Retro Review: Sony Cyber-Shot F505

Gordon Laing posted his latest retro review of the Sony Cyber-shot F505, which came from an exciting period of time full of experimental point-and-shoot designs. You can watch his full-view review above or get the key points below:

  • Nontraditional camera design is still fresh today
  • Sony worked with Carel Zeiss, which gave them legitimacy
  • Utilized memory stick
  • Grab the barrel with your left hand and tilt the body with your right hand for easy framing
  • Very good for waist-level shooting
  • The twisting mechanism feels great
  • The lens contains a sensor and controls
  • The body contains the main controls, screen, and the memory card
  • Most cameras had 3x optical zooms, while the Sony had 5x, which was equivalent to 38-190mm
  • It would have been nice if the lens started a little wider
  • The zoom is motorized, and it moves smoothly and allows for fine adjustments
  • You can zoom optically while shooting video
  • The aperture is f/2.8-3.4, with f/2.8 covering half the range and f/3.4 the rest
  • There was no magnified focus assist, but there was an indicator icon
  • There is a pop-up flash on the camera and a tripod mount on the optical access
  • The rear screen is 2″ and the only way to compose with a transflective hybrid panel that can use ambient light or a backlight
  • The transflective technology works well if you angle it right
  • The transflective screen saved power
  • There are two JPEG compression options and three resolution options, but no uncompressed option
  • 2.1MP 1/2 CCD sensor that captures a max resolution of 1600×1200 with a typical file size of 500k in best quality
  • Video at 320×240 or 160×120 at 15fps for 5, 10, 15 seconds a clip or a min in the low-resolution mode
  • It was bundled with a 4MP card
  • The battery was charged externally
  • Proprietary USB connector
  • Great camera in 1995 and is still great today
  • The design remained relevant until 2003

Follow SonyAddict on FacebookTwitterInstagram, and YouTube

Plus our owners’ groups
Sony a1 Owners Group
Sony a9 Owners Group
Sony a7 Owners Group

Posted in Video| Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sony Savings Sunday


Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE Save $100:
B&H Photo /  Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 20mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 Save $50:
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 24mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 Save $50:
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 Save $50:
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama


Voigtlander Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 ASPH III (Save $100):
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 FE (Save $200):
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.4 FE (Save $200):
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE (Save $350):
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2 FE (Save $200):
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f/2 (Save $200):
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 110mm f/2.5 (Save $100):
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

Other Deals
Memory Card Savings
Power Banks

Battery Banks
Anker PowerCore Speed 20000 PD
PowerCore+26800 PD
other more affordable options

New Apple M2: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
New Apple Mac Pro: B&H Photo
New Apple iPad Pro and More: B&H Photo / Adorama
New Apple iMac Pro: B&H Photo / Adorama
New Apple MBP: B&H Photo / Adorama
MacBook Pro (Savings still available): B&H Photo

Limited-time iPad Pro Savings
iPad Pro Bundles: B&H Photo

Software Deals
Luminar Neo & Luminar AI & Luminar 4 & Aurora HDR 2019 (Savings code FUJIADDICT)
ON1 Photo RAW 2023
Photolemur
Picktorial
TopazLabs
Capture One

Posted in Deals| Leave a comment

Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G Now In Stock


Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G: B&H Photo / Amazon / Moment / Adorama

The Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G has been very well reviewed, and it is now in stock everywhere, but stock is low at some stores.

Posted in Sony lenses| Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Sony A1 Firmware Update Coming


The Federation of Independent Photographers on Weibo has had accurate leaks in the past. Their most recent one is related to an upcoming Sony A1 firmware update that should be coming soon that will improve performance and add features from the Sony a7RV. Below is the translated post:

A new firmware upgrade for the Sony A1 camera may be released soon. Recently, some photographers have upgraded the latest firmware version of the Sony A1 camera, and said that this update has improved significantly, improving ease of use and autofocus performance, and upgraded some functions of the Sony A7R5 camera, such as new subject recognition Choose, animals/birds are recognized in the same scene, providing users with more choices.

Sony A1: B&H Photo / Amazon / Moment / Adorama
Sony a7RV:B&H Photo / Amazon / Moment / Adorama

Follow SonyAddict on FacebookTwitterInstagram, and YouTube

Plus our owners’ groups
Sony a1 Owners Group
Sony a9 Owners Group
Sony a7 Owners Group

via Weibo

Posted in Firmware updates, Sony A1| Leave a comment

Sigma Working on Different 70-200mm f/2.8 Lens Design For Release


Sigma’s CEO Kazuto Yamaki made an interesting statement in a recent CP+ 2023 Interview that implies Sigma will do something interesting with their much-awaited 70-200mm f/2.8 designed for mirrorless cameras.

Q: Will the art series 70-200 f2.8 lens that domestic users have been waiting for be released this year?
A: We have indeed heard voices in this regard, and we are currently working hard, hoping to let everyone see it sooner. In fact, for this lens, we have been considering its differentiated design, hoping to bring something different to users, which is why we have not launched this lens yet.

What Kazuto Yamaki means by differentiated design is open to interpretation, but maybe we will see a 70-200mm f/2-2/8 or even a straight-up f/2 zoom. Sigma could also take inspiration from Tamron and could design a 70-200mm with more reach or a more compact design with less reach. We will have to wait and see.

Follow SonyAddict on FacebookTwitterInstagram, and YouTube

Plus, our owners’ groups
Sony a1 Owners Group
Sony a9 Owners Group
Sony a7 Owners Group

via fengniao

Posted in 3rd Party Lens| Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Three Unannounced Sony Cameras Are Now Expected


The weibo user, formally known as KazuoHiraiSONY has leaked accurate Sony rumors in the past. Their most recent posting is about three unreleased cameras coming from Sony.

  • WW542541 2.4GHz/5.1GHz
  • WW198387 2.4GHz
  • WW694956 2.4GHz/5.1GHz

These cameras could be the Sony a9III, Sony full frame vlogging camera, and maybe a new professional APS-C camera that has been rumored for years now. Stay tuned for details as they come out.

Follow SonyAddict on FacebookTwitterInstagram, and YouTube

Plus, our owners’ groups
Sony a1 Owners Group
Sony a9 Owners Group
Sony a7 Owners Group

Posted in Patents| Tagged , , | Leave a comment