The much anticipated Sony
DSC-F828 is finally here. It's the first camera to use
Sony's new 8 megapixel 4-colour CCD.
The DSC-F828 is based on the very successful F7-series cameras (DSC-F707 and DSC-F717).
The exterior of the F828 is composed of metal and polycarbonate parts,
such as the flash housing, making it solid while controlling the overall
weight of the camera. When ready to shoot, the weight remains reasonably
light at 955 grams (2.1 lb).
The number and design of the exterior
controls of the DSC-F828 are a departure from those on either
the F707 or the F717.
One of the most noticeable differences
is that the zoom (7X) is now manually controlled, while
the manual focusing ring — closest to the back — remains
an electronic control.
First, the much larger grip of the F828 supports the shutter release which
is tilted towards the front, and behind it lie three buttons labelled , and .
The first two buttons controls white balance and exposure compensation.
The last button serves to light up the top LCD panel that shows a number
of camera settings for about 7 seconds.
To make selections with a number of the external controls,
the DSC-F828 offers a new interface that gets overlaid either
on the EVF (electronic viewfinder), or on the 1.8 inch LCD monitor.
The display, an animated rotating virtual dial that moves into
view from the side of the screen (shown below but over a black
background in order to make it more visible here) and remains
on screen as long as the button is pressed. The desired setting
is selected by turning the Command Dial, the wheel embedded
near the top rear of the grip area.
Exposure Compensation:
± 2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
White Balance:
Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash
white balance, One Push (recall of the preset user value),
or One Push Set (to set the white balance for current light
conditions).
The Mode Dial sits atop the On/Off switch.
When the camera is On an LED, directly behind the
shutter release, glows green.
The Mode Dial has 9 positions, 7 of which are for recording modes: Auto, Program, Shutter
Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual mode, Scene mode, Movie
mode.
(See the Characteristics section for a description of each of these
modes, and of the scene modes available at the SCN position.)
While the Playback []
mode is to review still images and movies, the Setup mode
is the access to the extensive configuration menu for the F828. (See
the Interface and Software section of the review for a listing
of the functions contained in the Setup menu.)
Any changes made with the mode dial are also shown on the screen
in an animation of Mode dial, much as other settings. This simple
but effective system, allows changing mode without looking directly
at the Mode Dial.
More controls are placed to the left of the Command
Dial on the angled ridge that forms the upper back of the
F828.
On the far left is the MENU button with the flash lamp for indicating
the pop-up flash is ready for use, to its left. Next is the Multi-selector,
a joystick-like control that is very efficient for selecting menu options,
or changing the focus point. Finally, to its right is the Auto Exposure
Lock, which doubles as a Delete button in Playback.
The next group of controls are
found on the left side of the F828, on the lens barrel.
At the top is the button to open the flash manually. This is an electric
release which requires the camera to be powered on to function. Indeed,
when the pop-up flash is set to Auto, the camera deploys it automatically
if the Pop-up Flash option in the Setup menu is set to auto.
The Flash Mode button is below, and as with exposure compensations and
white balance, the flash modes are selected with an on-screen virtual dial.
Flash Modes:
Auto: the camera decides when to fire the flash.
Forced Flash: the flash fires regardless of the
amount of ambient light. When the flash is forced, the
camera opens it when the shutter release is pressed halfway.
Slow Synchro: first curtain slow synch, that allows
a slow shutter speed to capture the background and fires
the flash at the beginning of the exposure. A second curtain
synch is not available on the F828.
No Flash: prevents the flash opening.
The button to the right of the flash
modes selects the Metering mode. Three modes are available:
Multi-pattern, Centre-weighted and Spot, which always takes place
at the centre of the frame. Once again, when the button is pressed
a virtual dial is overlayed on either the EVF or the monitor,
and the selection is made with the Command Dial.
Macro mode, the next button down below the flash mode button,
simply turns on or off the macro mode. In macro mode, the F828
can focus on a subject approximately 2 cm (0.78 inch) from the
front of the lens when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and 60
cm (23.4 in.) when the zoom is at its maximum telephoto setting.
The next button is the Burst/Bracket button. It controls the Auto
Bracketing function and the selection of Burst or Normal (single
shot) mode:
BRK: provides auto bracketing over ± 1 EV,
in increments of 1/3EV. The bracketing step can be selected
in the menu (0.3 EV, 0.7 EV, or 1 EV).
Speed Burst: is identified by the icon with the
letter S at the centre. With the Speed Burst mode,
the EVF or the monitor is turned off during the burst. Frames
are captured at a 0.38 second interval, and approximately
7 photos can be captured sequentially at an 8 megapixel image
size and the highest JPEG image quality.
Framing Burst: is slower than Speed burst, and the
EVF or monitor remains on. The interval between frames is
approximately 0.42 second.
Multi-burst: records 16 images and stores them in
a single 1280 x 960 frame. The shutter speed can be set for
the sequence (1/7.5, 1/15, or 1/30 second). In playback,
the DSC-F828 presents the sequence as an animation that decomposes
a fast movement clearly.
The last two buttons on the lens barrel are to select Auto or Manual
focus; and to access Sony's famous infrared mode.
Infrared
photo captured in total darkness using the Night Shot mode.
Night Shot: makes it possible
to shoot in complete darkness. When either the Night Shot or
Night Framing modes are activated, the camera pops-up the flash
as the infrared emitter is positioned below the flash itself.
The infrared emitter bathes the subject in infrared up to 2.1m
(6.88 ft.) when the camera is set to Auto ISO.
Night Framing: uses the infrared feature to allow framing
a shot, and then captures the image with the flash.
Additional external controls are aligned below
the LCD monitor, and starting on the right, a slider switch serves
to decide which of the 2 memory slots will be used (see the
Characteristics section) and below is a red LED that indicates
memory card access.
To the left of the access LED is the Quick Review button to show
the image last captured without changing the Mode Dial setting.
The next button controls serves to
magnify an image in playback. One push of the button immediately
magnifies the image 2X, and turning the Command Dial can
magnify it further, up to 5X. Pressing the button a second
time returns the image full-screen.
The next button has a dual role. In the recording
modes it starts the Self-timer (10 seconds). In Playback
it displays the captured images as thumbnails (an Index),
placing 9 photos on the screen.
Moving to the left, the Screen Status button controls the information that
is displayed on either the EVF or the LCD monitor. It cycles through a
display with most settings overlaid on the screen, one that adds a histogram,
and one that shows only the most crucial info, and the focus area.
Last is the switch that decides whether the EVF (235,200
pixels), or the LCD monitor (134,400 pixels) is in use.
Besides its pop flash, the DSC-F828
can make use of third party flash units or the HVL-F32X flash
unit.
If the HVL-F1000 flash is used, the cable from the flash can be plugged
into the accessory jack on the lower right of the lens barrel. With the
HVL-F32X (GN 32), all flash functions are supported.
The F828 offers an improved ergonomic
design over the DSC-F717. The grip is larger, deeper, and more
comfortable. Controls are more responsive, and the implementation
of the virtual dials is not only well-executed, but efficient.
Compare Prices for Sony DSCF828 Digital Camera Battery (BLI-180C)
Ergonomics
, 
and 
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The first two buttons controls white balance and exposure compensation.
The last button serves to light up the top LCD panel that shows a number
of camera settings for about 7 seconds. 
]
mode is to review still images and movies, the Setup mode
is the access to the extensive configuration menu for the F828. (See
the Interface and Software section of the review for a listing
of the functions contained in the Setup menu.)
Infrared
photo captured in total darkness using the Night Shot mode.
