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For years, I have been using my 28-70 f:2.8 Canon zoom as my “normal” lens. It is sharp (Oh baby is it!) and at 2.8,fast enough for just about any pro or serious amateur. But there were plenty of times I needed a little more coverage than the 28MM focal length provided. Since most of my work is with long-lens and fast (and expensive) zooms, I couldn’t pony up the bucks for Canon’s superwide f2.8 zoom. When I saw the price on the 17-40MM lens and the fact that it was the “L” flavor with pro glass, I bought it immediately. I’ve had it for about a year and I have already sold several pictures – published in glossy magazines with picky photo editors. And I trust it to give me sharp pictures, even at the extreme settings – wide open and at the 17MM end. You have to remember to always use the weird looking but effective lens hood to control flare and as with any very wide lens, look at the edges of the frame (your feet could be in every picture!) It’s light, good enough to use as your normal lens and with their new 70-300 IS DO lens could make for an amazing and compact travel kit. So while Canon’s lens experts probably built this one for the growing digital crowd, as a film user I think it’s the bargain of the year and is in my camera bag every time I go on assignment. I suggest that you get a good quality “thin” UV filter and polarizer and you will be set to explore the exciting world of ultra-wide photography.
Important update: I recently returned from an assignment to Monte Carlo to test drive sports cars. Part of the deal was to get thrill rides from a pro driver up and down the French mountains above Monaco. Armed with my 17-40MM an EOS 1V, 540 flash, and Velvia 50, I clicked off a whole roll of film during my turn in the passenger’s seat. The magazine editor called me when he saw the slides and said that the shots in the car were the “strongest images” in the shoot.
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My first impressions were ones of pleasant shock. The camera seemed smaller than in the pictures and if it seemed smaller, it seemed doubly more so in terms of weight. Compared to my SLR this thing is an absolute lightweight but very well built and certainly heavier than the smaller ‘in your pocket’ point and shoots. A great balance…although I wouldn’t want to drop it. Some strategically placed silicone on the housing would make this a bit more rugged without much if any impact on cost. Powerup is about as fast as you can bring the camera up to your face – amongst the best of the point and shoots. Controls are easy to use and I like the mini joystick for making on the fly adjustments in manual and scene modes. The menus are fairly well laid out although some items I had to resort to the manual to find their location for the first time.
The iA or Intelligent Auto function gave consistently above par picture quality, although I was always able to tweak it better myself (this could have been as much preference as anything). The AVCHD and HD movies worked absolutely flawless with my Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC6E [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging]. (NOTE:Make sure you lowlevel format these SDHC cards a COUPLE of times BEFORE first use). I do wish that you could use the normal shutter release instead of the dedicated movie button on the back face when in movie mode. I kept forgetting and tried to stop the movies using the shutter button instead of the record button. Minor nuisance, but will be overcome as I get my brain wrapped around the change in button locations.
The battery worked well past 300 stills and about 35 clips, so I am very pleased with it with the LCD display being used for most of the shots. I purchase another spare battery;Lenmar DLP006 Lithium-ion Digital Camera/Camcorder Battery Equivelent to the Panasonic CGR-S006A Battery, also available here at Amazon, and it appears to be working about as well as the original Panasonic (a great buy). The EVF or Electronic View Finder was very handy, although most of the overlaid information is very hard to distinguish in the small EVF. I CAN’T BELIEVE PANASONIC DIDN’T INCLUDE A RUBBER BOOT FOR THE EVF! Please someone, anyone, make it as an accessory.
The EZ or Extra Zoom function is quite handy. Using this feature, you can shoot at lower resolutions and get more effective zooming power out of the camera…over 30x and it works very well. The LCD screen is clear and crisp, but its performance in high ambient light is about average. Thank goodness for the electronic view finder mentioned above.
Image stabilization is the absolute best amongst my camera collection and is especially noticeable in low light and full zoom. I was pleasantly surprised how well I could take indoor pictures at night with a simple tweak of the exposure. Far better than any of my other point and shoots, although nowhere near my SLR.
The standard 3picture burst mode was fairly standard and unimpressive, but the 10pics per second for speed priority and 6 pics per second in image priority burst mode worked well for catching difficult shots like geese landing on the water and children jumping out of swings, but I still wish the resolution and picture quality was better in these modes. Still, for a point and shoot, it’s ability to catch the fast action is at the top of it’s class.
The lens cap interferes with zoom, but the camera will kindly remind you that you have left it on with a 17,000 volt discharge…just kidding…it will tell you on the LCD screen.
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I used the DSC-F55’s predecessor unit for two years before losing it, sadly, on a Christmas vacation trip to Mexico a year ago… it was a terrific unit, easy to shoot with, good capacity (about 50+ in medium resolution mode); with all its shortcomings on resolution, etc. It had two features that I personally consider critical for easy, spontaneous day-to-day use, especially on travel: extremely lightweight/small (fits in pocket) and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
When I saw the DSC-F55 this spring, I jumped! While expensive, it very largely retained the best elements of the small form-factor/weight and rechargeability elements that I was looking for while presenting significantly enhanced resolution and(!) MPEG video, to boot. This latter capability has been a tremendous boon.
I’ve picked up a 16meg memory stick (have 2 4Meg sticks in addition); agree with another reviewer that compared with downloading to PC over serial port, nothing beats using memory stick in a PCMCIA port adapter directly in a notebook since trasferring images to the PC has to be the most time consuming and least attractive part of the digital photography value proposition, make no mistake: direct memory stick insertion into a PC is the way to go (especially if you’re using a Sony PC.
I’m not, so the only drawback is having to pay a usurious amount on a PCMCIA adapter to carry the memory stick; maybe there are better third party alternatives now) Lithium ion battery recharges rapidly and is standard Sony issue (i.e., not proprietary to this camera, therefore relatively readily available in many video stores — good for 60-70 minutes continuous use typically. I recognize there are some risks with Sony’s proprietary memory stick form factor, versus Compact Flash, but it works brilliantly.
Controls on camera look complex, but after a day, most features are intuitively accessed and ergonomics are first rate; continue to like the rotating lens; mpeg capabilities invariably wows anyone unfamiliar with the product; I always follow up with an email; agree that bundled software is not so, album manager pretty helpful can always use Mediaplayer for MPEG. Audio went dead in second month but was easily repaired under warranty. Don’t miss absence of optical zoom find digital 5x capability more than adequate given the resolution. My only regret is that these products, as compelling as they are, tend to have product cycle half-life of 9 months if you buy for features, you have to be ready for 70% depreciation in year 1.
Conclusion: terrific product quality, great images — most importantly, for me, delivers this with the best in portability and rechargeability.
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