Yes, I have a F828. Of course that makes me biased. However, the F828 is hardly cheap feeling. It’s actually pretty heavy and yes it uses some plastic, but plastic does not automatically mean cheap. The term evades me but it’s high grade plastic and the camera’s overall heft makes it easy to hold and keep steady. In terms of prosumer cameras that are not D-SLRs, the F828 is considered one of the fastest if not the fastest.
This guy has a great review of the camera and a wonderful eBook that’s essential if you own this camera.
http://www.digitalsecrets.net/Sony/Sony828Review.html
It comes with tons of Photoshop actions that alone are worth the price of the ebook.
http://www.digitalsecrets.net/Sony/SonyeBook.html
In regular mode, the F828 is a great 5MP camera. Why do I say 5MP even though it’s a 8MP camera? I say so because the 8MP mode can be noisy in lower light situations. This is due to the small sensor. A lot of 8MP cameras suffer from this although I feel the F828 tends to be slightly noisier. In bright light situations, the 8MP mode is great. That said, if you’re shooting in 5MP mode, the noise issue is a non-issue. Of course, if you shoot in RAW, then the F828 is wonderful as you can adjust a lot of things and tweak the image to your liking.
There are plenty of manual mode options for most people and you can take wonderful pictures in manual or automatic modes. The lens on the camera is first rate and the manual zoom ring gives a lot of control.
The only real update I could see the F828 needing is a larger sensor for the 8MP mode which would help the noise issue if you shoot in 8MP mode. I used to shoot a lot of 8MP pix but the file sizes are pretty outrageous and I’m rarely printing out 8"x10” or 11"x14” prints so 5MP is more than adequate for 8"x10”.
One thing Sony has that’s wonderful is the hologram and nightshot/nightframing modes which essentially allows you to focus on complete darkness.
Battery performance is extremely good when you can basically go an entire day with only one battery. We’re talking hundreds of pictures onto a CF microdrive.
With all of these cameras (especially with larger integrated zoom lenses), there’s always some nit picky issues…a lot that can be fixed via photoshop of with manual settings. So, it reallyl comes down to what you’re used to and how well you learn to use the camera. I’ve shot plenty of weddings this year with the F828 and most of my friends were extremely happy with the results (in some cases more happy with mine than the hired photographers) so that’s how I benchmark the camera.
