The New Cybershot DSC F828 How good is Sony’s first “PRO” Digital Camera?

Sony’s first “L” body swiveling lens digicam (the 2 megapixel DSC F505) hit store shelves in 1999. The latest incarnation of that venerable design is an 8 megapixel update of the very popular DSC F717. The new Cybershot DSC F828 introduces several impressive and useful performance enhancements while retaining all the best features of the DSC F717. Sony’s digital cameras have always sold well with consumers, but they’ve never managed to gain wide acceptance with pro photographers and serious amateurs. Sony's newest digicam will go a long way toward converting skeptics into believers.

The F828 sports a brand new Carl Zeiss T* f2.0-f2.8/28-200mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens with Sony’s very fast Hologram Laser assisted auto focus and the ability to mount both Sony and third party external flash units. The F828 could end up being the long sought digicam Holy Grail for wedding photographers, portrait photographers, part time pros, sports shooters, and serious amateur shutterbugs.

NUTS & BOLTS

Processor

The brain of Sony’s new F828 is the new 8 megapixel four-color (RGB E) CCD processor. This high-power digital signal processor captures images using four colors (red, green, blue, and emerald) for improved color balance and accuracy and then converts the image back to an ideal RGB color space. The new processor uses less power and provides faster processing (shortening shutter lag and cycle times by almost 40 per cent) than the F717.

Viewfinder/LCD

The F828 features a 1.8” color LCD screen (with anti-reflective coating). Images on the large LCD screen are bright, color accurate, and fluid and brightness can be adjusted. The LCD information display provides flash mode, exposure settings (aperture and shutter speed), focus mode, battery status, image quality/resolution settings, and a histogram display. The addition of the histogram display is nice, but it would have been more useful if the display “blinked” the highlight areas.

The F828’s larger than average zooming EVF (electronic viewfinder) is the best I’ve seen to date, images are sharp, bright, fluid, and color correct and there’s a diopter correction adjustment for eyeglasses wearers. Inside the EVF is a tiny LCD that shows exactly the same view seen on the F828’s LCD screen. The EVF can be used to navigate menus and check exposure settings, however those who don’t posses the visual acuity of an eagle will find it much simpler (and quicker) to use the LCD monitor.

The F828’s useful backlit Top Deck LCD Status display provides quick access to camera settings (flash mode, drive mode, metering, white balance, and exposure settings, and a frame counter).

Lens

The heart of the new Sony DSC F828 is its’ very fast Carl Zeiss T* f2.0-f2.8/28-200mm (35mm equivalent) Vario-Sonnar 7X zoom lens. The all glass optical zoom swivels up 70° or down 30° making it possible to use the LCD for ultra tight macro shots or as a waist level or overhead finder. The lens has a 7 bladed iris diaphragm (for true depth of field and improved Bokeh effect) and a nifty mechanically linked manual zoom ring. The top of the lens displays a (35mm equivalent) focal length scale and Sony includes a petal style lens hood. The F828 is the first prosumer digital camera to feature the world famous Carl Zeiss “Tee Star” lens coating usually seen on Medium Format Hasselblad and Rollei optics. This advanced multi-layer anti-reflective lens coating formula is applied to each lens element to eliminate ghosting, cut internal reflections, reduce flare, increase contrast, improve color accuracy, and insure maximum sharpness. The lens was designed by the Carl Zeiss Werke in Oberkochen Germany but it’s manufactured (under license) by Sony in Japan. The aperture can be adjusted either automatically or manually.

In use the Carl Zeiss T* f2.0-f2.8/28-200mm Vario-Sonnar 7X zoom is sharp as a tack with excellent color transmission, enhanced contrast, and the best Bokeh effect I’ve seen in any digicam lens. Barrel distortion (at the wide angle end of the 7X zoom’s range) is very well-controlled and substantially lower than average. Pincushion distortion (at the telephoto end of the 7X zoom’s range) is virtually invisible and shouldn’t be a problem except in formal architectural studies. There is some very minor coma and noticeable chromatic aberration in high contrast color transition areas. Very minor corner softness is visible at the maximum aperture but this disappears by f4.0. The F828's mechanically linked manual zoom control is as smooth as silk and a nifty zoom graph appears on the LCD screen to show the exact zoom setting. F828 users have the ability to make minute adjustments (for critical framing) without the frustrating back & forth jerkiness that characterizes the electronically controlled power zooms on virtually every other digital camera. Wedding Photographers and Portrait shooters are going to love the precise compositional control provided by the F828’s zoom. Overall, this is the best long zoom I’ve seen on any digital camera.

Auto Focus

The Sony DSC F828 uses a (default) Multi-AF Point Auto Focus system to evaluate five separate areas of the frame and then intelligently (using closest focus priority) focus on the subject. Users can over-ride the default system and manually select any one of the five focus points for more precise compositional control. The F828 provides three AF modes: Single, Monitor, and Continuous. The Single AF mode adjusts focus when the shutter button is pressed half way. Continuous AF mode adjusts focus continuously until the exposure is snapped, allowing users to track subject movement (great for action/sports shots). Sony’s Monitor mode (similar to the Continuous AF modes of other manufacturers) adjusts focus continuously until the Shutter button is pressed half way, at which time focus is locked (great for “real-time” image capture).

The DSC F828’s Hologram Laser assisted auto focus is very fast (the fastest of any prosumer digital camera I’ve ever used) and is comparable in operation and feel to some mid level 35mm AF SLR’s. The camera does a high-speed AF scan and then projects a laser hologram pattern on the subject to insure properly focused pictures even in low lighting. Sony’s Hologram Laser Assisted AF is virtually foolproof and isn’t confused by low contrast subjects like many other digicam AF systems. The laser pattern has a maximum range of about 15 feet.

Manual Focus

Critical focus can be adjusted manually by simply turning the focus ring, just like you would with a film camera zoom. A switch on the side of the lens permits users to effortlessly jump back and forth between AF and manual focus. When using the manual focus ring a small indicator scale appears on the LCD screen showing the focusing distance (in meters). Select the Expanded Focus option and the LCD image is magnified 2X making, critical focusing much simpler.

The MF ring isn't coupled to the lens elements, instead turning the ring electronically indicates to the F828’s CPU which way to shift focus. If the ring is turned slowly, focus is slow, incremental, and very precise. While I would have liked to see the MF ring mechanically coupled (like the zoom ring) the F828’s MF system is much more responsive and useful than the cumbersome scale focusing MF systems used on most other digicams.

The F828’s MF capabilities make the camera a natural for Wedding Photographers and Portrait shooters who demand the ability to absolutely control focusing. This may seem like nitpicking, but I don’t understand why Sony’s optical engineers would mechanically link the zoom ring and not the MF ring---and while I’m nitpicking the mass of the pop-up flash housing obstructs access to the focus ring making it awkward to use.

Macro Focus

I didn’t test the macro mode but Sony claims the minimum focusing distance in (macro mode) is 0.8 inches (at the 28mm lens setting). Given the superb Zeiss optics this should make the F828 an astounding camera for close up work. Clearly the built in flash has no tilt function so coverage/lighting would be uneven at the closest focusing distances, but this can be easily cured by mounting an external flash unit with the ability to tilt the flash-head downward.

Flash

The F828’s intelligent TTL multimode (Auto, Fill, Red-eye reduction, and Slow-synch) flash pops up automatically when needed or it can be controlled manually. The F828 is one of only a handful of prosumer digicams that feature true TTL (through the lens) flash control. Most digital cameras control flash output with a sensor mounted on the front of the camera. The problem with this approach is that flash output can be affected by strong reflections or light colors from the subject or the surrounding area. TTL flash control is much more accurate. Users can tailor lighting needs precisely by selecting Metering mode (multi-pattern, center-weighted, spot), Macro focus mode, Drive/Bracketing mode (single, speed burst, framing burst, multi burst, bracketing) and Night Shot/Night Framing mode. For the icing on the cake, flash output can be manually controlled with high, low, and normal settings.

The F828's built-in pop-up flash isn't hinged at the back (like most pop-up units) instead when the flash pops up the rear hinge slides forward and the flash body flips upward. This allows the flash unit to sit high enough to avoid creating a lens barrel shadow and the higher position should also help in reducing red eye problems. The design is much better than the pop-up flash on the DSC F717 because that unit had a nasty habit of popping up right under your hand. Clearly Sony’s product development folks listened to consumers who complained about the positioning of the pop-up flash on the DSC F707 & DSC F717 models.
The F828 also provides a flash hot-shoe permitting the use of Sony’s HVL-F1000 (requires an additional connection) or the newer HVL-F32X (Auto-Programmable) and HVL-F2000 (with more advanced features) flash units. Flash exposures (with the built in flash and the HLV-F32X) are metered through the F828’s lens, providing true TTL flash metering. Third party flash units can be used, but only in aperture priority or manual modes.

Note Info on the HLV 1000, HLV-F32X , and HLV-F2000 flash units was obtained through research.--I didn’t use an external flash unit for my F828 tests.

Memory Media

The F828 is the first of Sony’s popular Cybershot family to be equipped with a CompactFlash (Type I or II) card slot in addition to the standard Memory Stick slot. The long overdue inclusion of a CompactFlash slot will broaden the F828’s appeal, especially for pro and serious amateur photographers who can now utilize standard Memory Stick (up to 128MB), faster Memory Stick PRO (up to 1 Gigabyte), CF Type I or II and IBM/Hitachi Microdrives (up to 4 Gigabytes) for image storage. This is great news for high output shooters who are unwilling to pay six hundred bucks for a 1 GB Memory Stick PRO card CF storage media (including Microdrives) are consistently (and substantially) cheaper per Megabyte than Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick Pro storage media.

In keeping with the F828’s Pro identity Sony doesn’t include a memory card (dSLR’s never include memory) at purchase. Buyers will need to factor the additional cost into the purchase price. It would have been classier for Sony to include a Memory Stick PRO card in the package. The F828 is not a dSLR no matter how impressive its’ pedigree --- it’s a prosumer digicam.

Image File Formats

Sony’s engineers really got it right in the image file format department, the F828 supports JPEG, TIFF, and RAW file formats. Sony's RAW format permits shooters to change some parameters (white balance and color depth) post exposure. The camera locks when writing TIFF or RAW files and RAW files must be processed with Sony’s (included) proprietary software in order to view or transfer them to other formats.

Connectivity

A/V out, USB (2.0), and DC-IN

Battery/Power

The DSC F828 uses the same high capacity Sony NP-FM50 InfoLITHIUM camcorder battery that powered the DSC F717. Battery duration has always been one of the strong suits of the Cybershot family and the F828 is no exception. Sony claims the NP-FM50 is good for 225 minutes (450 exposures with continuous LCD and heavy flash use) and based on my experience that’s probably fairly accurate (most manufacturers vastly overstate battery capability). The remaining run time is shown in a very accurate LCD/EVF readout. The DSC-F828 charges the battery in-camera (about 2.5 hours) with the included AC adapter/charger. Kudos are due Sony for good engineering, exceptional power management, and creative use of on hand components.

EXPOSURE

The F828 provides an incredibly broad and flexible range of exposure options, including: Auto, Program AE w/Shift, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, Manual, Scene modes (Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, and Portrait), Movie, NightShot, and Night Framing modes. In Auto mode the camera controls everything (except resolution, flash, zoom, and capture mode). In Program mode the user controls everything except aperture and shutter speed (however, users can choose from a range of equivalent exposure settings). The Aperture and Shutter Priority modes allow users to select either the shutter speed (the camera chooses the aperture) or the aperture (the camera selects the shutter speed). In manual mode the user controls exposure settings.

Low Light

The F828 (along with the DSC-F707, 717, & V1) features Sony’s nifty Night Shot and Night Framing modes. The camera uses an infrared beam (after shifting an infrared filter over the CCD imager) to obtain focus. Night Shot should appeal to those with espionage, combat photographer, and crusading photojournalist delusions/ambitions. The feature was first seen on Sony camcorders and generates the same sort of blotchy greenish monochromatic images shown on TV news programs during the invasion of Iraq. The Night Shot mode can be used to capture images in complete darkness, but in real world terms it has very limited applications. The Night Framing mode on the other hand should prove invaluable to serious photographers. The F828 uses the Night Shot mode to allow users to see and frame their subject and lock focus. The camera then shifts the infrared filter out of the light path, switches to regular color mode and captures the image using the flash for illumination.

Movie Mode

The DSC F828 provides the most impressive and useful movie mode of any currently available digital camera----if shooting video clips is an important feature, the F828 should go right to the top of your short list. Users can shoot video clips @ 640X 480 at 30 fps (with audio) and since the zoom is manually controlled (no motor noise) it can be used during filming, unlike most other digicams. Clip length is limited only by the capacity of the memory card.

In-Camera Image Adjustment

The F828 provides what is arguably the most versatile and genuinely useful range of in-camera image adjustment/manipulation options of any currently available digital camera. Sony’s Picture Effects menu (Negative Art, Sepia, and Solarize), a standard or real color option (standard color is the popular slightly more saturated color usually seen in digicam images---real color is more neutral and natural/realistic), a color saturation adjustment option (high, low, normal), a contrast adjustment setting (high, low, normal), and a sharpening adjustment option (high, low, normal). All the effects are "live" so users can view a “real time” preview of all effects on the LCD screen pre-exposure.

Metering

The F828’s (default) Multi-Pattern metering system splits the frame into small sections and separately analyzes each section. The separate readings are then evaluated to determine the best shutter speed -- aperture combination. Center-Weighted Average (for a more traditional “look”) and Spot metering (for trickier compositions) are also available. More advanced shooters can fine tune metering in difficult lighting via Exposure Compensation (-2/ 2 EV in 1/3EV increments).

The AEL button on the F828’s rear panel allows users to lock the exposure reading without also locking focus. The AE Lock function works especially well with Spot or Center-Weighted metering because the exposure can be based on a specific area of the subject but without also having to also lock the AF on that area. Simply align the center of the viewfinder with the portion of the subject you want to base exposure on and press the AEL button.

White Balance

The F828's White Balance mode provides seven settings: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, One-Push (manual), and a new Flash setting. The One-Push Set option allows users to manually set the white balance based on a white card.

Sensitivity

TTL Auto or 100, 200, 400, and 800 ISO (35mm equivalent)

Noise Reduction

As resolution rises noise levels increase exponentially (as a direct consequence of complexity) in CCD images. The F828’s redesigned NR system does an amazingly good job for an eight megapixel camera. The new NR system is based on the tried and true dark frame subtraction method. The camera makes an identical a blank exposure (when noise reduction is enabled) after the actual exposure and then compares the noise captured in the actual exposure with the noise captured in the dark frame. Hot pixels (noise) are then subtracted from the final image. The F828 takes this to the next level by adding "Clear Color” NR (reduces color noise at higher light levels) and "Clear Luminance” NR (reduces luminance or brighter noise in darker/shadow areas) image-processing algorithms.

DESIGN, ERGONOMICS, & CONTROLS

The F828 and the DSC F717 look and feel completely different. The F828 is large and relatively heavy and looks sort of like a modular medium format film camera. The “Pro” black magnesium alloy F828 provides users with a broad range of exposure options, a well laid out and very usable control array, a swiveling 7X Carl Zeiss T* zoom lens, and a raft load of cutting edge digital imaging technology and pro level features.

Technical Specifications

Resolution: 8.0 Megapixel (3264 x 2448)
Viewfinder: Electronic (EVF)
LCD: 1.8” TFT color LCD
Lens: Carl Zeiss T* f2.0-f2.8/28-200mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens
Auto Focus: TTL 5 area AF with a hologram laser assist
Exposure Modes: Program AE, Scene Modes, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, Manual, and NightShot and NightFrame exposure modes
Auto Exposure Bracketing: yes, /- 0.3, 0.7 or 1.0 EV
Burst Mode: yes, 3 shots at 2 fps
Metering: Multi-pattern, Center-weighted, and Spot
Flash: Built-in multi mode with hot shoe for external flash units
White Balance: Auto and 5 preset modes
Sensitivity: Auto, 100, 200, 400, and 800 ISO equivalent
In Camera Image Adjustments: Yes---Sharpening, Color Saturation, and Contrast
Image Formats: JPEG, TIFF, and RAW
Storage Media: Sony Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and CF (types I&II) and MicroDrives
Connectivity: USB 2.0

MSRP $1199.99 Street Price range $995.00 $1099.00

Included

NP-FM50 battery, AC-L15 AC adapter/battery charger, Neck strap, Lens cap, Lens hood, USB & A/V cables, Software CD-ROMs, User’s manual

Optional

Sony auxiliary wide-angle and telephoto converters, HVL-F1000, HVL-F32X, & HVL-F2000 external flash units, RM-DR1 wired remote control

In the Field/Handling & Operation

I bought my first 35mm SLR (a used Mamiya-Sekor 1000 DTL) almost thirty years ago. That camera’s only concession to modernity was a built in light meter. Since then I’ve seen an incredible evolution in the art and science of photography. Cameras today are more likely to be digital than analog (film) and to provide features that old time photographers only dreamed about, back in the day.

I have a good friend who works in the business (selling new and used photographic equipment) who shares my addiction for photographic toys. Between us we have almost fifty years of photographic experience and hands on experience with hundreds of cameras (digital and film), multitudes of lenses (zoom and prime), scores of flashes, and dozens of tripods.

He managed to get his hands on one of Sony’s coveted Cybershot DSC F828’s, the most eagerly awaited new digital camera model in recent memory.* Industry hype and insider buzz have been calling the F828 the latest quantum leap in digital camera evolution.

We started by running some color tests (we shot a selection of colorful plastic children’s beach toys on a white background) and the F828 did an absolutely amazing job, consistently producing color accurate well-saturated images in both the automatic and manual white balance modes. After we finished our color tests we drove to Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville’s oldest graveyard, and a favorite shooting locale.

The weather was cool and overcast with a dull gray sky and intermittent rain. The temperature was in the fifties and the oblique mid winter lighting was soft and flat. Cave Hill is shaded by hundreds of ancient trees arrayed around a small central lake that’s filled year round with geese and ducks. There are also hundreds of 19th century grave markers, scores of grandiose mausoleums, and a Civil War section where both yanks and rebs lie at rest.

We spent about an hour photographing people feeding the ducks and geese and got a couple of humorous interactions between small wary children clutching tiny pieces of bread and large aggressive (and very hungry) waterfowl. My friend suggested that we take advantage of the dull lighting to shoot some of the hand carved grave markers in the older section of the cemetery, especially the tiny timeworn children’s headstones. During much of the nineteenth century children often died during their first few years of life. Popular children’s headstones were doll sized white marble angels or small stuffed animal sized limestone lambs. We took turns shooting pitted and lichen darkened limestone lambs and much smoother white marble angels. The F828 handled both with equal ease, showing an incredible dynamic range and wonderful shadow detail in both the rougher age darkened limestone lambs and the much subtler polished white marble angels.

After we finished up at Cave Hill we took a break and drove over to Five Star Chili at Mid City Mall to get a bowl of chili (five way) and a coke. We managed to sneak a couple candid shots of a few of our fellow diners to check out the F828’s higher ISO images. There was some visible (but minor) noise in our ISO 400 shots. After we finished eating we headed for the scenic loop in nearby Cherokee Park to shoot some action. We passed a couple of in-line skaters out speed skating in the drizzle and got far enough ahead of them to find a nice looking background. We parked and waited for them so my friend could shoot them from the open window of the car as they to zoomed by (which allowed us to test the F828’s ability to capture action and to check its’ shot to shot times). The F828 performed like a champ, allowing him to shoot three or four pictures in the short time it took them to pass us.

The scenic loop traverses several miles of rolling hillsides and open meadows with old growth woods lining both sides of Beargrass Creek. We went looking for Eliot Porter style “intimate landscapes” and John Shaw style close-up shots along the banks of the creek. The creek was pretty high (we’ve had a lot of rain recently). We stopped to shoot close-ups of a patch of dark green moss surrounded by windblown dead leaves that were spotted with rain drops. The old growth trees threw the creek into moderate shadow but the F828 produced consistently sharp and well exposed noise free images as long as we used the on board flash and stayed at the ISO 100 setting. Higher ISO natural light shots showed minor noise.

The scenic loop is one of my favorite shooting locations because it’s possible to capture great “intimate landscapes” just a few yards from the road that look like as if they were shot out in the middle of nowhere, rather than right in the middle of a large urban area. My friend found an old stump right beside the creek decorated with dark green moss on one side and a patch of bracket fungus on the front. The narrow slice of slate gray water visible behind the stump was nicely balanced by the lighter colored ankle deep dead leaves that surrounded the base of the old forest relic. We found some rust red cinnamon ferns and artfully leaned them against the rear of the stump so that only the tips of a couple of leaves poked above the ragged edge. The light was fairly dim under the trees, but the F828 did a great job of rendering the scene accurately although there was some minor noise visible in the darker areas of our images. By this time both of us were freezing, so we called it a day.

We got together fairly early the next morning and headed for Louisville’s riverfront Extreme Sports Park to shoot some of our talented local skateboarders. The weather was much better than the day before with pale blue skies and fairly bright but diffused lighting. Skateboarders gravitate to the park at all hours of the day and night to hone their technique so photographers are presented with an almost perfect locale for getting action shots of boarders “catching some air” in gravity defying leaps.

The F828 is very quick (although not as quick as most entry level film SLR’s) and the very fast Carl Zeiss T* f2.0-f2.8/28-200mm (35mm equivalent) Vario-Sonnar 7X zoom lens simplifies tracking and framing skateboarders as they zoom up and down the steep sides of the half pipe and bowl. Really good boarders move at amazing speeds and optimal framing/timing (centering the boarders in the frame AND stopping the action in mid air) is very difficult. If you’re looking for a digital camera that can shoot high-speed action, the F828 is the fastest digital camera I’ve ever used.

I managed to get a couple of fairly decent shots and after about an hour we headed for nearby West Main Street. The street was the heart of Louisville’s Bourbon Whiskey Industry during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and is lined with three and four story warehouses sporting decorative cast iron building fronts. We parked near the Louisville Science Center, the most striking building on West Main Street, and spent half an hour shooting tight architectural studies of the colorful cast iron building front.

* The F828 was originally scheduled for release in late October of 2003, but the release date was pushed forward twice while Sony’s engineers (reportedly) scrambled to fix noise issues with the eight megapixel CCD.

PERFORMANCE

Image Quality

We printed a couple of 8X10’s using an Epson Stylus Photo 2200 (my friend’s Epson Stylus Photo EPX 785 finally wore out) printer and Kodak photo paper. The images were very sharp with solid background/shadow detail and natural looking with none of the “plasticky” colors that plagued some earlier Sony digicams. The images show slightly higher than average noise and chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is also slightly higher than average, however neither shortcoming should be a deal breaker. We compared the F828’s images with enlargements we’d shot with the Canon G5 and the Olympus C5050 and the pictures were clearly sharper with noticeably better background/shadow detail. In the final analysis (and on balance) the F828 does a superb job. The DSC F828’s overall image quality is equal (or superior) to any digital camera currently available.

Timing/Shutter lag

The F828 is faster (in almost every category) than any other currently available fixed lens (non-SLR) digital camera. Boot up, AF, shutter-lag, and image processing are only marginally slower than mid-level dSLR times and are roughly comparable to entry-level 35mm SLR timing. Shot-to-shot times are noticeably shorter than average. Write to card times are a bit faster than average except for RAW files which are a bit slower (10-15 seconds) than average

A Few Concerns

Slightly above average noise levels, especially noticeable at higher ISO settings and above average chromatic aberration (purple fringing). Slightly muddy looking images at ISO 400 and up. The F828, unlike several cheaper cameras doesn’t permit users to save favorite exposure settings to a dedicated mode dial position. Users can only process/convert RAW files with Sony software.
Velvia influenced shooters may feel the F828’s default color settings are a little flat, but users who want/need more saturation can simply increase color intensity, however doing so will slightly boost noise levels. I don’t understand why Sony didn’t include an ISO 50 sensitivity setting. Consider the F828’s super fast AF, virtually non-existent shutter lag, and 7X Zeiss zoom-- and I’m really puzzled by the lack of a dedicated sports/action scene mode -- if ever there was a digicam that had the potential to be an almost perfect camera for sports and action the F828 is it.

Users who want to take advantage of the enhanced speed and expanded maximum capacity of the Memory Stick Pro format will be obliged to pay a higher tariff for the privilege ----Memory Stick Pro cards cost substantially more than comparable CF storage media. Sony’s digital cameras have one glaring shortcoming that purchasers should consider very carefully. Unlike most of their major competitors (who offer a full one year warranty) Sony provides only a 90-day full warranty on parts and labor.

Who is the Sony Cybershot DSC F828 best suited for?

The DSC F828 is best suited for photography enthusiasts, wedding photographers, portrait photographers, small-town newspaper photojournalists, high school and college graphics/arts programs, part time pros, and serious amateur shutterbugs.

Conclusion

The F828 is not for beginners or the technologically faint of heart, it’s a serious camera. More advanced photographers who are committed to achieving their creative potential will either love it or hate it. The $1000 to $1200 price tag may seem a bit steep, but in reality it’s not---the F828 is a lot of camera and Sony didn’t skimp on the details. The DSC F828 is going to make Sony’s competition try a little harder----and the ultimate beneficiary of increased competition is the consumer.

Links

Check out my review of a bargain priced and very capable photo quality ink-jet printer.

Epson Stylus Photo 785 EPX ink-jet printer
http://www.epinions.com/content_60776812164

For definitive advice on How to Choose a Digital Camera please see my review:
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2E46-17B174E2-39A418E3-prod1

For more information about Digital Camera models that are comparable/competitive with the Sony Cybershot DSC F828, you may find the reviews listed below informative:

Nikon Digital Cameras

Nikon D100
http://www.epinions.com/content_72201965188

Canon Digital Cameras

Canon EOS 300 D/Digital Rebel
http://www.epinions.com/content_116460850820

Fuji Digital Cameras

Fuji Finepix S7000
http://www.epinions.com/content_120479321732

Fuji Finepix S2 “PRO”
http://www.epinions.com/content_76963548804