The DSC-S75 is a progression from last years DSC-S70,
despite the use of a 5 in it's name the S75 isn't using one of the new
5 megapixel sensors, rather the same 3.3 megapixel sensor seen in the
S70. Sony have introduced the S75 as a replacement (and improvement) over
the original S70.
What's new since the DSC-S70?
Sony DSC-S70
Sony DSC-S75
More use of metal in the case structure (now "Champagne"
finish)
Repositioned lens (more central), thus repositioned viewfinder and
flash (looks more "camera like", improves grip space)
Microphone positioned closer to the front of the camera top
New autofocus assist lamp
Faster autofocus
Larger hand grip with thicker rubber grip (better)
Larger, angled shutter release with better "soft squeeze"
feel to the half-press
Top of the camera is now flat with new large exposure mode dial instead
of PLAY / STILL / MOVIE dial of the S70
Dedicated Play and Setup modes (via exposure dial)
Improved power switch now located surrounding mode dial (much better)
Flash hot-shoe (only for Sony flash units - no connectors)
Better engineered spring-loaded compartment door
Rotating / hinged hand strap buckle on left side
Camera knows if you leave lens cap on (!)
Battery / Memory Stick compartment now on base of camera instead of
side (worse)
Whole camera has a smoother "rounder" feel
Rear of camera controls tidied up, more logical layout and all-in-one
rear piece
More controls on exterior of camera: Macro focus, self-timer, exposure
compensation, spot metering, AE Lock
Volume / exposure control is gone (yay!) - replaced by jog-dial
New jog-dial for changing camera settings / scrolling through images
in playback
Smaller, though brighter LCD screen with anti-reflective coating,
new "Bright" LCD backlight option makes LCD very bright and
easy to see even in strong sunlight (better)
LCD composition brackets
LCD status panel moved from the top to the rear of the camera (more
information displayed)
Exposure information now displayed on rear and status LCD in all exposure
modes
Reworked on-screen menus (better)
Reworked on-screen information display (better)
Image information playback mode (displays three images with exposure
information on selected center image)
Much faster image browsing in playback mode thanks to new "rough
image" display before loading full image
Two JPEG compression levels; Fine and Standard (better)
MPEG EX - movies limited only by Memory Stick storage space
Clip Motion mode - as first seen on the DSC-P1
Two image burst mode
One-push manual white balance
Selectable ISO sensitivity: ISO 100, 200, 400 or Auto
Finer gradation of exposures (more shutter speeds and apertures available
in the priority modes)
Gone is 1/30 sec slowest shutter speed aperture priority limit
14-bit DAC (vs. 12-bit on the S70) - benefits of which have yet to
be proven
New low price
What's the same?
Sensor - same Sony 3.34 megapixel CCD
Engine - essentially the same "under the hood" as the S70
Lens - same "Carl Zeiss" 7 - 21 mm (34 - 102 mm equiv.)
F2.0 - F2.5
Storage - Memory Stick (goes without saying, still only 8MB included)
Battery - same excellent NP-FM50 InfoLithium
Dimensions - almost exactly the same size
Weight - almost exactly the same weight
Lens
The debate rages on, the S75 appears to have the same lens as last years
S70 which we discovered is the same as used by Epson's PhotoPC 3000Z,
Canon's G1 and a couple of other digital cameras.. This begs the question,
who is the original manufacturer and why do Sony claim it's a Carl Zeiss
lens when the other manufacturers don't?
Epson PhotoPC 3000Z
Canon PowerShot G1
Sony DSC-S70
Sony DSC-S75
Review Update
The original review was based on a pre-production camera, Sony have since
provided us with a full production unit, we have now updated this review
to reflect the final camera. Here's a summary of what's changed since
the original camera we reviewed:
Power switch is now larger and moved to a 3 o'clock position around
the mode dial
Label for LCD button has changed from DISPLAY to "DSPL/LCD ON/OFF"
Visual confirmation of focus position is now clearer (focus point
is "sharpened" on-screen)
Shot-to-shot times roughly halved (3.6 seconds vs. 6 seconds)
Areas of the review which have been updated (often completely re-written,
tested and re-shot samples) are marked with "*U".
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital
Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you
understand some of the terms used).
Photographs of the camera
were taken with a Canon EOS-D30, images which can be viewed at a
larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right
corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger
(normally 1024 x 768 or smaller if cropped) image in a new window.
To navigate the review simply
use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section
either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the
navigation bar at the top.
DPReview calibrate their
monitors using Adobe Gamma at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal
gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference
between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below.
We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able
to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B
and C.
This review is Copyright 2001 Phil
Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any
electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.
For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images)
please contact: Phil Askey.
Buy the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S75 from Amazon
Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera
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$24.99
Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera
w/ 3x Optical Zoom
$24.99
Sony DSC-RX100/B 20.2 MP Exmor CMOS Sensor Digital Camera
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