Digital camera technology offers three devices
to help you frame your shots.
•
Optical viewfinder.
Experienced film
photographers are well practiced at
using an optical viewfinder. Not only do
they know how to use the viewfinder to
frame their shots, they also know how
to “anchor” the camera against the face,
locking the elbows against the chest to
minimize camera shake.
•
LCD monitor.
While optical viewfinders
have their undoubted advantages, digital
cameras also enable you to frame the
picture on an LCD monitor screen. This
is an entirely different experience. For
example, looking at the LCD screen,
you can hold the camera at arm’s length
above the heads of the crowd, to shoot
a parade. The LCD monitor has the
additional advantages of 100% framing,
plus a live preview of your exposure and
white balance settings.
•
TTL electronic viewfinder.
Combining
attributes of both methods is a third
alternative: the eye-level, through-the-
lens (TTL) electronic viewfinder. As with
an optical viewfinder, you hold the
camera up to your eye and look into a
small window. As with the LCD monitor,
what you see is a live preview on a
miniature LCD screen.
S
ony
viewfinder
a
nd monitor
fe
a
ture
s
Viewfinder
a
nd monitor
The Smart Zoom function allows you to crop
the frame to extract just the portion of interest
without interpolation. (Sample photos for
illustration purposes.)
Cle
a
r RAW
™
noi
s
e reduction
Anti-Blur Feature 3: More effective
processing for minimizing noise.
The third and final component of our
comprehensive anti-blur strategy is
Clear
RAW noise reduction
. In most cameras,
noise from the image sensor is passed
directly into the de-mosaicing process, where
noise tends to propagate into adjacent
pixels, making it harder to control. That’s
where the Sony Clear RAW system comes in.
Instead of trying to suppress noise after it
has spread, our Clear RAW system works
on the camera’s RAW image prior to
de-mosaicing. The result is more effective
noise reduction, for an image that’s
substantially cleaner. Clear RAW noise
reduction is a big advantage in low
light. And it’s the final step in our anti-
blur technology.
Re
a
l Im
a
ging Proce
ss
or
™
L
S
I
Fast response, reduced picture “noise.”
29
Stabilize your camera with a Sony VCT-1500L
lightweight tripod.
shake directly.
Sony Super SteadyShot
optical image stabilization
uses separate
vertical and horizontal sensors that detect
camera shake. As implemented in selected
Cyber-shot
®
cameras, the camera sends
an equal-but-opposite correcting signal
to a stabilization lens, which moves to
compensate for shake at no sacrifice of
picture quality.
As a digital SLR that accepts interchangeable
lenses, the
a
100 takes a slightly different
approach. Instead of moving a lens element
to compensate for camera shake, the
a
100
moves the CCD! A super-smooth, super-fast
CCD transport makes it happen.
High I
S
O
s
en
s
itivity
Anti-Blur Feature 2: Higher ISO
settings enable you to shoot at
faster shutter speeds.
The second component of our comprehensive
anti-blur strategy is
high ISO sensitivity
.
Doubling the ISO sensitivity means halving
the amount of light required for a given
exposure. ISO sensitivity is a powerful ally
in fighting blur. Consider a low-light situation
that calls for an aperture of f2.8 and a shutter
speed of 1/8 second at ISO 200. A shutter
speed that slow might be susceptible to
camera shake, especially with a lens
zoomed in to telephoto. In that case, you
might be happy to increase the ISO to 400,
which enables you to cut the shutter speed
to 1/15 second, or choose an ISO of 800 for
a shutter speed of 1/30 second. With high
ISO sensitivity, you gain the flexibility to
get the shot!
While some digital cameras can reach
ISO 400 or so, most Sony cameras
achieve settings up to ISO 1000. Several
models can attain ISO 3200, while the
DSC-W200 can be switched into a
3 Megapixel mode for an ISO rating of
6400! These operational settings are made
possible by Sony’s third anti-blur feature:
Clear RAW noise reduction.
The Sony Real Imaging Processor large
scale integrated circuit (LSI) delivers fast
response and low image noise – the digital
equivalent of film grain – an unwanted grit
or texture not present in the original scene.
And the processor reduces “aliasing”
distortions in the file conversion process.
All told, you’ll see better exposure, better
white balance and smoother, more
beautiful pictures.
For more information on the Real Imaging
Processor LSI, please refer to
Sony Power
Features (page 33)
.
S
m
a
rt Zoom
®
function
Delivers the benefits of digital zoom
without the softness of interpolation
processing.
Digital zoom takes over where optical zoom
leaves off, using a progressively smaller
portion of the CCD to crop into the area
of interest. Unfortunately, in addition to
sacrificing the resolution of the full CCD,
28
CAMERA
S
Y
S
TEM
S
CAMERA
S
Y
S
TEM
S
Other noise reduction systems work only after de-mosaicing
has spread noise into adjacent pixels. Sony Clear RAW
noise reduction operates on the camera’s RAW signal –
before de-mosaicing!
Noise (left) and the result of Clear RAW noise reduction
(right). (Sample photos for illustration purposes.)
BEFORE
AFTER
NOISY
RAW
DATA
NOISE
REDUCED
DATA
NOISE
REDUCTION
NOISE
REDUCTION
most digital zooms soften the image further
still through “interpolation,” the need to
calculate intermediate values “between”
pixels. Our Smart Zoom feature overcomes
the problem. Smart Zoom modes crop into
the CCD image without interpolation, for
cleaner, sharper pictures.
NOTE: Because it crops into the CCD, Smart Zoom
is not available at the highest camera resolution.
Option
a
l
a
cce
ss
ory tripod
s
The ultimate in anti-blur technology.
This section describes three Sony technologies
to overcome camera shake. However, the
ultimate anti-shake technology remains
outside the camera body, in the form of
optional, accessory tripods. When you
stabilize your camera on a tripod, you’ll
be perfectly set up for tack-sharp pictures
on long-exposure nighttime shots and full
telephoto shots.
S
hooting the digit
a
l w
a
y
L
a
rge LCD monitor
Makes digital cameras even more
attractive.
A digital camera’s LCD monitor is your
window on the world. Before you take
the shot, the monitor shows you control
menus and image framing. After you’ve
taken the shot, the monitor is your first
opportunity to show off your work. That’s
why our 2.0, 2.5, and even 3.0-inch LCD
monitors are so desirable (viewable area
measured diagonally). And Sony now
offers the world’s largest, highest-resolution
LCD monitor on a digital camera (as of
June 15, 2007): the 3.5-inch 921K pixel
screen of the Sony DSC-G1 (viewable area
measured diagonally). Sony consistently
builds large monitors because a bigger
screen makes a huge difference in enjoying
the camera. It means bigger menus. It
makes framing easier to see. And it’s far
more effective when it comes to showing
off your results!
Tr
a
n
s
flective LCD monitor
Uses sunlight for increased brightness.
Some LCD monitors tend to wash out in direct
sunlight. But selected Sony cameras aren’t
afraid of the sun. In darkness, the monitors
get transmissive light from inside these
cameras. In sunlight, the monitors use
both transmissive and reflective light, in
our transflective design.
