My experiences with this camera were a real mixed bag....
Firstly, I loved the handling. The "unconventional" method of holding and using this camera quickly became second nature. The weight also felt good, don't be put off by this unless you are seeking a truly compact camera. The weight / shape combination adds up to a nicely balanced and steady photographic tool that any SLR user will immediately understand & welcome (though the actual ergonomics differ).
My first shots (around 100) were taken at night, hand-held at an outdoors fair / sideshow under varied (from murky to downright gaudy!) artificial lighting conditions. I left the camera in full auto mode, though with the flash disabled. I was astounded by the results: nearly always perfectly exposed, pin-sharp, great colours and with very little noise. And all hand-held without flash!
My next series of shots were indoors at night-time family gatherings. Typically, the camera was again left in full auto mode with flash enabled & active for most shots. Typical compositional circumstances were 2 or 3 family member subjects at about 2 to 3 metres from the camera. The performance in these circumstances was decidely inconsistent: sometimes the subjects were sharply in focus, sometimes quite un-focused, often somewhere in between, looking quite "soft-focused". AF assist (hologram) also often struggled in these circumstances. Noise / grain was also often quite evident. Colours were decidedly washed out (even with the flash-strength setting reduced). White balance was left on auto, maybe a manually set or incandescent setting would have produced better results.
My next shots were taken in bright daylight, outdoors. This series of 60 or so shots was again taken mainly in full auto mode though some in "P" mode with exposure value & white balance adjustments. I also experimented with aperture and shutter speed priority modes, trying out depth of field capabilities etc. The resulting shots alarmed me. Most were very flat & lifeless, colours looked "yellowed" and contrast was ordinary. Worse still, noise / grain was very noticeable in many shots, in bright sunshine! I was perplexed and tried a similar series of shots taking my humble Canon A40 along to compare shots. Although the A40's limitation of 2 mp was evident compared to the sheer size and detail of the 717 shots, in almost every comparison the A40's result was a more accurate & "pleasing" shot. Again, the 717's results were flat, lifeless and looking downright yellowed compared to the cheap & cheerful A40. In my experience Canon digicams can have a tendency toward overly-processed, "Disney-ish" colours & enhanced contrast, but in almost every case the Canon result was closer than the Sony in reproducing the actual colours, contrast etc. of the scenes I was shooting. Again, grain was also very evident in many shots. Now I was really sweating! I'd just paid $2000 Australian for a camera that produced results that were less pleasing (and more importantly) less *accurate* than my $500 A 40. I went over and over these shots for days, sought opinions from others but just couldn't convince myself that the Sony was delivering the goods. Maybe my individual camera had some faults: white balance, CCD (given the noisy daylight shots) ??? I really wanted to love this camera. At it's best (in low-light with flash disabled) it produced results better than I could ever have hoped. Macro was also very impresive (though with some barrel distortion and lens shadow problems). But in nearly all other circumstances, the results were simply disappointing and perplexing.
In the end (after 10 days or so) I returned the Sony and purchased a Canon G3. I miss the handling, build quality and 5 mp of the Sony...but not the noise that seemed to go with it. The most alarming shortcoming of the Sony was the appalling "lifelessness" of shots in bright daylight conditions. Do *not* mistake this for the understated, lifelike colours and contrast that I expected (from reviews and opinions such as those expressed in this site) and hoped the Sony would produce. They were simply flat. I wanted to make this post to assist others in coming up with a balanced decision in weighing up their options at the 4 / 5 mp end (as I have been doing for months). Everything I read about the 717 suggested images were always top grade. Unfortunately this simply hasn't been my experience.
Thanks for reading.
Problems:
See above.
Firstly, I loved the handling. The "unconventional" method of holding and using this camera quickly became second nature. The weight also felt good, don't be put off by this unless you are seeking a truly compact camera. The weight / shape combination adds up to a nicely balanced and steady photographic tool that any SLR user will immediately understand & welcome (though the actual ergonomics differ).
My first shots (around 100) were taken at night, hand-held at an outdoors fair / sideshow under varied (from murky to downright gaudy!) artificial lighting conditions. I left the camera in full auto mode, though with the flash disabled. I was astounded by the results: nearly always perfectly exposed, pin-sharp, great colours and with very little noise. And all hand-held without flash!
My next series of shots were indoors at night-time family gatherings. Typically, the camera was again left in full auto mode with flash enabled & active for most shots. Typical compositional circumstances were 2 or 3 family member subjects at about 2 to 3 metres from the camera. The performance in these circumstances was decidely inconsistent: sometimes the subjects were sharply in focus, sometimes quite un-focused, often somewhere in between, looking quite "soft-focused". AF assist (hologram) also often struggled in these circumstances. Noise / grain was also often quite evident. Colours were decidedly washed out (even with the flash-strength setting reduced). White balance was left on auto, maybe a manually set or incandescent setting would have produced better results.
My next shots were taken in bright daylight, outdoors. This series of 60 or so shots was again taken mainly in full auto mode though some in "P" mode with exposure value & white balance adjustments. I also experimented with aperture and shutter speed priority modes, trying out depth of field capabilities etc. The resulting shots alarmed me. Most were very flat & lifeless, colours looked "yellowed" and contrast was ordinary. Worse still, noise / grain was very noticeable in many shots, in bright sunshine! I was perplexed and tried a similar series of shots taking my humble Canon A40 along to compare shots. Although the A40's limitation of 2 mp was evident compared to the sheer size and detail of the 717 shots, in almost every comparison the A40's result was a more accurate & "pleasing" shot. Again, the 717's results were flat, lifeless and looking downright yellowed compared to the cheap & cheerful A40. In my experience Canon digicams can have a tendency toward overly-processed, "Disney-ish" colours & enhanced contrast, but in almost every case the Canon result was closer than the Sony in reproducing the actual colours, contrast etc. of the scenes I was shooting. Again, grain was also very evident in many shots. Now I was really sweating! I'd just paid $2000 Australian for a camera that produced results that were less pleasing (and more importantly) less *accurate* than my $500 A 40. I went over and over these shots for days, sought opinions from others but just couldn't convince myself that the Sony was delivering the goods. Maybe my individual camera had some faults: white balance, CCD (given the noisy daylight shots) ??? I really wanted to love this camera. At it's best (in low-light with flash disabled) it produced results better than I could ever have hoped. Macro was also very impresive (though with some barrel distortion and lens shadow problems). But in nearly all other circumstances, the results were simply disappointing and perplexing.
In the end (after 10 days or so) I returned the Sony and purchased a Canon G3. I miss the handling, build quality and 5 mp of the Sony...but not the noise that seemed to go with it. The most alarming shortcoming of the Sony was the appalling "lifelessness" of shots in bright daylight conditions. Do *not* mistake this for the understated, lifelike colours and contrast that I expected (from reviews and opinions such as those expressed in this site) and hoped the Sony would produce. They were simply flat. I wanted to make this post to assist others in coming up with a balanced decision in weighing up their options at the 4 / 5 mp end (as I have been doing for months). Everything I read about the 717 suggested images were always top grade. Unfortunately this simply hasn't been my experience.
Thanks for reading.
Problems:
See above.