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March 23, 2006
[ REVIEW – SONY CYBERSHOT DSC–R1 ]
Price: $1800
Rating: 4.8 stars
The low-down: The Sony Cybershot DSC–R1 is a 10.3 megapixel all-in-one digital camera with a Zeiss 5X zoom lens (24–120mm film equivalent). Quality of design and construction is superb.
The R1 has an electronic viewfinder and a swivelling LCD screen that sits flat on the top of the camera when it is docked. The EVF is acceptable and the LCD screen is exceptionally good. It is small but has excellent display characteristics.
The Zeiss lens does not pretend to be a “super” zoom. Instead it sensibly presents quality above quantity. 24mm is a good wideangle focal length and 120mm makes for excellent portraits. Zoom control is by ring on the barrel.
The ergonomics of the R1 are excellent and it is a joy to use. Focus is fast, exposure is accurate and white balance is outstanding. The resolution from the 10.3mp APS size CMOS sensor is brilliant.
The R1 uses both Sony Memory Stick and Compact Flash cards for storage. Jpeg images write to memory quickly but RAW transfers are slow.
Like this: The image quality from the R1 is exceptional but the real killer up its sleeve is its ability to take photos at high ISO -- up to 1600 -- without showing any objectionable noise. Combining the low noise with the outstanding white balance correction means that photos can be taken under almost any type of light, including mixes of incandescent and flourescent, without flash.
Dislike that: The high price is what cost the R1 a five star rating. $1800 puts it up against some good SLRs. A Canon 350D will not take better photos than the Sony but it does allow for interchangeable lenses and it does have a real viewfinder.
Parting shot: The Sony DSC–R1 is a worthy successor to the F828, the best all-in-one camera that we had so far tested. Occasionally a camera comes along that is such a pleasure to use that you find yourself picking it up and looking for subjects just for the fun of it. The R1 inspires confidence that every picture will be sharp, well exposed and accurately coloured. Add to that the quality of construction and the responsive feel of the camera and it gets a high recommendation.
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Posted by terry at March 23, 2006 09:47 AM
Comments
G'Day Terry,
I hope you're enjoying life in retirement from the ABC, I miss your presence on "The National Interest", journalists of your calibre and integrity are very rare, particuarly during these dark Howard years. I hope Peter can "Maintain the rage".
I've reluctantly at first, gone digital. I couldn't agree more with your review of the Sony DSC-R1. I bought one as a back-up camera for my Canon EOS 5D. I find the results from each camera to be pretty much the same quality when shooting raw images, the Sony is so good that I have a 'super BO' size print that I have made on my 44 inch wide Epson 9600 Pro printer which is very impessive. My only complaint is with the electronic viewfinder, its image is very confused, when trying to follow anything moving faster than walking pace.
Regards,
Robert Ashman
Posted by: Robert Ashman at March 26, 2006 10:13 AM