Everything I Know About the Sony DSC-F828

SamirD

Because I have 3 of these and still use them on a regular basis even though they are very old, I've amassed a huge amount of knowledge about these, much of which is scattered all across the Internet. Here I will post truths from my experience and correct some incorrect Sony documentation.

Memory Card Limits:
There are several incorrect bits of information on Sony's support site about memory compatability:
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/support-info.pl?info_id=12

Corrections are the following:

• Mark 2 Memory Stick Pro in 8gb capacity works fine, and while not tested, I believe 16gb and 32gb would be fine
• Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo HX in 16gb capacity works fine, and I believe 32gb would work fine as well
• Memory Stick Micro (M2) 2gb Sandisk brand works fine, and I believe that the Sony brand would work fine as well as capacities up to the 16gb listed on the chart
• Compact flash 32gb has worked fine for pictures and 640 std video. It will not work for 640 Fine video because I believe the camera is looking for a 'fixed disk' vs 'removable disk'. An industrial CF card that is a fixed disk should work for 640 Fine, and I will be testing this shortly.

Zoom extension:

• The Olympus TCON-14B works well with a step up ring, but you will lose a lot of sharpness along the edges. It works great though for panning shots or ones with intentional blur. Like on the Olympus e-20n it is designed for, it will have vignetting at anything less than almost max zoom.

Problems and fixes:

• If the 'access' screen keeps popping up during shooting or filming video, it is because of a defective compact flash door switch.

ziggy53

Thanks Samir. A number of us are very familiar with these particular cameras. I used one for a couple of years as a product camera for a Fortune 500 company. (6500 SKUs) (Before the Sony F828 we used various other cameras.)

mr peas

The Sony F828 was my first love. I still have it, I just used it today (still works great) Just wanted to include that... You can also take Infrared photographs using: the F828 + a 58mm IR-filter (with ND filters when necessary) when Night-vision mode is engaged. I was able to produce images like these using this set-up:




Useful Links regarding IR Photography:

Life Pixel IR Conversions - http://www.lifepixel.com (use promo-code "DEB" for a $16 discount!)
Joseph Levy's IR Workflow - http://www.pbase.com/catson/color_infrared_workflow
Dave Larson's IR Workflow - http://www.pbase.com/dlarson2/ir_work_flow
Infrared Basics (by DPfwiw) - http://www.dpfwiw.com/ir.htm (very comprehensive)

I believe I still have the PDF of the F828's manual, I think I dl'd it from Sony's site, don't remember for sure though, it might still be there! Its pretty large (lots of pages, I've printed it out before). If anyone needs that, I think I can find it, it just may take a little while.

** NOTE: I still have my Hoya R72 Infrared filter in 58mm, I've switched to a Canon-IR body a few years ago If anyone is interested in trading for it and try out IR-photography, I'm looking for a multi-coated 67mm UV-filter (B+W preferred!), I'd be willing to do a a straight-up trade. Thanks for making this thread and enjoy!

SamirD

ziggy53 wrote: »

Thanks Samir. A number of us are very familiar with these particular cameras. I used one for a couple of years as a product camera for a Fortune 500 company. (6500 SKUs) (Before the Sony F828 we used various other cameras.)

Thank you Ziggy. I thought I was the only one that still appreciated what these cameras can still do many years later.

Seymore wrote: »

Thanks for the synopsis Samir...

I can tell you that Fine Video requires a write to a MSPRO card only. Can't write Fine Video to any CF card. I can only suspect this has (or HAD) much to do with the earlier write speeds of CF cards and their lack of being able to keep up with the write buffer in the F828...

I still have mine and find it makes for a great "carry around" cam. I also found the swivel to be exceptionally useful! Started with a 505, moved to a 717 and now have Sonys king of the swivel bods... Running a 4G CF and 2G MSPRO. I have yet to fill both...

OH, and still have my Nikons...

MS Pro is definitely a requirement because of the data rate for 640 Fine. But I've found that any type of card that is MS Pro or faster seems to work fine. I have a current generation 16gb MS PRO HG Duo HX that seems to work perfectly fine. I almost filled it up completely recording just 640 Fine videos this past weekend. Kudos to Sony for such great backward compatibility.

At first I too thought it was the write speeds for the CF cards, but then I researched the speeds of Microdrives--my Hitachi 4gb can only do about 6mb/sec or roughly 6*7=42x. I tried a Kingston 32gb 133x that is waaaay faster than this without luck. So then I was thinking it was related to the 'fixed' vs 'removable' bit on the CF cards or lack or CF+ instruction sets. So I got a Transcend Industrial 32gb that meets these requirements and still no joy. I'm sure there's a solution out there because all microdrives will eventually fail before all these cameras will.

My Sonys are still my pick of choice when I need just one camera. I don't have dslrs, but I do have a pick from multiple copies of Olympus e-20n, Panasonic dmc-fz20, and the Sony. The Sony just fits the bill with a versatile zoom, decent shutter lag, impeccable low-light focus (thanks to the laser), 480p video, and terrific battery life. I wish I could upgrade to a Canon with a battery grip, but it's just not worth bridging the small quality gap for the type of shooting I do--at least right now.

mr peas wrote: »

The Sony F828 was my first love. I still have it, I just used it today (still works great) Just wanted to include that... You can also take Infrared photographs using: the F828 + a 58mm IR-filter (with ND filters when necessary) when Night-vision mode is engaged. I was able to produce images like these using this set-up:




Useful Links regarding IR Photography:

Life Pixel IR Conversions - http://www.lifepixel.com (use promo-code "DEB" for a $16 discount!)
Joseph Levy's IR Workflow - http://www.pbase.com/catson/color_infrared_workflow
Dave Larson's IR Workflow - http://www.pbase.com/dlarson2/ir_work_flow
Infrared Basics (by DPfwiw) - http://www.dpfwiw.com/ir.htm (very comprehensive)

I believe I still have the PDF of the F828's manual, I think I dl'd it from Sony's site, don't remember for sure though, it might still be there! Its pretty large (lots of pages, I've printed it out before). If anyone needs that, I think I can find it, it just may take a little while.

** NOTE: I still have my Hoya R72 Infrared filter in 58mm, I've switched to a Canon-IR body a few years ago If anyone is interested in trading for it and try out IR-photography, I'm looking for a multi-coated 67mm UV-filter (B+W preferred!), I'd be willing to do a a straight-up trade. Thanks for making this thread and enjoy!

Very cool about the infrared! I had no idea this could be done without modifying the body. I may be interested in that IR filter if I get a chance to 'play' with photography again. It's become too much of a job to be that creative right now. I have the Sony 100' infrared extender that allowed some really cool videos in pitch darkness.

SamirD wrote: »

[list[[*]Compact flash 32gb has worked fine for pictures and 640 std video. It will not work for 640 Fine video because I believe the camera is looking for a 'fixed disk' vs 'removable disk'. An industrial CF card that is a fixed disk should work for 640 Fine, and I will be testing this shortly.[/LIST]

I've purchased a Transcend ts32gcf150, which is a 32gb industrial CF card that supports the CF+ and 'True IDE' modes that a Microdive does. I'm pretty shocked that this hasn't worked. :cry I'm working with Transcend technical support to see what might be the issue as the card should be like a Microdrive on steroids. If this card doesn't work, it only leaves the 8gb Microdrive as the largest capacity CF for 640 Fine video. Unless I can find something else that will mimic a Microdrive correctly. A lot of the Ipod and Palm Lifedrive upgraders have run into what appears to be the same issue when replacing the Microdrive in these with a CF card. But they've found cards that work, so I'm sure it's possible with the 828 as well.

SamirD

Seymore wrote: »

So, you've gotten the 8G Microdrive CF to write a 640 Fine video?

I suspect the CF/640 Fine issues resides in the firmware. So, unless you're good with coding and can read/write from/to the firmware chip in cam, I doubt if 640 Fine will ever write to a CF card in the 828. Just the way Sony made it at the time.

Not the 8gb (since I don't have one and am not sure if one came in a form factor other than zif), but both the Hitachi 4gb white label and Hitachi 6gb blue label do 640 Fine perfectly.

If you're in the mood to experiment, I found this link to some that are quite cheap:
http://www.centrix-intl.com/list.asp?CategoryID=308#1

You can also still find these brand new, but the 6gb models are rarely cheap.

SamirD

I just tried the AD-MSCF1 adapter with my 16GB HX card and it does not recognize it as being fast enough for 640 fine video from the CF slot. :cry Oh well, at least I have a way to re-use all my smaller memory stick media now.

chalky

I'm not 100% up with which CF cards do & don't support 640 fine movie mode, but there's not some sensor in the camera is there, that detects the larger type II form factor? I've had a look at mine, even removed a few covers, couldn't see anything. I don't have a CF II to test with, but I have tried padding the top of a CF I to see if I could trip a sensor, but no joy, still no 640 fine movie for me.