Sony DSC-F505VSony updates their popular DSC-F505V with a 3 megapixel sensor (2.6 million effective pixels) and all-new electronics!<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 06/01/2000 |
Test Results
In keeping with our
standard policy, our comments here are rather condensed, summarizing our key
findings: For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the DSC-F505V's "pictures" page.
As with all Imaging
Resource camera tests, we encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how
well the devices performed: Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how well the DSC-F505V performed,
and how its images compare to other cameras you may be considering
buying.
Overall, the DSC-F505V produced really excellent pictures: Color
was quite good, with appropriate saturation of strong primaries, but good
handling of pastels as well. Overall color accuracy was very high, with only a
slight weakness in the bright yellows. Tonal range was really excellent as well,
with good shadow detail and unusually good handling of detail in strong
highlights.
As noted previously in this review, the big story of the
DSC-F505V is immediately evident when you first cast eyes on the camera: The
lens! In shot after shot, we were consistently impressed with how sharp the
Zeiss lens was, all the more impressive for its long 5x zoom ratio. A downside
of the long-ratio zoom though, is the geometric distortion we found at extreme
focal lengths: We measured barrel distortion of 0.74% in wide-angle mode, and
pincushion distortion of 0.87% in telephoto mode. (These numbers were shifted
slightly toward the pincushion side of the scale, relative to our earlier tests
of the original DSC-F505. Total distortion is about the same overall though.)
These are far from the worst distortion numbers we've seen in digicam lenses,
but do stand out a little, relative to the lens' extraordinary sharpness.
Chromatic aberration was good, at only abut 0.03%, but we found a little "coma"
in the extreme corners of the image. We're perhaps being a little harsh in the
extent to which we're calling attention to the distortions and aberrations of
the F505V's lens, as we don't normally highlight lens distortions in this
summary section to this degree. Our reason for doing so here is that we've been
so completely over the top on the lens' sharpness that we wanted to avoid
accusations of bias, or that we overlooked its (relatively minor) defects. Our
overall judgment is that this is indeed an exceptional digicam lens, but people
using the F505 for architectural work will probably want to investigate the new
distortion-correcting features of the PhotoGenetics
software we've previously reviewed.
In our resolution tests, the
DSC-F505V performed significantly better than it's predecessor and other 2
megapixel cameras we've tested, better than some 3 megapixel cameras, but just a
bit off the best of the 3 megapixel crowed. We "called" the visual resolution at
750-800 lines per picture height in the vertical direction, and 800-850 in the
horizontal, a very good performance indeed.
Its no secret we missed the
optical viewfinder on the DSC-F505V: It's LCD viewfinder is more accurate than
most, showing just about 94% of the final image area, but we'd have appreciated
100% accuracy in it. Also, while the hybrid transmissive/reflecting LCD is more
visible in direct sunlight than any purely transmissive designs we've seen,
there's a range of intermediate brightness levels in which the LCD is rather
difficult to see, whether the backlight is on or off. Given the camera's greatly
improved low light capability, some sort of optical viewfinder is sorely needed
for those situations where there just isn't enough light to produce a bright
viewfinder display at the high refresh rate required by the LCD.
The
DSC-F505V performs quite well in macro mode, with a minimum capture area of only
0.85 x 0.64 inches (21.54 x 16.15 mm). Closest focusing occurs in wide-angle
mode, which also introduces a fair bit of barrel distortion. (Not measured, but
our impression is that there's more distortion than we saw in the viewfinder
test, shot at greater distances.) Of course, the macro capability can be easily
extended by adding accessory lenses using the 52mm filter threads on the front
of the lens...
Low light performance was perhaps the area showing the
most dramatic improvement relative to the earlier DSC-F505. The new 505V model
can capture images in light levels as low as 1/8 of a foot-candle (~1.3 lux),
and produce genuinely usable ones at levels of only 1/4 of a foot-candle (~2.7
lux). This is an excellent performance, considering that city night scenes under
typical street lighting correspond to a brightness level of about 1 foot-candle
(11 lux).
Overall though, we were very impressed with the DSC-F505V: It
takes razor-sharp pictures with excellent color, and the 5x zoom ratio on the
lens is a very nice feature. The new CCD and improved digitization accuracy
really show in the improved highlight detail it captures and the excellent
low-light performance.
Conclusion
With
the DSC-F505V's unique rotating lens and its movie recording capabilities, you
get a fun camera that takes great pictures too. The sharpness of the Carl Zeiss
optics show in the final images, and we really like the "real camera"
manual-focus option (although we'd really like to see some sort of
optical viewfinder, even if only a "gunsight" on the top of the lens barrel).
The full 5x optical zoom is a big plus that we wish more manufacturers would
adopt. While not going quite all the way to full manual exposure control
(another feature we keep pushing for), the F505V provides a range of options,
including both aperture and shutter-priority exposure programs, spot metering,
and an optional preset white-balance setting. Plus, the new model has the added
bonus of a larger CCD which delivers a larger (though interpolated) image size
and significantly improved highlight detail and low light capability. Overall, a
razor-sharp performer for the camera buff, but easy enough for beginners to use
in full-auto mode. A very worthwhile upgrade to an already-excellent digicam!
Highly recommended.
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