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Sony DSC-S50 Sony makes a compact 2.1 megapixel digicam with full movie/sound capability! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet DSC-S50 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 4/12/2000

Viewfinder
Instead of an optical viewfinder, the S50 features a two inch, 123,000 pixel TFT color LCD monitor for composing images. As we noted earlier, we really liked the rotating design of the LCD that lets it actually lift up off of the back panel and flip up 180 degrees. From there it can swivel around to face the camera operator, rotating through a range of about 270 degrees. This is a really nice feature, especially when you want to photograph yourself using the self-timer. (It could also be handy for candid shots, by rotating it so you can face directly away from your subject yet still compose the shot. - A little tricky getting the hang of pointing the camera this way, a bit like trying to write while looking in a mirror, but lots of fun.) The LCD panel has a backlight feature, controlled by a small switch on the left side, which lets you switch the LCD to a special high-brightness mode for bright sunny days when viewing an LCD panel can be tough. There's also a finer-grained adjustment for normal LCD brightness available via the menu system. In normal operation, the LCD panel continuously displays information about various camera settings, such as remaining battery power, image size and quality and how many images have been captured. This information display can be canceled and recalled via the Display button on the lower left side of the LCD. In both Record and Playback modes, the settings menu is available at the bottom of the LCD display and can be dismissed by pressing the down arrow button on the jog control. Pressing the up arrow button brings it back, or enters the menu system to change camera settings.
The viewfinder offers you an "instant review" capability, by which you can immediately see the last photo you shot, without having to switch to Play mode first: Just dismiss the record-mode menu bar at the bottom of the screen (if it's displayed), by hitting the down-arrow key once or twice. Then hit the left arrow button to call up the last image you shot. You then have an option to either delete it or leave it and return to record mode. Playback zoom (see below) isn't available in this mode, but its very handy for a quick check on whether or not you got the shot you wanted.
In Playback mode, the LCD offers a six image index display for viewing several images at once. You can also zoom into captured images up to 5x with the zoom control and scroll around the enlarged image with the arrow keys. (A number of cameras now offer this "zoomed playback" option, but most are restricted to 2x or 3x magnification. The 5x magnification offered by the S50 really helps you see fine details.) As in Record mode, an information display controlled by the Display button reports information about the battery power, filename, etc.