You'll appreciate this camera's large, 3 inch, XtraFine™ color LCD screen with 921k pixels and wide-angle viewing. LCDs get brighter with every new model and this is a beautiful, bright display. When you turn the camera to portrait orientation the display automatically switches from horizontal to vertical format. It is worth noting that the Sony a700's LCD does not provide a "Live View" on the LCD. Still, since you can plug the a700 into a HDTV using the HDMI connection, one might say that the lack of Live View capability is negligible.

The amount of time the display remains illuminated is user selectable and putting your eye up to the eyecup will automatically turn off the LCD's back light.

The 3" color LCD monitor on the back of the a700 is used to display the camera menus. Navigation is facilitated by the Multi-selector joystick.

The rear controls starting with the upper left, next to the eyecup:

• Power button
• Menu button - press to call up the camera menus
• DISP (Display) button - toggles Detailed/Enlarged menu display and displays recording data
• Trash can button - deletes selected image
• Playback button - press it and the last image shot will be displayed on the LCD

• Metering mode lever (around the AEL) - Multi segment, Center weighted or Spot
• AEL - Auto Exposure lock/SLOW SYNC button
• AF/MF - Auto Focus/Manual Focus in Shooting mode, Zoom in Playback mode
• Rear control dial - used to make menu selections in Quick Navi mode (after pressing Fn)
• Access lamp
• Multi-selector
• C button - Custom button in Shooting mode, Histogram button in Playback mode
• Fn button - Function button in Shooting mode, Rotate button in Playback mode
• Super SteadyShot button - Activates shake control system

Portrait scene mode

Images are stored on Sony Memory Stick Duo cards (Memory Stick Duo™, Memory Stick PRO Duo™, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™), Compact Flash (Type I or II) memory or the IBM/Hitachi Microdrive.

Above are some examples of storage capacity on the Memory Stick Duo cards. Please note you can not use the older Memory Stick cards, only Memory Stick Duo cards.

I/O Ports: Inside the IO compartment you'll find a HDMI terminal, A USB 2/Video out port, the Flash sync terminal the Remote connection and a DC in connector

DC in connector - use with AC Adapter AC-VQ900AM (optional)

The DSLR-A700 is powered by a Sony Rechargeable Battery Back NP-FM500H (7.2 V), InfoLithium "M" series. Battery life is approx. 650 shots (CIPA measurement). Power saving mode shut down is selectable after 1, 3, 5, 10 or 30 minutes.

A full charge took approx. 3 hours with the supplied BC-VM10 compact charger. The optional AC-VQ900AM AC Adaptor/Charger can power the camera and rapid-charge two battery packs.

Sony offers the optional Vertical Grip VG-C70AM which provides a firm, comfortable grip, with duplicate controls for easy vertical shooting. The Vertical Grip holds 2 NP-FM500H InfoLithium batteries.