About a year ago my company purchased a Sony DSC-F1 camera for me. For the last
year I’ve taken it almost everywhere. A also personally own a Canon ELPH APS camera
(not digital). Usually I carry both cameras. I use the Canon for outdoor
pictures and the Sony for indoor pictures. Specifically because with the Sony, I
don’t need a flash to take a picture and also, since I don’t have to look through a
viewfinder, I can take pictures inside stores and malls without anybody knowing I’m taking
a picture. (Usually if you try to take a picture in a store you are told to stop and
desist.)
I also like using it to take pictures of friends because they often don’t know I’m
taking a picture and so I can get candid shots.
When I left that job, I decided I wanted a digital camera of my own since I would have
to give up the DSC-F1. A year has passed since I got that camera and many newer
cameras have come out. I read all the reviews I could find and settled on the Kodak
DC210. I tried it outdoors, took a picture of my car and a few other things.
It was great. The pictures were clear and I loved that I could get the pictures
almost instantly by inserting the CompactFlash card in the PCMCIA adapter for my notebook.
Then, one day about 2 weeks after I got the camera I went to Disneyland. I
brought the camera and I took pictures inside the Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World and
Alice in Wonderland. When I got home and pulled the images off almost non of them
came out. It was also frustrating taking the pictures because the DC210 doesn’t
remember your settings. Every time you turn the camera on you have to wait a few
seconds for it to warm up and then you have the press the flash mode button 4 times to
turn the flash off. (Remember, you can’t take flash pictures inside a ride at
Disneyland). The Sony has a manual flash, so by default it’s off.
Well, after that I sent the Kodak back. I thought it was a great camera but it
didn’t do what I needed it to do. What I did most often with my previous digital
camera.
I’m curious what other cameras will do. I tried the Epson PhotoPC 600. It
tried taking a picture in my office with the blinds closed and no lights. The Sony
still took a reasonable picture. The Epson wouldn’t even take the picture. It
claimed there was nothing to take a picture of.
So, now I have my own Sony DSC-F1. I took it to Disneyland the other day to show
it off. You’ll see that many of the images are dark and or have a red tint the
darker they get. That’s fine with me, at least it took a picture. Note: non of
the pictures below have been enhanced in any way.
Click on any picture for a larger version.
Inside It’s a Small World
Outside It’s a Small World
Inside Alice in Wonderland
Outside Alice in Wonderland
Inside Indiana Jones
Pictures of the new Tomarrowland
A cool old Disney ride poster
The banner for the new Tomarrowland Exhibit and the Art Gallery above
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Rivers of America
Inside Pirates of the Caribbean
Inside the Haunted Mansion
It’s me riding with a ghost.
Inside Star Tours
The Disneyland Hotel
Here’s a page with a few photo’s from the Kodak DC210 in the same
situations. (click here)
Normally if you want to take a picture in a dark place, you have to turn off the flash and use a tripod. Longer exposure time won’t be a problem. Actually under this circumstance, it’s what a normally functioned camera should do.
Or you can adjust the ISO value to a higher one, like 400 or 800. Still it will not solve the problem completely (In a relatively dark place you still need a tripod).
As for the user interface, Kodak is really not designed well.
Anyway, your photos are really great. I always thought they were taken with an SLR camera. Good job!
Clint in L.A.
With regular film, yes, you need a tripod and a long exposure time. Digital Camreras don’t use film though. They can use any sensor in existance. There are sensors that will take pictures in complete darkness including in color.
My point above was basically that the sensors in the Sony cameras (at the time) do a better job than the sensors in the Kodak cameras (at the time). So, given my old Sony DSC-F1 I almost never needed to use the flash to get a picture. On the Kodak camera (and Epson) at the time they would just not take pictures in the dark.
It’s also possible the software in those cameras was just bad, checking the sensors, getting a low reading and refusing the even save the image (espon) or not taking multiple readings and adding them up (some cameras do that) or it could be both bad software and poor sensors.
The main point I want to make though since digital cameras are not stuck with the limits of film, if there were two cameras on the market that had all the same features except one would take good pictures in the dark and one would not I’d buy the one that could. My hope is digital camera reviews will point out which cameras do a better job in the dark, people will buy those cameras and therefore manufactures will put effort into making the cameras do that better and better until we have cameras that will take nearly perfect pictures in the dark.
I am from Malta and our Sony Agent here are only to sell products then as if they dont exist no more, I have a DSC-f1 and the first problem was the Battery, I had to buy from the UK for the agent here in Malta dont have it, 2nd problem the connecting wire dont have either, and I cant find it on the net, so please HELP….
I RECENTLY BOUGHT A SONY DSC-F1 CAMERA BUT THE MEMORY WAS FULL! PLEASE CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO DELETE THE MEMORY PLEASE REPLY SOON THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALSO CAN SUM1 PLEASE TELL ME WHAT VIDEO OUT MEANS ON THE CAMERA THANKYOU
is a socket that lets you connect the camera to your TV to view the pictures. You need a mini <-> RCA cable.
As for instructions it looks like there is a manual here
http://www.cybershotcentral.com/drivers.php?Model=DSC-F1
I have a Kodak CX4300. It’s a great camera, but I’m struggling with making good pics in the dark. The light is great but if there’s any motion at all in the shot, the subjects moving turn out blurry. A good example is from this past Easter weekend when I took shots of our drama team on stage. The stage lights were bright enough to give the picture good light. The actors however were really blurry, even though the background was sharp as a tack. I’m wondering if my camera’s shutter speed is just too slow, or if my EV compensation wasn’t right. Any advice for taking better pics in the dark is certainly welcome.