Rating: 
Summary: Forerunner of the 717 is a true performer
Review: My wife and I each have a 707 and try to go out shooting at least once a week. I love this camera. I am going to list a few shortcomings, but trust me this is what technology should be and while our pair of Nikon 6006s have a few advantages over digital, the ease of use and instant gratification carry the day for the 707.It is slow as the dickens, don't expect to have much luck with action shots, this is the only reason the 717 has my attention. If you do need to shoot action, hit menu and one of the record modes is "burst 3" three rapid shots one after another, you might get lucky that way. The "A" and "S" settings to enhance depth of field and shutter speed do not seem to give good results. These days I just put it on the green camera icon, that seems to perform the best. Like many digitals it doesn't work so well in intense light situations, if you are going to shoot in snow or at the beach, think about getting the lens hood and ND filter accessories. It also doesn't score a homerrun on subtle transparent sky light, a muted sunset, or rainbow can be lost. I was shooting a double rainbow over Nawiliwilli harbor, I could see both, it could only see one of them. I wish the buttons on the side of lens were in a deeper indent, I keep hitting buttons like white balance when I do not mean to. The auto popup flash is really noisy and vigorous and it has caused me to miss a few shots as it slams into place. Moving to some of the really positive features:
The macro mode for closeups is a marvel. Kathy, my wife loves shooting bees on flowers and such and it comes through every time. The way it handles light on water is just spectacular. It can also handle shooting the sky through trees and similar shots that confound simple cameras. The movable lens, and ability to work with finder or lcd screen really gives you flexability when shooting things taller than you are. I got a Senators Only parking sign on Parliament Hill Ottawa that was about 8' up by holding the camera above my head and aiming through the lcd. The range of the zoom is all you can ask of a single lens, yes you do lose a bit of resolution at full digital zoom, but it can still nail a seaplane landing in Vancouver harbor and has enough pixels left to print a nice 8.5 x 11. It interfaces with both my Mac 10.2 and Windows XP Pro with no problem in either case. The XP software is actually a bit more efficient than iPhoto. I will close with some final tips:
My wife got me this little nylon Ex Officio bag to tie to the strap. That is a much more efficient in an active shoot than the memory stick wallet. If the subject moves, as soon as you start framing, teach yourself to push the shutter button half way down, that cuts a lot of the delay out of a shot. Don't buy a memory stick less than 128M, I think my wife's 707 came with a 16M, now *that* is funny. If you have never tried one of these web based photo storage and printers like Amazon.com's photo services or Image station, they are great for situations like shooting a family reunion. Just send the URL to everyone and they can order all the prints they want. Remember the days of looking for the negative with picture 5 on roll 9? I love my 707, I am dreaming of a 717, and I am never going back to film.
Rating:
Summary: Great features, easy to use, and seamless w/ Mac OSX
Review: This is a terrific camera - worth the price. Optics and image quality are quite good, and it carries easily despite it's large lens assembly. Linking with my eMac using Mac OSX (Jaguar) was sooo easy - plug it to the USB port and iPhoto imports the photos with one click! Optional filters seem worth the money - one protects the lens from damage, and the other is a polarizing filter that cuts glare well. Battery life between charges far exceeds my expectations - even when using the red eye reduction flash feature. You'll need at least one128MB memory stick; the provided 16MB stick is worthless if you shoot high resolution. the Lexar memory sticks are less costly and seem to perform well so far.
Rating:
Summary: excellent!!
Review: this is awesome..
i liked the design of this camera when i bought it...
that's the reason why i bought it..
but now.. i like everything.. design, quality & etc..
the quality of the pictures is great..
have never ever seen it before..
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Camera
Review: I just received my Sony DSC-F707 Cyber-shot, I going to tell you the truth, it's incredible, it's really easy to use, it's very light, it's just perfect. I will recommend you to buy a Lexar Memory Sticks they work fine and they're cheaper, also buy a memory stick reader, this download photos very quickly and you don't have to plug the camera anymore, just the stick, this will save you battery life.
I'm very satisfied with this purchase, if you like to take a lot of photos this camera is worth every penny, trust me!
Rating:
Summary: the camera to get
Review: THis is the camera to get to do all your professional digital shooting. I know there are better cameras out there but this one offers the most value. It has all the features I need (automatic lighting correction) and its zoom capability is very useful for sporting events.
Rating:
Summary: Sony's DSC-F707 Best Quality and Value
Review: I've gone through a lot of Digital and 35mm Camera's, and found this to be the best. (The others were high grade Nikon, Canon, and Olympus cameras...) 1. The info lithium batteries last a long time, and charge quickly... Cameras using regular batteries will cost you a fortune, and some only get 10-12 shots per set of batteries. This camera doesn't suffer from lack of power. 2. The nightshot nightvision feature is fantastic. Taking shots in the dark are illuminating. :) 3. The macro photography features make taking pictures very close a simple task. This is something that most cameras cannot do. 4. The quality of the photos are wonderful, and that's what it's all about.
Rating:
Summary: Great Camera
Review: This is my first digital camera. I bought it two months ago while on family vacations and for its value, it is a great camera.A little bit expensive but a lot of picture effects, easy to use and of curse, Sony's trademark, backgrounds quality.
Rating:
Summary: Look Ma, I'm Talented
Review: If you are a complete novice when it comes to digital photgraphy (or just plain photography) and if you are looking for a digital camera, look no further. Sony has come up with a product that is virtually idiot-proof. Take me for instance. I couldn't even take a decent shot before and now I have friends telling me that I have a hidden talent after looking at the shots I took. Basically if you are like me, just point and shoot and let the camera do all the thinking and believe me you will get very sharp shots and the colours that it captures is just incredible. However for those who are more adventurous, there are options that allow you to shoot under different conditions e.g. twillight, portrait & landscape. And for those in the know, there is the option to adjust the shutter speed and aperture (these being foreign to me and totally beyond my comprehension). I would seriously recommend the product to novices and serious hobbyist but I would think that serious enthusiasts/professional photgraphers will find the product limited. For those of you with Macs bundled with iPhoto, the camera syncs effortlessly with the Mac (again this is idiot-proof as I can humbly attest). All in all, I would give it a 5 star and will continue with fooling others into thinking that I'm "talented".
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Camera
Review: I have been using this camera for about six months now and I am constantly amazed at how good it is. I never use my film cameras anymore and have ditched my plans to convert one of my rooms into a darkroom. The 707 takes some getting used to, but you'll find yourself mastering it within a few days. My only gripes are: (1) burst mode is limited to 3 frames; (2)can't change lens; and (3) memory stick is currently offered in a max capacity of 128 megs. The camera's strong points are almost too many to list; some of my favorite aspects of the camera are: (1)fantastic Carl Zeiss lens; (2) brilliant LCD; (3) crisp view finder; (4)intuitive controls; (5) highly accurate meter modes; (6) useful built-in flash (quite powerful for a built-in); (7) rapid auto-focus and easy-to-use manual focus ring; and (8) unbelievable battery time. Bottom line: Worth Every Penny!
Rating:
Summary: We Call This Camera "Big Eye"
Review: I bought this camera in May of 2002 and found that I can take better pictures with it than I could with a film camera. It has all the major features of a high quality Nikon SLR that I own and still use for slides. The Zeiss lens is outstanding and has a big aperture, f2.0, impressive for a digital. On a vacation to Maui recently, I took over 400 pictures, and there ain't a bad one in the bunch. Maui continues to be a vibrant memory to me through these pictures. Because there is so much published about what this camera has and can do, I will offer only a few tips from my 1000 or so picture-taking experience with this camera. 1. Don't try to focus on anything less than 1 meter away. I had a dickens of a time trying to photograph a small frog one night, with flashlight in one had and camera in the other. I could get within inches of the rascal, but the camera would not focus even a couple of feet away. I eventually figured out to go beyond a meter and zoomed in on him and that worked fine. There is a macro lens mode for anything under 1 foot away, which may have worked if I had thought about it! 2. Forget TIFF mode, this takes forever to capture a picture and takes up 15 meg of memory. The JPEG "fine" mode will capture pictures more than adequate to serve 99% of your needs, and you can get hundreds of these on a memory stick. Now, if you have real need for TIFF, then disregard this comment. 3. Get the SONY bag, LCS-FX, made especially for this camera. You will not regret. It is a fine and durable leather and the camera fits in there like a hand in glove, and holds and extra stick or two and spare battery. You will carry the camera with confidence and style in this compact case. Handy for taking out and putting back in - great for tourists.I got it... because the camera comes with a coupon for Sony extras...The best investment I've made recently. 4. Get an extra battery, but don't waste money on a charger. You can charge your batteries in the camera overnight, and these batteries last a good long time. This camera's battery life is a true innovation by Sony, unbelievable! 5. Don't waste your money on external flashes. The built in flash has three power settings possible, and is the most powerful flash I've ever had in a camera, even when I've used externals before. 6. Get a few extra 128 MB memory sticks for your trips to Hawaii or the far east. You will be taking hundreds of pictures, so don't be caught short. 7. Get the Sony USB memory stick reader for your computer. You won't have to keep plugging and unplugging your camera in there. This is like a little disk drive, and I've found it to be incredibly compatible with my computer. 8. Get Adobe Photoshop Elements to make corrections to your pictures. You will spend a lot of money and a lot of time to take your pictures. This little software package will make very good photos into fantastic photos. Adjust contrast and brighten those darker than desired faces. Well worth the hundred bucks to underwrite your investment. 9. Learn how to use the Manual, Aperture and Shutter priority modes. Doing this will allow you to capture sunsets, darker scenes, sporting events, moving objects and anything unusual that automatic mode simply will not do. 10. Get a UV filter for your lens. This is just a lens protector as the filter itself does virtually nothing.
Forget about other lens attachments such as wide angle or telephoto. I've got these for my old camcorder and I can tell you that these are just clumsy extras you have to lug around and seldom use. They also degrade picture quality. In short, this camera still amazes and delights me. It is an amateur photographers dream. Frankly, I don't understand the whining so many reviewers do about the Sony memory stick. People need to get over their childish bias towards flash cards and smart media. Who cares what other cameras use if you have a Sony? Sony's memory stick works just fine, and is a highly reliable and compact medium. Sony is to digital photography as Disney is to entertainment. They set the standard, and everybody else just tries to copy, change something simple to be "different", and keep up. My recommendation is for those imitators using flash cards and other gimmicks, to get smart, get on board, and start using the industry standard, Sony memory sticks, like the rest of the world.
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