Sony’s Cyber-shot F series has always been the Japanese firm’s crème de la crème. Each of the cameras that sports the F series insignia would be leading in terms of features and specifications. The F828 is no different in this regard and Sony has pulled out all the stops for this Cyber-shot. This new marvel brings to the table the industry’s first 8-megapixel RGBE (Red; Green; Blue; Emerald) Super HAD (Hole-Accumulation Diode) sensor paired with a 7x Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens (28 to 200mm, 35mm equivalent).

A Truer Color?
Besides being the first sub-S$2,000 (US$1,168) camera to come with an 8-megapixel resolution, the sensor is also the first to sport a 4-color RGBE color filter. Unlike normal RGB imagers which capture twice as many greens as red and blue--your eyes are more sensitive to green--the newly added emerald filter provides more balance. The manufacturer claims this allows the F828 to expand its color gamut and improves color response.

The Black Ensemble
Unlike the previous F series, Sony has elected to move to a more professional-looking shell. The F828 is clad in black and not the stylish silver that dons both the F707 and F717. The new Sony does, however, retain the characteristic vertical swiveling lens. Like all things professional, the F828 is weighty and hits the scales about 250g heavier than its predecessor, the F717. Most of the weight can be attributed to the larger glass and the stronger black casing.

Like most prosumers, the Sony F828 is jam-packed with dials, switches and knobs and even the side of the lens barrel is not spared. In another step to elevate the F828’s status above merely a high-end consumer camera, the optical zoom ring on the Cyber-shot is mechanically linked, allowing for very fine adjustments. Similarly, the T* label means that each lens element has a special coating applied to it so as to minimize internal reflection and flare as well as increase contrast and sharpness.

Semi-Pro Features
Shutterbugs will be pleased with the features found on the F828. Expectedly, there's plenty of freedom for creativity with the options to independently control both shutter and aperture or even full total manual operation. There’s also a real-time histogram to aid in getting accurate exposures. Like its predecessors, the Cyber-shot also brings with it NightFraming and NightShot modes. Other firsts in the Sony camp are CompactFlash (CF) card support and RAW file capture--although to use this feature you’ll need a large Memory Stick or CF media.

Besides its long list of shooting options, the F828 also snaps quite usable movies at either 640 x 480 or 160 x 112 resolution with audio. As an added advantage, movies are limited only by storage. If you own a Memory Stick Pro or fast CF card, you can even record at 30fps instead of the standard 16fps.

Mixed Performance
In our tests, we found the F828's performance to be mixed. As a JPEG shooter, the Cyber-shot was nimble and receptive with whatever we threw at it. It was able to maintain a frame rate of 2.6 fps for seven frames before a slight pause for the buffer to clear. However, when we switched to RAW file captures the speed plummetted to an agonizing 13-15 seconds between shots! A peek at the file sizes revealed the F828’s bane. Each RAW file was an extremely huge 16MB in size, larger than even the camera’s TIFF capture--which is unusual. Still, we had hoped the manufacturer would have made the buffer large enough to at least handle more than one RAW shot.

The zoom mechanism was mechanically linked and provided smooth and accurate control. The auto-focusing (AF) system was also quite peppy, often taking less than a second for situations with adequate lighting. With Sony's Holograph AF, the AF system was hardly challenged in low-light situations. Even so, the speed dropped slightly to about 1 to 2 seconds.

Battery performance was also pretty good. We managed to obtain about 300 shots under heavy usage before needing a quick recharge. Like the other cameras in its stable, the manufacturer retained the InfoLithium system for the F828. This gave us a rough gauge of remaining battery charge in minutes.

In terms of image quality, the F828 delivered mostly pleasing photos. However, barring the resolution, the pictures were not noticeably better than other 5-megapixel shooters like Konica Minolta’s Dimage A1. In fact, with ISO speeds above 100, we found the images to be plagued with lots of image noise. Purple fringing also reared its ugly head in some of our shots. Admittedly, these were less perceptible when the aperture was set smaller.

With that new emerald color filter in the 8-megapixel sensor, we were eager to find out if it had any great impact on the colors captured. We found that when our photos contained a high amount of greens, the color turned out a little more yellowish when compared with Fujifilm’s S7000 and Konica Minolta’s Dimage A1. For other shots, the colors captured were pleasing. In general, the camera’s metering performed well, giving us fairly accurate exposures.

Findings
In the end, we think Sony’s F828 was let down by its image quality and RAW file performance. The problems with purple fringing and ISO noise limited creativity to an extent--you’ll need to use smaller apertures in shots with strong highlights, for instance. Similarly, the sluggish RAW file performance would also be a downer for some shutterbugs. If neither of those two bothers you, the F828 will be a perky shooter for you. Even so, if you’re not in a hurry, we think you should wait to see the other 8-megapixel competitors (such as Canon’s PowerShot Pro 1, Konica Minolta’s Dimage A2 and Olympus’ C-8080WZ) that are slated to arrive soon.