The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3 is
housed in a completely new design. It offers a 7.2 megapixel
resolution, a 4X Carl Zeiss optical zoom, and a 2.5 inch LCD
monitor.
Five controls are positioned on the top surface of the camera. Closest
to the front, directly above the grip and slightly inclined towards the
front, is the 2-stage shutter release. Nightframing mode:
Pressing the button once starts the Nightframing option,
which uses the V3's holographic AF assist emitter and the
camera's ability to see and show an infrared image to focus
the shot while showing it to the user on the monitor, and
then capture the photo normally with the flash.
Pressing the button a second time switches to the Nightshot mode,
a mode that allows the capture of a green-toned infrared
image without using the flash. An infrared illuminator is
used to "light" the subject up to 2 m (6 ft).
A third press of the button returns the camera to the normal
capture mode.
The second button, closer to the
camera's back, is the Power Switch, and when the V3 is
powered on a small green LED lights up next to the Mode Dial,
serving as its index position. The Mode Dial offers 9 positions,
7 of which are capture modes while the other two are for Playback and Setup(see
the Interface and Software section of the review for details
about the Setup mode and its options).
The seven capture modes of the
Mode Dial consist of:
Auto: effectively gives
control over all settings to the camera, leaving the user
with control over the resolution and image quality, burst
mode, flash modes, macro mode and self-timer.
Program: at its simplest,
this mode lets the camera select the aperture and shutter
speed, but leaves all other settings up to the user. However,
the program can be shifted (P*), and the combination
of aperture or shutter speed selected by the camera can be
modified for alternative combinations that would also yield
a correct exposure by using the Jog Dial(see further).
Shutter Priority: lets
the user select the shutter speed (from 30 seconds to 1/1000
second), while the camera selects the aperture.
Aperture Priority:
lets the user choose the aperture (from f2.8 to f8, the
actual values being dependent on the zoom position).
Manual: allows selecting
both the shutter speed and the aperture, the deviation
of exposure being indicated on the monitor as a ± EV
value.
Provides access to the 7 Scene
modes available on the camera, and which are selected
from the menu:
Night Scene: turns off the flash and
forces the sensitivity to 100 ISO to minimize
noise. Noise reduction is automatically applied
to all long exposures, and the maximum exposure
time is 2 seconds.
Night Portrait: sets the white balance
to Auto, the sensitivity to 100 ISO, and the
flash to Slow Synch mode. Should red-eye reduction
be necessary, it must be selected from the menu.
The maximum exposure time is 2 seconds and noise
reduction is used with long exposures.
Landscape: uses a shutter speed range
of 1/8 to 1/2000 second, and allows the flash
to be Forced On or Forced Off while sensitivity
is automatically selected from 100 to 320 ISO.
Portrait: also uses a shutter speed
range that covers from 1/8 to 1/2000 second,
while sensitivity is automatically selected from
100 up to 320 ISO. The mode softens sharpness
and accentuates skin tones.
Snow: automatically applies exposure
compensation to counteract the influence of bright
and reflective snow on the metering. Sensitivity
is set automatically (100 to 320 ISO), the flash
remains useable while shutter speeds cover from
1/8 to 1/2000 second.
Beach: limits the use of the flash to
Forced On or Forced Off and the slowest shutter
speed is 1/8 second. Sensitivity is automatically
selected by the camera (100 to 320 ISO), and
blue saturation is slightly enhanced.
Candle: serves to capture the atmosphere
of a scene lit by candlelight. The shutter
speed covers from 1 to 1/2000 second, the auto
focus is set to the centre of the frame, the
white balance is set to daylight, the ISO is
set to Auto, and the flash is Forced Off.
Movie Mode: allows recording
video with sound at any one of three frame sizes:
640 (Fine): has a 640 x 480 pixel frame
size and uses low compression, but is available
only when the recording medium is Memory Stick
Pro.
640 (Standard): also has a frame size
of 640 x 480 pixels, but applies a stronger compression.
160: offers a frame size of 160 x 112
pixels and an average compression.
In all cases the modes record images at 25 frames
per second and disable the optical zoom to avoid
the sound of the zoom motor being recorded. Focus,
exposure and white balance are dynamically adjusted
as the recording progresses and the length of the
recording is dictated by the capacity of the memory
card in use.
All the remaining external controls of the DSC-V3 are on the back, aligned
above and to the right of the 123,000 pixel, 2.5 inch LCD monitor.
In addition, the V3 is equipped with an optical viewfinder with an exit
pupil located near the middle of the upper back. The viewfinder's front
lens however is located between the grip and the lens, and regrettably,
it is possible to see one's own fingers on the grip of the camera.
The exit pupil of the viewfinder is flanked by three LEDs that serve to
indicate the camera's activities. The uppermost blinks red to indicate
self-timer, the middle one glows green to indicate auto focus, while the
bottom one is yellow and indicates that the flash is charging or ready.
To the left of the viewfinder lie a group of four buttons:
locks exposure, allowing the
shot to be recomposed while retaining the selected aperture
and shutter speed.
serves to set exposure compensation
over a range of ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
is to choose between auto focus
or manual focus, the latter being adjusted using the Jog
Dial.
when auto focus is in use,
this button cycles through the different focusing systems:
Multipoint AF allows the camera to calculate
the focus using any of five AF areas. This is the
default setting.
Centre AF auto focuses on the subject located
at the centre of the frame using a relatively large
area.
Spot AF uses a small focus point at the
centre of the frame.
Flexible AF point allows the Spot AF point
to be moved to another point anywhere in the frame
using the 4-direction control.
On the other side of the viewfinder,
the topmost control is the Jog Dial, which is positioned
directly below the Mode Dial.
The Jog Dial serves to change shutter speeds and aperture when the camera
is set to P, S or A, as well as to adjust the exposure compensation when
the camera is set to A, S, M or SCN. The Jog Dial functions much like a
mouse wheel, and can be pressed in to click and switch from one parameter
to another on the LCD monitor.
Immediately below and to the left,
a small switch serves to select the memory card: either Memory
Stick or CompactFlash, the camera being compatible
with both.
To the right, the Zoom control can also be used in the Playback
mode. Thumbnails can be shown on the monitor (9 then 16 per screen) when
the control is pressed to the wide angle side or
images can be magnified (up to 5X) when pressed to the telephoto side .
The last external controls are located on the lower right of the monitor,
itself control by the Display button, the small round button at
the monitor's top right:
The Display button controls
the level of information superimposed on the monitor, and
also turns it off. By default the information superimposed
on the monitor is already quite complete. Pressing the
Display button once adds a real-time histogram which shows
the distribution of brightness in the frame. Pressing the
button a second time clears most overlaid information off
the screen, leaving only the AF area and shutter and aperture
information. Finally, a third press of the button turns
the monitor off.
The next control is the large 4-direction
arrow pad with its confirmation button at the centre. As always,
the control serves to move through the menu options, and move
from one image to another in the playback mode. Moreover, each
of the four directional arrows provides an extra function when
the camera is in capture mode:
The up arrow is to select
the Flash modes: Auto, Forced On, Slow Synchro, Forced
Off. Note that red-eye reduction can either be On or Off,
and needs to be enabled in the V3's Setup menu.
The right arrow activates
the Macro mode, which allows the camera to focus
on a subject 10 cm (3.9 inches) from the front lens element
when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and 40 cm (15.75
inches) when it is set to the maximum telephoto.
The down arrow selects
the Self-timer which provides a 10-second delay
before the shutter releases.
The left arrow starts
the Quick Review mode which allows reviewing captured
images without having to switch to the playback mode. A
light press on the shutter release returns the camera to
shooting mode.
The last 2 buttons are directly
below the arrow pad:
Calls up the menu related
to the current camera mode, either the specific shooting
mode or the playback mode. Worth noting, when the camera
is in Quick Review mode, no menu is available.
Finally the lower right button
serves to select the image resolution or delete
images in Playback.
The built-in flash of the DSC-V3 is tucked away beneath the SONY logo at
the top of the camera. It pivots up automatically when the camera senses
it is needed, or when the flash has been set to Forced On.
The Sony V3 is also equipped with
an accessory shoe, directly behind the built-in flash. The shoe
is compatible with a wide variety of external flash units. The
shoe must be activated in the Setup menu which turns off the
built-in flash.
In addition, as accessories to the V3, Sony offers two external flash units
that are compatible: HVL-F32X, and HVL-F1000, which requires
to be connected to the camera with a small cable that plugs into the V3's
accessory jack on the top left side of the body.
With the Cyber-shot DSC-V3 Sony
offers the same resolution it first made available with the
pocket-sized DSC-P150, but in a much more elaborate and powerful
camera.
This new camera offers a solid ergonomic design, with only one small
flaw: an impractically positioned optical viewfinder. Otherwise, the
design features controls that are comfortable to use and conveniently
placed; and a large albeit relatively low resolution monitor.
Introduction
or
images can be magnified (up to 5X) when pressed to the telephoto side 
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