Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 Easy Camera Review

Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-F828 is another camera that falls into a gray area between higher-end compacts and DSLRs in terms of features and control options - but the F828 has the dubious distinction of looking just plain weird. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 7x optical zoom lens is housed in an enormous barrel, which swivels on an axis on the back of the camera and captures up to 8-megapixel images on its 2/3-inch CCD. This lens swivels in relation to the camera body up to nearly 140 degrees.  This advantage becomes a drawback when additional lenses or filters are added, since this will weigh the already large barrel down and throw off the camera’s balance even more. Other than the gigantic lens barrel, the F828 has well placed controls and features and the comfortable grip lets users securely hold the camera while navigating the intuitive and simple to use in-camera menu. This camera isn’t going to slide into a pocket at 5.3 x 3.6 x 6.1 inches and its weight of slightly less than 2 lbs (more with an external flash connected to the hot shoe) is enough to never be forgotten.   

 

The color accuracy of the F828 is not all that great, especially when compared to other cameras in its original price range around $1000. Images are sharp enough for users who aren’t going to modify their pictures much in postproduction. The Sony F828 produces some noise in its pictures. The camera has a 64-800 ISO range, but don’t go beyond ISO 100 without a flash unless you want some digital noise.

 

The auto mode setting on the Cyber-shot F828 is both quick to respond and simple to activate and use, and the F828 offers a Program Auto mode as well. The auto focus uses a 5 point AF system, and the manual focus is controlled by a focus ring on the large lens barrel. Though the ring is rather awkward and small, we’re delighted to some of that large barrel being put to good use. The white balance options include an easy one-push feature for manual white balance. There are three metering options and a standard exposure compensation scale, and the available shutter speed ranges in three different modes are more than adequate. There’s an aperture priority mode as well with F-stops ranging from f/2.8 to f/8.0. There are only four preset scene modes, but there are generally less of these in pricier models.

 

 

The F828 has three different burst modes, though their rates are all less impressive than comparable ones on DSLRs. The camera as a whole is slow; it may start up at a decent speed, but it takes over three times as long to go from shot to shot. This model’s movie mode would be good with its many resolution and frame rate options, but to really utilize it you need plenty of memory.

 

The Cyber-shot F828 also hosts picture size, quality, color mode, and picture effects settings, and can capture images in RAW as well as the more common JPEG format. The various image effect offerings are both paltry and not as good as postproduction alterations, but that’s no surprise. You can view your original or altered images on the 1.8-inch, 134,000 pixel LCD or the 0.44-inch, 235,000 pixel electronic viewfinder that offers 100 percent frame coverage and a position comfortably far away enough from the LCD. The Cyber-shot DSC-F828 is capable of direct printing.

 

In the end, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 succeeds in terms of manual controls and layout while struggling with unimpressive picture quality. It looks, feels, and sounds professional from the spec sheet, and the controls available are fine, but the problem is what they are controlling. The F828 just isn’t able to step up to the plate when compared to the equally priced Canon Digital Rebel or even much lower priced compact cameras.