electronics Sony Cyber Shot DSC-F77 opinions and reviews

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-F77

A compact offering from Sony, Cyber Shot DSC-F77 is a 4-megapixel camera which comes with the swivelling Carl Zeiss Distagon Lens and 3.5x smart zoom.

The aluminium body of F77 looks stylish with portable dimensions of 92.6 x 71.0 x 27 mm. That’s not it, even with the battery and memory card, it weighs only 180 g. Apart from English, the menu system can also be read in Japanese.

Scene settings in F77 comprise the generally present options like Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape and Softsnap while the flash choices include Auto, Forced Flash and No Flash. That apart, you can also use the red eye reduction system.

Exploit the white balance settings like Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Incandescent. Exposure compensation includes +/-2.0 EV, 1/3 EV step. ISO sensitivity can either be auto or you can manually adjust it between 100,200 and 400.

Taking close up shots from a distance of 10 cm is facilitated. Shutter speeds range between 1/30 - 1/1000. For taking snaps in the night, F77 comes equipped with an AF Illuminator.

Another useful function is the handshake alert which warns you if the camera is not held steadily prior to picture capturing.

Still images can be saved in the JPEG, GIF and MPEG1 format. In built image editing features consist of trimming and resizing.

The 1.5’’ LCD is reasonably visible exposing the complete image. You can take help of the optical viewfinder for proper image framing.

There are quite a few video recording options. In MPEG HQX system, you can shoot at 320x240 resolution (16.6fps). A couple of other choices include recording clips in MPEG Presentation format (320x240 resolution) at 8.3fps. Finally, for emailing videos, you can record them at 160x112 resolution, also with the speed of 8.3fps.

F77 encloses a 16 MB memory stick for storing images and videos. But an expansion slot is present so you can always purchase higher capacity cards for additional storage purposes.

Supplied with the NP-FC10 battery, F77 can take 140 shots under general shooting conditions.

For image transfer, you can utilize the USB cable. Other softwares are also incorporated.

Integrating the Carl Zeiss lens proves extremely useful as it delivers razor-sharp and more comprehensive images.

F77 is by no means a professional camera. But the easy functioning of the camera and efficient features, especially the rotating lens, make this a good camera for general occasions like party or meetings.