Review 5 of 6
Price Paid:
$360.00
from online Summary:
Firstly, the ergonomics. Amazing. A little beauty, sturdy, small, lightweight and all controls are within very easy reach. One of the finest cameras I have ever seen in this category. In fully automatic mode, the picture quality is good for beginners but don't expect too much. Unfortunately the camera chooses relatively slow shutter speeds on auto (about 1/40). The camera is very prone to shaking because of its small size which can result in blurry pictures, that people tend to complain about.
In Program or manual mode you can set: focus mode, metering mode, white balance mode, and ISO. Manual lets you control exposure settings as well. Program mode will let you change exposure values (+-2EV). The auto-focus is usually accurate and very fast. Manual options are very limited to 0.5m/1m/3m/7m/inf, but center-focus usually does the job. The "smart" 5 point auto-focus works well by default, but there are many situations where it could get lost, use it with care.
Metering is either spot or matrix, both are very accurate. ISO speeds are 100,200 or 400 with very low noise (even at night) up to 200. 400 is also exceptable, especially in daylight. Auto mode chooses any value between 100 and 320 with minimal noise. White balance is either auto or 1 of 4 presets, but sadly no manual setting. However the presets usually do the job, or fine tune the results on your computer.
Exposure: Aperture choices are limited. Only 2 choices at any focal lengths (f2.8/5.6 at wide or f5.2/10 at tele), it seems sufficient however. Shutter speeds are very diverse, from 1/2000 to 30 seconds with many inbetween steps (but fastest is 1/1000 in manual mode).
If you know what you're doing with the aid of the light meter (and the excellent live histogram) you will get very beautiful images with excellent colors and good details.
The Zeiss lens retract into the body very quickly when not in use, and are of high quality providing excellent colors and good detail, low CA. Unfortunately quite slow at f2.8-f5.2. Focal range is 38mm-114mm, not wide enough for many uses, but quite average nowadays.
Low-light performance is great with long exposures outside on a tripod. Indoors the AF-assist lamp helps when its totally dark but is usually activated without a need and forces center-focus (can be disabled).
Lastly, don't forget the great LCD, movie mode and extremely fast operating speeds. Strengths:
Great ergonomics, beautiful design, good battery life with only 2 AAs, very fast operation, very good image quality in manual mode, advanced 640x480 30fps movie mode, very accurate flash (doesn't under or over expose subjects), large and clear LCD, good macro shots, quality lens, low noise in pictures, and available lens add-ons. Weaknesses:
Flash is weak, no sound memo, limited manual focus, no manual WB, limited aperture choices, no shutter or aperture priority modes (though not really missing), prone to shaking (requires fast shutter speeds). Similar Products Used:
Sony V1, many others.
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