Help With the New F717

[Crism]

Hey guys. I finally broke down and bought an F717. It came yesterday and I've been playing with it for a while. A few questions though...

1. When I have the flash off in a low-light area, the picture is pretty grainy. Whats happening here? If I put the flash back on, it's fine.

2. What are some recommended settings? Such as ISO speed, etc?

3. If you have any other comments about this camera, please let me know. I'm really new to the whole super-dooper camera thing. BTW, I don't plan on buying a lens so please dont say I should get one :P

[Airbus_A320]

1. When I have the flash off in a low-light area, the picture is pretty grainy. Whats happening here? If I put the flash back on, it's fine.

Thats cuz when the flash is off the camera proally sets a higher ISO spped which = more grain.

I don't have a F-717 but some other ppl here do.

[CheckSix]

Greetings from a fellow F717 user. I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. I've had mine for about 7 months now.

1) What Airbus Said

2) It normally depends on the shooting situation. In a low light area, higher ISO speeds are needed, which produces more noise. Flashes of course are used in low light areas too. When shooting fast moving objects, a higher shutter speed is needed. Stationary, doesn't matter. For the most part, unless you're photographing the SR-71, program mode, or auto mode, is easiest since you don't have to fool around with the camera. I used to shoot on shutter priority, but now program is a lot easier. If I need to change the shutter or aperture, I do so in their respective modes. You might try shooting and see which modes are best for you.

3) I think that the F717 is an excellent prosumer camera. I only have two or three problems with it that I don't like. First the zoom. I don't use digital zoom (it's only a gimmick) so I settle for the 5x. It would have been nice if Sony, when they introduced it, had delivered it with 7x or 8x, which of course, would have upped the price. Second, we Sony users (except for the 82 have to settle with the more expensive, but smaller (minues XD) Mem Stick. It's kind of a pain, since I hope to upgrade within a year, which means, when I buy my next camera (which most likely won't be a Sony), I'll have to invest in new memory cards. Finally, the last problem plagues most point and shoot cameras--noise at higher ISOs. Overall I'm happy with the camera, and I'm sure I'll be using it for at least 7-9 more months, and then likely as a back up to a new DSLR.

Congrats on the new purchase, when I got mine, I was quite excited. You may or may not experience new camera syndrome, like I did, where I was extremely conscious about getting dirt, or heat, or snow, or rain on/in the camera. That's quickly worn off now that I know I'll miss a shot--and since I've visited Honduras when it was 90 degrees F, and nearly 95% humidty.