Product Review
 

Sony MVC-CD500 Digital Camera with 5.0 MegaPixel CCD Sensor and CD-R/W Image Recorder

Part II - The Performance

November, 2003

John E. Johnson, Jr.

 

The Performance

Taking photos with the CD500 is very easy, especially if you use the AF setting on the main dial (green camera  icon), which is what I did for the following pictures. (I did not test the MPEG Movie Mode). All the photos are reproduced without modification other than reducing the size.

In the AF mode and 5 MB setting, it took approximately 5 seconds for each image to be recorded. However, I could take the next photo before the first one was finished being recorded, so it is not an issue. Apparently, there is a buffer memory for taking multiple images before they all get recorded to the CD.

I took this shot in the late afternoon, with mostly shade but partial sun in a side yard. The fall colors on this Acer come through loud and clear. Shadow detail is good in the trunk areas of trees farther back.

Close-ups of flowers are my favorite subjects, and the color reproduction with the CD500 is very good. Macro Mode is required here. With the earlier Mavicas, you could get continual focus down to about 1/2". No special macro mode was needed. The zoom was also more extensive, but that Mavica was $1,000 several years ago. The CD500 is $599.

Grabbing the CD500 and getting a good shot that is automatically focused and exposed is one of the pleasures of using it. Remember the old days when you had to select a shutter speed and center the needle to get the correct exposure? These deer would have been long gone by then.

At odd angles, the CD500 got the correct focus easily. I used the built-in flash to fill in the shadow underneath.

The auto-focus had a little trouble focusing on these wind chime strings, bouncing back and forth with the background, but as soon as I pressed the shutter button, it closed in on the strings in the foreground, which is what I wanted. Exposure was perfect, too.

Even in close-up, the built-in flash did a nice job of getting a proper exposure.

Part I - Introduction and Features

Part II - The Performance

Part III - On the Bench and Conclusions

 

© Copyright 2003 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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