Why I returned the S70

[Frances]

You did the right thing, now did you get the 990?
I hope so.
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1007&message=243106
Aloha.

Frances.

For several weeks I had been waiting anxiously for an S70. Two weeks
ago, I finally found one at a local Circuit City. I used it every day
for two weeks and took several hundred shots. The result? Last Saturday
(the last day of the return period), I returned it. I was very
disappointed.

I have no doubt that the S70 will be a good camera for many people. For
me, however, it was just another example of Sony's form over substance
mentality (and I am a big Sony fan).

The issues that caused me the most concern and disappointment included:

1. Verrrrrrry sloooooow. The shutter lag is very slow even if you
prefocus. I have tried the Nikon 990, the Oly 3030 and the Sony is
glacially slow by comparison. Either you have to have a crystal ball or
you will miss lots of pictures waiting on the camera. A burst mode would
have helped on this, but...

2. No burst mode. How could Sony do this? You get one shot, then wait.
Another shot, then wait. Either Sony forgot to include a RAM buffer or,
more likely, they just didn't design the camera to take advantage of it.
In this evolution of digicams, the absence of a burst mode (together with
the slow record speed) makes the camera little more than a snap shot tool
for fixed subjects.

3. The freeze on the LCD when focusing makes focusing on a moving object
very unnatural.

4. No manual mode. Again, what was Sony thinking?

5. Proprietary flash only. This is typical Sony but it is still
frustrating.

6. User interface: convoluted to say the least. Changing white balance
settings outdoors (or changing most settings outdoors) requires use of
the LCD which, in many cases, is unreadable. It also takes too many steps
to change some of the basic settings.

7. Nonsenical metering. Why can't I use Aperture priority and Spot
metering at the same time? Spot metering should be separate from the
aperture and shutter priority modes. I am unaware of any other camera
that has this limitation.

8. No telephoto lens. This is the problem with closed solutions of any
kind. There is no tele lens available (or apparently planned).

9. The viewfinder. While I applaud Sony for including a viewfinder, I
was very disappointed that it was so inaccurate (showing only about 80%
of the frame).

10. Movie mode. I didn't buy the camera for this mode but once I had
it, I was shocked to see that you cannot zoom in or out while taking a
movie. This is really a shortcoming for Sony.

11. 8 mb Memory Stick??? That's just silly. Why would Sony include
only an 8 Mb Memory Stick. I am not a Memory Stick fan (too slow and too
limited in size) but I did not make my decision based on the MS
technology. If everything else had been up to par, I would have gladly
lived with the Memory stick. Its disadvantages are outweighed by the
great battery life.

12. Picture quality. Good quality (but maybe a bit overexposed) but not
as pleasing to my eye as either the Oly or the Nikon. Also, why are
there no compression settings? This is a noticeable omission by Sony.

There were a few other minor issues, but overall I was disappointed in
Sony's effort here. It is a nice snap shot camera but that is not how it
has been positioned in the market. As a competitor to the Nikon 990 or
Oly 3030, my experience was that it fell way short. Hopefully

Kindest regards,

Mark

 

[Dentist]

Are you sales manager of Nikon?
or do you have the papers of Nikon on Wall Street?

Frances.

For several weeks I had been waiting anxiously for an S70. Two weeks
ago, I finally found one at a local Circuit City. I used it every day
for two weeks and took several hundred shots. The result? Last Saturday
(the last day of the return period), I returned it. I was very
disappointed.

I have no doubt that the S70 will be a good camera for many people. For
me, however, it was just another example of Sony's form over substance
mentality (and I am a big Sony fan).

The issues that caused me the most concern and disappointment included:

1. Verrrrrrry sloooooow. The shutter lag is very slow even if you
prefocus. I have tried the Nikon 990, the Oly 3030 and the Sony is
glacially slow by comparison. Either you have to have a crystal ball or
you will miss lots of pictures waiting on the camera. A burst mode would
have helped on this, but...

2. No burst mode. How could Sony do this? You get one shot, then wait.
Another shot, then wait. Either Sony forgot to include a RAM buffer or,
more likely, they just didn't design the camera to take advantage of it.
In this evolution of digicams, the absence of a burst mode (together with
the slow record speed) makes the camera little more than a snap shot tool
for fixed subjects.

3. The freeze on the LCD when focusing makes focusing on a moving object
very unnatural.

4. No manual mode. Again, what was Sony thinking?

5. Proprietary flash only. This is typical Sony but it is still
frustrating.

6. User interface: convoluted to say the least. Changing white balance
settings outdoors (or changing most settings outdoors) requires use of
the LCD which, in many cases, is unreadable. It also takes too many steps
to change some of the basic settings.

7. Nonsenical metering. Why can't I use Aperture priority and Spot
metering at the same time? Spot metering should be separate from the
aperture and shutter priority modes. I am unaware of any other camera
that has this limitation.

8. No telephoto lens. This is the problem with closed solutions of any
kind. There is no tele lens available (or apparently planned).

9. The viewfinder. While I applaud Sony for including a viewfinder, I
was very disappointed that it was so inaccurate (showing only about 80%
of the frame).

10. Movie mode. I didn't buy the camera for this mode but once I had
it, I was shocked to see that you cannot zoom in or out while taking a
movie. This is really a shortcoming for Sony.

11. 8 mb Memory Stick??? That's just silly. Why would Sony include
only an 8 Mb Memory Stick. I am not a Memory Stick fan (too slow and too
limited in size) but I did not make my decision based on the MS
technology. If everything else had been up to par, I would have gladly
lived with the Memory stick. Its disadvantages are outweighed by the
great battery life.

12. Picture quality. Good quality (but maybe a bit overexposed) but not
as pleasing to my eye as either the Oly or the Nikon. Also, why are
there no compression settings? This is a noticeable omission by Sony.

There were a few other minor issues, but overall I was disappointed in
Sony's effort here. It is a nice snap shot camera but that is not how it
has been positioned in the market. As a competitor to the Nikon 990 or
Oly 3030, my experience was that it fell way short. Hopefully

Kindest regards,

Mark

 

[Ulysses]

Horst, of all your points, I believe that this one quoted below is the most relevant where the S70 is concerned.

Actually, the technicians at Sony are among the best in the world. They know how not only to make a product but also lead the world in doing it.

The S70, I believe is an excellent digicam that does what it was fully intended to do. What we've seen with the S70 is definitely a marketing decision and a way to produce differentiated products. Look at the similarities and yet the differences between it and the upcoming F505V. It's not that you CAN'T do one thing with the internals of one camera versus the other. It's just that they've stacked the deck for the marketed public.

Sony is no more or less evil in this regard than any other tech company out there. For example, the IBM Thinkpad lineup or most other product lineups for other companies all demonstrate the same sort of marketing. Honda DX, LX, EX, etc. You want the moonroof? Gotta buy the EX. It won't get you a bit more mileage, though.

Bottom line for me. Do the research, make a decision, then have fun taking pics. Get a few friends to say, "Wow!! Look! You took that with what?!? Wow!" It's all about the joy.

Who knows, how the marketing guys have influenced the technicians.

 

[Robert Leigh]

Mark,

Another view:

[email protected]
10:24:00 PM, 11/May/2000

I ordered the Sony S70 from Ecost at $734.00 and received it two days ago (took four days for delivery). I have spent only a few hours with it but am impressed with how easy it is to learn. All of the menu controls actually make sense... even to me the novice! I had heard so much concern about how small the 8MB memory stick was but it holds over a hundred still shots at the lowest resolution. I took three short movies (lasting about 10 secs each) and at least 15 still shots at varying resolutions before the memory card was full. The battery life is impressive. The pictures are great and even though it does not have a burst mode, it is easy to take good action shots by setting the focus at infinity, clicking the shutter halfway to focus, and then taking the shot as the moving target comes by ( in my case a racecar). Even in low light, the pictures are excellent with only the flash that is supplied. The only accessories that I will want to buy are a camera case and eventually a 64MB memory stick. Hope this helps anyone in their purchasing decision!
--
Peace,
Laura

 

[misha]

Mark,

Another view:

[email protected]
10:24:00 PM, 11/May/2000

I had heard so much concern about how small the 8MB memory stick was but it holds over a hundred still shots at the lowest resolution.

Hmm... A strange argument - who needs to a 3 megapixel camera to shoot most or all images on a card in VGA resolution?

The pictures are great and even though it does not have a burst mode, it is
easy to take good action shots by setting the focus at infinity, clicking
the shutter halfway to focus, and then taking the shot as the moving
target comes by

If you set the focus at infinity, there's no need to click the shutter to focus - the focus is fixed (and it may not be as accurate as actually focusing on your subject).

Misha

 

[Ken Morris]

Misha

The memory stick shouldn't be an issue with any of the new digital cameras. I am suprised that this issue keeps surfacing. Whether the manufacturer provides a 8m or 16m medium, either is fairly useless. To take pictures at the highest jpeg quality, you will need 32m or above.

Sony is no worse than Nikon or Canon as far as what is provided in this area. The only company that really provided value as far as memory is concerned is Casio by packaging the IBM microdrive.

-Ken Morris

Mark,

Another view:

[email protected]
10:24:00 PM, 11/May/2000

I had heard so much concern about how small the 8MB memory stick was but it holds over a hundred still shots at the lowest resolution.

Hmm... A strange argument - who needs to a 3 megapixel camera to shoot
most or all images on a card in VGA resolution?

The pictures are great and even though it does not have a burst mode, it is
easy to take good action shots by setting the focus at infinity, clicking
the shutter halfway to focus, and then taking the shot as the moving
target comes by

If you set the focus at infinity, there's no need to click the shutter to
focus - the focus is fixed (and it may not be as accurate as actually
focusing on your subject).

Misha

 

[Tony Reynolds]

Tony,
It's "panfocus" mode not panorama.

This is meant as a polite correction, we don't want to start the rumour
about this camera having a "panorama" mode.

Gerrit:

Thanks for the correction. I was in a hurry and didn't have the time to open another window to get the correct info. Shame on me!

TR

 

[Andreas P.]

Mark,

Just to emphasize the different strokes for differnt folks thing, the
FD-95 I have on order supposedly takes up to 20 seconds between shots
when using the MS and floppy adapter. Makes the S70 seem super fast by
comparison, but I'm willing to live with the 20 seconds because of other
features I want. A weed is a plant growing in the wrong place.
Likewise, what's good or bad abut a product often depends on the needs of
the user.

Rodger

Rodger,

You are absolutely right.
I am very interested in the FD95 because of it's zoom. The 20 seconds is

a big minus. If they will have resolved the problems of the FD91 maybe it will still
be my choice. If not i will probably get the Nikon and have to bear the Kenko
lens.

Best regards,

Andreas
a