Sony Cybershot DSCR1 10.3MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom

by Sony

Product Details

Data Sheet [469kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3 x 2 x 1 inches ; 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000B68I2K
• Item model number: DSCR1
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,187 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 28, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer The Cybershot R1 camera is the world's first integrated lens digital still camera to combine a professional-grade, 10.3-megapixel image sensor and the flexibility of live preview while shooting. With its ultra-wide Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens (24mm to 120mm) and free-angle, two-inch LCD, the Cybershot R1 brings professional level imaging performance to mainstream consumers.

A Class of Its Own
Photo enthusiasts know that image sensor size is one of the most important influences on picture quality. Professional-grade image sensors, sometimes referred to as advanced photo system (APS) or APS-class, are many times the size of compact sensors used in point-and-shoot cameras; large sensors deliver extraordinary resolution, high sensitivity to light, and lower image noise or graininess for exceptional pictures. At 10.3 megapixels, the R1's sensor offers one of the highest resolutions available in the APS class.

The Sony R1's vari-angle LCD display allows for "live" preview and makes complex shooting situations a cinch.

Unlike digital SLRs, the Cybershot R1 unit's sensor allows for a "live" preview thanks to Sony Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Until now, the extraordinary power consumption of these large sensors has limited their operation to image capture only--unable to support the benefit of a live preview. Sony's distinctive design is employed to reduce power consumption, as well as increase image processing speeds.

The camera's electronic viewfinder or two-inch LCD lets you evaluate scene conditions, such as exposure and how color is rendered before taking a shot. Because the R1 camera can preview electronically, using the image sensor itself in real time, framing is always 100% accurate.

Built Digital from the Ground Up
The R1's integrated Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens was carefully crafted to take full advantage of the resolution, clarity, and color performance of its APS-class CMOS image sensor. Because of the sensor's live preview capability, there is no need for the camera to have a traditional "mirror and prism" construction common to digital SLRs. This allows a lens-to-sensor distance of as little as 2 millimeters, optimizing image quality and color accuracy.

Another benefit of this structure is the ability to incorporate an extraordinary wide field of view and zoom range. The 24mm wide end of the lens is particularly suited for architectural photography, landscapes and large-group portraits, while the 120mm telephoto end is perfect for filling the frame with distant subjects. This is a range not easily matched by any other lens for use with cameras using large-scale image sensors.

Furthermore, no mirror and prism construction means that the R1 is a quiet camera, perfect for shooting at a tennis match or in nature without disturbing wildlife.

Get the Shot without the Backache
The Cybershot R1 sports a two-inch LCD screen that folds flat and swivels so you can shoot from nearly any position. This flexibility allows you to get the shots that other cameras miss. For example, you can hold the camera low--down to the ground--for eye-level view shots of kids and pets without having to bend yourself into a pretzel or crawling on the ground.

The Power of Optimal Image Processing
A 10.3-megapixel camera needs a fast processor. Sony harnessed the power of it Real Imaging Processor LSI to achieve fast response times, low power consumption and clear images.

The new camera features a one-second shot-to-shot time, three-frame-per-second burst shooting, and a shutter-release time of only 7.5 milliseconds. Because it consumes 70 percent less power than Sony's previous processing circuitry, the camera has a battery life of up to 500 shots per charge, which can vary according to use and camera settings.

For enhanced versatility, Cybershot R1 offers three different modes of color reproduction: Adobe RGB used for professional graphics and offset color printing, Standard sRGB for most computer-based uses, and Vivid sRGB for more intense primary colors.

The camera's user selectable Advanced Gradation Control System (AGCS) optimizes image contrast, in order to avoid "blown out" highlights in high-contrast scenes and "crushed" blacks in low-contrast ones. AGCS evaluates the distribution of brightness and then automatically applies the appropriate gamma curve to achieve better pictures.

Users will also enjoy the added convenience of storing images onto Memory Stick PRO media, as well as CompactFlash Type I and Type II media or Microdrive media. The camera supports both JPEG and RAW formats, which can then be manipulated on a PC using the supplied Sony Image Data Converter SR software.

Other Features

Shoot with Memory Stick PRO media or Compact Flash I/II cards.

• Dual Media Capability: If you've already invested in high-capacity Flash Memory cards, the DSC-R1 is the camera for you. It accepts Memory Stick PRO media, Compact Flash Type 1/II media, and optional Microdrive media.
• Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO Media: Digital. Powerful. Transportable. Memory Stick media is compact, portable, and rugged, connecting a variety of hardware and software applications.
• Three Color Modes and RAW Capture: Choose standard sRGB for accuracy, Vivid sRGB to emulate reversal film, or Adobe RGB for advanced applications. RAW mode brings the latent image into the Digital darkroom. RAW files must be converted with Sony's Image Data Converter SR software.
• Advanced Gradation Control System (AGCS): Enhances dynamic range, avoids crushed shadow detail and clipped highlights.
• Advanced Viewfinder/Monitor Displays: Choose grid lines, zebra stripes, and histogram. Enjoy full-time exposure indication of aperture, Shutter Speed and Exposure Value over/under.
• Advanced Creative Control: Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program shift, EV compensation, and full manual exposure control allow you to adjust quickly for a wide range of shooting situations. Capture fast action, control depth of field, and more.
• Versatile Manual Exposure: Adjust the aperture from f2.8 to f16. Set the shutter from 30 seconds to 1/2000 second, or choose Bulb exposure for up to 3 minutes! Adjust ISO from 125 to 3200. Choose Auto White Balance then fine-tune color temperature by hand.
• Live Histogram Display and RGB Playback: Available in capture and playback the Live Histogram displays the concentration of Pixels at each luminosity value making it easy to evaluate correct exposure. Histogram in Playback mode also includes RGB information
• 5 Area Multi-Point AF System: By evaluating 5 separate focus areas of the frame, Sony's Multi-Point AF system can intelligently focus on the subject and avoid mistakenly focusing on the background. In addition, you can manually select a point or position a point anywhere in the frame with Flexible Spot AF.
• Manual Exposure Control: Flexible Exposure control is provided with Aperture Priority (f2.0 to f8.0), Shutter Priority (30 secibds to 1/3200 second) and Manual Exposure modes. Exposure Value Compensation (EV) and Flash output level control allow for even more control over your images.
• Slow Shutter Noise Reduction: During long exposures, those longer than 1/25 second, the camera captures two exposures with each press of the shutter button. The first exposure captures the scene, and the second exposure captures the CCD noise pattern with a dark frame exposure. By subtracting the two, even long exposures can be clear.
• Raw Mode: Capture raw data directly from the CCD before any in-camera processing, while a separate JPEG is stored for viewing convenience. Sony's IDC RAW converter software provides extensive control of Gamma, White Balance, color, and sharpness for fine tuning the image.

What's in the Box
Sony R1 digital camera, NP-FM50 InfoLithium battery, an AC-L15 adapter, a USB and video cables, neck/shoulder strap, and CD-ROM software with PicturePackage and Image Data Converter SR for RAW.

Product Description

It's not an SLR, in asense, because you can't change lenses though it's shaped somewhat like an abbreviated SLR. It isn't compact either. What the Sony DSC-R1 Cyber-shot(R) Digital-Camera is...is a professional camera that anyone can use. It has a 5x Carl Zeiss lens that has a (35mm equiv focal length) from 24mm to 120mm - which suits most photographic applications. A 67mm filter thread allows the addition of filters and lens conversion accessories. Make it yours. Pop-Up ElectronicFlash - Distance limitations using Flash - Wide - 0.5m - 8.5m, Tele - 0.4m - 5.0m (ISO Auto) Compatible Recording media - Memory Stick(R) media, Memory Stick(R) PRO media, Memory Stick(R) PRO High Speed media, Memory Stick(R) Duo media, Memory Stick(R) PRO Duo media, Memory Stick(R) PRO Duo High Speed media, Compact Flash Type I, Compact Flash Type II, Microdrive Lens accepts 67mm size filters AF Method - Single AF, Monitoring AF, Continuous AF / AF Area - Multi-Point (5-points), Center Weighted, Flexible Spot / Focus Mode - Auto Focus / Macro / Manual Aperture - Auto (F2.8 - F16) / Program Auto (F2.8 - F16) / Aperture Priority (F2.8 - F16) / Shutter Priority (F2.8 - F16) / Manual (F2.8 - F16) / Shutter Speed - Auto (1/8-1/2000) / Program Auto (1-1/2000) / Aperture Priority (8-1/2000) / Shutter Priority (30-1/2000) / Manual (Time, 30 seconds to 1/2000) Hand Shake Alert ISO Sensitivity Setting - Auto, 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 Still Image Recording - Modes - Normal (JPEG), High-Speed Burst (JPEG), Auto-Bracketing (JPEG), RAW (SR2); Sizes - 10M - 3,888 x 2,592, 7M - 3,264 x 2,176, 5M - 2,784 x 1,859, 3M - 2,160 x 1,440, 1M - 1,296 x 864 , 3 - 2 Mode Burst Shot Compatible with all PictBridge equipment High-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity for data-transfer to a Windows PC or Macintosh computer Video Output is NTSC and PAL selectable for viewing photos on TV Unit Dimensions WHD - 5.5 x 3.87 x 6.125

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

147 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unfair comparison (my other camera is a Hasselblad 501c), January 24, 2006

By 

Donal B. Botkin "View[ + ]Finder" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCR1 10.3MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Many other users and serious reviewers have provided sufficient background on Sony's "top of the line" digital DSC-R1, so I'll steer clear of needless repetition and get right to my point: this is not just a great digital camera, it's a great camera by any standard. {credibility break, sorry} My background? 2,500 pictures in the R1, about the same in a Minolta A1 and another 3,000 or so in an older Sony (I forgot the model--it had a rotating lens) that spent 5 years on a boat with me in the South Pacific. Before that, over 40 years of serious photography with everything from pinhole cameras to the Hassey.

Here's the bottom line: the R1 is about the size of the 501c but less than half the weight with just the 'standard' lens. If I include all the extra lenses (I use a wide-angle and a moderate tele) plus the spare backs and film, the bag tips the scales at over 25lbs. Are the pictures as good? (trick question) Technically, no; there will be no razor sharp poster-sized prints from the R1. The truth is that many of the really great shots with the Hassey are still in my head: too much fussing with lenses, changing film, worrying about exposure and poof! The shot is gone. Of the thousands of digital images I've captured, there are many that would match the best from the medium format in terms of qualities that matter to me.

What's the best feature of the R1? Coming from the 501c, I really like the top-mounted LCD! It is much easier to use than even a tilting, back-mounted LCD (like the Minolta A1), particularly for candid shots. Plus when it's vertical, it's like a "sports" finder in that you can easily see both what's in the picture and what's not. Second best is the lens: I checked the Carl Zeiss site for info on their lens designs to compare to the 501c, but they haven't posted the specifics of the Vario-Sonnar in the R1. There are a few very good testing-oriented site on the `net that have uniformly lauded the lens design. As might be imagined, (or maybe not, judging from some uninformed whining about "features" elsewhere) designing and building lenses is not easy. To get a zoom lens that goes from 24mm to 120mm with a flat field and good color performance is nearly impossible, hence the almost unnoticeable barrel distortion at the wide end.

My third favorite feature is the CMOS sensor: it truly makes a difference in the quality of the mega-pixels not just the fact that there are over 10 million of them.

What's not to like? Well, several users have commented on the lack of interchangeable lenses, true, but to what end? To get a higher quality lens? Not likely. A larger aperture? Yes, you can, but not in a zoom. To get a really long telephoto or mirror lens? The only valid complaint, IMHO. So, there is the option of the 1.7 tele-extender that get's you something between 200mm and 400mm depending on how aggressively you manage the digital smart zoom feature. (Don't even think of complaining about the "extra" lens! This is about the lack of replacement lenses, remember.) I have one on order, so I'll save my comments for later.

There has been a lot of carping about the "noise" at high ISO (1600 and above) and it is true: if you try to hand-hold when you should use a tripod and fudge the ISO to overcome the shake, you will get noise. Mount your R1 on a tripod and shoot at 160 and the problem goes away because the built-in noise reduction kicks in. Even is you must shoot at higher speeds, using a tripod and setting exposure to take advantage of the noise-reduction program will make a big difference, from my informal testing. Photography is all about working with limitations, so consider it an advantage to own such an imperfect camera!

The only thing that I've found less than desirable is a compression of dynamic range when shooting Adobe RGB. It shows up as a right-skewed histogram, but post-processing in Aperture fixes it. The image is "muddy" but clears when the white slider is moved to the left in setting luminance. This could be due to several factors, so I'll do some testing and report back.

My summary is that this camera will not make you a better photographer, but taking lots of pictures and not showing the bad ones will help, and believe me, you will be able to take them with greater ease and enjoyment with the Sony DSC-R1 than with anything else on the market for the same price. If your excuse for not taking pictures is that there is either too much equipment or not enough, this one my dear Goldilocks, is "just right".

97 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Glance from an Early Adopter, November 18, 2005

By 

Chris Rutkowski (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCR1 10.3MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Got my Sony R1 just yesterday - ordered from Ritz on Tuesday and had it 48 hours later. Spent 6 hours "playing" with it and making a few test shots. Overall: love It - hence 5 stars.

The downside: oh how I wish the EVF provided about 5 times the resolution so that critical focusing (manual) was possible. And I could live without its herky-jerky display. But that pretty well wraps up what I don't like!

The few natural light indoor test pictures I made were beautiful; at ASA 400 (which I used used for this limited micro-test) resolution and color rendition were superb. Think I'm going to love this sharp, fast lens. That extra few mm at the wide angle end of the range means a lot too; "big sky", "indoor" and "close groups" will be a LOT easier to manage - and the 10MP image will take advantage of it by holding detail (those who say "MP doesn't matter" haven't thought it all the way through - as the angles grow wider it means a LOT).

Camera handling is great. Feels like a good SLR. This is certainly no heavier or bulky than my old Canon F1 - lighter in fact. The R1 exudes quality. Just plain feels good in the hand.

The controls and settings were mostly simple to figure out. What took me longest to discover was how to access playback mode - the button is unlabeled - actually had to look on the little "read me first" cheatsheet included in the box : -) Otherwise, I found myself able to "sync" with the designer's logic quite easily - everything I need for creative control is right there. I'm quite sure that with just a little practice, things like manual bracketing, selecting ISO, shutter speed etc. will be very fast in the field - I don't forsee much fumbling. Big plus!

I especially like the external LCD viewfinder. With the screen lying flat on top the camera becomes reminiscent of a medium format camera like a Yashica 2-1/4 or a mini RB67. I LIKE those machines and the R1 fills that part of my "does it all" wish list better than I expected. The R1 is even quite usable when held straight overhead by the simple expedient of holding it upside down. Not as easy to manipulate setting controls in this position of course, but that's both understandable and quite acceptable.

Shooting response speed was fine. Apparrently it's not able to take extended bursts of shots at several frames per second - bang, bang, bang, bang.... but I couldn't care less. I don't do that kind of photography. Guess it would be an issue if I were into sports photography (or weddings, which are a sport of a different kind) - anywhere one wants to shoot a huge number of shots and sift through them later for the perfect shot. But that's not my cup of tea.

Bottom line: the ability to feel like both a good SLR OR a medium format camera makes this, for me, a smash hit. I look forward to wringing the most out of technical capability - at least until a 20MB version with a hi-res viewfinder comes out a few years down the road.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular camera, November 21, 2005

By 

Craig Siegman (Pembroke Pines, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCR1 10.3MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Got my Sony DSC-R1 on Saturday, Nov. 19. I expected to order it from Amazon, but I was in the mall shopping and found that a local retailer had it for $948.88, so I bought it immediately. It took a couple of hours of play to figure out the controls. As mentioned in the review below, the toughest control to find was for playback (hint: it's the button with the blue arrow to the right of the viewfinder perfectly blended into the viewfinder's facia so it's hard to see). The value of the electronic view finder becomes evident when trying to compose a picture in tough lighting conditions. Seeing the image change in the viewfinder to reflect what will be captured as you select different points on the frame for the exposure level is immensely helpful in determining how the picture is going to look. I don't think you can do that with a DSLR. Having heavily cropped pictures and then printed them at 8x10, I could not see any pixelation. The amount of detail is astonishing. There doesn't appear to be any noise (albeit shooting at a low ISO setting), and there don't seem to be any artifacts typical of digital cameras. The printed colors, without any software manipulation, are spectacular. Overall, after two days of use I think this is a great camera. The only downside I've found is the flash seems underpowered, and the AF assist lamp is pretty lame. Sony should have stuck with their laser system. In response to Chris below, the image on the LCD can be zoomed for manual focus simply by pressing the zoom button (it looks like a magnifying glass).