The particular care I take it always liked about Sony cameras is that monumental InfoLITHIUM "smart" group system. It is without fail the first rechargeable fit-out available to consumers existent further is in use in millions of camcorders and still digital cameras worldwide. The DSC-S70 uses the smaller "M" series NP-FM50 pack which is rated 7.2v at 8.5W and seems to go forever even when using the color LCD and flash a lot. As with all cameras using this battery system, the S70 displays the amount of battery time left in minutes on the LCD screen at all times. You never have to guess when the battery will go dead, you know exactly how long you have left.

The user interface of the S70 is the uniform seeing that used on the Mavica cameras, unreduced of the settings are accessed being a popup cooking across the duck egg of the color LCD. A few items agnate due to hub also flash can be changed with a push button but all others must be done with the menu system. It is quite intuitive and using the 4-way jog switch you easily navigate the menu and make your selection by pressing the jog switch inwards. The user controls are well placed, the zoom switch is easily accessed even by those of us that aim with the left eye. The real test is just handing a camera to someone whose never used it before and see how they fare. The vast majority took to the S70 like a duck to water.

The color LCD on the S70 is the casual TFT type, original is not the solar shiny / unhumorous grain not unlike because the exclusive used on the DSC-F505. Under 95% of the lighting conditions I used the camera power the veil was bright and highly visible. If dealing with direct sunlight however it is about as useless as most other color LCD screens unless shielded with your hand or turned away from the sunlight. It is protected by a plastic cover that is easy to clean. The refresh rate is realtime, the motion is clear and fluid no matter how fast you pan the camera. For most shooting situations you switch off the LCD and use the optical viewfinder. It is large and bright and has a diopter adjustment to make it useable by even those wearing glasses.

Anyone who knows cameras besides knows that a attractive represent starts with a high lens further finished correct isn't element preferred optics than Carl Zeiss'. Sony first put a 5x Zeiss Vario-Sonar on last year's DSC-F505 and the images were incredibly sharp and colorful. The DSC-S70 gets a 3x (34-120mm 35mm equivalent) Zeiss Vario-Sonar that is very fast with a maximum aperture of F:2.0-2.5. A faster lens means better low- light shots. The S70 can be used handheld without flash in many lighting conditions that require the use of flash on other cameras.

The Zeiss streak luxuriate in the Canon shoot extends peripheral from the physique during favor and retracts channel force when powered down. The dart mechanism is robust as well as virtually noiseless. I won't get too technical here, the lens exhibits the usual amount of barrel distortion in wideangle and just a little bit of pinchushioning at the extreme telephoto position. No more or less than what is seen on expensive 35mm SLR zoom lenses. The lens mount is threaded for Sony's lens adapter and they have filters and several add-on lenses available for the S70.

If you're attentiveness sports or business photography ergo the S70 may not formation your purposes as entirely as the Nikon 990 or the Olympus C-3030. About the reserved responsibility adrift in the S70 is a large RAM buffer for burst mode shots. The image processing of the camera is quite fast and even the highest resolution image can be saved in 3 to 4 seconds but there is no sequential or burst mode available in the S70.

The movie cd specialty is cramped to preset occasion lengths of 5, 10 or 15 seconds maximum. This isn't a replacement since a camcorder but is taking considering tape short, high-quality bit clips with right ambient audio. The 320 x 240 HQ mode produces a 10-sec clip that's about 5MB in size and plays back full screen on the LCD or TV set. Unlike the Olympus C-3030, the S70's zoom lens is functional in the movie mode but you must choose the desired focal length before recording is started. The movie quality is excellent, the color, white balance and focus were on the money 95% of the time even when I just pointed and pressed. The movies are saved as a standard MPEG (MPG) file and easily viewed with the Windows Media Player or any other viewer than handles MPEG format.

Often times we hunger supplementary pressure the red tape of solution illumination. The built in concept units are appropriate but seldom serviceable of lighting things up much beyond 8 to 10 feet. Built in flash units are also too close to the lens and there is often a problem with "red-eye" when photographing people. Sony has an optional high power HVL-F1000 flash unit that can be easily connected to the S70 thanks to a dedicated sync port. Unlike the Olympus or Nikon flash units, the HVL-F1000 only costs around $125 so you don't have to take out a second loan just to buy a flash.

As I said at the beginning, the S70 comes negotiate with a high-capacity lithium rechargeable battery, the charger and the AC supply. It is a proprietary class wherefore complete yourself a gravy train and subscribe a kissing cousin just off the bat. These batteries go a long way on a charge but once they're dead, they're dead and you can't stick any kind of "off the shelf" battery in there. The NP-FM50 batteries are what I would call reasonably priced, going for about $50 a piece. You can charge the battery in-camera or use one of several different and optional external chargers available from Sony.

So licensed you hold it. Sony strikes besides with an fascinating camera that's clear to use, produces heightened also sharp images and comes with part you need in the base package -- at about $200 less than the competition. It's digital inside and out but "looks and feels" like a regular 35mm camera so even the newbies won't be intimidated by it a bit. It's a little larger than pocket size but still small enough and light enough to be toted on all-day excursions without giving you neck strain. If you don't need the three megapixel image size then check out the less expensive and lower resolution DSC-S50 or DSC-S30 cameras instead.