I am about to try a FD-91. I am concerned about the resolution available. I would like to print good quality 5x7 prints (my vision is poor enough without having to endure fuzzy photographs,not to mention enjoying detail). My primary photographs will be of wild life and Motorcycle/bicycle trials. I am attracted to the 91 over the 95 because of the greater optical zoom (14x vs 10x). I understand that photo quality with the optical zoom can equal cameras with greater pixels but a lesser zoom. Shutter speed control is also important. I tried a friends FD-90, but it could not freeze a fast moving object ( would going into manual focus have helped?).

Has any one used the FD-95 yet? I understand (well,a little)the dilema with compression and floppy disc storage, so I imagine there is a point of diminishing return with higher resolution and this type of storage.

So the question(s) are: 1.Would the 95 be a significant improvement over the 91 for printing and showing detail? 2.Given that a 91 can be had for under 700.00, would the 95 be worth the extra 300.00? 3.Can a FD-91 print good quality 5x7's at zero zoom, 50% zoom etc.? 4.Would the optical zoom make up for lack of resolution? 5. Any suggestions for another camera with similar optical zoom and speed stopping capabilities? I am not completely married to the mavica line.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-- Scott Wexman (scowex@home.com), May 27, 2000

Answers

We're just in the process of reviewing the FD95, hope to have some photos posted by the end of the week, so you can decide for yourself the relative quality. FWIW, I personally think the difference in image quality between the 91 and 95 is pretty significant. Other factors favor the 95 as well, including drastically improved low light performance. If you're shooting at long distances from your subjects, the long zooms of the 91 and 95 make a huge difference. The 91 is arguably much better for distant subjects than even 3 megapixel cameras with 3x zoom lenses. Right now, I think Sony's really the only company with the long-ratio zoom lenses on digicams. Stay tuned a bit later this summer though, as I think you're going to see more of this from other mfrs.

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), May 29, 2000.

In my personal experience, the FD91 is not really a high enough resolution camera. 1024x768 is not enough for a convincing 5x7 even printed off a Epson 870 caliber printer. The FD95 seems like a much better version and personally I'd take the higher resolution. 10x optical zoom should still give you a 350-390mm (?) equivalent which is way more than the other current products out. The floppy drive is a bummer but the new mavica line (I only shot the FD90 so far) has the 4x floppy which is crazy fast, recycle time is much better than the FD91 so I'm assuming the FD95, given that it has to write larger files, should still have more than adequate performance, my only concern is the level of compression Sony will use. Sony JPEG compression is hideous and it probably won't be much better on the FD95 since now its a 2 megapixel camera, you might be looking at 2 shots a disk at the highest resolution. Yikes... you'll need a backpack full of floppies and a portable secretary to keep all of that nonsense in order. I do have to say the Mavicas are fun too shoot and are well constructed, maybe you need the new 505 but you'll give up some zoom...

-- Cris Daniels (danfla@gte.net), May 29, 2000.

definitely go with the FD95, lots of improvements over the FD91. The 2x in-camera interpolation is super and can't be told from optical-- this gives you a total of 20X! Photos seen so far at 20X look great with no sign of artifacts. Lowlight capability is also super--light years ahead of the FD91--no pun intended. Compression is higher, but results are better than with the FD91---Sony has found ways to get more out of JPEG than most anyone thought possible. 3-4 hi-res photos on a floppy--not bad considering they are 2MP--the improved compression program makes it possible. If you don't get the 95 you will be kicking yourself for the next 12 months!

Rodger

-- Rodger Carter (rodger.carter@wpafb.af.mil), June 01, 2000.

just wanted to add that FD95 takes MS floppy adapter thus you can extend the memory to 64MB. It only reduces the speed: x2 only

-- Juris Simanovskis (juris_simanovskis@hotmail.com), June 08, 2000.