Sony DSCF505V Cybershot 2.6MP Digital Camera

Other products by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [1.83mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 4.2 x 5.4 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004ZB0V
• Item model number: DSC-F505V
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,017 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 17, 2000

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
Sony Cyber-shot cameras take digital photography to new heights by giving you shots with brighter-than-bright colors and sharper-than-sharp images, with absolutely incredible resolution. View your pictures instantly and re-shoot on the spot. Crop and edit images right in the camera. Upload your pictures to a PC for use in emails, Web sites and presentations. And because Cyber-shot cameras use Sony's revolutionary Memory Stick media to store images, it's easy to transfer your photos between equipment or share them with others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good camera with a few annoying flaws, December 30, 2000

By	Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The heart of any camera is in the lens, and the Zeiss lens on the Sony DSC-F505V is one of the best, if not *the* best, lens I've seen on a fixed-lens digital camera. Add to that the high resolution and Sony's novel pixel interpolation software, and you've got a camera that will produce absolutely striking 8x10s- prints so good that you'll find it hard to believe they weren't made from film. Add to that the manula override and incredible cool looks of this camera and you've got a winning package- almost.

Unfortunately Sony decided to equip this otherwise outstanding camera with their own proprietary memory stick storage format. These sticks cost anywhere from 20-50% more than SmartCards and are only available from Sony. And with the resolution this camera produces you'll need at least one 64 meg memory stick- more if you plan on extended outings. The ergonomics aren't great, either. This is not an easy camera to use with two hands and work the controls as well. It almost looks as if ergonomics were sacrificed for style.

Hence only 4 stars. If Sony had used a more standard high-density storage format nd made it a little easier to handle they'd have a 5-star product.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Use, Great Pictures, April 21, 2001

By	Groovy Vegan (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I'm a photography novice who chose this camera because I wanted: 1. a point and shoot that would make good shutter speed and F-stop decisions for me. 2. a single, high quality lens that telescopes and does wide angle, so I wouldn't have buy or change lenses. 3. excellent picture quality in prints and on screen. 4. an easy to use camera. (I was quickly up to speed on most features after 1 read of the manual and a few experimental pictures.) 5. easy transfer of pictures to the computer.

6. easy to use photo software that comes with the camera.

The product excels in all these qualities except #5. Also, I'm glad the battery's rechargeable, and that the lens cap is attached to the camera.

I'm deducting the 5th star for 2 reasons:

1. I followed all the instructions in the manual for downloading my pictures and it didn't work. I had to call customer service and be walked through an entirely different procedure not in the instructions. Also, they recommended that I save pictures on my desktop so I won't lose them. She told me other people have had the same downloading difficulty, but I don't know how widespread it is, or if it's been corrected.

2. I had to buy a couple extras to be completely satisfied with this camera: (1) Extra battery because the one that comes with the camera only lasts about an hour. (2) 64 Mb memory stick, because the 8 Mb memory that comes with the camera runs out very quickly.

Bottom line: Now that I've troubleshot the downloading problem and bought the extras, I'm very happy with this camera.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DSC F505V vs previous F505E model, March 10, 2001

By	Dave (Qatar) - See all my reviews

The new F505V camera is a superb camera that has cured any niggles that I have with the previous F505E version, but Sony have introduced a new problem that wasn't present in the F505E.

On the F505E, with a 64 Mb memory stick, I could take over 300 shots at 1024 x 768 resolution, which matches the resolution I use on my PC. This is ideal if you have a month's annual leave (away from the ability to download all your shots onto your PC). With the F505V, the lowest corresponding resolution is now 1280 x 960, which allows only 90 shots on the 64 Mb memory stick.

Even if they can't provide a mechanism for fixing the resolution vs storage problem on the F505V itself, I would strongly recommend that Sony re-institute the 1024 x 768 resolution on future models of the camera.

PS The primary problem I have with the F505E is "red-eye", which means that, on all my indoor shots - and there are very many of them - I have to use the software provided to try and edit out "red-eye" manually. This painstaking problem has been eliminated on the new F505V by strobing the flash before taking the picture. The F505V also now has the ability to use an external flash, which might have also helped with the "red-eye", had it been available on the F505E.