Bobby Tan
Forum Enthusiast
What is so good about the Sony F828? Let me count the ways .....
1. The Lens. The Carl Zeiss lens is legendary, and second only to a Leica/Leitz lens. The Zeiss T* proprietary multi-coating is as close as you will get to the Zeiss T* coated lenses for the Contax SLR and medium format cameras. Previous F-series models are not T* coated. The color balance and color fidelity of Zeiss lenses is incredible.
The zoom coverage and speed of the lens is superior to the F717. Not many zoom lenses have a 28-200mm coverage, and the F2.0 - F2.8 speed is incredibly fast, so you can shoot in ISO 100 even when the light level is very low. The new/improved lens alone is worth the upgrade from the F717, in my view.
2. The Body. The body is a radical improvement over earlier models. It is a lot beefier/heftier than the earlier models. The tough magnesium alloy material is the same material that is being used in the more expensive pro SLRs. It certainly feels more like an SLR in your hands than the F717. This is certainly no cheap plastic camera like most point-and-shoots, and some entry level SLRs. This tough and rigid body can stand years of heavy use and abuse. For some, this reason alone would justify buying this camera.
3. The New Sensor. 8 million pixels. 4-color RGBE CCD. A marketing gimmick? Ask Nikon. Rumor has it that Nikon is incorporating this new Sony sensor into their latest Coolpix 8000 model. How Cool is that? Noise? What noise? All the images we have seen so far are from pre-production samples, and pre-production tests are as reliable as the polls. Even then, some of the recent samples look very impressive - clean and noiseless. Who do you want to believe? Don't believe either. Wait for the REAL test results. But if Nikon is willing to bank their reputation on this new sensor, I am sold. I mean, who would you put your trust in - members of this forum or Sony and Nikon put together?
4. File Capture. Not happy with just JPEG? Well, you can now get RAW+JPEG with every shot that you take. You will only find this feature in the latest D-SLRs. The F828 also feature an astounding 14-bit A/D converter. Theoretically therefore i.e. depending on your level of skill/expertise, with a RAW file and the new sensor (and if you use your live histogram correctly) you can now (with the F828) take your pictures to a HIGHER level than the remarkably stunning images taken by "T GLOW with the F717:
http://www.usefilm.com/browse.php?offset=0&data=13937&mode=port&thispage=Community
5. Storage. 1GB Memory Stick Pro is not good enough for you? Stick a 4GB Compact Flash card in ... or have both of them in the camera. The F828 allows you to do this, so you can keep shooting in RAW+JPRG mode. Even the top professional cameras cannot offer you this feature.
6. Live Histogram. This is essential if you want your original images to be of the highest possible quality. You don't want to rely on the camera's auto exposure/metering recommendation, the same way that professional photographers do not always rely on the in-camera metering system. The histogram enables you to meter the scene A LOT more accurately. The histogram function is your built-in hand-held meter for precise metering and total control.
7. Speed of Operation. I understand the F828 will be even faster than the F717 ... in start-up time (less than 2 sec), capture/write speed with almost zero shutter lag, fast auto-focussing, and a very high transfer speed with USB 2.0. By comparison, the 300D connectivity is USB 1.1.
8. Hot Shoe. The hot shoe is a real hot shoe, so you have all of the advantages of using a powerful external flash unit with off-camera flash capability (I think).
9. Auto and Manual Modes. Expose in auto or manual. Focus in auto or manual. Zoom in manual for more precise framing. Some entry-level D-SLRs don't even allow you to do this.
10. Movie/video clip, IR photography, live preview, swiveling LCD, 5-point focussing, NightShot, NightFraming, auto-focus illumination lamp for focussing in total darkness, noise-reduction features, white balance options, in-camera picture effects and image parameters, and what-have-you.
Now ... can you name me one other camera (prosumer or D-SLR) that has all of the above features and still retail at $1,200? The image quality coming out of this camera is no less than maybe 70% of a D-SLR with an APS-size or even full-frame sensor ... and it's looking increasingly likely that it will be closer to 90%. All this is speculation, of course, but we will know this for a fact soon enough when we have actual test reports of this dream camera.
Obviously the F828 is not for everyone, and certainly not for most pros, as it is not a systems camera and it will not allow you to change lenses. But for those amongst us (non pros) who would rather travel light and have a digital camera that is as good as most D-SLRs in terms of image capture quality, this is the camera. The Minolta A1 comes very close, and it offers image stabilization, but the F828 is my pick ... because of the Zeiss lens.
Thank you, Sony, for putting out a very fine digital camera at an affordable price!
1. The Lens. The Carl Zeiss lens is legendary, and second only to a Leica/Leitz lens. The Zeiss T* proprietary multi-coating is as close as you will get to the Zeiss T* coated lenses for the Contax SLR and medium format cameras. Previous F-series models are not T* coated. The color balance and color fidelity of Zeiss lenses is incredible.
The zoom coverage and speed of the lens is superior to the F717. Not many zoom lenses have a 28-200mm coverage, and the F2.0 - F2.8 speed is incredibly fast, so you can shoot in ISO 100 even when the light level is very low. The new/improved lens alone is worth the upgrade from the F717, in my view.
2. The Body. The body is a radical improvement over earlier models. It is a lot beefier/heftier than the earlier models. The tough magnesium alloy material is the same material that is being used in the more expensive pro SLRs. It certainly feels more like an SLR in your hands than the F717. This is certainly no cheap plastic camera like most point-and-shoots, and some entry level SLRs. This tough and rigid body can stand years of heavy use and abuse. For some, this reason alone would justify buying this camera.
3. The New Sensor. 8 million pixels. 4-color RGBE CCD. A marketing gimmick? Ask Nikon. Rumor has it that Nikon is incorporating this new Sony sensor into their latest Coolpix 8000 model. How Cool is that? Noise? What noise? All the images we have seen so far are from pre-production samples, and pre-production tests are as reliable as the polls. Even then, some of the recent samples look very impressive - clean and noiseless. Who do you want to believe? Don't believe either. Wait for the REAL test results. But if Nikon is willing to bank their reputation on this new sensor, I am sold. I mean, who would you put your trust in - members of this forum or Sony and Nikon put together?
4. File Capture. Not happy with just JPEG? Well, you can now get RAW+JPEG with every shot that you take. You will only find this feature in the latest D-SLRs. The F828 also feature an astounding 14-bit A/D converter. Theoretically therefore i.e. depending on your level of skill/expertise, with a RAW file and the new sensor (and if you use your live histogram correctly) you can now (with the F828) take your pictures to a HIGHER level than the remarkably stunning images taken by "T GLOW with the F717:
http://www.usefilm.com/browse.php?offset=0&data=13937&mode=port&thispage=Community
5. Storage. 1GB Memory Stick Pro is not good enough for you? Stick a 4GB Compact Flash card in ... or have both of them in the camera. The F828 allows you to do this, so you can keep shooting in RAW+JPRG mode. Even the top professional cameras cannot offer you this feature.
6. Live Histogram. This is essential if you want your original images to be of the highest possible quality. You don't want to rely on the camera's auto exposure/metering recommendation, the same way that professional photographers do not always rely on the in-camera metering system. The histogram enables you to meter the scene A LOT more accurately. The histogram function is your built-in hand-held meter for precise metering and total control.
7. Speed of Operation. I understand the F828 will be even faster than the F717 ... in start-up time (less than 2 sec), capture/write speed with almost zero shutter lag, fast auto-focussing, and a very high transfer speed with USB 2.0. By comparison, the 300D connectivity is USB 1.1.
8. Hot Shoe. The hot shoe is a real hot shoe, so you have all of the advantages of using a powerful external flash unit with off-camera flash capability (I think).
9. Auto and Manual Modes. Expose in auto or manual. Focus in auto or manual. Zoom in manual for more precise framing. Some entry-level D-SLRs don't even allow you to do this.
10. Movie/video clip, IR photography, live preview, swiveling LCD, 5-point focussing, NightShot, NightFraming, auto-focus illumination lamp for focussing in total darkness, noise-reduction features, white balance options, in-camera picture effects and image parameters, and what-have-you.
Now ... can you name me one other camera (prosumer or D-SLR) that has all of the above features and still retail at $1,200? The image quality coming out of this camera is no less than maybe 70% of a D-SLR with an APS-size or even full-frame sensor ... and it's looking increasingly likely that it will be closer to 90%. All this is speculation, of course, but we will know this for a fact soon enough when we have actual test reports of this dream camera.
Obviously the F828 is not for everyone, and certainly not for most pros, as it is not a systems camera and it will not allow you to change lenses. But for those amongst us (non pros) who would rather travel light and have a digital camera that is as good as most D-SLRs in terms of image capture quality, this is the camera. The Minolta A1 comes very close, and it offers image stabilization, but the F828 is my pick ... because of the Zeiss lens.
Thank you, Sony, for putting out a very fine digital camera at an affordable price!
