Sony DSC-D770 Cyber-shot 1.5MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [1.27mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.1 x 3.9 inches ; 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7 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: B00004VV4C
• Item model number: DSC-D770
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,008 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 25, 2000

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Sony's DSC-D770 features a high performance Progressive Scan 1.5 Million Square Pixel CCD, which creates images up to 1344 x 1024 pixels. The 5x optical zoom lens is equivalent to a f28mm to 140mm zoom lens in a 35mm camera. This manual zoom lens gives you ample flexibility to compose your pictures just the way you want and the manual focus ring allows for a more accurate, professional feel. Other features include:

• High Quality Progressive Scan CCD with 1.5 Million Square Pixels provides high quality still images by reading all of the pixels on the imager (CCD) with a single pass, delivering clean edges and an overall sharper picture quality.
• 2.5" Advanced Color LCD with Brightness Control (180K Pixels): Use the LCD for playback, or for your viewfinder while taking shots. Large, full color LCD display viewfinder lets you preview or review your shots right on the camera back with detail and clarity.
• Removable ATA Type II PC Memory Card or Memory Stick media: The popular storage media, ATA Type II PC memory cards allow you to store digital images. The DSC-D770 will also allow you to capture images on a supplied 8MB Memory Stick Digital Storage Media and ATA Type II PC Card Adapter.
• Supplied PC Card Reader allows for easy parallel port connection to your PC compatible computer.
• JPEG or TIFF File Formats: Select between JPEG compression or for the best quality choose the non-compressed mode to capture your images in a TIFF format for best performance.
• Pop-Up Flash and Hot Shoe: Use to brighten your pictures in low light conditions. You can select from four modes: Automatic, On, Off, or use the Hot Shoe to attach an external flash with strobe lights. The automatic mode will turn on in low light and/or adjust for the optimum amount of flash. The "Pop-Up" flash offers the ability to conceal the flash when not in use.
• Center Weighted / Spot Meter allows you to control exposure under varied lighting and conditions.
• Continuous Shooting Modes: CONT1 Mode adjusts exposure on each image. CONT2 maintains the same settings and is faster than CONT1 mode.
• Auto / Manual Exposure gives you the best possible results when shooting under difficult light conditions. The Different modes are:
  • Program AE - The camera will select the proper settings automatically.
  • Aperture Priority - Set the Aperture for depth of field and the camera will set the Shutter Speed.
  • Shutter Priority - Set the Shutter, and the camera will adjust the Iris for the correct amount of light.
  • Manual Mode - Gives you complete control over your exposure.
• Exposure Value Compensation: Set the exposure value setting at 16 different steps from -2.0EV to +2.0 EV in .25 increments for increased flexibility.
• Manual White Balance: Allows for manual setting of white balance for greater accuracy of color in difficult lighting situations.
• InfoLithium Battery System with AccuPower Meter: Sony's exclusive InfoLithium battery system is a no-memory effect battery, and with the AccuPower meter you will see the time remaining in minutes in the LCD.
• Histogram Feature: Represents Luminosity and Color levels in an image. The built-in histogram helps users determine performance results and adjust manual controls accordingly to select the perfect settings.
• Improved AE focus with Beep confirmation: Fast, accurate auto focus with a confirmation "beep" to let you know the camera is in perfect focus.
• ISO Settings: Set ISO for 50, 100, or 400 for optimum sensitivity in any shooting environment.
• New MSAC-PC2 Memory Stick Card Adapter: More than twice as fast as the previous MSAC-PC1, the MSAC-PC2 aids in speeding up the read/write process.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I use it professionally, November 12, 2000

By 

Jef Raskin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DSC-D770 Cyber-shot 1.5MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I use this camera to illustrate the many magazine articles I write, and editors and readers like the results. It is not widely realized that to get double the resolution you need four times the number of pixels. So to go to 3 megapixels won't even double the dots per inch as published. I'll move up when I can get 5 megapixels for under $1000.

Another factor often missed is that unless you can fill the frame, you are wasting a lot of pixels. So the zoom range is often more important than pixel count.

Some of the other comments on this camera seem uninformed: I plug the PCMIA card that the camera uses to store images into my Mac PowerBook, no software, no drivers are needed. I then drag them right into Photoshop or into a folder. It's fast and easy. The same holds for PCs that can read these cards.

I like this camera's good handling, true SLR nature (I wish it had depth-of-field preview, though), ability to take closeup and other lenses, and good control of exposure. My photos are seen by tens or hundreds of thousands of people, and nobody can tell that I've taken them with an under-$1000 digital camera, even when published in a glossy magazine. At its price, it gets five stars.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sony Cybershot, October 14, 2000

By 

rick (Pensacola, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DSC-D770 Cyber-shot 1.5MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

After purchasing this camera a year ago I donated my SLR camera to my high school alma matter. The Sony Cybershot is a easy to use camera that allows you to take any kind of picture you want. Even though I rate the camera itself 5 stars, I wish Sony would create lens and other camera accessories for this professional style camera.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great., December 6, 2000

By 

"kawwwwww" (Cranston, RI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DSC-D770 Cyber-shot 1.5MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I just received this camera today, and already I'm finding too many faults, the worst of which is that this is not a 3-mega-pixel camera - it's a 1.5.

That having been said, what attracted me to this model was it's manual control - very important for advanced users. My biggest complaint here is that the focus ring is hardly available. You can see in the photograph that the camera body actually cowls the body of the lens. What I didn't realize until I got my hands on it was that the cowl really gets in the way. You can't wrap your hand around it.

The optical viewfinder is small and dark, the flash tends to wash out the subject when set at the higher ISO, and the drivers for the flash card needed extraordinary user intervention to work (luckily, I'm an IT person).

Sounds like I hate it, right.

I guess if I were less interested in resolution and ease of manual control, I'd keep this camera. I have to say that the photographs I did take were of very high quality for a camera in this price range. It takes very sharp images, with great color. It's also really easy to use, and the automatic features were fairly flawless in their operation.

Now, I have to spend 2 1/2 times as much to get what I really wanted. Alas.