Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Review, Phil Askey & Simon Joinson

Review based on a production Alpha DSLR-A700 with firmware version 2.0

It's been almost two years since Konica Minolta pulled out of the photo business and transferred its entire camera division to Sony, and well over a year since the first Sony DSLR (the DSLR-A100) was announced. Two years is a long time in the digital SLR market, but the three years Minolta (latterly Konica Minolta, now Sony) SLR users have been waiting for a high end model to replace the innovative Maxxum (Dynax) 7D must have felt like a lifetime. But, finally, it's here, and it looks very much like the mockup shown earlier in the year.

Like the A100, the new camera still wears its Konica Minolta heritage very much on its sleeve, and when you start to look a little more closely at the specification it's obvious that there's still an awful lot of Konica Minolta DNA in the A700. This is hardly surprising given that the circumstances behind its development.

And, just as the A100 was obviously based on - and designed to be a successor to - the KM 5D, the A700 follows on from the 7D, and - despite lots of Sony touches and an attractive new design - 7D users are likely to find using the new model reassuringly familiar.

But of course Sony doesn't only have existing system users in its cross hairs; the A700 is designed to go head to head with the latest 'prosumer' models from Nikon, Canon and Pentax. Whether the A700 offers enough to really put Sony on the DSLR map will be decided when we get to look properly at the image quality, but on specification, features and handling it certainly seems to have what it takes to play with the big boys.

Interestingly the one thing the A700 doesn't have is any form of live view; when we spoke to Sony about this the answer was simple; they believe that the compromises involved in current systems are satisfactory, and they won't implement live view until they can 'get it right'. Whether the lack of live view has any real relevance in a camera at this level remains to be seen; we doubt it.

The A700 shares many technologies with earlier Konica Minolta models (including, naturally, the lens mount), plus all those introduced in the A100 - though virtually all have been uprated or upgraded in one way or another (we've been told the A100 and A700 share virtually no components). From the sensor to the construction of the body to the GUI to the extensive feature set, this is a very different camera to the entry-level A100 (more of which later in this review). We'll start by looking at what's specifically new to this model:

What's new (highlights)

12.2 megapixel APS-C 'Exmor' CMOS For its first 'advanced amateur' model Sony has dropped the CCD used in the A100 and moved to a totally new 12MP CMOS sensor. Designed to offer low noise and high speed (thanks to its on-chip A/D conversion) the 'Exmor' sensor puts the A700 in direct competition with Nikon's new D300.	Bionz Image Processor Continuing Sony's habit of slapping a daft name on every component is an all-new version of the Bionz image processor, optimized for the new CMOS sensor. Again, this is claimed to boost speed and features a two-stage RAW noise reduction system. The combination of fast sensor and fast processor mean the A700 can offer 5 frames per second for up to 18 raw 12MP files.
New AF Sensor The A700 features an 11 point focus system with a newly developed Center Double Cross AF sensor, claimed to offer 'the highest precision AD ever in a D-SLR'. The center focus point has two horizontal and two vertical sensors plus a new high precision (horizontal) sensor in the middle. This sensor has a baseline that is about twice as long as earlier AF sensors, enabling in theory, twice the focusing accuracy with lenses with a maximum aperture of F2.8 or larger.
Faster focusing Sony has also redesigned the focus mechanics, AF algorithm and microprocessor to offer faster AF. The target, apparently, was the fastest AF in any SLR, and to match Minolta's Maxxum 7 film SLR.	New High Speed shutter Carbon fibre shutter offering 1/8000 sec top speed and 1/250th sec x-sync (1/200th if SteadyShot is on). Sony is quoting a 100,000 shutter cycle life.
Anti-Blur Refinements to the Super SteadyShot CCD-shift stabilization system are now claimed to deliver up to 4 stops advantage.	Optical Pentaprism In place of the A100's pentamirror design comes an optical pentaprism viewfinder with anti reflective coating offering better brightness, better eye relief and high magnification. The spherical acute matte focus screen is now interchangeable.
Aluminum chassis/Magnesium body Newly-developed high strength aluminum chassis which is 5% lighter and 3x stronger than the A100. Sony tells us the aluminum used is as strong as duralumin and required the development of new processing technology (it is apparently very difficult to work with). The body shell itself is constructed from Magnesium Alloy.	Environmental Sealing The A700's buttons and levers are sealed to protect against dust and moisture (though it's worth pointing out that the camera is in no way 'waterproof' or 'splashproof').
X-Fine 3.0" LCD One of the first things you notice about the A700 is the stunning 3.0 screen. With 922,000 (well, 640 x 480 x RGB) pixels it has a resolution of 267ppi, plus high contrast and a wide viewing angle. A new high resolution GUI takes full advantage of the new screen.	Full 1080 HD output The A700 has an HDMI terminal and offers full 1080i HDTV output, plus a new 16:9 aspect ratio shooting option for TV viewing. The A700 is the first SLR to support Sony's new PhotoTV HD viewing protocol (which basically tells a Bravia TV to optimize the picture for stills viewing and produces better quality).
Wireless remote control The A700 includes a wireless remote control offering a fairly comprehensive set of controls (though all but the shutter release only work when the camera is attached to a TV).	Dual Storage Formats Not sure how important this will be to most users, but the A700 now offers both Memory Stick Duo and CompactFlash storage options.
New kit lens Along with the A700 comes a new compact wide range bundle lens, the DT 16-105mm F3.5-5.6. The lens covers a range equivalent to 24 to 160mm and has internal focusing (though not zooming).	New Vertical Grip Most interesting of the new accessories launched with the A700 is the VG-C70AM Vertical Grip. The grip offers a portrait shooting shutter button, two control dials (and a full set of buttons) and accepts two battery packs.

Other new / upgraded features of note:

• New advanced Dynamic Range optimizer functions (also supported in RAW)
• New software bundle with all-new raw converter
• Dedicated AF illuminator (red LED)
• New Creative Styles (expansion of color modes function on A100)
• 0.3 EV steps (or 0.5 EV if you prefer)
• ISO 3200-6400 expanded range
• Compressed Raw mode and X-Fine JPEG mode
• High ISO noise reduction control
• Grip sensor (optional trigger for eye control)
• RGB histograms
• New 'Quick Navi' control system

3 years on: A700 vs Konica Minolta Maxxum (Dynax) 7D

Before we look at the A700 and how it compares to Sony's first DSLR (the A100) and the rest of the market it's worth having a quick look at how it compares with the Konica Minolta 7D. Our first impression of the A700 was that in spirit (and very much in reality when you look closely) it is the successor to KM's first (and only) high-end digital SLR, introduced almost exactly 3 years ago at PMA 2004. it's obvious that the A700 contains a lot of Minolta DNA (there are elements of the D7D and the Maxxum/Dynax 7 film SLR in its design and control layout) and it's fair to say that - for users of Minolta's lens system - it can be considered a (long awaited) successor.

Although the styling has been given a modern twist and the D7D's button / switch overkill has been toned down a little, it's not hard to see where Sony's designers started from, and there are many features from the D7D that made it almost unchanged into the A700. These include the basic control layout (the second dial has been lost and replaced by a simpler on-screen 'Quick Navi' system), the magnesium alloy construction, the eye-start focus, CCD-shift IS and high level of customization and the optional vertical shooting grip. For potential upgraders looking for a reason to trade up from a D7D to Sony's new 'Advanced Amateur' model here's just a brief taste of what three years difference makes:

• Twice as many pixels: 12MP CMOS sensor (vs 6MP CCD)
• New shutter with higher maximum speed and higher sync speed
• Bigger screen with three times the resolution
• Improvements to focus speed and accuracy
• Faster (5 fps) continuous shooting capabilities and better buffering
• New 40 segment honeycomb metering
• Better GUI and huge range of new features
• HDTV output
• Creative Styles and lots of new parameters to play with
• HDTV output

Exmor CMOS sensor

The A700 is the first DSLR to feature Sony's new CMOS sensor (now christened 'Exmor' - apparently not named after the national park in Devon or its eponymous ponies). Actually to be more accurate it's the first DLSR that we know of to use the new sensor (other manufacturers tend not to boast about using Sony technology in their flagship cameras, but there has been some conjecture about the Nikon D300, for example).

But I digress. The interesting thing about the new Exmor sensor - announced a couple of months ago (see news story) - is that it takes a very different approach to A/D conversion (turning the analogue output of the sensor into the digital 0's and 1's that will be processed and turned into the final raw or JPEG file). Instead of using a separate A/D processor further down the imaging pipeline, the Exmor has lots of them built into CMOS sensor itself (there's one per column - that's over 4000 in this chip).

The advantage, in theory, is lower noise (though Sony's original technical documents talk about a big boost in speed too), since the analog pathway is greatly reduced and analog signal noise reduction can happen a lot earlier in the process. I'm not going to go into any more detail here about the technicalities of the Exmor sensor's unique design (mainly because the information we have is quite sketchy), but it is certainly an interesting development. We will be interested to see how well it performs in the real world (the proof, as with all these things, is in the pudding).

Below is how Sony makes this all seem very simple and friendly using evil spiky noise bugs getting mixed in with lovely golden balls of analog signal:

The A700's process in simple terms - the key thing here is that the job of turning each pixel's analog output into a digital file is split between the Exmor sensor (with on-chip column A/D conversion) and the Bionz processor (raw data NR and image processing).
In a conventional CCD-based system noise in the the analog output from the sensor builds due to the (relatively) long signal path before digital conversion.
The A700's sensor produces a digital output because there is an A/D converter on every column, meaning the analog signal path is short. This in theory means less noise in the analog signal and a cleaner output for the digital NR systems to work with.

Compared to Alpha 100 - key differences

Although the A700 and A100 are clearly aimed at very different parts of the market (entry level and advanced amateur) the mere fact that this is only Sony's second DSLR model means that many potential purchasers will be looking closely at what the key differences are. In the hand the design and construction gap between the two models is huge, but there are also some significant differences in the key spec - the cameras share very few components and only the metering system appears to be identical. The key differences be summed up simply as follows (there's a more detailed list in the table below):

• New 12MP CMOS sensor with on-chip A/D
• New 3.0" high resolution screen
• 'Semi pro' construction and environmental sealing (bigger and heavier too)
• Upgraded Autofocus system
• Faster continuous shooting (5fps)
• Additional Color Modes (now renamed Creative Styles)
• Pentaprism finder (vs Pentamirror) and interchangeable focus screens
• Vertical Grip option & remote control
• Hugely improved interface and ergonomics; more control, more customization options
• Scores of minor (and some major) feature enhancements

	Sony Alpha A700	Sony Alpha A100
Body material	• Aluminum chassis • Magnesium Alloy body shell • high grade plastic exterior • Environmental seals	• Plastic (interior construction unknown)
Sensor	• 23.5 x 15.6 mm CMOS sensor 'Exmor' • RGB Color Filter Array • Built-in fixed low-pass filter • 13.05 million total pixels • 12.25 million effective pixels • On-chip Column A/D Conversion & NR	• 23.6 x 15.8 mm CCD sensor • RGB Color Filter Array • Interline interlaced CCD • Built-in fixed low-pass filter • 10.8 million total pixels • 10.2 million effective pixels
Image sizes (3:2)	• 4288 x 2856 (L RAW ) • 4272 x 2848 (L) • 3104 x 2064 (M) • 2128 x 1424 (S)	• 3872 x 2592 (L) • 2896 x 1936 (M) • 1920 x 1280 (S)
Aspect ratios	• 3:2 • 16:9	3:2
File Formats	• Raw • Compressed Raw • Raw + JPEG • JPEG	• RAW • RAW + JPEG Fine • JPEG
JPEG compression	• Three level	• Two level
Auto Focus	• TTL CCD line sensors (11-points, 10 lines with center dual cross sensor) • EV 0 to 18 (ISO 100) detection range • Predictive focus control for moving subjects	• TTL CCD line sensors (9-points, 8 lines with center cross-hair sensor) • EV -1 to 18 (ISO 100) detection range • Predictive focus control for moving subjects
AF assist illuminator	• Yes (built-in LED lamp) • Range approx 1m - 7m	• Via internal flash, must be raised • 1.0 - 5.0 m range
Custom modes	Three	None
ISO sensitivities	• Auto (200 - 1600) - upper/lower limit selectable • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 • Up to ISO 6400 (expanded range)	• Auto (100 - 800) • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 • Lo80 (ISO 80, Low key) • Hi200 (ISO 200, High key)
Exposure compen.	• -3.0 to +3.0 EV • 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps	• -2.0 to +2.0 EV • 0.3 EV steps
Bracketing	• Single or continuous bracketing • 3 or 5 frames • 0.3, 0.5 or 0.7 EV steps	• 3 frames • 0.3 or 0.7 EV steps
Shutter speeds	• 30 to 1/8000 sec • Bulb	• 30 to 1/4000 sec • Bulb
Flash X-sync	• 1/250 sec • 1/200 sec (with Super SteadyShot on)	• 1/160 sec • 1/125 sec (with Super SteadyShot on)
Custom WB memories	Three	One
Color modes	• Standard • Vivid • Neutral • Clear • Deep • Light • Portrait • Landscape • Sunset • Night view • Autumn Leaves • B&W • Sepia • Adobe RGB	• Standard • Vivid • Portrait • Landscape • Sunset • Night view • B&W • Adobe RGB
Image parameters	• Contrast (-3 to +3) • Saturation (-3 to +3) • Sharpness (-3 to +3) • Zone Matching (-1 to +2 steps) • Brightness (-3 to +3 steps) (Available in all color modes)	• Contrast (-2 to +2) • Saturation (-2 to +2) • Sharpness (-2 to +2) (Available in all color modes)
Noise reduction	• Long exposure for exposures longer than 1 second • High ISO NR High/Normal/Low at ISO 1600 or higher • User controllable: On / Off	• Long exposure for exposures longer than 1 second • User controllable: On / Off
Continuous	• H: Approx 5fps max • L: Approx 3fps max • RAW: Up to 18 frames • cRAW (compressed): Up to 25 frames • RAW+JPEG: Up to 12 frames • JPEG (XFINE): Up to 16 frames • JPEG (STD/FINE): Unlimited (to card capacity)	• RAW: 3 fps, up to 6 frames • RAW+JPEG: 3 fps, up to 3 frames • JPEG: 3fps, unlimited
Viewfinder	• Optical glass pentaprism • Spherical Acute Matte focusing screen (interchangeable) • Magnification approx. 0.9x • Eye-relief 25 mm from eyepiece, 21 mm from frame	• Pentamirror • Spherical Acute Matte focusing screen (not changeable) • Magnification approx. x0.83 • Eye-relief 20 mm from eyepiece, 16 mm from frame
LCD monitor	• 3.0 " 'Xtra Fine' TFT LCD • 920,000 pixels • 270 ppi • Anti-reflective coating	• 2.5" TFT LCD ('Clear Photo LCD Plus') • 230,000 pixels • Anti-reflective coating
Control dials	Two	One
Video Out	• AV (Selectable NTSC or PAL) • HDMI (1920 x 1080i, 1280 x 720p, 720 x 580p, 720 x 576p) • 'PhotoTV' HD settings applied with BRAVIA TV	• AV (Selectable NTSC or PAL)
Storage	• Compact Flash Type I/II • Memory Stick Duo / Pro Duo	• Compact Flash Type I/II
Vertical Grip	Optional vertical Grip VG-C70AM	None
Dimensions	141.7 x 104.8 x 79.7 mm	133 x 95 x 71 mm (5.2 x 3.7 x 2.8 in)
Weight	• No battery: 690 g (1.5 lb) • With battery: 768 g (1.7 lb)	• No battery: 545 g (1.2 lb) • With battery: 638 g (1.4 lb)
Other	• New GUI and improved control • More customization options • AF/MF button • Improved DRO functionality • Wireless remote control • PC control via USB • Grip sensor • Improvements to Super SteadyShot • RGB histogram in playback mode • Clipped shadow warning in playback • New playback options • Flash Sync socket

Design compared to the A100

Although there is a vague family resemblance, the A700 is a very different camera to the A100 (the second dial has gone, for one thing). Yes, there are elements of (Konica) Minolta in there (particularly the Maxxum/Dynax 7 and 7D), but the Sony styling cues introduced with the A100 have developed significantly giving the A700 a real identity of its own. To my eyes it's not the most handsome camera ever built, but it's certainly a big step up from the first Sony DSLR (which looks and feels a little 'cheap' for want of a better word) - even if it lacks the finesse in detailing (such as surface textures and finishes) of something like the NIkon D200/D300. And in use it did start to grow on me.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Specifications

Price (body only)	• $1400 [check]
Body material *	Magnesium Alloy chassis, high grade plastic exterior
Sensor *	• 23.5 x 15.6 mm CMOS sensor 'Exmor' • RGB Color Filter Array • Built-in fixed low-pass filter • 13.05 million total pixels • 12.25 million effective pixels • On-chip Column A/D Conversion & NR
Image sizes *	• 4288 x 2856 (L RAW ) • 4272 x 2848 (L) • 3104 x 2064 (M) • 2128 x 1424 (S) • 4272 x 2400 (L) 16:9 • 2128 x 1200 (S) 16:9
File qualities / formats *	• RAW (.ARW 2.0) • Compressed or uncompressed RAW option • RAW + JPEG Fine • JPEG Extra Fine • JPEG Fine • JPEG Standard
Dust reduction	• Static-resistant anti-dust coating • CCD-shift dust reduction mechanism
Lenses	• Sony Alpha lenses (also compatible with Minolta A-type bayonet mount lenses)
FOV crop	1.5x
Super SteadyShot	• CCD-Shift 'Super SteadyShot' system • Five level LED shake indicator in viewfinder • Claimed equivalent to 2.5 – 4 steps in shutter speed *
Auto Focus *	• TTL CCD line sensors (11-points, 10 lines with center dual cross sensor) • EV 0 to 18 (ISO 100) detection range • Predictive focus control for moving subjects
AF area selection	• Wide AF area • Spot AF area (center) • Focus area selection (any of 11)
Focus modes	• Single-shot AF • Direct Manual Focus • Continuous AF • Automatic AF • Manual focus
AF assist illuminator *	• Yes (built-in LED lamp) • Range approx 1m - 7m
Eye-start AF	Yes, selectable from menu (optionally with grip sensor trigger*)
Shooting modes	• Auto • Programmed AE (with shift) • Aperture priority AE • Shutter priority AE • Manual • MR (memory recall) / Custom • Scene modes (below)
Scene modes	• Portrait • Landscape • Macro • Sports Action • Sunset • Night view/portrait
Sensitivity	• Auto (200 - 1600) - upper/lower limit selectable * • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 • Up to ISO 6400 (expanded range) *
Metering modes	• Multi-segment (40 segment Honeycomb pattern) • Center-weighted • Spot
Metering range	• EV 0 to 20 (Multi-segment / Center-weighted) * • EV 2 to 20 (Spot metering) * (at ISO 100 with F1.4 lens)
AE Lock	• AEL button (customizable) • Half-press shutter release
AE Bracketing	• Single or continuous bracketing • 3 or 5 frames • 0.3, 0.5 or 0.7 EV steps *
Exposure compen.	• -3.0 to +3.0 EV * • 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps *
Shutter	Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane Shutter
Shutter Speed *	• 30 to 1/8000 sec • Bulb
Flash X-sync *	• 1/250 sec • 1/200 sec (with Super SteadyShot on)
Aperture values	Depends on lens, 0.3 EV steps
DOF preview	Yes, dedicated button
White balance	• Auto • Daylight • Shade • Cloudy • Tungsten • Fluorescent • Flash • Color temperature (2500 - 9900 K) • Manual (Custom) - 3 memories *
White balance fine tuning	• Auto (none) • Preset WB: -3 to +3 • Fluorescent WB: -2 to +4 • Color temperature WB: G9 to M9 (Magenta to Green)
White balance bracketing	• 3 frames • Hi or Lo steps
Dynamic range optimizer	• Off • Standard • Advanced Auto * • Advanced • DRO advanced bracketing (3 frames, High/Low selectable) *
Color space	• sRGB • Adobe RGB
Color modes	• Standard • Vivid • Neutral * • Clear * • Deep * • Light * • Portrait • Landscape • Sunset • Night view • Autumn Leaves * • B&W • Sepia * • Adobe RGB
Image parameters *	• Contrast (-3 to +3) • Saturation (-3 to +3) • Sharpness (-3 to +3) • Zone Matching (-1 to +2 steps) • Brightness (-3 to +3 steps) (Available in all color modes)
Noise reduction *	• Long exposure for exposures longer than 1 second • High ISO NR High/Normal/Low at ISO 1600 or higher • User controllable: On / Off
Viewfinder *	• Eye-level fixed optical glass pentaprism • Spherical Acute Matte focusing screen (interchangeable) • Magnification approx. 0.9x • 95% frame coverage • Dioptric adjustment (-3 to +1.0) • Eye-relief 25 mm from eyepiece, 21 mm from frame • Eyepiece cup removable • Viewfinder info bar
LCD monitor *	• 3.0 " 'Xtra Fine' TFT LCD • 920,000 pixels (640 x 480 x 3 (RGB)) • 270 ppi • Anti-reflective coating
Flash	• Built-in pop-up flash (manual release) • Metering: ADI, Pre-flash TTL, Manual flash control • Guide number 12 (ISO 100/m) • Angle of coverage 24 mm (35 mm equiv.) • Flash sync 1/250 sec, 1/200 sec (SteadyShot on) *
Flash modes	• Auto • Fill Flash • Rear Sync • Slow sync • Manual Flash • Red-eye Reduction (pre-flash) • Wireless/Remote Off-camera Flash • High Speed Sync.
Flash compensation *	-3.0 to +3.0 EV in 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps
External flash (optional)	• Sony HVL-F56M (guide no. 56) • Sony HVL-F36M (guide no. 36) • Macro Twin Flash Kit HVL-MT24AM • Ring Light HVL-RLAM • Off camera flash shoe FA-CS1 AM
Drive modes	• Single-frame • Continuous (H/L selectable) * • Self-timer (10 or 2 sec) • Continuous bracket • Single-frame bracket • White balance bracket • DRO bracket *
Continuous shooting *	• H: Approx 5fps max • L: Approx 3fps max • RAW: Up to 18 frames • cRAW (compressed): Up to 25 frames • RAW+JPEG: Up to 12 frames • JPEG (XFINE): Up to 16 frames • JPEG (STD/FINE): Unlimited (to card capacity)
Self-timer	• 10 sec • 2 sec • Mirror up function (optional)*
Orientation sensor	Yes, for shooting, playback and control panel display
Connectivity *	• USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (mass storage, Multi-LUN or PTP) • Video out (NTSC or PAL) • HDMI type C mini jack • DC-IN • Remote terminal • PC control (with supplied software)
Remote control *	• Wired: with optional RM-S1AM or RM-L1AM • Wireless: with included remote control
Video out	• AV (Selectable NTSC or PAL) • HDMI (1920 x 1080i, 1280 x 720p, 720 x 580p, 720 x 576p) • 'PhotoTV' HD settings applied with BRAVIA.
Storage *	• Compact Flash Type I/II • Memory Stick Duo / Pro Duo • Supports FAT12 / FAT16 / FAT32
Power *	• NP-FM500H Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (1650 mAh) • Battery charger included • Optional AC adapter • Batter life Approx 650 shots (CIPA standard)
Vertical grip *	• Vertical Grip VG-C70AM • One or Two NP-FM500H batteries with auto switchover for power (additional battery is optional).
Dimensions	141.7 x 104.8 x 79.7 mm (5.6 x 4.25 x 3.25 in)
Weight (body)	• No battery: 690 g (1.5 lb) • With battery: 768 g (1.7 lb)

Design

The A700 is a pretty successful combination of the old and the new, with the control layout showing heavy Konica Minolta influence (as mentioned earlier, the spirit of the original Maxxum 7D lives on in this camera) but the styling taking a considerable step forward. 7D users will immediately notice the lack of a second dial on top of the camera, though we can happily report that we don't miss it, thanks to the A700's new GUI and control system. As with the 7D the camera positively bristles with buttons, switches, levers and dials, which can seem a little daunting at first. The advantage of retaining the Konica Minolta ethos of putting as many dedicated controls on the body as possible becomes more and more apparent the more you use the camera, and having so much control (quite literally) at your fingertips pays real dividends in situations where you need to react quickly to changing conditions.

Build quality is very solid; a real step up from the A100 and certainly a match for the Canon 40D, though if we're being brutally honest the plastics used still feel a little insubstantial, especially when compared to a true 'semi pro' model like the Nikon D300. The grip has a fine-grained rubber coating that could do with a little more 'grip', but overall the impression - in the hand - is very positive.

In your hand

The great news is that ergonomics are excellent; the A700 is not only very comfortable to use, but the key controls (shutter release, dials and multi selector) are perfectly positioned. As mentioned above I'd prefer the body to have a little more grip (a stickier rubber) to give that added bit of reassurance when holding the camera in one hand, but from a design point of view it's hard to fault the shape, balance or overall 'feel'.

Side by side

We'll look more closely at how the A700 compares with its direct competitors when we complete our full review, but as the shot below shows this is a bigger, more serious looking camera than the A100 - and it's a good 130g heavier too. Interestingly the A700 is around 100g / 0.2lb lighter than the 7D was, and it is actually the most lightweight in its class, though size-wise there is isn't a huge difference between the A700 and any of its nearest competitors.

Camera	Dimensions (W x H x D)	Body weight (inc. battery & card)
Sony Alpha DSLR-A100	133 x 95 x 71 mm (5.2 x 3.7 x 2.8 in)	638 g (1.4 lb)
Sony Alpha DSLR-A700	142 x 105 x 80 mm (5.6 x 4.2 x 3.2 in)	768 g (1.7 lb)
Pentax K10D	142 x 101 x 70 mm (5.6 x 4.0 x 2.8 in)	793g (1.7 lb)
Canon EOS 40D	146 x 108 x 74 mm(5.7 x 4.2 x 2.9 in	822 g (1.8 lb)
Nikon D300	147 x 114 x 74 mm (5.8 x 4.5 x 2.9 in)	925 g (2.0 lb)

LCD Monitor

The A700 features a new 3.0 inch 'XFine' TFT monitor that boasts 922,000 pixels (640x 3 (RGB) x 480) and appears to be the same unit used on Nikon's new D300. We have to say, it's very, very impressive; sharp, detailed and contrasty, but it's the resolution that really catches your eye. At 270 ppi it's basically impossible to see the pixels with the naked eye, and the visual effect is similar to a good photo print. This makes checking focus in playback a lot easier without the need to zoom right in, and simply makes viewing saved pictures a real treat. We've seen LCD sizes creeping up over the last few years but the latest screens (featured on cameras such as the A700 and the D300) represent a breathtaking step forward in quality. Very, very nice.

The new GUI uses high resolution, beautifully aliased fonts and graphics to give an almost 'print like' quality that is easy on the eye even if it doesn't really make any difference to the actual taking of pictures (nothing wrong with that - I like the 11 speaker system in my car, but it doesn't make it go any faster).

Like the A100 the A700's screen has a pretty effective anti-reflective coating, and like the A100 you'll find yourself wiping smears from it pretty much every time you look at it.

Recording mode display

As per previous Konica Minolta digital SLR's and the A100 before it, the A700 doesn't have any control panel LCD displays, instead it uses the LCD monitor to provide a virtual control panel which summarizes camera settings (there are two levels of detail) and rotates automatically when the camera is placed in the portrait orientation. The big difference is that you can now access the information shown in the display and change settings directly from there (more of which later).

A full breakdown of available information is shown in the diagrams below (camera in horizontal orientation on left, vertical orientation on the right). Note that the diagrams are in the most detailed mode.

Information (advanced mode)

Exposure Mode Shutter Speed / Aperture EV scale / Exp comp. / Flash comp. Focus Area mode Metering Mode Sensitivity (ISO) Drive mode AF mode

Creative Style Dynamic Range Optimizer setting White Balance Frames remaining Memory Card Size Quality Battery level

Viewfinder

	The A100 had a pretty bright viewfinder but the A700's is a big improvement, as it uses a solid glass prism (rather than a pentamirror). The view, for a cropped camera, is big, bright and very clear, and you don't need to touch the eyepiece with your eyeball to see the entire frame, which is nice. No surprise to see Minolta's eye-start sensor below the viewfinder.

Viewfinder view

Through the viewfinder you will see the center spot-metering circle and 11 AF areas indicated. The selected / in-use AF area is indicated on a half-press of the shutter release with a red glow. The 'Anti-Shake scale' indicates how much the camera is having to compensate for movement, this is obviously a combination of the current actual movement, focal length and shutter speed, ideally you should be aiming to keep this as low as possible. The viewfinder display is very similar to the A100, though it has been tidied up a little, and there's a few new icons - though still, annoyingly, no ISO in the viewfinder. Note the 16:9 framing guide for those advanced SLR users who prefer to view their pictures on the TV.

The focusing screen image in the diagram above is simulated.

Battery / Battery Compartment

The A700 features yet another slight battery variation. The new NP-FM500H InfoLITHIUM is exactly the same size as the NP-FM55H used by the A100, but it has a very slightly different spec (1650 mAh). Though the battery itself is backwardly compatible (the new battery will power the A100), the reverse isn't true - you can't use the A100's battery to power the A700. The battery is charged in around 175 minutes (235 minutes for a 'full charge') using the supplied charger (which can also act as a mains adapter for the camera if you buy an optional cable). Battery life is quoted as 650 shots (using the CIPA standard) but our experience would seem to suggest that is a little on the optimistic side (using the main LCD for status display draws a lot of energy).

Compact Flash Compartment

The A700 sees the return of Memory Stick (DUO) compatibility - poor A100 users had to make do with CompactFlash alone (I'm sure there'll be a huge sigh of relief from semi professional photographers that their SLR can now accept the same slow, pricey memory cards as their PlayStation). The card compartment door is located on the right side of the camera and forms part of the hard grip. The door is spring loaded and flips open once slid back. Inside is the Compact Flash Type II card slot which can accept Type I or Type II cards (including FAT32 cards) and a smaller Memory Stick DUO slot. If both are inserted a menu option allows you to choose which is used for recording/playback.

Connections / Accessory shoe

The A700's connectors are gathered together on the left side of the camera (looking from the rear) under very sturdy (and quite rigid) rubber flaps on proper hinges. At the front you'll find the x-sync socket (for studio flash), remote commander port (for the optional Minolta-standard remote) and DC-in socket. Behind these are a mini USB port (combined data and video out) and the mini HDMI socket for HDTV. On the top of the camera is the Minolta standard accessory shoe. The A700 supports USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (up to 480 Mbps).

Tripod Mount

	On the bottom of the camera you'll find the metal tripod socket which is aligned exactly with the center line of the lens. Although there's no rubber foot there is plenty of 'real estate' available for a stable location on a tripod mount.

Internal Flash

The A700 has a pop-up flash on the top of the viewfinder prism, it is opened manually by flicking it up. When raised the flash is approximately 100 mm above the center of the lens, which is about 10 mm more than the A100. The built-in flash unit has a guide number of 12 and a maximum sync speed of 1/250 sec (1/200 sec with AS on).

Lens Mount

No surprises here, a standard Minolta A-type bayonet lens mount (now re-named the Sony Alpha mount of course, and given a rather garish orange trim). As usual there is a red indicator dot for aligning the lens and lock by rotating clockwise. Just like other Minolta AF SLR's the camera goes through a priming process when a len is attached by spinning the focus motor connector to ensure it has connected correctly to the lens. This mount supports either body driven focus or lenses with built-in focus motors.

Vertical Grip

With the introduction of the A700 comes with one very welcome optional extra, a very solid (but surprisingly lightweight) vertical grip, the VG-C70AM. The grip powers the camera using one (or optionally two) NP-FM500H batteries (again, no luck for owners of NP-FM55 batteries) and is attached by removing the battery from the camera. There is a small slot in the body of the grip to accommodate the A700's battery compartment door (in other words you don't have to take the door off). The grip has a vertical shutter release that is positioned lower than normal so it still lines up with the top of the lens and the viewfinder, meaning the camera feels remarkably similar whichever orientation you use it in. I have to say, handling with the VG-C70 attached is excellent.

The grip has a full complement of switches and buttons to replicate those on the rear of the camera, meaning when it is attached the A700 has well over 30 buttons, switches and dials on the exterior of the body

Controls built into the Vertical Grip

• Fn (Function) button
• C (Custom) button
• Multi Controller
• AEL / Slow Synch / Spot meter button
• AF/MF button
• AE-Compensation button
• On/Off switch
• Twin (front and rear) control dials.

Shutter Release Sound

In some of our digital SLR reviews we now provide a sound recording of a continuous burst of shots. Below you can see waveforms of a recording made of the DSLR-A700 shooting continuously JPEG Large/Fine for 30 seconds. The storage card used was a 2 GB SanDisk Extreme IV Compact Flash.

JPEG continuous, 30 seconds

Sony DSLR-A700 JPEG continuous 30 seconds; MP3 470 KB

Top of camera controls (left)

On the top right of the camera we have the exposure mode dial and the main power (on/off) slider switch.

Exposure modes

Position	Mode
	Auto Program Exposure This is essentially the camera's "point and shoot" mode. When you select this mode various settings return to their defaults (with most defaulting to 'auto'). However unlike other digital cameras in Auto mode they are not locked and can be adjusted (apart from creative style, which is fixed to 'standard').
P	Program Exposure (with shift) Program exposure mode on the A700 can be shifted, this means that you can select one of a variety of equal exposures by turning the control dial, by default the exposure is shifted by shutter speed (indicated as PS), you can choose to shift by aperture (PA) by changing the 'Control dial set' option in the custom menu. If you turn off the direct AE compensation option you can use Aperture or Shutter speed shift by turning the rear or front control dials.
A	Aperture Priority In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will calculate the shutter speed for the exposure (depending on metered value; metering mode, ISO). Aperture is displayed on the viewfinder status bar and the LCD monitor (if recording display is enabled), turn the front or rear control dial to select different apertures. Note that if you have direct AE compensation turned on one of the dials will control AE-C instead.
S	Shutter Priority In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will calculate the correct aperture for the exposure (depending on metered value; metering mode, ISO). Shutter speed is displayed on the viewfinder status bar and the LCD monitor (if recording display is enabled), turn the front or rear control dial to select different shutter speeds. Note that if you have direct AE compensation turned on one of the dials will control AE-C instead.
M	Full Manual Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed (and additionally Bulb shutter). Again by default the front dial controls shutter speed, the rear controls aperture, but this can be flipped using the custom menu. As you turn the dials the EV scale on the recording display and the viewfinder status line indicates how close the selected exposure is to the metered exposure (+/- 3 EV).

Scene exposure modes

Most of the settings in any of the scene exposure modes are the same as 'Auto' mode, that is Auto ISO, Multi-Segment metering etc. However there are obviously other parameters which vary with each mode, including the Creative Style mode, metering and white balance. You cannot change the Creative Style mode in any of the scene exposure modes.

Position	Mode
	Portrait Selects large apertures (small F numbers) to reduce the depth of field and make the portrait subject stand out from the background.
	Landscape Selects small apertures (large F numbers) to enlarge the depth of field and ensure more of the image appears to be sharp and 'in focus'.
	Macro Tends to select faster shutter speeds to avoid shake at high macro magnifications (although does tend to try to maintain an aperture of around F5.6).
	Sports Selects faster shutter speeds to capture moving action, also engages continuous drive mode. Uses Continuous AF and Continuous (burst) drive mode.
	Sunset Selects small apertures (large F numbers) to enlarge the depth of field and sets the white balance to preserve the warm colors.
	Night view / portrait Uses slow shutter speed and exposure / color settings suited to night photography. The difference (between night view and night portrait) is that one is without and the other with the flash.

Top of camera controls (right)

The majority of the A700's photographic controls are clustered around the top right-hand corner of the body within easy reach of your thumb. We'll look first at those found on the top plate. Here you'll find the shutter release and front control dial plus buttons giving direct access to AE compensation (+/-), White Balance, ISO and Drive mode.

Control Dials

Unlike the Alpha 100, but like the Konica Minolta 7D, the A700 has two control dials that are used to adjust exposure or settings after a button has been pressed. The "front control dial" is mounted in front of the shutter release button and the "rear control dial" is mounted horizontally on the rear right corner of the camera just under your thumb. The dials are also used to control shutter speeds and apertures, for scrolling images in playback and (if configured to do so) to offer direct, instant AE compensation control.

Buttons (shooting mode)

Changing ISO (not all settings shown)	Changing WB (not all settings shown)

As mentioned a couple of pages back the A700 offers more than one way to access and control the various options and settings commonly used when taking pictures. The top panel buttons (white balance, AE-C, drive and ISO) offer direct control over settings using a 'hold down the button and turn the dial' process (incidentally you can disable this so pressing any of the top buttons always brings up the 'exclusive' menu for that item'.

Button	Action
DRIVE	Drive mode (turn front dial whilst pressed to change setting)  • Single frame advance  • Continuous advance (turn rear dial to swap between L and H modes)  • Self-timer (turn rear dial between 10 or 2 seconds)  • Continuous bracketing (press up/down to select exposure step)  • Single frame bracketing (press up/down to select exposure step)  • White balance bracketing (press up/down to select Hi / Lo step)  • DRO bracketing (press up/down to select Hi / Lo step)  • Remote control (using supplied wireless remote)
	Exposure compensation / Flash Output control Hold this button and turn the front or rear dial to change the metered exposure using the on-screen scale. Note that the front or rear dial can be set to give direct access to exposure compensation (i.e. without the button held down)
ISO	ISO (turn front dial whilst pressed to change setting) Hold this button and turn the rear dial to change the ISO (sensitivity) setting in 0.3EV steps. Hold this button and turn the front dial to change the ISO (sensitivity) setting in 1EV steps.  • Rear Dial values: AUTO, ISO 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000*, 5000*, 6400*  • Front Dial values: AUTO, ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400* (*expanded ISO range)
WB	ISO (turn front dial whilst pressed to change setting) Hold this button and turn the front dial to cycle through the various white balance presets and custom modes. Use the rear dial to fine-tune the white balance.
	Front dial Used to change settings and navigate menus, by default also used to select shutter speed in M modes and for direct access to AE compensation in all auto modes. The function of the front dial can be customized to a certain degree. The front dial is also used for scrolling through images in playback mode.

Rear of camera controls

The rear of the camera is dominated by the large 3.0 " LCD monitor and is absolutely covered in switches and buttons. Running down the left side of the screen are a column of four buttons (Menu, Display, Delete and Play). To the right of the viewfinder are the AE lock (surrounded by a circular dial for changing the metering pattern) and AF/MF buttons, and the rear control dial. Below these is the new Multi Selector - a 'joystick' style four-directional controller with a central OK button. Below this are a customizable 'C' button and the new Fn button (used to activate the quick select functions of the information display). Finally the prominent Super SteadyShot switch sits at the bottom right of the body.

Shooting mode controls

Control	Function
MENU	Menu Enters or leaves the current mode menu, all menus are accessible once in the menu system but pressing this button in Play mode will take you directly to the Play section.
DISP	Display Select recording information display mode:  • Detailed display  • Enlarged display  • No display
	Delete (record review). During record review (image playback immediately after taking the shot) you can press this button to delete the image. This displays a Delete / Cancel confirmation box.
	Play Enters play mode, displays the last image taken or the last image browsed.
	Multi Selector The multi selector is used to navigate menus and make selections (using the center button). If the AF area is set to 'Local' the controller is also used to select your focus point when shooting. Pressing the center button forces the camera to focus on the center spot (irrespective of the focus area or spot currently in use).
AF/MF	AF/MF button If auto focus is active, pressing and holding this button temporarily switches to manual focus mode (and vice-versa). Alternatively the custom menu allows you to change the operation to a toggle mode (press once two switch between AF and MF, once again to switch back)
C	Custom button By default pressing this button activates the Creative Style menu, though it can be customized to control any of the following:  • AF Lock  • AF/MF control  • D.O.F preview  • ISO  • White Balance  • Exposure Comp.  • Flash Comp.  • Drive Mode  • AF Area  • Image Size  • Quality  • Creative Style (default)  • D-Range Optimizer (DRO)  • Flash Mode  • Memory
Fn	Function button Activates the Quick Navi screen, allowing direct control of all settings shown on the information display.
AEL	AE Lock button / Slow Sync / M-Shift By default acts as a standard AEL lock button (hold it down to lock the exposure), though you can change the behavior to 'Hold' (press once to activate AEL). If the flash is on and you are not in M or S mode this button also activates the slow sync mode. It can also be customized to act as a spot meter button. In manual exposure (M) mode holding this button down activates a 'Manual Shift' option, which allows you to retain a fixed exposure but to change the aperture and shutter speed combination by turning the front dial.
	Super SteadyShot Used to enable or disable the 'Super SteadyShot' CCD-shift anti shake system.

Metering mode switch

Button	Action
	Multi Segment Metering (40 segment) Uses a honeycomb-pattern with 39 segments (plus one metering element that covers the rest of the frame) to calculate the best possible exposure. The metering is linked to the autofocus in order to ensure the main subject is correctly exposed
	Center Weighted Metering Measures light over the entire area of the image extra emphasis given to the center area.
	Spot Metering Uses a circular area in the center of the frame (as indicated in the viewfinder) to calculate the light value. This is used to meter individual subjects in the frame.

Play mode controls

Control	Function
MENU	Menu Enters or leaves the current mode menu, all menus are accessible once in the menu system but pressing this button in Play mode will take you directly to the Play section.
DISP	Display Select play mode display:  • Image with information overlay  • Just image  • Film strip (thumbs and single large image) Also used to change the number of thumbnails in index view
	Delete (play only) In play mode press this button to delete the currently displayed / selected image. This displays a Yes / No confirmation box.
	Play Leaves play mode and returns to shooting. Note that you can achieve the same function by simply half-pressing the shutter release button.
	Histogram Switches to a histogram display view of the current image.
	Multi Selector Press left or right arrows to browse through the images, note that you can also use the control dial to achieve the same function. When magnified the controller is used to scroll around the image.
	Rotate Allows you to rotate the displayed image through 90, 180 or 270 degrees.
	Magnify (zoom in) In play mode enters the camera's magnify mode, press again to magnify the image further (up to 16x). Interestingly the A700 memorizes the last magnify 'level' used and returns to that when the button is pressed.
	Index Toggles index (thumbnail) mode on and off. To change the number of thumbnails use the DISP button.

Front of camera controls

On the front left of the camera located on the side of the lens mount surround is the Depth-of-Field preview button (press to temporarily stop the lens down to the metered or selected aperture). On the front right of the camera is the lens release button, below this the Focus mode switch which allows you to select between Single, Auto, Continuous and Manual focus modes. On the front of the grip is a new sensor that is used (optionally) to ensure the eye start focus system only activates if you're actually holding the camera.

Record mode display

As with the A100 (and the the Konica Minolta SLRs that came before it) the A700 does without a traditional LCD control panel information display and instead employs the more flexible (though more power hungry) method of using the LCD monitor as a record mode display for camera settings, exposure etc. In record mode you can press the Display button to toggle between the full recording mode display, 'enlarged' recording mode display (which has less information) or no display.

Note: apologies for the rather poor quality of some of the screen grabs on the next few pages - we had some problems with the composite video output on our A700.

Detailed recording mode display	Enlarged recording mode display

Using the Quick Navi menu

A key difference between the A700 and its predecessor(s) is that you can now change most settings directly from the info screen by pressing the 'Fn' button, which turns the screen into a 'Quick Navi' menu (similar to many other modern DSLRs). Using the multi-commander you simply move the highlight from one setting to another. Pressing the central button brings up a mini menu for that item, allowing you to change settings. It works well and my only complaint is that you can't change the button used to activate the Quick Navi menu - odd when so much customization is on offer - and the Fn button is too much of a stretch for your thumb (so changing settings is impossible if you're not holding the camera with both hands (and it feels unnecessarily fiddly). There is, however, a way to overcome this (see next section).

Pressing the Fn button turns on the Quick Navi screen. The left, right, up and down arrows on the multi-controller are used to move from one setting to another.	Press the middle button on the controller and a menu appears allowing you to change the setting.
Selecting a Creative Style	Changing Exposure Comp. setting.

Using the direct access buttons

By default you see a dedicated menu - as shown above - when you press one of the external buttons (ISO, DRIVE, WB and +/-) on the top of the camera. An option in the custom menu allows you to change settings directly on the Quick Navi screen by pressing one of these buttons and turning the front control dial. For settings - such as white balance - with additional options, the rear dial cycles through the parameters. The table below shows the (default) function of each dial/button combo:

Button	Front Dial	Rear Dial
ISO	Change ISO (1 EV steps)	Change ISO (0.3 EV steps)
WB	Cycle through WB presets	• Presets: Change WB adjustments (+3 to -3) • Kelvin: Change Kelvin value and color filter • Custom WB: choose from 3 saved settings, create new setting
DRIVE	Cycle through drive, bracketing, self timer, remote control modes	• Continuous: Hi or Lo • Self timer: duration • Bracketing: EV step and number of frames
+/-	AE compensation	AE compensation (same as front dial)

One big advantage of using the Quick Navi screen in this way is that once you've pressed one of the direct access buttons you can use the multi-commander to move to any of the other on-screen settings (thus overcoming the rather awkward positioning of the Fn button).

The screens below show the front dial being turned (not all options shown)

AE comp.	Drive

Record review / Play display

The A700 has four different record review (instant playback) / play displays; Image only, Image & information, Image & histograms (including blinking highlights/shadows) and a hybrid filmstrip/image view (shows last 5 shots as thumbs across the top). Record review will use the last selected play mode display format. During record review you can press the delete button to delete the image or the magnify button for a quick close-up view (useful for checking focus / blur). Note that blinking highlights / shadows are only shown in the histogram display mode (which is a pity).

Image only	Image and basic information
Image, full shooting data and histogram (note there are now RGB and Luminance histograms)	'Film strip' thumbnails + image

Magnification

Press the 'magnify in' button to display the image at the previously used magnification level. Use the controller to scroll around the image, the rear dial to change the magnification, the center button (on the controller) to switch to loupe mode (example below) and the front control dial to browse through images while remaining magnified.

Initial magnification (previous used)	Turn the rear control dial to change the magnification level (fro 1.1x to 16x)
Press the button in the middle of the controller to switch to loupe mode; move the loupe using the controller, change the magnification level using the rear dial again.	Press the center button again to return to magnify mode, press the magnify button to exit

Thumbnail index

The play mode menu allows you to select between 4, 9 or 25 thumbnails in index view. You can jump one page at a time using the rear control dial and you can jump from folder to folder (if you have more than one folder created) by pressing the button in the middle of the multi controller.

Four image index	Nine image index
25 image index

Camera Menus

	The A700's menus (accessed by pressing the MENU button in any mode) are grouped into four sections; Record (4 pages), Custom (4 pages), Playback (2 pages) and Setup (3 pages). The menus are navigated using either the multi-controller or the control dials (rear scrolls horizontally through the menus, front scrolls up and down individual menus). It's a fast and efficient system.

Record menu

The record menu provides for configuration of settings which will affect the final image file as well as the behavior of some of the automatic settings. Many of the more common options can be accessed using the Quick Navi function or by pressing one of the external buttons, so there's not much need to visit this menu on a regular basis in everyday photography. The options for each item are revealed by pressing the center button on the multi-controller.

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Page one
Image size	• L: 12M  • M: 6.4M  • S: 3.0M	- 4272 x 2848 - 3104 x 2064 - 2128 x 1424
Aspect Ratio	• 3:2  • 16:9
Quality	• RAW  • cRAW  • RAW & JPEG  • RAW & JPEG  • Extra Fine  • Fine  • Standard	- uncompressed RAW - compressed RAW - JPEG is a 'Fine' - JPEG is a 'Fine'
D-Range Optimizer	• Off  • Standard  • Advanced Auto  • Advanced Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5	[clip]
Creative Style [clip]	• Standard  • Vivid  • Neutral  • AdobeRGB	'Unswitcheable Styles' • Custom options: Contrast (+3 to -3) Saturation (+3 to -3) Sharpness (+3 to -3)
	• Standard  • Vivid  • Neutral  • AdobeRGB  • Clear  • Deep  • Light  • Portrait  • Landscape  • Sunset  • Night View  • Autumn Leaves  • B/W*  • Sepia*	'Switcheable Styles' • Custom options: Contrast (+3 to -3) Saturation (+3 to -3) Sharpness (+3 to -3) Brightness (+3 to -3) Zone Matching (-1 to +2) [clip] - these creative styles are best thought of as 'starting points' that can be customized and saved into one of the three 'style boxes' for immediate recall *saturation option not available
Custom Button	• AF Lock  • AF/MF control  • D.O.F Preview  • ISO  • White Balance  • Exposure Comp.  • Flash Comp.  • Drive Mode  • AF Area  • Image Size  • Quality  • Creative Style  • D-Range Optimizer  • Flash Mode  • Memory	Define the setting controlled by the 'C' button [clip] – Saves the current settings
Exposure Step	• 0.5 EV  • 0.3 EV
Page two
Flash Mode	• Autoflash  • Fill-flash  • Rear sync.  • Wireless	- AUTO / scene modes only
Flash control	• ADI flash  • Pre-flash TTL  • Manual Flash
Power Ratio	• 1/1 (GN12)  • 1/2 (GN8.4)  • 1/4 (GN6)  • 1/4 (GN4.2)  • 1/16 (GN3)	- manual flash output power
Flash Compens.	• +3 to -3 slider
Flash default	• Auto flash  • Fill-flash
ISO Auto max.	• 1600  • 800  • 400	[clip]
ISO Auto min.	• 400  • 200	[clip]
Page three
AF-A setup	• AF-A  • DMF (direct manual focus)	- adjusts function of 'AFA' position on focus mode dial
AF area	• Wide  • Spot  • Local
Priority Setup .	• AF  • Release	Choose whether the camera will release the shutter without focus lock
AF Illuminator	• Auto  • Off
AF w/ shutter	• On  • Off	– determines whether half-press activates the AF.
Long Exposure NR	• On  • Off	- exposures of 1 second or longer
High ISO NR	• High  • Normal  • Low	- ISO 1600 and higher
Memory	• Select Register (1,2 or 3)	Allows you to save current settings to one of three custom memory registers
Rec mode reset		Displays a 'Reset recording mode? OK /Cancel dialog box.

Custom menu

In addition to the record menu options the A700 also has four pages of custom menu options which allow for personalization of the camera to a very high degree.

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Page one
Eye-Start AF	• On  • Off
Eye-Start trigger	• w/ GripSensor  • w/o GripSensor	determines whether the eye start AF requires you to be holding the grip to activate.
AF/MF button	• AF/MF control  • AF lock
AF/MF control	• Hold  • Toggle	Choose if the AF/MF button must be held or toggles focus mode.
AF drive speed	• Fast  • Slow	Focus speed can be reduced for awkward subjects such as macros
AF area Disp.	• 0.3 sec display  • 0.6 sec display  • Display off	Controls how long the selected AF area is illuminated in the viewfinder
Focus Hold Button [clip]	• Focus Hold  • D.O.F preview	Determines function of focus hold button (on lenses that have one).
Page two
AEL button [clip]	• AEL hold • AEL toggle  • Spot AE hold  • Spot AE toggle	Choose if the AEL button must be held or toggles AE lock, additionally this can be set to spot meter.
Ctrl dial setup	• Front SS / Rear F/no  • Front F/no / Rear SS	Sets the function of the control dial in P and M modes [clip]
Dial Exp Comp.	• Off  • Front dial  • Rear dial	allows you to set one of the dials to offer direct access to exposure compensation.
Ctrl dial lock	• On  • Off	When selected (on) the control dials only function when the shutter speed and aperture are displayed on-screen / in the viewfinder
Button ops.	• Exclusive Display  • Quick Navi	Determines whether pressing the external buttons (ISO etc) brings up a dedicated menu or allows you to change settings directly on the Quick Navi screen.
Release w/o Card	• Enable  • Disable
Release w/o Lens	• Enable  • Disable
Page three
Red Eye Reduction	• On  • Off
Exp. Comp. Set	• On: no lens  • Off: no lens	• Ambient & flash  • Ambient only
Bracket order	• 0, -, +  • -, 0, +
Auto Review	• 10 secs  • 5 secs  • 2 secs  • Off
Auto Off w/ VF	• On  • Off	When set to on the eye sensors are used to switch off the LCD
Rec. info. disp	• Auto rotate  • Horizontal	Controls whether the recording information display is rotated or not
Img. Orientation	• Record  • Not Record
Page Four
Custom Reset	Enter	Displays a 'Reset custom functions? OK /Cancel dialog box.

Menus cont..

Play menu

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Page one
Delete	• Marked frames Selection index  • All images Yes No
Format	• Enter Yes No
Protect	• Marked images Selection index  • All images  • Cancel all
DPOF setup	• Marked images Selection index  • All on card No. of copies?  • Cancel all
Date Imprint	• On  • Off
Index print	• Create Index  • Delete Index
Playback Display	• Auto Rotate  • Manual Rotate
Page two
Slide show	• Enter
Interval	• 30 sec  • 10 sec  • 5 sec  • 3 sec  • 1 sec

Setup menu

The last menu is the Setup menu which allows you to configure general camera settings (mostly digital related) such as USB transfer modes, video output etc. This menu is split across three pages.

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Page one
LCD brightness	• Enter Low (-5) to High (+5)
Info. disp. time	• 1 min  • 30 sec  • 10 sec  • 5 sec	How long the recording information stays displayed on the LCD if no buttons are pressed.
Power save	• 30 min  • 10 min  • 5 min  • 3 min  • 1 min	The amount of time before the camera enters 'sleep' state, it can be woken by a half-press of the shutter release or one of the LCD buttons
Video output	• NTSC  • PAL
HDMI output	• HD (1080i) priority  • HD (720p) priority  • SD priority	[clip]
Language	• English  • French  • Spanish  • Italian  • Chinese (Simplified)  • Chinese (Traditional)	Varies by region
Date/Time set	• Enter Date Time Date format
Page two
Memory Card	• CompactFlash  • Memory Stick	[clip]
File number	• Series  • Reset
Folder name	• Standard form  • Date form
Select folder	• 100MSDCF  • 101MSDCF  • etc.
New folder	• Enter	Creates a new running number folder
Transfer mode	• Mass storage  • PTP  • Remote PC	- USB 'mass storage device' - For PictBridge etc - For Remote Camera Control
MassStrg.card	• Both cards  • Selected card	Which cards appear in the PC when connected via USB
Page three
Menu Start	• Top  • Previous	Lets you choose to always display the last selected menu screen when you next hit the MENU button.
Delete confirm	• "Delete" first  • "Cancel" first	Set the default option for the delete confirm box
Audio signals	• On  • Off
Cleaning mode	• Enter Yes No	Enables manual cleaning of the sensor by locking up the mirror and opening the shutter.
Reset default	• Enter	Displays a 'Reset Default? OK /Cancel dialog box.

Image parameters

The A700 provides four basic 'Creative Styles' (renamed from Color mode on the A100) as well as three user definable modes which provide the option to select a baseline Creative Style from one of no less than fourteen options. Each Creative Style modifies the color mapping and tonal appearance of the image (for A/B examples see Color in our Photographic tests). In the four basic Creative Style modes (Standard, Vivid, Neutral and Adobe RGB) you can adjust contrast, saturation and sharpness. Additionally in the three user definable modes you can also adjust brightness and zone. Sony has also improved the latitude of adjustment with seven levels for each setting (apart from zone which has four settings).

Image parameter adjustments

• Creative Style: Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Adobe RGB, User def. 1 - 3
• User def. modes: Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Adobe RGB, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape,
  Sunset, Night, Autumn, B/W, Sepia
• Image parameter adjustments
  • Contrast: -3 to +3
  • Saturation: -3 to +3
  • Sharpness: -3 to +3
  • Brightness: -3 to +3 (User def. only)
  • Zone: -1 to +2 (User def. only)

Contrast adjustment

Adjusting the tone alters the shape of the 'S curve' used to map the linear image data captured by the sensor into the correct gamma. A lower contrast setting maintains more of the original data's dynamic range but leads to a flatter looking image. A higher contrast setting stretches the grayscale (dark to light) of the image and could lead to clipping of both shadow detail and highlights. Kudos to Sony for expanding the range of adjustment, you now have three levels either side of 'normal'.

	Thumbnail	Luminosity histogram
-3
-1
0
+1
+3

Brightness adjustment

A brightness adjustment is fairly unusual, in fact I can think of only one or two other cameras which provide this option. Adjusting the brightness appears to shift the mapping of the 'black point' which could be useful for 'lifting' shadows on a bright day or delivering a more definite black in a studio situation.

	Thumbnail	Luminosity histogram
-3
-1
0
+1
+3

Zone adjustment

The zone adjustment enables you to perform zone matching which effectively stretches or compresses the shadow or highlight areas of the grayscale. Use a negative setting to lift shadows for low-key shots or a positive setting to compress (and maintain) highlights for high-key shots. You can see this in effect in the histograms below.

	Thumbnail	Luminosity histogram
-1
0
+1
+2

Image parameters (contd.)

Sharpness

The A700's default sharpness setting of zero is just enough to deliver good detail but not so much as to introduce any noticeable sharpening artifacts. Obviously if you prefer your images a bit crisper straight out of the camera you could opt for the +1 or +2 setting.

Sharpness: -3
Sharpness: -2
Sharpness: -1
Sharpness: 0 (Default)
Sharpness: +1
Sharpness: +2
Sharpness: +3

Saturation adjustment

Saturation adjustment allows you to control the strength of color in the final image. As you can see the A700's default color saturation (level zero) already delivers fairly punchy colors, for a more neutral response we'd recommend dropping down to -1.

	Thumbnail	25% crop
-3
-1
0
+1
+3

Super SteadyShot (Sensor-shift Image Stabilization)

The DSLR-A700 features Sony's 'Super SteadyShot' sensor-shift image stabilization system (a development of the 'Anti-Shake' system we first saw on the Konica Minolta 7D). This system works by moving the sensor in the opposite direction to the sensed shake movement of the camera.

The stabilization test

This test is designed to produce a determination of the relative improvement you should expect using the SteadyShot system compared to with it switched off. Twenty hand-held shots are taken of a static scene at reasonable shutter speed (1/80 sec in this case), ten without stabilization, ten with. The shutter speed is then decreased by a stop and twenty more shots taken, this is repeated down to 1/10 sec. The test chart was approximately 1.2 m away from the camera.

The resulting eighty images were then inspected and given a blur score from zero to three where zero represented a very blurred image and three a sharp image with no noticeable blur (see crop examples below). Obviously the amount of blur which is acceptable will depend on your personal taste and the final image size (for instance a '2: Soft' will still look fine as a 4x6 print or in a web gallery). Example crops from these four blur scores can be seen below.

0: Very blurred	1: Blurred
2: Soft	3: Sharp

Hand-held, no stabilization (75 mm equiv. FOV)

The results here show that at 1/80 sec all of our shots were sharp, but this dropped to just six at 1/40 sec and after that only a few 'acceptable but soft'.

Hand-held, with Super SteadyShot (75 mm equiv. FOV)

With 'Super SteadyShot' switched on you can see an immediate improvement. At 1/40 sec we had a total of seven sharp images, at 1/20 sec an impressive four sharp images and six other 'acceptable but soft' and even two sharp images at 1/10 sec. Overall a good performance.

Software

The DSLR-A700 is provided with a software CD which contains:

• Picture Motion Browser 2.1.02 (Windows) - An easy to use and fast image and video clip
  cataloging and browsing application with a fairly unique calendar based animated interface.
   
• Image Data Lightbox SR 1.0 (Windows / Mac OS X) - An image browsing and workflow
  application designed for rating and selecting images from a large collection. Provides synchronized
  side-by-side comparison of images in 2, 3 and 4 images per screen views.
   
• Image Data Converter SR 2.0 (Windows / Mac OS X) - A further development of the previously
  seen Image Data Converter SR, provides advanced RAW conversion capabilities, adjustments
  include Creative Style, Sharpness (including overshoot / undershoot tuning), Highlight Color
  Distortion reduction and Noise Reduction.

RAW conversion

As is normal in our digital SLR reviews I like to compare the supplied RAW conversion software, any optional manufacturer RAW conversion software and some third party RAW converter. In the case of the A700 we had the supplied Image Data Converter SR as well as Adobe Camera RAW 4.3 beta.

• JPEG - Large/Fine, Default settings
• IDC - Image Data Converter SR 2.0.01.09280
• ACR - Adobe Camera RAW 4.3 beta

Color reproduction

Place your mouse over the label below the image to see the color from a GretagMacbeth ColorChecker chart produced using each RAW converter. As you can see Image Data Converter matches the color response of the cameras internal image processor very closely (there are some very subtle differences but it's unlikely you'd see these in real life). As usual Adobe Camera RAW has its own 'different' color response, deeper blues but slightly paler reds.

Sharpness and Detail

As you can see from the 100% crops below there's really very little difference in this comparison between JPEG from the camera, RAW converted using Image Data Converter and RAW converted using Adobe Camera RAW. If anything the ACR image perhaps has slightly crisper edges around high contrast (black on white) detail.

J P E G
I D C
A C R

Resolution

The differences between these three are pretty obvious, and stark. The JPEG from the camera demonstrates good resolution beyond absolute resolution which would mean good representation of texture and distant detail. Adobe Camera RAW (as usual) delivers great per pixel sharpness and resolution. The biggest disappointment however is the output from Image Data Converter which produced a large amount of moire as well as blurring anything beyond 2500 LPH.

JPEG from camera	Image Data Converter SR (RAW)
Adobe Camera RAW 4.3 beta (RAW)

ISO / Sensitivity accuracy In a new addition to our reviews we are now measuring the actual sensitivity of each indicated ISO sensitivity. This is achieved using the same shots as are used to measure ISO noise levels, we simply compare the exposure for each shot to the metered light level (using Sekonic L-358), middle gray matched. We estimate the accuracy of these results to be +/- 1/6 EV. Like many recent digital SLRs all four in this comparison proved to be right on the spot with their indicated sensitivity, that is to say an indicated sensitivity of say ISO 200 was exactly that (unlike some older digital SLRs which were slightly more or less sensitive than indicated). Indicated sensitivity Sony DSLR-A700 (actual sensitivity) Canon EOS 40D (actual sensitivity) Nikon D300 (actual sensitivity) Olympus E-3 (actual sensitivity) ISO 100 ISO 100 ISO 100 ISO 100 ISO 100 ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 400 ISO 400 ISO 400 ISO 400 ISO 400 ISO 800 ISO 800 ISO 800 ISO 800 ISO 800 ISO 1600 ISO 1600 ISO 1600 ISO 1600 ISO 1600 ISO 3200 ISO 3200 ISO 3200 ISO 3200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400 ISO 6400 n/a ISO 6400 n/a ISO Sensitivity / Noise levels ISO equivalence on a digital camera is the ability to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. The works by turning up the "volume" (gain) on the sensor's signal amplifiers (remember the sensor is an analogue device). By amplifying the signal you also amplify the noise which becomes more visible at higher ISO's. Many modern cameras also employ noise reduction and / or sharpness reduction at higher sensitivities. To measure noise levels we take a sequence of images of a GretagMacBeth ColorChecker chart (controlled artificial daylight lighting). The exposure is matched to the ISO (ie. ISO 200, 1/200 sec for consistency of exposure between cameras). The image sequence is run through our own proprietary noise measurement tool (version 1.4 in this review). Click here for more information. (Note that noise values indicated on the graphs here can not be compared to those in other reviews). Room temperature is approximately 22°C (~72°F), simulated daylight lighting. Sony DSLR-A700 vs. Canon EOS 40D vs. Nikon D300 vs. Olympus E-3 Sony DSLR-A700: Minolta 50 mm F1.4 lens, Manual exposure, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Standard), High ISO NR (Normal - default), JPEG Large / Fine   Canon EOS 40D: Canon 50 mm F1.4 lens, Manual exposure, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Standard), High ISO NR (Default; Off), JPEG Large / Fine   Nikon D300: Nikkor 50 mm F1.4 lens, Manual exposure, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Normal), High ISO NR (Normal), JPEG Large / Fine   Olympus E-3: Olympus 50 mm F2.0 Macro lens, Manual exposure, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Natural), JPEG Large / Fine Sony DSLR-A700 ISO 100 Canon EOS 40D ISO 100 Nikon D300 ISO 100 Olympus E-3 ISO 100 Sony DSLR-A700 ISO 200 Canon EOS 40D ISO 200 Nikon D300 ISO 200 Olympus E-3 ISO 200 Sony DSLR-A700 ISO 400 Canon EOS 40D ISO 400 Nikon D300 ISO 400 Olympus E-3 ISO 400 Sony DSLR-A700 ISO 800 Canon EOS 40D ISO 800 Nikon D300 ISO 800 Olympus E-3 ISO 800 Sony DSLR-A700 ISO 1600 Canon EOS 40D ISO 1600 Nikon D300 ISO 1600 Olympus E-3 ISO 1600 Sony DSLR-A700 ISO 3200 Canon EOS 40D ISO 3200 Nikon D300 ISO 3200 Olympus E-3 ISO 3200 Sony DSLR-A700 ISO 6400 Canon EOS 40D n/a Nikon D300 ISO 6400 Olympus E-3 n/a From ISO 100 to 400 there is virtually no difference from a noise point of view between any of these cameras, none exhibit noticeable any noise. At ISO 800 the DSLR-A700 begins to exhibit some chroma (blotchy color) noise, the cleanest of the remaining three appears to be the D300 followed by the EOS 40D and then E-3. At ISO 1600 the DSLR-A700's noise reduction appears to become stronger and while noise is still noticeable it's less pronounced, although this at the expense of image detail which is beginning to soften. By this point the E-3 is beginning to look quite grainy and has also lost some image detail to noise reduction, the EOS 40D has some chroma noise and the D300 remains fairly clean and detailed (thanks to Nikon's emphasis on chroma noise reduction). At ISO 3200 the DSLR-A700 image has become quite soft from noise reduction and large blotches of chroma noise can be seen across the image. Again the cleanest image at this sensitivity comes from the D300 with the best detail coming from the EOS 40D (although distracting chroma noise is visible), the E-3 is struggling at this point. Surprisingly at ISO 6400 the D300's image could be considered 'usable' although very noisy, the same could not really be said for the DSLR-A700. Overall the DSLR-A700's performance trails both the Nikon D300 and Canon EOS 40D although does seem better than the Olympus E-3. What's clear is that Sony are using a fair amount of luminance noise reduction (too much) but probably not enough chroma noise reduction. * It's worth noting that these results are with the cameras in their default modes, the EOS 40D for example does have an optional stronger chroma noise reduction option which delivers images with almost no chroma noise. Noise graphs Note that we normally show both gray and black results on the same graph, comparing four cameras this became too difficult to read hence we have two separate graphs, one for the gray patch (middle gray) and one for the black patch (shadows). Luminance noise graph (gray patch) As you can see the A700's gray noise takes a fairly predictable line through the sensitivity range, staying fairly low at all times although as you can see from the crops above this is at the expense of image sharpness. Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of luminosity on the vertical axis. Luminance noise graph (black patch) On the A700 line you can see a noticeable increase in noise reduction (a sudden dip) at ISO 1600. Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of luminosity on the vertical axis. Chroma (color) noise graph Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of color on the vertical axis.

ISO Sensitivity / Noise levels (contd.) In-camera High ISO noise reduction The DSLR-A700 provides three different levels of noise reduction; Low, Normal and High. As you can see from the graph below using the High setting doesn't reduce noise by very much more and using the Low setting doesn't reduce noise reduction very much. Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of luminosity on the vertical axis (note that the standard deviation scale here has been extended 1.5x compared to the graphs on the previous page). Noise reduction crop comparisons (ISO 800 - 6400) Low ISO 800 Normal ISO 800 High ISO 800 Low ISO 1600 Normal ISO 1600 High ISO 1600 Low ISO 3200 Normal ISO 3200 High ISO 3200 Low ISO 6400 Normal ISO 6400 High ISO 6400 Noise reduction on 'RAW' image files Our normal understanding of 'RAW' image files is that they are literally a record of the measured light levels (converted from an analog signal by the analog-to-digital converter) of each photosite on the sensor. However the A700's sensor design apparently (supported by official documentation - see page two of this review) includes noise reduction 'on the sensor' which means that the A700's RAW data is 'less raw' than we're used to. Worse still there's no option to disable this noise reduction circuit which means like it or not all RAW images have some noise reduction already applied to them. Below we have a comparison of in-camera JPEG to RAW converted using Adobe Camera RAW with its Noise Reduction options set to zero (effectively 'no noise reduction'); RAW NONR. As you can see the Nikon D300's RAW images are just that, warts and all (but at least this means you can run your own noise reduction on them if you wish and you are getting the 'digital negative'). The A700 on the other hand clearly already has some luminance noise reduction applied to its RAW data which leaves the photographer with no option other than to simply accept Sony's decisions on noise reduction. DSLR-A700 JPEG ISO 1600 DSLR-A700 RAW NONR ISO 1600 D300 JPEG ISO 1600 D300 RAW NONR ISO 1600 DSLR-A700 JPEG ISO 3200 DSLR-A700 RAW NONR ISO 3200 D300 JPEG ISO 3200 D300 RAW NONR ISO 3200

Dynamic Range

Our new Dynamic Range measurement system involves shooting a calibrated Stouffer Step Wedge (13 stops total range) which is backlit using a daylight balanced lamp (98 CRI). A single shot of this produces a gray scale wedge from (the cameras) black to clipped white (example below). Each step of the scale is equivalent to 1/3 EV (a third of a stop), we select one step as 'middle gray' and measure outwards to define the dynamic range. Hence there are 'two sides' to our results, the amount of shadow range (below middle gray) and the amount of highlight range (above middle gray).

To most people highlight range is the first thing they think about when talking about dynamic range, that is the amount of highlight detail the camera can capture before it clips to white. Shadow range is more complicated, in our test we stop measuring values below middle gray as soon as the luminance value drops below our defined 'black point' (about 2% luminance) or the signal-to-noise ratio drops below a predefined value (where shadow detail would be swamped by noise), whichever comes first.

Dynamic Range Optimization feature

One feature we first saw introduced with the DSLR-A100 is 'Dynamic Range Optimization', designed to deliver lighter shadow areas by boosting the lower end of the tone curve. The A100 provided just three options (Off, Standard and Advanced), the A700 expands this to Off, Standard, Advanced Auto and then five manual levels (Lv1 - Lv5). The A100 also imposed limits on when you could use DRO (certain metering modes, not RAW etc.), the A700 has no such limitations.

As you can see from the graph below (using our standard step wedges test shot) the A700 actually achieves this brighter shadow response by modifying the tone curve, each of its five levels enhancing this shadow boost (we were only able to plot the first three levels as the last two lifted our reference black levels too high for measurement to be made accurately). As you can also see from these plots the Standard and Advanced Auto settings produced slightly lighter midtones but didn't affect shadow response. Note that the big advantage to doing this kind of tonal manipulation in-camera is that it is applied to RAW data before it becomes a JPEG.

Dynamic Range Optimization studio samples

Sony's DRO system appears to be able to work at either end of the tonal range (lifting / maintaining highlights as well as boosting shadows). The most likely scenario for use however is to boost dark shadow areas of the image. We designed simple studio test scene to test DRO's ability to lift shadow detail. Half of the scene is directly lit, the other half in direct shadow. Looking at the first shot in the sequence below (DRO Off) you can see how the histogram looks in this scenario, a large gap in the center.

Take a little time to look down this sequence and you'll see that Sony's DRO options really do work (for this kind of scene). What didn't work in this scenario were the 'Standard' and 'Advanced Auto' options.

	Thumbnail	Luminosity histogram
O f f
S t d
A d v A u t o
A d v 1
A d v 2
A d v 3
A d v 4
A d v 5

When DRO Standard works

The two images below have identical exposures (1/100 sec, F8 @ ISO 200) however the second image which has the DRO 'Standard' setting is clearly lighter, in this scenario DRO is apparently looking at the histogram and deciding that the image is slightly underexposed and adjusting the tone curve accordingly.

	Thumbnail	Luminosity histogram
O f f
S t d

DRO Advanced Level 5 comparison across the ISO range

Of course one disadvantage to lifting the shadows is that you are also amplifying noise by the same amount, and because so few bits 'describe' the dark areas of the image this means that at its highest setting the DRO level will inevitably lead to increased noise in those lifted areas. As you can see from the crops below noise levels in these lifted areas becomes pretty much unacceptable from ISO 800 upwards.

	Thumbnail	100% crop
1 0 0
2 0 0
4 0 0
8 0 0
1 6 0 0
3 2 0 0
6 4 0 0

Dynamic Range Optimization real world samples

As you can see from the samples below (this mirrored our experience using this feature numerous times in the field) the 'Advanced Auto' mode seldom made any difference to shadow brightness, instead we would recommend using the manual ('Advanced') DRO option which can be surprisingly successful for scenes like this with huge differences in brightness.

DRO Off	DRO Advanced Auto
DRO Advanced Lv5
DRO Off	DRO Advanced Auto
DRO Advanced Lv5

Dynamic Range (contd.)

Create Style options

The graph below shows the dynamic range response from each of the A700's fourteen Creative Styles. As you can se each has a very slightly different curve mostly due to changes in contrast and brightness for each. The important point to note here is that no single Creative Style delivers more dynamic range than the 'Standard' mode and of course because of more contrasty responses some actually deliver less.

ISO Sensitivity and Dynamic Range

Due to engineering and design constraints some sensors optimum base sensitivity isn't ISO 100, we have seen this many times on various digital SLRs with base sensitivities of ISO 200. In our normal evaluation of dynamic range we discovered that in actual fact the A700's optimum base sensitivity is actually ISO 200, that using ISO 100 will lead to less highlight range (by 0.7 EV; two thirds of a stop).

What's more concerning is that the only reference to this fact in the A700 user manual is hidden in the following sentence: "The larger the number from the standard (ISO 200), the higher the sensitivity". The other hint being that if you factory reset the camera it defaults to ISO 200. There is also no indication on the camera display that sensitivities lower than ISO 200 (ISO 100, 125 and 160) are not optimum, however it does indicate this (with borders around the numbers) for ISO 4000, 5000 and 6400.

Understanding that ISO 200 is optimum we can see that at this sensitivity the A700 delivers almost nine stops of dynamic range, more importantly that almost four stops of this are highlight range (compared to the more typical three and a half stops for most DSLRs).

Dynamic Range compared

Despite ISO 100 not being the A700's optimum it still manages to deliver about the same highlight range as the Canon EOS 40D and Nikon D200. At ISO 200 the A700's highlight range extends about half a stop further than the EOS 40D and two thirds of a stop further than the D200.

The wedges below are created by our measurement system from the values read from the step wedge, the red lines indicate approximate shadow and highlight range (the dotted line indicating middle gray).

RAW headroom

Experience has told us that there is typically around 1 EV (one stop) of extra information available at the highlight end in RAW files and that a negative digital exposure compensation when converting such files can recover detail lost to over-exposure. As with previous reviews we settled on Adobe Camera RAW for conversion to retrieve the maximum dynamic range from our test shots.

As you can see the default Adobe Camera RAW conversion delivers less dynamic range than JPEG from the camera (a more contrasty tone curve and less noise reduction in shadows). The best we could achieve was just over ten stops (10 EV) of total dynamic range - at the optimum ISO 200, more importantly almost a stop of that is in highlights (although with no guarantee of color accuracy).

• ACR Default: Exp. 0.0 EV, Blacks 5, Contrast +25, Curve Medium
• ACR Best: Exp. -2.5 EV, Blacks 1, Brightness + 50, Contrast -50, Curve Linear

WARNING: Although ACR was able to retrieve the 'luminance' (brightness) of wedge steps which were previously clipped there's no guarantee of color accuracy as individual channels may clip before others. This can be seen fairly clearly in the examples below, on the right the negative digital exposure compensation has revealed some more detail in the background but this soon turns into gray as one or more of the color channels clips.

Adobe Camera RAW default conversion	Adobe Camera RAW with -2.5 EV digital comp.

Color reproduction

Here you can see a generated GretagMacbeth ColorChecker chart, place your mouse over any of the labels below it to see the color reproduction in that mode. Select a camera/setting combination from the 'Compared to' drop-down to comparative boxes inside each patch.

The A700 delivers a very similar color response to the Canon EOS 40D except for its rendition of the blue patches which have less red in them (hence the very slight purple tinge to the 40D patches). As you can see the A700's huge number of preset image 'Creative Styles' do provide a wide range of canned color and tone responses.

Artificial light White Balance

I'm truly beginning to wonder if I'll ever be able to say anything good about automatic white balance in artificial light for digital SLRs. With each new model we see no real improvement and in some cases the camera's "best guess" is way off the mark, as you can see from the results below. Even the preset WB options on the A700 don't do a particularly good job at hitting the right color temperature.

Incandescent - Auto WB Red: 16.2%, Blue: -24.9%, Very Poor	Incandescent - Incandescent preset WB Red: 4.3%, Blue: -8.6%, Average
Fluorescent - Auto WB Red: 13.4%, Blue: -23.2%, Poor	Fluorescent - Fluorescent preset WB Red: 5.8%, Blue: -9.6%, Average

Long Exposure noise reduction / Night shots

Our usual 30 second exposure test produced no hot pixels from the A700, so the optional long exposure noise reduction option (dark frame subtraction using an equal exposure with the shutter closed) made no difference here.

Noise reduction Off	Noise reduction On
ISO 100, 30 sec, F20	ISO 100, 30 sec, F20

Flash

The A700's built-in flash unit performed well delivering correctly exposed images (it even nailed middle-gray on our color patches tests shot) without any hint of color cast or white balance problems. With a human subject skin tones were natural and again well exposed.

Overall Image Quality / Specifics

It would be fair to say that as a baseline (at lower sensitivities) the A700 delivers very good images which demonstrate good resolution a 'standard' tone curve and natural color. My primary concern about image quality was the way in which Sony have implemented higher sensitivity noise reduction on the sensor. This implementation appears to produce two issues; firstly it's not possible to turn off this noise reduction or reduce it to a level where it does not interfere with image quality. Secondly that because it can't be turned off and that it occurs so early in the image pipeline that RAW images always have some amount of noise reduction applied to them; this is very obvious when converting higher sensitivity RAW files. Frankly I was pretty surprised to discover this and would have expected Sony to realize that most photographers expect RAW image files to contain exactly that; a 'raw' representation of the data from the sensor (one measurement per photosite) with no image processing, enabling them to process the image as they like with as much or as little noise reduction as they prefer.

Other noteworthy observations are the differences in dynamic range between ISO 100 and 200, with ISO 200 actually being 'base sensitivity' for the sensor but without any indication that this is actually the case on the camera (or clearly in the user manual), virtually useless automatic white balance in artificial light (although to be fair this is no different than most other digital SLRs today) and no difference in tonal balance using DRO Standard or DRO Advanced Auto options (although manual settings do work).

When ISO 100 isn't really ISO 100

So we've already established that there's a dynamic range difference between ISO 100 and 200 and that the sensor's base sensitivity is actually ISO 200 (although this isn't indicated on the camera). What this means in reality is that in ISO 100 mode the camera is effectively over-exposing and relying on the headroom available from the sensor to 'pull down' to a normal response. This can be seen clearly if you shoot RAW+JPEG at ISO 100 and process using a third party converter such as Adobe Camera RAW. The ISO 100 RAW image appears over-exposed and requires approximately -1.0 EV digital exposure compensation to achieve normal tone (note that ISO 200 RAW also required a -0.3 EV digital exposure compensation).

ISO 100 JPEG, 1/30 sec, F8	ISO 200 JPEG, 1/60 sec, F8
ISO 100 RAW, 1/30 sec, F8	ISO 200 RAW, 1/60 sec, F8
ISO 100 (as above but with -1.0 EV digital comp.)	ISO 200 (as above but with -0.3 EV digital comp.)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 Review, May 2007
Simon Joinson

Almost exactly 12 months after the launch of the Cyber-shot DSC-H2 and DSC-H5 Sony announced the replacement cameras; the DSC-H7 and the top-of-the-range model reviewed here; the DSC-H9. That Sony chose to increase the pixel count (to 8MP) and to include this year's 'must have' features (face detection and ludicrously high maximum ISO) can't have surprised many, but there are a few less predictable new features, and a few welcome changes. The former include Sony's unique 'NightShot' infra-red mode (seen on many camcorders as well as a few Cyber-shots over the years), a 15x zoom and HDTV (well, 1080i) output. The latter include an articulated (tilt-up) screen, improved focus system, faster performance and a new (in the box) remote control.

The super-zoom market is still one of the most competitive sectors and the H9 is up against some stiff competition from old foes such as Panasonic, Canon and Olympus. The H2 and H5 were both well-received when reviewed this time last year, so let's find out if Sony has built on that success or not.

Cyber-shot DSC-H9 vs DSC-H5 - key changes

• New sensor (8MP versus 7MP)
• longer lens range (15x up from 12x)
• Higher maximum sensitivity (ISO 3200)
• Tilt-up articulated screen
• Lithium Ion battery
• Control dial has moved to rear of camera
• 9-point AF (was 3-point)
• New Sports mode
• HDTV (1080i) video output (via optional component cable)
• Face detection
• D-Range optimization (auto contrast)
• In-camera retouching
• Remote control included
• NightShot function for shooting in the dark
• Entirely new user interface

	Sony DSC-H9	Sony DSC-H5
Sensor	• 1/2.5 " Type CCD • 8.1 million effective pixels	• 1/2.5” CCD, • 7.2 million effective pixels
Lens	• Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar • 31-465mm (35mm equiv) • 15x optical zoom • F2.7-4.5	• 36-432mm equiv • 12x optical zoom • Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar • F2.8-3.7
Maximum Image Size	3264 x 2448	3072 x 2304
Sensitivity	• Auto • ISO 80-3200	• Auto • ISO 80-1000
Top shutter speed	1/4000th	1/2000th
Autofocus modes	• 9 Area Multi-Point AF • Center AF • Flexible spot AF	• 3 Area Multi-Point AF • Center AF (selectable) • Flexible spot AF
Scene modes	• Twilight • Twilight Portrait • Portrait • Landscape • Beach • Snow • Fireworks • High Sensitivity • Advanced Sports Shooting	• Twilight • Twilight Portrait • Portrait • Landscape • Beach • High-speed shutter • High Sensitivity
Continuous Shooting	100 shots, 2.2fps, 8MP (max)	1.1 fps, up to 7 frames
Flash range, Auto ISO	Up to 9.8m (wide)	Up to 9.0m (wide)
LCD screen	• 3.0-inch tilt-up TFT • 230,000 pixels	• 3.0 " TFT • 230,000 pixels
Power	• Lithium-ion NP-BG1 battery	2x AA
Battery life (CIPA standard, using LCD)	280	340
Weight (inc batteries)	546g	554g
Remote control	Included	No
Other	• NightShot infrared system • Face Detection • HDTV output (optional cable) • Bionz processing engine • In-camera effects

Cyber-shot DSC-H9 vs DSC-H7

As we saw with the previous generation the DSC-H9 has a 'little brother', the DSC-H7. Basically a slightly cut down, cheaper version of the H9, the differences are actually fairly minimal - for most users the screen will be the key.

• H9 has a larger (3.0 inch), higher-resolution tilting screen (H7: 2.5-inch non-articulated)
• H9 has external buttons for metering and continuous shooting modes, H7 doesn't
• H9 is around 32g (1.1 oz) heavier
• H9 has NightShot function, H7 doesn't.

DSC-H9 specifications

Design Sony hasn't reinvented the wheel with the H9, and the design is very, very similar to the H2 and H5 that came before it. Maybe it's the materials, maybe because it's a bit lighter, but the H9 doesn't have quite the same 'quality' feel as the H5. In fact everyone who picked it up commented on how light it was, which helps when walking around all day, but doesn't help stability - nor does it inspire confidence. A few of the buttons have moved around and the command dial has migrated from the handgrip to the rear panel, but overall the recipe is the same as it has been since the original H1. In your hand Like the models that preceded it, the H9 is well-balanced and fits the hand nicely (the grip is slightly different to the H5, and I prefer it, but everyone's hands are different). Although you can easily shoot holding the camera in one hand, it's a lot steadier (and a lot easier to use the zoom control) if you use both. As a point and shoot camera it's suprisingly easy to use, but if you like to change your exposure, ISO, white balance etc settings a lot the H9 takes an awful lot of getting used to - partly because of the reliance on menus, partly because the new control dial is in a much less useful place than it used to be. The camera is also quite deep, but this will only be an issue if you're blessed with tiny hands. Body elements One big change over the previous 'H' models is the use of a Lithium Ion battery pack (presumably to deal with the power demands of that huge screen). Battery life isn't terrible, but it isn't great - especially if you use the LCD screen (as opposed to the viewfinder) and leave the IS on all the time. Sony quotes 280 shots per change (LCD, CIPA standard), but we struggled to get more than about 200 per charge. Spare battery a good idea. Directly beside the battery is the Memory Stick Duo (or PRO Duo) slot. The H9 - like most recent Cyber-shot models - doesn't ship with a card, but there is a measly 31MB of internal memory to get you started (enough for about 10 shots). The electronic color viewfinder appears to be the same as the one used on the H5, so it's still a bit small (it's like watching a film from the very back of the cinema), but the resolution is good and it's fairly bright. One small point - the new design doesn't have much of an eyecup at all, meaning in bright light the viewfinder can be hard to see. The screen is simply superb, and puts most competitors to shame. At 3.0-inches and 230,000 pixels it's the same as the H5. Like the H5 the H9's screen could do with being a bit brighter - it's nigh on impossible to see in bright light. This is despite a fancy anti-glare coating (which you need to polish continually as it shows every finger - or nose - print). Of course the big change is that the screen is now articulated, albeit in a way that only allows a limited degree of movement (apparently there are patent issues surrounding the side-hinged approach used by Canon). The screen can be tilted up and and through 90-degrees - great for waist-level or over the head shooting. The only downside is that mechanism adds further to the depth of an already quite chunky body. The H9's flash pops up automatically when needed, and it's got a great range (up to 9.8m / 32 feet), but be aware that this relies on the auto ISO going very high, so don't expect miraculous image quality at anything over a few meters. There is a very bright AF illuminator that allows the H9 to focus in total darkness up to a distance of around 1.5m. Making a reappearance on a Cyber-shot for the first time in half a decade is 'NightShot' - Sony's infrared 'night vision' technology (featured on most of its camcorders). Flip this switch and an invisible infrared light is activated allowing you to take monochrome pictures (with a lovely 'desert storm' green glow) in total darkness. It's great for sleeping kids or shy badgers. The biggest change over the previous H range is the new lens, which now covers an even more ambitious 15x zoom range. The good news is that Sony hasn't just stretched the long of the zoom; the wide end got wider too, the lens now covers an incredibly versatile 31-465mm equivalent range. The only downside of this focal length largesse is that the maximum aperture at the long end has dropped nearly two thirds of a stop (from F3.7 to F4.5). As with previous models Sony supplies a lens adaptor ring and a rather unwieldy bayonet-fit lens hood that adds considerably to the bulk of the camera but is essential for avoiding flare on bright days. If you like to use filters on the front of your lens be warned: the lens adapter has a huge - and decidedly non-standard - 74mm thread. On the left side of the body (viewed from the rear) you'll find the usual Sony multi-connector. This doubles as a video out and USB port (and can provide 1080i HDTV signal with the optional component cable). Why Sony didn't go the whole hog with HDTV output and allow a digital connection (HDMI) I don't know - that would be really impressive. Above the connector is the NightShot on/off slider switch. On the opposite side of the body is a funny little square connector for use with the (optional) mains adapter. The standard four-way controller offers instant access to flash, macro, display mode and self-timer functions, and is used to navigate the on-screen menus. Around this is the new control wheel, which has moved from it's (much more sensible) position on the front of the grip - this is very easy to knock with your thumb accidentally too. Note the new 'home' button, used to access all basic settings no matter what mode you are currently in. The mode dial sits next to the recessed power switch on the top of the camera. Here you'll find all the manual exposure modes, movies, plus the four most commonly-used scene modes (portrait, advanced sports, twilight and landscape). The shutter release is perfectly positioned on the top of the grip. Directly behind the shutter release are two buttons for metering and drive modes (the drive button also activates the various bracketing options). Last but not least the H9 ships with a fairly sophisticated remote control. Nice touch.

Operation and controls

I have to say that - despite a raft of spec and performance improvements over the H2/H5 - the H9 is a real disappointment when it comes to to actually using all those advanced features. The problem is twofold; there is still the lack of external controls that we complained about last time, but this is seriously compounded by a new user interface that may look nice but is over complicated and often awkward to use. The newly positioned rotating dial is a huge step backward from the 'click and turn' finger wheel used on the previous model - it's not as fast (mainly thanks to the fact you have to press the center button to switch between settings), and it's nowhere near as easy to use without taking your eye away from the screen.

Of course the truth is that in normal photography you aren't changing all the settings with every shot, but I do like fast access to ISO, white balance, AE compensation and Aperture (program shift is perfect for most situations), and most of the time you can just leave everything on auto and just 'point and shoot'... but I found myself cursing Sony for making it so fiddly to change such basic settings on a regular basis.

Elsewhere flash, macro, metering and burst modes do get their own buttons, and the main screen offers direct access to ISO and AE-C.

Rear of camera

The back of the camera is where we find the most important external difference to the H2/H5; the 3.0-inch screen dominates, though there's still room for some controls above and to the right. At the top, next to the electronic viewfinder, are (from left) the finder/LCD button, the play mode button and zoom rocker (which you'll struggle not to press accidentally if you try to hold the camera with one hand). Below the zoom controls are the menu button, the four-way controller and control dial and the new 'home' button. AE compensation, which had its own button the H5, is now accessed via the screen. The big screen means the controls are a little cramped, and we found the control dial a little too easy to nudge accidentally (which will change settings).

Top of camera

	The H9 - like most of its direct competitors - has an 'SLR-like' design with a fairly deep body and deep grip. As you can see, the body is actually quite deep if you include the articulated LCD.

Display and menus

Although what you see on-screen when actually taking pictures hasn't changed significantly since the last 'H' cameras, the latest generation of Cyber-shots has an entirely new menu system. It's a fairly radical departure from the system used on previous cameras (which had remained fundamentally unchanged for many years), and appears to have been inspired by the user interface of Sony's other personal electronics devices, particularly the PSP and PS3. This extends to the the use of a 'home' screen with all the basic camera settings and functions gathered into one place - accessible at the push of a button no matter what the camera is doing at the time.

The system looks great but is overly complex, often counter intuitive, has inconsistent navigation and takes forever to master. Having a two-level menu system with several ways to access the same settings just means it takes longer to learn and as I used the H9 I kept wondering if the designers had forgotten that its primary - only - function is to take pictures and movies.

The only saving grace is that you can avoid entering (and getting lost in) the menu system most of the time because the key settings are accessed from the main record screen.

As usual the DISP button cycles through the various on-screen display options. This is the most basic in P mode - shooting settings are shown along the bottom. ISO, AE-C, program shift and focus pattern can be changed directly using the control dial (in a system very similar to that used by Kodak on its high end cameras). Note that the aperture and shutter speed settings are updated continually (i.e. you don't need to wait until you half-press for metering).	Half-press the shutter release and the camera will lock focus and exposure. The H9 has three AF area options (center, flex spot and - as shown here - area).
The most detailed display has additional information - plus a live histogram. The grid lines you see in all these shots are optional.	A new virtual mode dial appears when you turn the real mode dial - useful if you don't want to take your eye off the screen (though it stays around for too long).
The control dial on the back of the camera is used to change ISO, exposure values (in A,S,M modes), program shift (P mode), AE compensation and focus pattern. Because you need to use the 'OK' button when selecting which setting to change it's nowhere near as fast as the front control wheel on the H5 - a real usability step backwards.	Manual focus is also set via the control dial.
A switch on the side of the camera turns on one of the H9's more unusual features, NightShot. This allows you to photograph in total darkness using infrared illumination.	Two buttons behind the shutter release allow you to cycle through continuous shooting (including bracketing) and metering modes.
Pressing the menu button in record mode brings up a scrolling menu of less commonly-accessed settings (image size, color mode, white balance, flash AEC, red-eye mode, contrast & sharpness settings, stabilization). I was disappointed that you can't use the control dial to scroll up and down the list - you have to use the arrow keys. Note that the menu is actually shown as an overlay on top of the live preview.	The contrast menu has the usual 'low', 'standard' and 'high' options, plus a 'Dynamic Range Optimiser' setting that automatically sets the contrast according to what you are photographing.
As with record mode you have three choices when it comes to the amount of information overlaid on images viewed in playback mode; none, basic and advanced (with histogram, shown here). You can scroll through images using the left-right buttons or the control dial.	Pressing the left (wide) zoom key brings up a display of 3x3 thumbnails of saved images. Unusually for a camera with such a large screen you can't view a greater number of (smaller) thumbnails.
Pressing the right (tele) zoom key allows you to magnify images up to 5x. You can also scroll around magnified images using the four-way controller.	The play menu offers the usual range of options, including protecting, rotating and deleting images, plus slide shows and print ordering (DPOF).
New for the H9 are a set of built-in image effects (under the 'retouch' menu item). Here you can apply soft focus vignettes, turn parts of the image black and white, remove red-eye and add a 'cross filter' or fisheye effect. The tools are actually pretty good - if you like that kind of thing.
Most offer several options for the location and strength of the effect.	It's worth giving the slide show function a quick mention, as its one of the most advanced we've yet seen, with professional transitions and a choice of background music (you can even add your own music). In conjunction with the remote control and HDTV output it's a fairly powerful way to show your pictures on a television without any other equipment.
Pressing the 'Home' button - no matter where you are in the menus or what you are doing with the camera - brings up the camera's 'home' page. This is supposed to be a simple way to access the most common functions - and change some less common settings, but since it isn't in any way customizable it's hard to see the point of it.	The play tab has options to switch directly to play mode (like pressing the play button), index display or slideshow. Next to this is the print tab (where you can go straight to the printing page and, oddly, download music for use in slideshows). Then there is the 'Manage Memory' tab - the only place you can format the card (as well as create new folders and copy between the internal memory and MS Duo card).
The settings tab has several pages of general camera and shooting options.	The shooting settings include options for single or continuous focus, AF illuminator, digital zoom, conversion lenses and more.

Timing & Performance

The H9's overall performance is roughly the same as the H2 and H5 that came before it. Although it's a little slower than some direct competitors when it comes to many basic camera operations - startup, power off, playback and so on, the H9 never feels slow in use (and we are talking about differences measured in 1/10ths of a second). Where it really matters - focus speed, shutter lag, shot-to-shot times (without flash) and so on - the H9 no worse than most super zoom cameras, and is a lot faster than many. The rather lackluster burst mode on the H5 has been beefed up a little, and now offers very nearly 2 frames per second for as many shots as you want.

Although a touch faster than its predecessors, the focus system feels like it could be faster at the long end of the zoom, as even in continuous AF mode the focus hunts every time you half-press the shutter. This means that you can be watching the live preview, everything is perfectly focused, and when you half press the shutter the focus moves in and out briefly - but quite dramatically - before settling exactly where it was before you did anything. The only saving grace is that the focus is - in good light - very fast anyway, and the hunting only really occurs at the extreme long end of the zoom; at wider angles the focus feels almost DSLR-like, it is so fast. In low light or at short subject distances the telephoto focus does get dramatically slower, but if this is the type of photography you're likely to be doing a lot of you really need an SLR.

The only other slightly disappointing results were fairly long shot-to-shot times with flash, especially if using the red-eye reduction mode.

Timing Notes

All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on an 8MP JPEG image (approx. 2210 KB per image). The media used for these tests was a 1.0 GB Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo card.

Action	Details	Time, secs
Power: Off to Record		2.5
Power: Off to Play	Image displayed	1.6
Power: Record to Off	Lens retracted and all activity ceased	2.2
Power: Play to Off	When buffer is empty, lens extended	2.2
Power: Play to Off	When buffer is empty, lens retracted	~0.5
Record Review	Image displayed	1.0
Mode: Record to Play		1.3
Mode: Play to Record	Lens already extended	~ 0.9
Mode: Play to Record	Lens retracted	~ 2.2
Play: Magnify	To full magnification (5x)	~ 4.4
Play: Image to Image	Time to display each saved image	~ 0.2 *1
Play: Thumbnail view	2 x 3 thumbnails	~1.6 *2

Lag Timing Definitions

Half-press Lag (0->S1) Many digital camera users prime the AF and AE systems on their camera by half-pressing the shutter release. This is the amount of time between a half-press of the shutter release and the camera indicating an auto focus & auto exposure lock on the LCD monitor / viewfinder (ready to shoot).	(Prime AF/AE)
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2) The amount of time it takes from a full depression of the shutter release button (assuming you have already primed the camera with a half-press) to the image being taken.	(Take shot, AF/AE primed)
Full-press Lag (0->S2) The amount of time it takes from a full depression of the shutter release button (without performing a half-press of the shutter release beforehand) to the image being taken. This is more representative of the use of the camera in a spur of the moment 'point and shoot' situation.	(Take shot, AF/AE not primed)

Continuous mode

The tables below show the results of our continuous shooting test, indicating the actual frame rate along with maximum number of frames and how long you would have to wait after taking the maximum number of frames before you could take another shot. Media used for these tests was a 1.0 GB Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo card. Shutter speed was kept above 1/160 sec during these tests.

The H9 has a single continuous (burst) mode that averages just under two frames per second (a distinct improvement on its predecessor), and there appears to be no practical limit on the number of shots per burst.

File Write / Display and Sizes

Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the storage card, the timer was started as soon as the shutter release was pressed and stopped when activity indicator went out. This means the timings also include the camera's processing time and as such are more representative of the actual time to "complete the task". The media used for these tests was a 1.0 GB Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo card.

With write speeds averaging around 1.7MB/s the H9 is no speed demon, but you'd never know as it is more than made up for by the large, fast buffer and small file sizes.

White Balance

The H9 has seven white balance presets (daylight, cloudy, fluorescent 1, 2 and 3, incandescent and flash) in addition to the default auto white balance and a custom (manual) option. In our tests the auto WB system worked pretty well in all outdoor situations (though we did notice a slight warm tone to daylight shot), coped very well with mixed light sources, but struggled to correct the color cast caused by shooting under artificial (indoor) lighting. If you want neutral tones in such situations you need to use manual white balance.

Incandescent - Auto WB Red 16.0%, Blue -25.4% Very Poor	Incandescent - Incandescent preset WB Red 5.1%, Blue -4.3%, Average
Fluorescent - Auto WB Red 2.7%, Blue -10.7%, Average	Fluorescent - Fluorescent preset WB Red 6.2%, Blue -6.5%, Average

Flash Performance

The built-in pop-up flash has a range (using auto ISO) of up to around 9.8 m (32 feet) at the wide end of the zoom, dropping to 6.0 m (19.7 feet) at the long end - pretty impressive for a camera in this class (though be aware that at great distances the ISO may get pushed too high for really great quality). We found exposure and color to be very reliable, with the flash quenching well at distances down to about 10cm. There is a slight warm tone to flash photos, but in most cases this is better than being too cool, and produces nice skin tones. One minor complaint is the flash shot-to-shot time (partly due to the pre-flash metering used), which stretches to just over three seconds when red-eye reduction is turned on. If the batteries are low or your subject is a few feet away flash recycle times can rise to as much as 6 or 8 seconds.

Skin tone - Warm tone, good exposure	Color chart -Slight warm tone, good exposure

Macro Focus

The H9's macro mode is even better than its predecessor, and lets you get as close as 1cm at the wide end of the zoom, capturing an area 35mm (1.37 inches) across. Obviously there are some limitations on the usefulness of a macro mode than requires you to get so close to the subject for really impressive magnifications. The biggest is the issue of the camera casting such a large shadow over the subject that you can't see it. If you prefer to shoot your close ups from a more respectable distance the long end of the zoom does allow you to get down to around 120cm (about 47 inches) to capture an area just under 10cm across, which isn't bad at all for a zoom this big (though there is some corner softness and mild distortion).

Wide macro - 35 mm x 26 mm coverage 92 px/mm (2338 px/in) Distortion: High Corner softness: Low Equiv. focal length: 31 mm	Telephoto macro - 97 mm x 72 mm coverage 34 px/mm (853 px/in) Distortion: Mild Corner softness: Mild Equiv. focal length: 465 mm

Barrel and Pincushion Distortion

Although the measurements aren't terrible for a camera with such a huge focal length range, the H9 produces images with visibly more distortion than most of its competitors. There is fairly strong barrel distortion at the wide end and noticeable pincushion distortion at all longer focal lengths (not just the longest setting). Of course it always looks worse when shooting test charts, but if you need straight edges (such as copying documents or artwork) then this ain't the camera for you.

Barrel distortion - 1.3% at Wide angle Equiv. focal length: 36 mm	Pincushion distortion - 0.1% at Telephoto Equiv. focal length: 465 mm

Specific image quality issues

Away from the studio in the 'real world', overall impressions of the H9's output are mixed, to say the least. On a positive note the focus, exposure and color are generally excellent (though the default settings may produce output that is a little 'overcooked' for purists). Highlight clipping is pretty low too, and the sheer versatility of such a wide zoom range - combined with fast focus and an effective stabilizer - means there are few photographic challenges it can't handle.

But look a little closer - particularly at a pixel level - and you start to see the compromises involved in squeezing a 31-465mm equiv. lens and 8 million pixels into such a compact form. We're not sure if it's noise reduction, poor demosaicing or over-compression, but viewed on-screen the images just don't look very pleasant, with visible artefacts and more than a fair share of optical issues.

On the optical side the main issues are chromatic aberration, purple fringing, particularly at the wide end of the zoom, and excessive noise reduction. The latter causes smearing of low contrast detail (hair, foliage etc) even at low ISO settings and can add a watercolor-like dappling to out of focus areas and other soft details.

In fact at the very widest zoom setting it's kind of hard to find anything really positive to say about the H9's photos; at wider apertures there is a noticeable fall off in sharpness at the edges (on our sample it's much stronger on the left than the right), strong fringing and an overall lack of crisp detail. If you stop the lens down you get less fringing but diffraction starts to soften the images.

I should stress that unless you're in the habit of printing your images at large sizes or peeping at pixels the H9's output is unlikely to disappoint, and it has a remarkably high 'hit rate', with few focus or exposure failures. But for us the output was uninspiring.

A couple of side notes; firstly the lens hood is definitely useful for reducing flare and should be left on whenever possible when shooting outdoors. Secondly we were surprised to find that even in sunny weather the H9's program mode tended to default to rather small apertures and slow shutter speeds (we're guessing this is to reduce the fringing and edge softness).

This is doubly problematic; over about F5.6 diffraction effects start to soften the H9's output - the lens' sweet spot is around two stops in from the maximum aperture (resolution drops fairly rapidly at higher F numbers), and you can easily end up with shutter speeds too slow to guarantee a blur-free result.

This problem reaches its zenith in the new Advanced Sports Shooting mode, which on a bright day was giving me 1/60th second at F7.1!! This means that all that predictive focus cleverness is totally wasted. This can only be described as a bug in the firmware, and needs to be fixed (there's no way round this either - unlike normal program mode the sports mode doesn't have program shift or ISO control).

Chromatic Aberration & Purple Fringing

All super zoom cameras suffer from some fringing (though Panasonic's processing removes it before you ever see it), and this camera's predecessor (the H5) was the worst offender. The H9 seems to be just as bad, and it is fairly prevalent at the edge of the frame when shooting at the wide end of the zoom and around high contrast edges. Unusually we found evidence of purple fringing even where the edge wasn't particularly high contrast (see example below). There's also fairly strong chromatic aberration at all focal lengths (though most obviously at longer zoom settings), although to be fair it's harder to spot this in normal prints as the fringes are only a few pixels wide in most shots. Either way this whole fringing issue - be it lens related or CCD related - is something Sony really needs to sort out in future models.

100% crop	465mm equiv., F5.6
100% crop	31mm equiv., F5.0

Noise reduction at low ISO settings

We can forgive noise reduction artefacts creeping into shots at higher ISO settings, but there are times when they are all too visible in low ISO shots too - even at base ISO. The watercolor effect tends to be most obvious on soft, out of focus areas (such as when shooting at full zoom with a wide aperture to minimize depth of field) - if I was to guess what was happening it is that the Bionz processor is mistaking soft detail as areas of solid color and applying heavy NR thinking it won't be seen, though you can sometimes see messy edges even in areas full of detail.

It's certainly not something you see in every shot (and you'd need to be printing pretty big for it to be an issue) but without any control over noise reduction or the option of shooting raw I just wish Sony hadn't turned up the Bionz processor's NR controls so high.

100% crop	465mm equiv., F5.6

Corner/edge softness

At the wide end of the zoom the sharpness drops off fairly rapidly as you move away from the center of the frame, particularly at wider apertures. Combined with the almost inevitable fringing and visible distortion this means that - a welcome addition or not - the new wideangle capabilities of the H9 are not suited to photography intended for large prints. Note that none of the examples below are anywhere near the widest aperture.

100% crop	31mm equiv., F5.6
100% crop	31mm equiv., F4.5
100% crop	31mm equiv., F5.6

ISO Sensitivity / Noise levels ISO equivalence on a digital camera is the ability to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. The works by turning up the "volume" (gain) on the sensor's signal amplifiers (remember the sensor is an analogue device). By amplifying the signal you also amplify the noise which becomes more visible at higher ISO's. Many modern cameras also employ noise reduction and / or sharpness reduction at higher sensitivities. To measure noise levels we take a sequence of images of a GretagMacBeth ColorChecker chart (controlled artificial daylight lighting). The exposure is matched to the ISO (ie. ISO 200, 1/200 sec for consistency of exposure between cameras). The image sequence is run through our own proprietary noise measurement tool (version 1.4 in this review). (Note that noise values indicated on the graphs here can not be compared to those in other reviews.) Sony DSC-H9 vs Olympus SP-550UZ vs Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Sony DSC-H9 ISO 80 n/a Olympus SP-550UZ ISO 50   Sony DSC-H9 ISO 100 Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ISO 100 Olympus SP-550UZ ISO 100 Sony DSC-H9 ISO 200 Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ISO 200 Olympus SP-550UZ ISO 200 Sony DSC-H9 ISO 400 Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ISO 400 Olympus SP-550UZ ISO 400 Sony DSC-H9 ISO 800 Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ISO 800 Olympus SP-550UZ ISO 800 Sony DSC-H9 ISO 1600 Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ISO 1250 Olympus SP-550UZ ISO 1600 Sony DSC-H9 ISO 3200 Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ISO 3200 Olympus SP-550UZ ISO 3200 With tiny, high pixel count chips noise is always going to be an issue, and to a large degree this is more a test of the effectiveness (both measurable and visible) of a camera's noise reduction system. Designers have to balance the desire to produce smooth, clean results with the need to retain as much detail as possible (if you blur away the noise, you blur away image detail too). All 'super zoom' cameras struggle with noise since they have particularly small sensors (they have to be small or the lenses would be the size of a trash can) - this is one of the key compromises we have to accept if we want a lightweight camera with a lens this big. Sony's approach to noise reduction seems to be that you can't have enough of it, and once you get to ISO 200 or over the combined effects of noise and heavy NR are enough to cause a serious loss of fine detail. It's not significantly worse than most of its competitors (though the NR - and therefore detail loss - is amongst the heaviest); this is what you get when you stuff eight million pixels into a 1/2.5-inch CCD sensor. Luminance noise graph Cameras compared: Sony DSC-H9, Olympus SP-550UZ, Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Note: FZ8 ISO 100-1250 only measured Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of luminosity is on the vertical axis. The graph shows what we'd observed in real life photographs: the H9's noise levels at ISO 80-400 are very low. Since Sony doesn't have a magic sensor this can only be the result of heavier than average noise reduction. RGB noise graph (ISO 50-1600 only) Cameras compared: Sony DSC-H9, Olympus SP-550UZ, Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Note: FZ8 ISO 100-1250 only measured Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of each of the red, green and blue channels is on the vertical axis. Once again ISO 80-400 noise is very low, thanks to the Bionz noise reduction process, but as our tests show, this comes at a price; the loss of fine detail at anything over base ISO. it's still better than either of the other cameras in this comparison. Low contrast detail What the crops and graph don't show is the effect of noise reduction on low contrast fine detail such as hair, fur or foliage. An inevitable side effect of noise removal is that this kind of detail is also blurred or smeared, resulting in a loss of 'texture'. In this test the crops below show the effect of the noise reduction on such texture (hair) as you move up the ISO range. 100% Crops, F3.5 ISO 80 ISO 100 ISO 200 ISO 400 ISO 800 ISO 1600     ISO 3200     These crops illustrate perfectly the extent to which the H9's heavy-handed noise reduction has an increasingly destructive effect on fine, low contrast detail even when photographed from a fairly short distance (these crops show how hair appears in a typical head and shoulders portrait). Even at ISO 80 there is some detail being lost through 'smearing', though it's mainly an issue for distant foliage - and even then only if you're producing prints over 10x8 inches (or of course peeping at pixels like this). Things get increasingly bad as you move up the ISO range, with ISO 200 the point where our 'acceptable' threshold starts to give way. ISO 400 looks distinctly painterly, and ISO 800-3200 may all well be created by a random pixel generator. So then, if you're shooting landscapes (with lots of distant foliage) or anything with fine, low contrast texture, and you want to produce anything over a postcard sized print you need to stick to ISO 80 or 100, and even then be prepared to lose something to noise reduction. As mentioned earlier in the review, this camera really needs a low NR option for those of us that like to make our own decisions about how much detail we're prepared to sacrifice for a 'smooth' result.

Image stabilization

The optical image stabilization ('Super Steady Shot') system used on the H9 works, though I would say it is perhaps marginally less effective than those found in the Canon S3 IS and Panasonic FZ series. The H9 has two modes: Continuous (IS on all the time) and 'Shooting' (stabilization is only activated when the button is half-pressed to lock exposure). The first option makes framing easier - the Steady Shot system steadies the preview image - but obviously uses more battery power (it's on all the time).

I certainly found it made handheld shots at 2 even 3 shutter speeds slower than normal perfectly possible, though beyond 1 stop it's nowhere near 100% reliable. The 100% crops below show the effectiveness of the IS system when shooting at full tele at speeds as low as 1/50 sec.

Real world example: 144mm (equiv), 1/50th Second, hand-held
Stabilization off	Stabilization on

The stabilization test

In this simplified version of our SLR IS test, four hand-held shots were taken of a static scene with the stabilization off and on. The shutter speed was decreased and repeated (from 1/1000 sec to 1/20 sec). The zoom was set to its maximum position (465mm equiv.), the test target was 6 m away from the camera. The test was repeated three times and an average taken.

The resulting images were then inspected and given a blur score - 'Sharp' (no visible blurring at 100%), 'Mild Blur' (the kind of camera shake that is tolerable at small print sizes) and 'Heavy Blur' (virtually unusable due to camera shake) and 'Very Heavy Blur' (little discernible detail).

As the charts below show the IS system does give you a couple of stops' advantage, though it isn't quite as reliable as some we've tried. Even at only one stop below the recommended minimum shutter speed (using the focal length reciprocal rule of thumb) you may only get one really sharp shot in three, so you need to take a few safety shots if the shutter speed drops too far.

Hand-held, no stabilization (465mm equiv.)

As you can see from the chart below only at 1/500th sec or above can we be confident of getting sharp results from the majority of shots, and once you get to 1/125th sec and below the majority of shots are heavily blurred, and none are sharp.

Hand-held, stabilization on (465mm equiv.)

With stabilization on the results are better - we got no blurred shots at all above 1/250th sec, and the majority of shots down to 1/125 sec have little or no blur. If you're shooting at one to three stops below the recommended minimum shutter speed you have a one in three chance of getting a completely sharp image.

Dynamic Range Optimization

Although the H9 offers a fairly standard range of image parameters (color presets, sharpening, contrast) it also offers a version of Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization (first seen on the Alpha digital SLR) - this is the default setting. DRO works in a similar way to Nikon's D-Lighting and HP's Adaptive Lighting technologies, using a form of contrast masking to reduce the clipping of highlights and shadows in scenes with a very wide dynamic range. The difference is that the processing is done on the raw data at the point of capture by the Bionz processor, rather than applied later (HP and Nikon offer this type of adjustment as an option in playback mode), which should mean there is more information to work with.

The effect is subtle, but it does work - mainly by lifting the shadows a little (it's helped by an excellent metering system that does a good job of preserving highlights). Compared to HP's and NiIkon's systems the results show less noise and also look more natural (though any attempt to compress dynamic range in this way tends to produce output that looks a little 'processed').

Apologies for the slightly different framing; these were taken handheld (I intended to go back and re-shoot using a tripod but it's rained continually since).

Standard contrast	100% crop
DR Optimizer (default)	100% crop
Low contrast	100% crop
High contrast	100% crop

Movie mode

Once at the vanguard of DSC movies Sony is now in danger of being left behind by companies such as Canon and Panasonic who both offer higher than VGA resolution clips on their latest models. The H9 - like most recent Cyber-shots - offers movie capture up to 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second using its MPEG-VX setting. You need to use a Memory Stick PRO Duo if you want to shoot movies at the maximum size.

The movies are recorded in MPEG-1 format, which means they are small (much smaller than standard M-JPEG or AVI movies), but the small sizes come at a price. MPEG-1 movies use a much less efficient compression system than the more modern MPEG-4, which results in visible compression artefacts - take a look at the samples below and you'll see it's much worse in scenes shot at the wide end of the zoom with a lot of fine detail.

Overall quality using the fine setting is far from the best we've seen, but it isn't too bad (the compression artefacts can sometimes be quite obvious), and you can keep shooting until the card runs out (this will give you about 12.5 minutes on a 1GB card at the 640 x 480-pixel / 30fps setting). Using the 'normal' quality produces files with distractingly visible compression artefacts (and jerky motion thanks to the lower frame rate), and I'd avoid using it.

The focus system tends to hunt a little when shooting videos at the long end of the zoom, something you can only stop by switching to manual focus, which is a pain. Like the H5, the H9 allows you to zoom whilst filming though this does exacerbate the focus hunting.

	As with stills recording you can choose the amount of information overlaid on the live preview image (though there's no histogram). There is an EV compensation (lighter or darker) control in the bottom right of the screen - and a focus mode control.
	In movie mode you get a slightly more basic set of menus offering options for white balance, image stabilization and picture effects. You can also choose from one of three movie settings; 640 x 480 pixels/16.6 or 30 fps and 320 x 240 pixels at 15 fps.
	In playback mode you get some basic controls for playing movies, allowing you to play, pause, rewind/cue. Nothing fancy.

Sample movies

	640 x 480 pixels @ 25 fps File size: 2.4MB Duration: 6.2 secs Standard Quality Mode with zooming Click on the thumbnail to view the movie (caution: large file!)
	640 x 480 pixels @ 30 fps File size: 9.7MB Duration: 7.24 secs Fine Quality Mode Click on the thumbnail to view the movie (caution: large file!)