Sony DSC F717 Review: Sony’s DSC-F707 successor is the DSC-F717

The successor model DSC-F717 has no fundamental changes compared to the DSC-F707. So rumors that the DSC-F707’s successor was equipped with a six-megapixel sensor, a new lens and/or interchangeable lenses are not confirmed. In fact, Sony has changed or added small but important details to the DSC-F717. The DSC-F707 already had multi-field metering; the DSC-F717 now has an additional multi-field autofocus. The DSC-F717 determines the sharpness on a total of five measuring zones or measuring points. The measuring point can be selected automatically by the camera or manually by the photographer. For this purpose there is a choice between a wide, central measuring field and four surrounding, smaller measuring fields. The manual selection of the measuring field is done via the jog dial of the camera. A spot AF function is still available to the user. Another new feature of the DSC-F717 is the histogram display. This displays the brightness distribution graphically in both recording and playback modes. For experienced photographers (the DSC-F Series target group) who can interpret such a histogram, this feature is a valuable aid.

In addition, Sony has also built in some useful functions to influence the exposure before shooting. For example, the DSC-F717 now has an additional sensitivity level of ISO 800, a shutter speed reduced from 1/1,000 (on the DSC-F707) to 1/2,000 seconds (at least in program mode), and full auto. The ISO 800 sensitivity level is available in aperture priority, aperture priority and manual exposure; full auto complements program exposure and limits the setting options to the selection of resolution and file type. In video mode, the Sony DSC-F717 can now use the MPEG-HQX mode familiar from other current Sony cameras. In HQX (High Quality EXtended) mode, 16.7 fps at a resolution of 320 x 240 ensures a largely smooth playback of video clips that also contain sound. At this highest quality level, a 128 MByte memory stick stores up to six minutes on the stick.

Probably the most pleasant surprise with the DSC-F717 is the hot shoe. Finally, it is equipped with a centre contact, so that one is no longer exclusively dependent on the Sony HVL-F1000 (or on a Metz flash with SCA-3602-M adapter), but can in principle use any external flash unit with automatic function on the DSC-F717. The ACCY socket familiar from the DSC-F707 is still available on the DSC-F717, so that a flash unit and, for example, a cable remote shutter release can be connected to the DSC-F717 at the same time, or you can enjoy full automatic comfort when using the above-mentioned Sony and Metz flash solutions.

What else is new and worth mentioning about the DSC-F717? There’s the multi-image recording mode, the combined zoom/focus ring and the USB 2.0 interface. The zoom/focus ring is really handy: On the lens barrel, there is now a switch that determines the function of the rotating ring on the front of the lens. Depending on how the switch is set, the focus is either adjusted manually with the rotating ring or the focal length of the 5x zoom lens is selected. This gives the DSC-F717 owner the choice of adjusting the focal length as usual using the zoom rocker on the lens barrel or by turning the ring. In the camera menu, you can even determine in which direction you have to turn the ring to zoom in and out of the image. The USB 2.0 interface unfortunately does not exhaust the potential of the 2.0 specification. The fastest possible transfer rate for USB 2.0 of 480 Mbps is not available with the DSC-F717; only 12 Mbps is achieved. In any case, the DSC-F717 has become faster in other areas: The switch-on time should now be only 1.4 seconds, the shutter release delay (including focus time) should now be only about 0.6 seconds.

The DSC-F717, of course, still has all the things that made the DSC-F707 so successful or interesting. These include the Hologram AF (laser-assisted focusing), the NightFraming and NightShot functions, the power supply via an InfoLithium battery with Stamina power management and the tilting housing and lens. There’s still an important change in the scope of delivery: instead of a 16 MByte memory stick (as in the DSC-F707), Sony includes a somewhat more appropriately sized 32 MByte memory stick and new software (Pixela Image Mixer, Image Transfer). The “Image Transfer” software ensures the automatic transfer of photos and MPEG movies as soon as the camera is connected to the PC via USB. To coincide with the DSC-F717, Sony is also launching an extensive range of accessories for the F707/F717, including two new converters (VCL-HGD0758, VCL-HGD1758), a revised sun visor (LSF-H58A), an aluminium case (LCH-FHA) and a leatherette slipcase (LCJ-FHA). The further accessories offered include filter sets, additional bags, tripods and power supply solutions. Finally, the best news is that with a price of around 1,300 EUR, the DSC-F717 is 300 EUR cheaper than its predecessor, the DSC-F707, when it was launched.

Hardly any manufacturer has been able to resist upgrading existing camera models either with a higher resolution sensor and/or with new features or functions. This is also the case with Sony, who have revised the successful DSC-F707 model. The DSC-F717 didn’t get a higher resolution (as five megapixels are still the measure of all things in the consumer sector), but new functions and features were added. Does the DSC-F717 set new standards or can one confidently ignore it?

Compared to its predecessor, the DSC-F707, the DSC-F717 has only limited innovations. The DSC-F717 has too much in common with the DSC-F707 to be described in detail again. This experience report therefore only deals with the details that have been improved or are new to the DSC-F717 and is intended as a supplement or appendix to the DSC-F707 experience report. In addition, there are some changes that Sony does not officially mention.

ISO 800 sensitivity level

In addition to the sensitivity levels known from the DSC-F707 (ISO 100, 200 and 400), the DSC-F717 has a new sensitivity level of ISO 800, so if you thought that this sensitivity level was totally useless, you’re mistaken. Our image example shows very clearly that although the image noise is visible to the naked eye, it is not unduly disturbing. For a camera with 3.4 micron pixels, the noise is extremely discrete. The DSC-F717 cannot compete with the champions of noise-free images such as the Canon EOS D60 at the same sensitivity, but the EOS D60 has more than twice the pixels (7.4 µm). Other low-noise cameras such as the Fujifilm FinePix S602 Zoom use special CCDs (SuperCCD) and electronic tricks (Pixel Data Coupling technology), but this is accompanied by significantly reduced resolution (1.3 megapixels). Sony has refined its noise reduction algorithms (including Clear Color-NR, Luminance-NR) over the years or from camera generation to camera generation; the positive result of these efforts can be seen in the DSC-F717. On the subject of noise reduction, it should be added that the DSC-F717 applies noise reduction at shutter speeds slower than 1/25 second, while the DSC-F707 applies noise reduction at shutter speeds of 2 seconds or faster.

Fastest shutter speed of 1/2,000 seconds

While the shutter speed of the DSC-F707 could be increased to a maximum of 1/1,000 second, the DSC-F717 achieves 1/2,000 second, but only in Program and Full Auto modes (limited also in Aperture Priority or A mode). So you can’t specify the new shutter speed and it will be difficult to ever get that shutter speed. Because very few everyday subjects are so bright that at the smallest aperture (before the camera automatic increases the shutter speed, it will try to close the aperture as far as possible), the shutter speed must be increased to 1/2,000 seconds to expose the subject correctly. At the other end of the shutter speed scale, nothing changes compared to the DSC-F707: the limitation of the shutter speed in program mode to a maximum of 1/30 second in program mode mentioned in our DSC-F707 experience report can unfortunately still be found with the DSC-F717.

Histogram display

During both recording and playback, the DSC-F717 displays a graphical display of the brightness distribution on demand. Such a histogram was already available on pre-production models of the DSC-F707, but this function was not built into the DSC-F707 in the end and now reappears on the DSC-F717. The histogram display is a valuable aid for the experienced photographer, as it can be used to see if the lights are about to “eat out” and the exposure needs to be corrected accordingly. Instead of the histogram display filling up almost the entire screen as with other cameras, the DSC-F717 displays it in a tiny area of about 1 x 0.5 cm in the lower left half of the screen. What one prefers now is a matter of taste; the method of Sony has the advantage that the actual live viewfinder image is not covered by the histogram and therefore the histogram can remain permanently switched on in the preview mode.

Center contact on the hot shoe

Since the DSC-F505V, the external flash connector has evolved continuously. The DSC-F505V already had a flash plug (a 3.5 mm jack socket with manufacturer-specific contact assignment), but no hot shoe. With the DSC-F505V, for example, you still had to use a flash rail to attach the only available flash, the Sony HVL-F1000, to the camera. With the DSC-F707, you could at least be happy to have a hot shoe, so the flash rail became superfluous; however, the “communication” between the camera and the flash unit continued to take place via the jack socket, which was located on the back of the camera in the immediate vicinity of the hot shoe. This is still present on the DSC-F717, but the hot shoe now has an additional centre contact that is activated via a special entry in the camera menu. So with the DSC-F717, you have a choice when it comes to flash: either you use a commercially available flash with automatic function (and then you have to make the presettings on the flash by hand) or you use the HVL-F1000 or a Metz flash unit with the SCA-3602-M2 adapter as usual, which allow fully automatic operation. The first variant is the cheaper one, because you can find useful flash units with automatic and center contact on the market, both new and used, for little money. And the presetting of these flash units is not that complicated.

Studio flash units can now also be connected to the DSC-F717 via PC sync adapter. Interesting is the behaviour of the camera in manual exposure mode when the center contact is activated: Instead of adjusting the brightness of the LCD screen to the exposure as when the hot shoe is off, the LCD screen maintains the same brightness at all shutter speeds. The DSC-F717 can therefore be assumed to have a certain “intelligence”. When the hot shoe is on, the camera knows that the flash is firing and the shutter speed no longer affects the exposure/brightness of the main subject. Even if you don’t use the DSC-F717’s jack socket as a flash connector, it remains of interest because this accessory socket provides a connection not only for flash units but also for other accessories (such as an electric wired remote control). So if you have a flash unit on the hot shoe and ignite it via the center contact, you can use the wired remote control (e.g. Sony RM-DR1) at the same time.

USB 2.0 interface

This “achievement” is of less benefit. Although Sony characterizes the DSC-F717’s data interface as a USB 2.0 high speed interface, the normally expected throughput speed of up to 480 MBit per second (60 MByte/s) isn’t reached at all. You have to search for a long time until you find an extremely discreet hint from Sony that the supposed USB 2.0 high speed interface manages 12 MBit/s (1.5 MByte/s). This corresponds to the maximum achievable data throughput of USB 1.1 and, if you take it strictly speaking, can under no circumstances be specified as USB 2.0 High Speed. If at all as USB 2.0, then as USB 2.0-Full Speed. In practice, it looks like the USB port of the DSC-F717 sends the data to the computer (PC/Mac) slightly faster if the latter has a USB 2.0 interface than a computer with USB 1.1. If the computer is equipped with a USB 1.1 interface, you can achieve an average data throughput of 940 KBytes per second under favourable conditions. In the best case, a computer with a USB 2.0 interface will at least achieve about 1.2 MByte/s. But with this, neither the potential of USB 1.1 (1.5 MByte/s), nor of the memory stick (2.45 MByte/s) and certainly not of USB 2.0 High Speed (60 MByte/s) is exhausted. Not necessarily new with the DSC-F717 (since it’s also available on the DSC-F707 and many other Sony cameras), but always worth a note is the support of the PTP image transfer protocol in Sony’s digital cameras. This means that with newer operating systems (Microsoft Windows XP, Mac OS X), no driver installation is required to transfer images from the camera to a computer. The PTP protocol must be activated in the camera’s setup menu; owners of computers with older operating systems leave the camera’s USB transfer mode set to factory default and must then install the supplied USB drivers on the computer before starting image transfer.

Processing Times

In our DSC-F707 field report, we talked about a shutter release delay of “less than 0.3 seconds”, but with the DSC-F717, this time was cut in half. We found a shutter lag of just over 0.1 seconds on the DSC-F717 – a pretty good value for a digital camera. The autofocus has also become faster: While the autofocus response time of the DSC-F707 was always more than one second even in the best case, the DSC-F717 takes about 0.9 seconds on average. The DSC-F717 is no faster than Minolta’s DiMAGE 7i/7Hi and Fujifilm’s FinePix S602 Zoom, but it doesn’t have to hide from them either. The DSC-F707’s already fast power-on time of about 2 seconds has remained the same. In continuous shooting mode, the DSC-F717 has not become much more powerful than the DSC-F707: Only three high-resolution images in a row are still possible, but now with approx. 2.5 images per second instead of 2 images per second as before.

While there’s hardly any change in terms of storage times when saving JPEG images (a JPEG image with an average file size of 1.7 MByte is saved in about 2.5 seconds), when saving TIFF images you get the impression that the DSC-F717 works with the handbrake on. It takes a full 42 seconds to save a TIFF, so even the DSC-F707 was a few seconds faster! This is explained by the fact that the DSC-F717 now automatically writes a 1:1 copy of the image in JPEG format onto the Memory Stick along with each TIFF image (file size approx. 14 MB). This not only extends the storage time, but also wastes valuable storage space, which is not available in abundance with Memory Sticks anyway. Other cameras also store a JPEG copy on the memory card in TIFF mode, but then a thumbnail for quick playback on the LCD monitor rather than a full-resolution image. Unfortunately this behaviour cannot be stopped due to missing functions/adjustments. Sony should reconsider this and at least make it possible to switch it off – and then perhaps replace the TIFF mode with a resource-saving RAW mode.

Combined Zoom And Focus Ring

This new feature on the DSC-F717 gives you an almost SLR camera feeling, which indirectly makes the camera faster (at least in handling). On the lens barrel you will now find a switch that determines the function of the front lens ring. Depending on how the switch is set, the focus is either adjusted manually with the rotating ring or the focal length of the 5x zoom lens is selected. This leaves the DSC-F717 owner with the choice of adjusting the focal length as usual using the zoom rocker on the lens barrel (which is shrunk and laid horizontally compared to the DSC-F707) or by turning the ring. In the camera menu, you can even determine in which direction you have to turn the ring to zoom in and out of the image. The Sony solution is as elegant as it is practical. The Sony advertising slogan “It’s not a trick – it’s a Sony” fits there like a glove.

5-point autofocus

In the review of the DSC-F707, we had criticized the lack of a multipoint AF and obviously found open ears with our criticism. Because see there: the DSC-F717 has a 5-point autofocus with individually selectable spot sizes. In normal operating mode, a single large virtual measuring field extends horizontally over half of the viewfinder image, but it automatically goes “shrink-to-fit” when required (i.e. depending on the size and position of the detected subject). If you want to determine yourself which point the camera should focus on, you can use one of a total of five cross-shaped focusing fields. To do this, press the jog dial at the front of the shutter release and rotate the jog dial to cycle through the individual AF fields until the desired field “lights up”. However, this method is somewhat cumbersome. It would have been better if the selection of the AF field had not been done via the jog dial but via the control rocker. Pressing a button in the desired direction would then activate the corresponding AF area. Sony may have a lot to do with the jog dial, and the jog dial is also extremely practical in many cases – but not when choosing the AF area.

Fully automatic mode

Even if the DSC-F717 is more aimed at professionals or ambitious photo amateurs, Sony doesn’t leave less experienced users out in the rain and has built in a fully automatic system. In this mode, all functions or settings are blocked or not displayed at all except for the basic functions (flash settings, macro settings, self-timer, and quick playback); for example, the camera menu is reduced to the selection of resolution and picture mode. The fully automatic mode delivers good pictures right away and is therefore also interesting for experienced photographers. Especially if you want to take a quick snapshot without losing a lot of time with numerous settings.

MPEG HQX mode

The DSC-F707 was already able to shoot movies with sound and unlimited length (until the memory card capacity was exhausted), but only at a frame rate of eight frames per second (MPEG-EX mode). Video sequences with a higher frame rate (16 frames/s) were also possible, but then with a recording time limited to 15 seconds (MPEG-HQ mode). With the DSC-F717, MPEG-EX and MPEG-HQ merge into MPEG-HQX, combining high frame rate and unlimited recording time. However, the resolution remains limited to a maximum of 320 x 240 pixels.

Multi-image recording function

In Japan, considered almost indispensable, is the multi-image mode. Probably not so much in the US or in Europe, in my opinion (but challenged by many readers in the comments) As is well known, the Japanese are not only wild about photography, but also about golf, so it is not surprising that numerous brochures of digital cameras show the typical picture of the ball teeing off, which is “broken down” into its individual movements. The DSC-F717 can do the same thing and breaks an image down into sixteen small frames, which are stitched together as a 4×4 matrix to form one image. At Sony, the function is called “Multi-Burst” and is activated in the camera’s setup menu. The Multi-Burst mode then takes the video mode position on the DSC-F717’s main dial. To be able to decompose both slow and fast motion sequences, you can also select how fast the multi-burst mode should operate in the Record menu. The interval between frames can be 1/25, 1/12.5, or 1/6.3 seconds. However, the resolution remains limited to 1,280 x 960 pixels in any case.

Larger Memory Stick included

The fact that a 5-megapixel camera like the DSC-F707 was only accompanied by a 16 MByte memory stick was already considered a joke at the time. Sony is a bit more “generous” with the DSC-F717 and includes a 32 MByte stick with the camera. Given the high resolution and the associated large individual files, this is still a meagre amount, but most (with the exception of Leica and Casio) of the other digital camera manufacturers are no better. Unfortunately, the current memory sticks have reached the end of the line at 128 MByte anyway, so that the DSC-F717 can only be supplied with more memory to a limited extent. According to rumours, a new, faster generation of Memory Stick (Memory Stick-Pro) with higher capacities is said to be in the oven at Sony, but it is not necessarily compatible with all Sony digital camera models. But if the same rumors are to be believed, the DSC-F717 is said to be already prepared for the new generation of Memory Stick. Let’s see what the future holds..

 

 

Support of EXIF 2.2

While the DSC-F707 supported Epson’s Print Image Matching technology, Sony seems to have turned its back on PIM technology with the DSC-F717 Epson. The general trend is that digital camera manufacturers are increasingly neglecting PIM in favor of the new EXIF 2.2/Print standard. PIM and EXIF 2.2 can do pretty much the same thing – with the difference that EXIF 2.2 is not a trademark of Epson. In this respect, EXIF 2.2 is a more open standard than PIM and is now more widespread not only among digital camera manufacturers but also among printer and software manufacturers. As a reminder: EXIF 2.2 as well as Epson’s PIM embed extensive information about the shooting conditions in the image file, which the printers take into account when preparing the image in order to optimize the print result.

In addition to the “official” innovations listed above, there are also a number of “tacit” improvements as the DSC-F707 evolves into the DSC-F717:

Image quality

The fact that we already found little criticism of the DSC-F707’s image quality in our DSC-F707 experience report didn’t stop Sony from eliminating the last points of criticism. There was little improvement in resolution and noise performance, as the DSC-F707 was already very good in these categories. But the colour reproduction is. Even though we thought the DSC-F707’s colour saturation was strong – but not disturbing – the DSC-F717 is still more colour neutral. This is especially true for the reds, which the DSC-F707 emphasized too much. The DSC-F717 is therefore extremely colour neutral – with a more natural-looking colour saturation and no “outliers” in the individual colour values. Despite improved image quality, it would still be desirable if the DSC-F717, like other digital cameras in this class, gave the user the ability to influence the image parameters. Apart from the internal sharpness, nothing can be adjusted on the DSC-F717. Neither the color saturation nor the hue (even if it were only warm/neutral/cold) or the image contrast. For a camera with semi-professional requirements, one would expect such setting options.

Power consumption

Whether it’s due to more intensive computing operations or something else; the DSC-F717 consumes slightly more power than its predecessor. While the DSC-F707 could last up to four hours on one charge, the DSC-F717 misses this mark by a few minutes. However, the difference is marginal (maximum 15 minutes) in relation to the long total runtime. Expressed in pictures, this makes a difference of about 30 photos. Despite a slightly increased hunger for energy, the DSC-F717 is still one of the record holders in terms of power consumption. This is thanks to the powerful NP-FM50 InfoLithium battery (8.5 Wh) and the sophisticated Stamina power management of Sony digital camera models.

White balance presets

While the DSC-F707 only allowed you to choose between the indoor and outdoor white balance presets, the DSC-F717 offers some more of the usual presets of other digital cameras. So there is a default setting for sunny weather, cloudy weather, incandescent light and fluorescent light. Therewith, Sony is still far away from other digital cameras of this price range that offer, for example, different adjustments for fluorescent light, white balance fine corrections and/or white balance exposure series, but at least the basic adjustments are now available. As with the DSC-F707, the DSC-F717 allows you to manually adjust the white balance at the touch of a button.

Miscellaneous

Other features that make the DSC-F717 different from the DSC-F707 include an additional scene program (Night Portrait), the newly added ability to create new folders on the Memory Stick or switch from one folder to another, the elimination of the Memory Stick to Memory Stick copy function, and the lower market introduction price ($1,600 for the DSC-F707; $1,300 for the DSC-F717).

 

 

 

 

 

And now to our “delicacy”, the test of the new wide-angle and tele-converter VCL-HGD0758 and VCL-HGD1758:

With the two new converters from Sony’s own “High Grade” product line, Sony aims to offer the highest optical quality as an accessory for the DSC-F717. If quality was measured by weight, Sony would certainly have created a new quality standard. The wide-angle converter VCL-HGD0758 weighs a whopping 693 grams and is thus heavier than the camera itself (666 grams in operational mode). The tele-converter VCL-HGD1758 still manages 560 grams. The high weight is explained by the fact that only high-quality material was used in the construction of the two converters. With the exception of a rubber ring, only glass and metal are used as processing materials for the VCL-HGD0758 and VCL-HGD1758. For example, the wide-angle converter consists of four lens elements in four groups; the teleconverter consists of five elements in three groups.

The wide-angle converter VCL-HGD0758 has a focal length extension factor of 0.7, as indicated by the 07 in the product designation, thus turning the standard 38 mm wide-angle setting (corresponding to 35 mm) into a 26.6 mm wide-angle with a correspondingly much larger angle of view. The last two digits in the product designation indicate that the converter has a thread dimension of 58 mm. The teleconverter has a focal length extension factor of 1.7, i.e. in telescopic position of the lens it reaches a focal length of 323 mm corresponding to 35 mm. Due to the relatively high weight of the two converters, it is advisable to place one hand under the converter when taking pictures to stabilize the lens and prevent the converter from exerting too much weight on the filter thread of the camera.

In practice, the two converters actually deliver first-class image quality. Distortions are visible in the images, but they are not from the converters, but already from the lens of the DSC-F717. The camera-side distortion is not significantly amplified by either the VCL-HG0758 or the VCL-HGD1758. The same applies to vignetting and edge blur, which cannot be seen in the images without the converter. When using the two new converters, it is not necessary to tell the camera that a converter is connected in the setup menu. If you do this anyway, you will be punished with blurred pictures because of your overconfidence. The entry “Conversion Lens” must therefore be set to “Off” – as also stated in the manual – when using the VCL-HGD0758 and the VCL-HGD1758.

The question is only whether the proud price of EUR 390 per converter is justified. The two new converters may have an excellent image and processing quality, but the price seems to us to be a bit exaggerated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

The family tree of the DSC-F717 goes back to the DSC-F505 from 1999. Since then, the camera has undergone constant development. In the course of the years new resolutions were added, but also new features. The DSC-F717 represents the state of the art in many respects, and comes closer and closer to the demands of semi-professional photographers or demanding amateurs. This is mainly due to the new multi-point AF, the matrix metering introduced with the DSC-F707, the histogram display and the new hot shoe with center contact. The combined zoom/focus ring, ISO 800 sensitivity level, flash slow sync (in the night portrait program), adoption of conventional white balance presets, and short shutter release and processing times are also welcome and useful features. But one can gladly do without “features” like a throttled USB 2.0 interface or the simultaneous saving of a TIFF image with a JPEG image.

But the DSC-F717 has not quite made the leap from multimedia machine to expert tool. But it lacks a RAW mode, the adjustment of various image parameters (color saturation, hue, image contrast, etc.), advanced white balance settings (white balance fine correction and/or white balance bracketing) – and most importantly, the support of larger capacity storage media. If Sony is already holding on to the Memory Stick and at the same time (with an additional slot for e.g. CompactFlash) does not allow competing products, then Sony should also ensure that Memory Sticks are also available with higher capacities than 128 MByte. According to Sony, this will soon be the case and it will be interesting to see how Sony will implement the concept of larger memory sticks. Until then, 128 MByte sticks remain a real limitation in view of the high resolution of five megapixels. Nevertheless, the DSC-F717 is a very successful camera that can easily compete with the 5-megapixel elite.

Sony DSC-F717 Datasheet