Optics and Resolution
The Sony DSC-F707 features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens with 5x optical and 2x digital zoom (for a 10x total), an f2.0 maximum aperture, and a focal range of 9.7-48.5mm (equivalent to 38-190mm). It contains a 5.0-megapixel (effective) CCD, or 5.2-million gross pixels.

More Features
The DSC-F707 uses Sony's NightShot technology, the same feature seen on Sony's camcorders, which uses infrared illumination and an infrared filter to take photos in complete darkness. The night-framing system provides infrared light as a composition assist, and utilizes hologram AF focusing and preflash exposure metering for consistently great shots even in low- or zero-light conditions.

Picture quality is enhanced with clear-color NR (noise reduction) that reduces color noise and slow-shutter NR that captures and subtracts CCD noise from long time exposures.

Movie Mode
In movie mode, the DSC-F707 produces color digital videos in multiple creative formats, including 320 x 240 (high quality), 320 x 240 (normal), and 160 x 112. You can fill up the Memory Stick with digital video, but you are limited to 15-second movies with 320 x 240 mode. Another movielike feature is called ClipMotion, which will take 10 images and put them into an animated GIF.

The limited resolution of your movies guarantees that this feature won't replace your camcorder, but it's perfect for when you just want to capture a quick movie and e-mail it to a friend or relative.

Storage and Transfer
Images are stored on Memory Sticks, Sony's proprietary memory-card format. The included 16 MB stick holds approximately 1