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We are in need of a good Sony digital camera. We need this camera so we can take still images of our product for our website. Our budget is between $450-$850. Could you guys advice as to which would be good for us.

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just curious why only Sony brand ?

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Best Regards
Paul

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I have a contact at Sony and he can get me the camera at cost.

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Ronhollin.....Well, I have used 3 Sony cameras so far. I owned the DSCS75, The DSCS85 and now own the DSCF717. If you are going to buy a sony camera and had the funds to do so....why not just by the DSCF717 or the V1. I am sure that you are referring to EMPLOYEE cost which is quite below the upper spending price of 850.00

I too work for sony. However, the DSCS75 and 85 have since been replaced by the V1. This also sounds like a very nice camera...but for me, the F717 was much more attractive. One thing that I think you would find very awarding about the F717 is that if you are taking pictures of your product, depending on the size, you can tilt the body of the camera. For instance, if you have jewerly layed on a table and the camera is positioned on a tripod way down low....you can tilt the LCD screen to face up. That way you don't have to keep stooping down to view the LCD screen. I really love this feature. At employee cost for the F717 or even the V1....you just can't go wrong and who cares about memory sticks....heck you can by them at cost as well!!! The other nice thing about these two cameras is the histogram. This might come out handy for your photos. Really....from the prices range that you speak of...there are only 2 real choices, the DSC-V1 and the DSCF717. The other thing I really like about the 717 compared to all of the 3 others I mentioned is the fact the zoom is cpntrolled by a ring on the front of the lens, very similar to that of a 35mm camera. When you are in manual focus mode...this ring now becomes the focus ring. You can still zoom using the zoom lever mounted on the body of the lens. On the other cameras, they have a jog dial with present zoom amounts. The V1 has 13 focus steps and its awkward using the jog dial....I like the ring action much better. The other thing that is nice about the F717 and the V1 is that the cameras will take 10 pictures, one right after another, and string them together to create a GIF animation that you can post on your website. The other cameras do not do this. I could go on and on about features and why "I" think the F717 is better...like the power up time. Very fast with the 717....the others, the lens assembly needs time to come out of the camera body. The F717 is already out and ready to go. When I power up the camera, just over a second I am ready to start shooting. The V1 in about 3 seconds. Also, the auto focus time is Extremely fast compared to the other models that I owned. The V1 is definitely a "heavy" contender. In fact...it actually has a few features that I wished my F717 had...like saturation control and Contrast control. The F717 does not. Both cameras have about the same feature. You can basically say that they packed most of the F717 features (plus a few new features) into the V1 in about half the camera size of the F717. The V1 is a much smaller camera but very powerful. If you want a smaller camera then the V1 is a great choice, if you don't care about the size...I personally like the F717. I have held both and the V1....is really hard to grip using the left had and even more so when the flash pops up. Almost no place to hold the camera on the left side. If you have the HVLF1000 flash mounted on top you run into the same issue. The other thing about the V1 is that it does not have a Diopter adjustment on this camera...strange. Also, I believe another minor draw back is that the battery life is less than the F717.

The above comparisons are mainly compared to the 2 other models that I've owned. I do not own the V1 so I cannot make very much reference to this only what I have read and seen. The other thing I like about the F717 is that it always draws comments. Like WOW....what a camera and man...it's all Lens!! and Looks Awesome... My other cameras looked like just ordinary cameras. Not that that is a bad thing...but my personal opinion is that I like the style of the F717 much better.

Well....time to quit rambling on. As always....this is strictly my opinion and you should research everything in great detail so that you find the camera that is best for you and your intended use. If you would like to ask me any additional questions about my F717...please feel free to email me anytime.

Sincerely,

ShallowRunner

Last edited by ShallowRunner on Sep 5th, 2003 at 06:23 AM

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Thanks ShallowRunner, that was exactly the info I was looking for.

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Just curious, and I understand if you can't answer, but just how much can an employee get a 717 for?? And do you know any in the Asheville, NC area that I can suck up to? I'm still using an 'antique' DSC-S70 and am ready for an upgrade.

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Rich
[url=http://www.ncwaterfalls.com]ncwaterfalls.com[/url]

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Hi Rich,

There is no big secret about cost of an item for employees. But just so that I don't tread on any foot steps or loose any benefits for myselft , I have posted a link that lists the price of a DSCF717 from various dealers. From this list.....there are 4 dealers that currently sell it for less than our employee price and thats with their shipping fee included. I am sure you can figure our price by this info. Hope this helps. And sorry....but don't know of any place in NC.


http://overture1-cnet.com.com/Sony_...l&q=dscf717

ShallowRunner

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Thanks ShallowRunner - that gives me a good idea. Just found out that there's a $75 rebate on the 717 and V-1 and that was the last push I needed to upgrade. Ordered from a reliable company I've done business with before and my camera and filters should be here Wed!

Rebate info is here - http://www.web-rebates.com/sony/

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Rich
[url=http://www.ncwaterfalls.com]ncwaterfalls.com[/url]

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Wow....thats Great!!! Can't wait to see some pictures!!!


Shallowrunner

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Examples of DSC-F717 shots

I'm no expert at photography [self taught], but I have had a SONY F717 since June 2003, and it really is a great all round camera... before that I had a fuji F601 which gave up the ghost after about a year... I'm glad it did in a way because its opened up a whole new world for me...
You can check out some pictures using the F717 in my member gallery here on bytephoto

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