The Sony DSC-N2
is the follow-up camera to the DSC-N1, reviewed in megapixel
at the same time last year. The exterior design of the DSC-N2
is unchanged from the N1, and indeed, the only changes are
the use of a champagne colour for the solid metal body and,
of course, an increase in resolution from 8.1 to 10.1
megapixel.
As it was with the DSC-N1, the highlight
of the DSC-N2 remains the 3-inch (7.5 cm) touch-screen
LCD monitor with 230,400 pixels offering a resolution
of 960 x 240 pixels.
The screen can be used with
either fingertips — the drawback there being having
the screen covered in fingerprints — or with a small
plastic stylus (below) that can be left clipped to
the wrist strap.
There are are only two user
controls on top of the camera: the Power Switch and
the Shutter Release. The power switch has a trim that
lights up green when the camera is turned on, in addition
to the Touch Screen Menu and Display
icons that light up on the lower right side of the N2's back.
The shutter release, a long chrome button, provides the usual
2-stages, locking both focus and exposure when pressed and
held at the halfway point.
The remaining external controls
of the DSC-N2 are all on the right side of the monitor, starting
with the zoom control which is located at the top.
The Zoom control is a small but useable button that moves
the lens to the wide angle end when pressed on the left, and
the telephoto end when pressed on the right. In addition,
the control also serves when the camera is set to the Playback
mode, allowing zooming into an image (up to 5X) when pressed
on the
side, and zooming out when pressed to the
side. Moreover, pressing the button on the W
side while an image is displayed full-screen on the monitor
presents an Index view, a function identified by .
The Index view shows either 6 thumbnails per screen or 12
when the button is pressed again. Forward and Backward soft
buttons are are shown below the thumbnails, making it possible
to jump to the next 6 or 12 images ahead or back, and any
photo can be selected by tapping its thumbnail.
The Mode Switch
is positioned below the zoom control, on the edge of the body.
The Mode Switch has three positions:
At the top is the Movie Mode position which
serves to capture movies in any of three formats:
640 Fine: 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per
second and with low compression. (This format is only
available if a Memory Stick Pro Duo is used).
640 Standard: 640 x 480 pixels at 17 frames
per second with a greater compression.
160: 160 x 112 pixels at 8 frames per second.
During movie recording, the zoom position is locked at
the first frame, but focus, exposure and white balance
are adjusted as needed as the recording progresses.
Still Image Mode: provides access to all the
DSC-N2's shooting modes. When the Mode Switch is moved
to this position, the last used mode is what the camera
returns to. Selecting another shooting mode is done
on-screen by first pressing the On-Screen Key button,
,
which displays the Touch-Panel Buttons. The
mode is then selected using the top left button which
opens the menu shown below:
Auto
The simplest shooting mode, Auto lets the DSC-N2
make all the photographic decisions. The only settings
the user has to worry about are flash mode, self-timer,
macro mode and the image size.
Program
Allows the camera to select the aperture and
shutter speed, but leaves most other photographic
settings up to the user. Program Mode offers control
over exposure compensation, focus modem flash modem
self-timer, macro mode, resolution and image quality,
colour mode, metering mode, white balance, ISO,
flash level, contrast and sharpness.
Manual
Makes it possible to select the one of three
apertures, the precise f-stop depending on the zoom's
position — f2.8, f4 and f8 at the wide angle
end and f5.4, f8 and f16 at the telephoto end —
while the shutter speed can be adjusted from a range
that covers from 30 seconds to 1/1000 second.
In addition, any one of 8 Scene Modes can
be selected:
High Sensitivity
Serves to shoot under low light at
high sensitivities. The DSC-N2 has a sensitivity
range of 100 to 1600 ISO.
Twilight
Offers a maximum exposure time of
2 seconds and a sensitivity of 160 ISO maximum to
capture an image of a dark subject. Noise reduction
is automatically applied.
Twilight Portrait
Serves to capture a subject with flash
in front of a dark background. The mode allows sensitivity
to increase up to 320 ISO and has a maximum exposure
time of 2 seconds.
Soft Snap
Uses a wide aperture to slightly blur
the background and amplifies the effect by softening
the sharpness. The slowest shutter speed is 1/8
second, and sensitivity is set automatically from
a range that covers from 100 ISO to 400 ISO.
Landscape
Has a minimum shutter speed of 1/8 second and
a sensitivity range, automatically set, that covers
from 100 to 400 ISO. Sharpness is enhanced.
Beach
Offers the same shooting parameters as the Landscape
mode — 1/8 second to 1/1000 second and 100
to 400 ISO set automatically — but uses exposure
compensation and enhances blue tones.
Snow
Also offers the same shooting parameters as the
Landscape and Beach modes, but boosts the exposure
to ensure that snow is recorded accurately with
a white colour.
Fireworks
Locks the shutter speed at 2 seconds and the focus
at infinity. Daylight white balance is used and
the flash is forced off. A tripod should be used.
Playback is the third position of the Mode Switch,
making it possible to review captured images and movies,
either on the 3-inch monitor, or a television when the
camera is connected to one.
The two last external controls of the DSC-N2 are the previously
mentioned On-Screen Key button: ,
and the Display button: .
Both of the icons for these buttons are invisible when the
camera is powered off, but light up when the camera is active
either in one of the capture modes, or the playback mode.
The On-Screen Key button (see below) displays touch
controls on the monitor:
Serves to select the Shooting
Mode, and is common to all modes (see above).
Select the Flash Mode: Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Synchro, and No Flash. Red-eye
reduction is available, but the option must be enabled
in the DSC-N2's Setup menu.
Controls the Exposure
Compensation, providing a range of ± 2
EV in 1/3 EV steps.
Starts the Self-Timer,
which offers a 10-second delay once the shutter release
has been pressed.
Controls the Focus Mode:
Multi AF uses a wide area AF zone
around the centre of the frame to find the focus point.
Centre AF focuses exclusively on
the subject at the centre of the frame.
Spot AF makes it possible to drag
the focus point anywhere in the frame. (Works best
with the stylus.)
Infinity or preset distances (7.0
m, 3.0 m, 1.0 m, 0.5 m).
Serves to set the Image
Size. (See the Characteristics section of
the review for more information.)
The last button is to control the monitor, and the information
it shows:
The Display button
cycles through three presentations when the camera is
set to a capture mode:
The default presentation shows the capture mode
in the top left corner of the monitor, along with
the battery level. Underneath, settings such as sharpness,
contrast, etc. that are different from the defaults
are shown as icons. While the top right shows the
image size, the image quality, the name of the folder
into which images are being saved, and the ISO setting
if it is other than Auto. The lower right of the monitor
is reserved for focus settings, indicating with icons
such things as focus mode focus area, and macro mode.
Pressing the Display button once adds a real-time
histogram over the lower left side of the image.
A second press of the button clears most of the
information off the screen, including the histogram,
leaving only the focus settings.
Whatever the display presentation, however, when the
shutter release is pressed halfway and the camera establishes
its selection for aperture and shutter speed settings,
these are superimposed at the centre bottom of the monitor.
With the DSC-N2 set to
the Playback mode, the default presentation shows the
battery state, the image's size and its position within
those contained in the current folder, along with its
file name. Below, the date and time the image was captured
is shown.
Pressing the Display button once adds a histogram for
the image superimposed on the left side of the monitor,
and adds information about the sensitivity setting used
to capture the image, exposure compensation, flash setting
and white balance, shutter speed and aperture.
When we reviewed the DSC-N1,
we noted that it might be an indication of things to come:
large LCD touch-screens. Yet, aside from this camera, the
DSC-N2, an upgrade of the N1, this has not come to pass. A
number of cameras nowadays offer large LCD monitors, but these
are not touch screens. Yet the interface of the DSC-N2 is
responsive, and generally effective, albeit at the cost of
monitor that is smudged by fingerprints as fingers are faster
to use than the stylus.
Changes between this model and the previous one, however,
are few. And, although the touch-screens keys work well, the
white balance, a key setting, remains buried within the menu
instead of being easily accessible, just as it was on the
N1.
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Ergonomics
side, and zooming out when pressed to the 
side. Moreover, pressing the button on the W
side while an image is displayed full-screen on the monitor
presents an Index view, a function identified by 
.
The Index view shows either 6 thumbnails per screen or 12
when the button is pressed again. Forward and Backward soft
buttons are are shown below the thumbnails, making it possible
to jump to the next 6 or 12 images ahead or back, and any
photo can be selected by tapping its thumbnail.
,
which displays the Touch-Panel Buttons. The
mode is then selected using the top left button which
opens the menu shown below:
.
Both of the icons for these buttons are invisible when the
camera is powered off, but light up when the camera is active
either in one of the capture modes, or the playback mode.
