12.02.2003, Auckland, New Zealand

• fast auto focus
• fast, high quality 5x optical zoom. I liked it so much that I used full zoom almost all the time.
• images are much sharper than Canon's G2. Colours are nice and vivid (good lighting conditions required for the best results).
• brighter long exposure night shots. I guess it's due to higher default ISO sensitivity, Sony's ISO 100 as opposed to Canon's G2 ISO 50.
• solid body and controls design.
• high quality electronic viewfinder. I found it very handy and used it most of the time.
• long batteries life.

What I didn't like:

• not so well positioned Menu and Display buttons, thumb touches the LCD screen every time you are trying to reach the buttons leaving finger prints on the screen which gets dirty fast.
• jack-in-the-box built-in flash popping up abruptly with a loud click when you don't expect it. It pops up even when the lens is covered with a cap if you press a shutter button. I had to switch the flash off to stop this importunate behaviour.
• scrolling and zooming in preview mode is quite slow. G2's scrolling is much faster with the similar size images.
• lack of IR remote control. G2 and G3 has one.
• It's easier to take portrait (vertical) photos with Canon, which has a swivel LCD. With Sony I found it was not enough freedom to take this kind of shots. If I wanted to take a portrait shot from the ground level (sometimes I do) with Sony I would have to lie on the ground. With Canon I would squat and adjust the LCD. A nice little feature of Canon Powershot.

In general, I liked Sony very much for the fast zoom and auto focus and for the sharp and vivid images. Also, I found the electronic viewfinder very useful. G2 doesn't have one. I also like how Sony feels when you hold it, especially when I'm using a viewfinder. It feels as a serious SLR and gives you confidence that you are taking really good pictures, and because the camera is fast it tempts you to shoot and shoot and shoot frame after frame without concentration, a kind of machine gun shooting. But the results of this rapid fire are usually not so good. Camera should be used more as a sniper rifle, slow down, concentrate first then shoot, that was what I had to do to escape the fast shooting euphoria which I got from Sony at the beginning of our acquaintance. :)
I like Sony Cybershot DSC-F717 but I have a feeling that it would be not enough for me now for a number of reasons. Canon D60 would be good to have. :)

For a detailed review on Sony Cybershot DSC-F717 visit www.dpreview.com.

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