time to flush - this is the amount of time it takes the camera to process and flush; complete writing the image to the Memory Stick. It is taken from the moment the shutter release is pressed to the moment the red light beside the Memory Stick slot (inside the compartment) goes out. This timing includes the time to process.
   
• Time to display - this is the amount of time it takes the camera to display the image, as with most digital cameras the F707 first displays a rough version of the image (a thumbnail from the file header) and then loads the full resolution image, you can't manipulate the image until it is fully loaded (magnify etc.) however you can interrupt this loading process skip to the next image.

The F707 appears to have enough buffer space to hold a maximum of three images at a time, so it's possible to snap two shots and still have space for one more.

Battery life

We ran the camera through our new battery life test. This test is designed to be fair and comparative to each camera and battery type:

• Take 4 shots without flash
• Wait 2 minutes (50% of the time powering the camera off)
• Take 1 shot with flash
• Wait 1 minute
• Repeat

All batteries had been fully discharged and recharged before the test and all cameras were reset to their factory default settings. Here are the results:

I remember how amazed I was with the DSC-S85 when we tested it, now I must repeat my amazement with the DSC-F707 which lasted a stunning 4 hours and 20 minutes in our battery test shooting no less than 440 images. On a full charge the camera states '280 minutes' of battery life, our tests ran just 20 minutes short of that. This amazing battery life not only puts the F707 at the top of our power chart but most importantly means you'll be out shooting all day on just one charge...

Cool

Something else which is noteworthy, the DSC-F707 remained cool to the touch throughout the battery test, the only heat from the surface of the LCD (and that's from the backlights). There was no heat around the battery or hand grip nor the main body or lens.