For this article I thought I’d go out on a limb and review a digital camera. I don’t know as much about picture cameras as I do about video cameras, but this should follow my last article nicely. Buying a camera shouldn’t be taken lightly and since I’m in the market for a new camera myself I thought I’d share my research.For this article I thought I’d go out on a limb and review a digital camera. I don’t know as much about picture cameras as I do about video cameras, but this should follow my last article nicely. Buying a camera shouldn’t be taken lightly and since I’m in the market for a new camera myself I thought I’d share my research.

The criteria that I wanted for my camera was as follows: I wanted a camera that wouldn’t hold me back or need to be replaced in a year or less, so naturally I wanted something that allowed for accessories at a reasonable price (wide-angle lens, telephoto lens, filters, etc.) and a high pixel rating so that I can, at the very least, have a sharp image (maybe do some 8 x 10 prints too). I also wanted the camera to be compatible with a flash system.

I looked long and hard and spoke to many people about their camera purchases. To be honest, I wanted an SLR digital camera, something in the lines of the Nikon D100, Canon’s new EOS-10D or the new SD9 from Sigma. But alas, I’m on a budget and could only allow for $800 – $900 USD. This led me to my newest discovery… a camera that can compete with the “big boys” for under $1,000.

The Sony DSC F717

Of course there are quite a few cameras that parallel the F717 category such as the Minolta Dimage 7 and 7i. On the Nikon side there is the Coolpix 5700, Olympus has the 5050 and the E20 – again, some of these cameras don’t compare in the features category or they just aren’t within my budget. (Please note that I am not endorsing Sony in any way nor did I receive a demo camera from them.) Through my research, this is the camera that suits me best via the features I wanted and needed.

I had heard about the Sony F717 camera for some time now, and had the opportunity to try one out during Internext in Vegas in January 2003 as well as a shoot in Vancouver. At first glance the camera doesn’t look all that impressive. It looked like the same ol’camera body as the DSC P31/P51/P71 Sony camera series but with one slight difference… a barrel of a Zeiss lens stickin’ out of it! It looked too awkward to hold, let along produce superior digital images. The fact that Sony utilizes Zeiss glass is a great bonus. Carl Zeiss is known for making some of the best lenses on the market today. More information on Carl Zeiss lenses can be found here.

Sony’s DSC F707 is the father of the F717. The newer version has added features, a better pixel rating and five different auto-focus modes, essentially aiding the “point and shoot” operators. This new feature allows the user to move the point of focus around your image field – right, left, top, bottom, and in a broad range across the middle. This is very useful when shooting live action and you don’t want the subject to be smack dab in the middle of the frame, nor do you have the time to focus quickly enough. This type of feature is available on most digital cameras – hold the shutter release halfway down, center your subject, then move off-center and fully trigger the shutter release button. The F717 eliminates this step by allowing you to place your spot focus anywhere you want in the image plane.

Did I mention the pixel upgrade of this inexpensive camera? True five million pixels, allowing for 8 x 10 prints. Naturally, a camera with such a high pixel rating will fill up your Sony memory stick pretty fast, but you can always opt to reduce the size of your images to a very acceptable 2048 x 1536 or 1280 x 960, almost doubling the amount of pictures on your memory card. Sony has plans for a 1 GB memory stick to be out some time this year.

You could easily mistake the F717 for his father the F707. They both have this large barrel of a 5x zoom lens. True that a 6x or 10x would be better, but for my application – porn – I don’t foresee myself being further than five feet from the action. While the lens and its placement (off to the left hand side) might seem cumbersome, in fact it fits nicely into my left palm allowing for a good grip and a steady arm. (Rest your elbow against your side while cradling the camera body with the right.) The zoom rocker is found right on the lens, a perfect placement when using the zoom rocker and the infinite focus ring.

However, another very nice feature of this lens is that at the push of a single button you can engage the manual zoom override, turning the focus ring into a zoom ring, giving you great control over the whole zoom range. The lens features don’t end there, not by a long shot! Ever found yourself in a club or party where it was just too dark to see what you’re shooting? Well, Sony has addressed this problem with Night Framing; using a hologram AF fill light activated when pressing the shutter release midway allows you to see what you’re shooting quite nicely. Need to shoot without a flash? (pervert!) Sony’s patented Night Shot: No flash, and well… no color, but perfect for those ever-so-popular voyeur shots.

Further examination of this lens revealed more manual options with a wide range of excellent professional features. Various metering modes are available on this camera, the most popular being spot metering – a great asset in difficult lighting conditions. Other popular metering options are center-weighted metering and multi-pattern, all found on the F717. The Macro feature is accessible at the push of a button, no need to go searching through the menu. I found this very useful when shooting hardcore sex scenes. I was able to move from a medium shot to close-up in a fraction of a second.

Another really cool feature on this camera is the body and lens – split body configuration, reminiscent of Nikon Coolpix cameras. This allows you to get into awkward positions quite comfortably. In combining the Night Shot feature with this split body configuration one can easily get those “hard to get without getting slapped across the face” up-skirt shots.

With all this said I was quite pleased with the F717. Intimidating at first view but quite ergonomically designed with LCD viewfinder rather then an optical one. This camera deserves a closer look when shopping for a digital camera under the $1,000 mark. After performing a ‘Net search on this camera I was able to find this baby selling for as low as $749 USD. Add a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens, and I’m still within my budget. Again, I am by no means endorsing this camera, nor has Sony influenced me in any way. I just felt that for the purpose of this article this would help to single out the camera that most interests me based on my shooting needs. I hope this article was useful in helping you determine what features most interest you when purchasing a camera. It’s still true that a DSC small format camera still does not compare to all the features found on a Digital SLR, but neither does the price.

Should you have any questions on this or any other camera, or should you be interested in hearing my opinions on a photo or video camera, please don’t hesitate to contact me at vid@paysitedesign.com.

Vid Vicious is an all-around nice guy and co–owner of Paysitehosting.com and Paysitedesign.com. A 14-year veteran of the Broadcast Television Industry, Vid’s main occupation is Director of Photography, with an extensive knowledge of camera equipment and lighting technique. Entering the web world in 2001 with Wild Rose Productions, Vid has produced hours of hardcore amateur video and photos. Contact Vid today at vid@paysitedesign.com!