Sony DSC-W80/B Sony® Guide to Digital Photography (Spring 2007) - Page 17

Shooting the digital way CAMERA SYSTEMS Clear Photo LCD Plus™ monitor Optimum contrast and color. Our best camera LCD is the Clear Photo LCD Plus monitor. This jewel-like monitor delivers higher resolution, better contrast, and 40% better color than previous Sony LCDs. You'll find this outstanding quality featured on the DSC-W200, T20, T100, N2, H9 and the a100 Digital SLR. Free-angle LCD monitor Freedom in shooting angles. The LCD monitor of the DSC-H9 offers the remarkable flexibility of the Sony free-angle design. You can twist the monitor up to frame your shot looking down at the camera. It's great for holding the camera low - down to the ground even - for shots of kids and pets. Or if you're stuck in a crowd at a parade or a concert, twist the monitor down, hold the camera over your head and frame your shot that way. True zoom optical viewfinder The clarity and immediacy of an optical finder. The DSC-W55, W80, W90 and W200 offer the option of framing your shots on our true zoom optical viewfinder. This incorporates its own lens system that zooms along with the lens that takes the picture, to maintain accurate framing. The optical viewfinder is great option for photographers who prefer the conventional shooting style, and it's a great alternative in bright sunlight. TTL eye-level electronic viewfinder A second LCD monitor for classic shooting style. 30 With its large Clear Photo LCD Plus™ monitor, the DSC-N2 is not merely for taking pictures, it's also for showing them off. (Monitor picture simulated.) With the free-angle LCD monitor, you can accurately frame high and low-angle shots without bending, stooping or contorting with your face pressed up against the viewfinder. (Monitor picture simulated.) Advanced shooters may prefer the classic, 35mm SLR style of shooting, with the camera viewfinder held up to the eye, the camera pressed against the face and the elbows tucked in. This style promotes greater stability and reduced camera shake - a decided advantage in long exposures and extreme telephoto shooting. That's why our DSC-H7 and H9 offer true, through-the-lens (TTL) electronic eye-level viewfinders. TTL optical viewfinder The ultimate in creative control. If you want nothing less than the most complete information on how the lens is focusing, you may prefer the Sony a100 Digital SLR. Here is a strictly optical viewfinder that shows you what the lens is seeing and a ground glass that reveals exactly how the lens is focusing. A family of optional diopter adjustment lenses can customize the finder to your specific vision. An optional magnifier and angle finder give you creative flexibility. Xross Media Bar™ inspired interface Easy navigation of every feature and function. When Sony camera engineers saw the PlayStation® Portable, they were impressed with more than the games. They loved the way the Xross Media Bar (XMB™) interface made it so easy to move between functions, simply by moving left, right, up and down. So they took the XMB interface as the point of departure for the next generation of Cyber-shot camera control. You activate the new interface simply by pressing the camera's Home button. And as you navigate, clear Function Guide messages help you make the right choices for your shooting situation. The new Cyber-shot user interface is inspired by the Sony PlayStation Portable Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface. (Simulated picture.) CAMERA SYSTEMS Storage In film cameras, the film both senses and stores the image. In digital cameras, these two functions are divided. The image sensor detects the image, and then after processing, the camera's on-board storage media saves the picture. JPEG file format All Sony digital cameras use the industrystandard Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) file format. Just about any computer application that uses images will work with JPEG files. JPEGs are so popular because they maintain high picture quality in minimum file sizes. The secret is JPEG compression, which enables you to fit more images onto a camera's memory card. The compression works because one pixel of blue sky is almost exactly the same as the pixel next to it. JPEG compression squeezes these redundancies out of the data while maintaining high picture quality. RAW file formats As good as JPEG images are, they do limit the amount of color correction and image enhancement you can perform on your computer. Attempt too much enhancement and JPEG picture quality suffers. That's why serious photographers prefer uncompressed RAW image files. These files capture the data straight out of the analog-to-digital converter, prior to de-mosaicing and other camera processing operations. Instead of using the relatively limited resources of the camera's own processing, RAW images can take advantage of the extensive resources of PC image processing applications, such as Adobe® Photoshop® CS software. And in instead of automatic processing, RAW images receive carefully considered processing that you can evaluate and control each step of the way. RAW file formats are specific to the imager of each camera. In fact, RAW files can vary from camera to camera within one camera company's line. That's why RAW files are intended to work with camera-specific converter software or camera-specific plug-ins. Sony storage features JPEG format Broad compatibility, strong combination of picture quality and storage efficiency. JPEG images are compatible with just about any computer application that accepts pictures. And JPEG images are spaceefficient, enabling you to save more pictures on a given memory card. Sony lets you choose between JPEG Fine mode (for picture quality) and JPEG Standard mode (for storing about 80% more pictures). RAW format The a100 Digital SLR can capture RAW image data, free from the camera's digital processing. Serious photo enthusiasts know that image making is a two-step process: the moment of capture and the magic of the darkroom. In the "digital darkroom" of PC photo enhancement, you can correct the color, highlight exposure and shadow detail - with the ability to change your mind and start over from scratch. Unfortunately, digital camera processing and JPEG compression impose irreversible effects that inevitably limit your freedom to refine the image later on! That's why the a100 Digital SLR offers RAW image capture, which bypasses the camera's internal signal processing. Think of the RAW image file as the digital equivalent of unprocessed film, with all the latent possibilities of the image left intact. When you take a RAW mode picture, the camera also saves a JPEG image that you can see on the LCD monitor. Unlike JPEG files, Sony RAW files are not directly compatible with most image software. They must first be converted with our supplied Image Data Converter SR software or with the appropriate plug-in for Adobe® Photoshop® CS software. Internal memory With our latest Cyber-shot® cameras, you'll never worry about leaving the media at home. It's built into the camera! All current Sony Cyber-shot® cameras feature internal memory, in addition to a slot for optional Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media. Internal memory means you'll never be caught short because you left the media someplace else. It also enables you to extend shot capacity with optional Memory Stick PRO Duo media and copy pictures between the internal memory and Memory Stick PRO Duo media, for easy transfer to and from other cameras, PCs, printers and print kiosks. Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media Ample storage in an ultra-slim form factor, fast read/write speeds and compatibility with millions of devices, worldwide. Even if you never plan on taking the flash media card out of the camera, Sony Memory Stick media has important advantages. Continued on page 32. 31