DSC-P71 digital camera announced!
By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 18:00 EST)
New model brings a price-reduction, new features to the top end of Sony's P-series...
Sony Corp. today announces five new digital cameras due for sale in the US marketplace over the next few months. In the final of three additions to its P-series lineup, the company debuts its new Cyber-shot DSC-P71 compact digital camera. Similar to the DSC-P1 and DSC-P5 cameras, the 'P71 features a 39 - 117mm-equivalent zoom lens, and a 3 megapixel imager. Price, rather than size, seems to be the most important design goal of the DSC-P71. The new model will sell for $399 where the 'P1 and 'P5 were announced at $800 and $600 respectively! The camera is 45% larger and 10% heavier than the ultra-compact 'P5, and 18% larger / 13% heavier than the DSC-P1 - but overall is still a fairly small and light camera which will likely accompany users everywhere.
Other specifications worth note include 3-area autofocusing (with the area selected automatically by the camera), both real-image and 1.5" LCD viewfinders (the LCD being 0.1" smaller than those on the 'P31 and 'P51 cameras also announced today, but double the resolution at 123,000 pixels). There's also ISO ratings from 100 to 400, shutter speeds from 2 to 1/2000 second (twice as fast as the 'P31 and 'P51), a choice of multi or spot metering, a built-in flash and MemoryStick storage. One further change of note is a switch from the MGI software bundles previous Sony cameras have included to a new package, Pixel ImageMixer v1.0.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P71 will ship in April 2002 at a price of $399 (street). Full specifications for the camera are in our database, and highlights follow:
| Specification Highlights - full specifications here | | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P71 |  | | General | | Model Number: | DSC-P71 | | Camera Format: | Compact | | Price: | $399 (street) | | Date Available: | April 2002 | | Image Capture | | Image Sensor: | 3.34 megapixel | | Image Resolution: | 2048x1536, 2048x1360, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480 | | Lens | | Focal Length (effective): | 39 - 117mm (3x optical zoom) | | Digital Zoom: | 2x | | Auto Focus: | Yes (Auto 3-Area Contrast Detect) | | Manual Focus: | Yes (5 step) | | Normal Focus Range: | 50 cm to Infinity; 20.4 in to Infinity | | Macro Focus Range: | 10 - 50 cm; 4.1 - 20.4 in | | Aperture Range: | f/2.8 (wide) / 5.3 (tele) - 8.0 | | Display | | Optical Viewfinder: | Yes (Real Image Optical Zoom type) | | LCD Viewfinder: | Yes (1.5 inch, 123000 pixel) | | Exposure | | ISO Settings: | Auto (100 - 400), 100, 200, 400 | | White Balance Settings: | Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent | | Manual White Balance: | No | | Shutter Speeds: | 2 - 1/2000 second | | Exp Adj Range: | +/- 2.0EV in 1/3EV steps | | Metering Modes: | Multi-Pattern, Spot | | Exposure Modes: | Auto | | Self Timer: | Unknown | | Flash | | Internal Flash: | Yes | | Flash Modes: | Auto, Auto w/ red-eye reduction, On, On w/ red-eye reduction, Off | | Flash Range Description: | 1.3 - 12.5 feet (0.4 - 3.8 meters) | | Ext Flash: | No | | Image Storage | | Flash Memory: | MemoryStick | | Memory Included: | 16MB | | File Formats: | JPEG, MPEG, Animated GIF | | More Information | | Weight: | 284 g; 9.9 oz | | Weight With Batteries? | Yes | | Size: | 125 x 58 x 44mm; 4.9 x 2.3 x 1.7in | | Notes & Features: | Has integrated automatic lens cover.
14-bit DXP. Manual focus has 5 steps, autofocus has three areas selected automatically by the camera. AF illuminator light can be turned on/off manually. Shutter speeds of 1/2 to 2 seconds available in Slow Shutter NR mode only. Shutter speeds in auto are 1/30 to 1/2000 second. Has Clear Color and Luminance NR modes (flatten noise in areas of uniform color/luminance). Sharpening level can be adjusted +/- 2 steps in 1-step increments. Flash level can be set to auto, high or low. LCD backlight can be turned on/off and is adjustable. Shows shots taken, and battery life remaining. Can capture a burst of 16 consecutive frames at 320x240 pixel mode, speed unspecified. Has email-mode which enables 320x240 pixel image size. Clip motion mode captures an animated GIF file at 160x120 or 80x72 pixel resolution. Playback zoom allows display of images at 1.1 to 5x zoom. Has in-camera image trimming/resizing capability. Maximum MPEG file length is limited only by available flash memory.
Supplied battery charger is part number BC-CS1. | | More Photos |  |  |  |  |  | | |
Source:
Sony Corp.
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