Why Do You Need Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F717? Because You Can

Author's Rating:

Pros: Creativity booster; Great battery life; easy to use and great picture resolution

Cons: A bit bulky and heavy

The Bottom Line: 
Pointing and shooting and additional features can be found in the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F717. It's a true camera for real enthusiasts but easy enough to use everywhere.

Author's Review
Equipped with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, ISO sensitivities of 100/200/400/800 and shutter speed of 1/2000 second in auto mode, this new Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F717 digicam brings you the convenience of the point and shoot film camera you are used to. If you have been waiting for a great camera to show your enthusiasm and interest in photography, the DSC-f717 is the right camera for you. It's the right upgrade for somebody who may used other models with fewer controls. Sony has done a good job of providing digital photography enthusiasts with this advanced camera. It's an upgraded version of the DSC-F707 which many users have learned to appreciate. The statistics have been on the side of those of us who like anything related to digital camera. More than ever, it's the right time to buy your digital camera. After waiting for what seems an eternity and hoping that prices would fall, new series of digital cameras loaded with extra gadgets are hard to pass. Paying between $500 and 600 for a camera such as the DSC-F717 is all worth it.

All-terrain type of digital camera and loaded with features

I had my first experience with this camera a weeks ago when my wife and I accompanied our daughter to a dance competition in Anaheim, CA. Visiting from New York, one of my cousins decided to meet us in Los Angeles for the meet. Being the gadget freak he is, he sported this interesting but bulky L-shaped camera to take a few shots of my daughter's meet. It was such an eye-opener to watch the crispness of the pictures he was shooting. That's the kind of advanced output I expected from any Sony product. In fact, my wife had her own camcorder DCR-TRV 113 which shot great videos. It was a great opportunity for him to give me a demo before letting me use it for the event. He had other appointments to go to in the LA area before meeting us in the Disney hotel. I will quickly admit that I have been pleasantly impressed by the wide array of exposure controls this camera comes equipped with. It can shoot very high resolution images that are suitable for making prints as large as 20x30 inches. You may wonder how this is made possible. With a whopping 5.4 MP, this camera offers one of the best resolutions for pictures on the market. This also explains why high-resolution cameras such as the DSC-F717 is so demanding in terms of battery juices.

One of the best features of this camera is that it comes with a 32-MB Memory Stick which can store quite a bit of images. So depending on how many pictures you intend to shoot, you may want to invest in storage capacity. In our case, we had enough equipments on hand to store all the pictures we wanted. This camera uses the InfoLithium M Series (NP-FM50). It also comes armed with a multi-function lens ring that allows for Manual Focus and Manual Zoom. White Balance modes include Auto, Cludy, Daylight, Fluorescent and Incandescent. It also has a histogram. It has a hot shoe for an external flash and high-speed USB 2.0 transfer.

What else should you expect to find in the package?

Besides the 32-MB Memory Card and InfoLithium M Series, you will find an AC Adaptor/In-camera charger, A/V output cable, USB cable, shoulder strap, lens cap/with strap, CD-ROM with Pixela Image Mixer for Sony and USB Driver.

Final Thoughts

If you are not a digital camera buff or are only interested into taking pictures to e-mail to your in-laws, friends and family members, you may want to look at a different model. But if you have always wanted to have a rather state-of-the-art digital camera with all the bells and whistles, go for the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F717.

I hope you are going to enjoy it as much as I did for about three weeks.