Sony DSC-P31 Review

Record mode screen showing onscreen data overlay. Starting in the upper left corner is the battery condition icon showing full. The lightning bolt icon indicates that the flash is in the forced-on or fill-flash mode. The image size is 1600x1200 and the quality level is Fine. The Memory Stick has space for 119 more pictures and the icon graphically shows the space available. The ISO sensitivity has been set to 100, default is Auto. The self-timer is enabled and the "+" in the center indicates that the metering mode is set to Spot. The brackets indicate the autofocus area.

Record mode options:

Exposure compensation - Override the metering +/-2EV in 1/3EV increments

Focus - Multi AF, Center AF or 0.5m, 1m, 3m, 7m or infinity

White Balance - Auto, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Sunny

ISO - Auto or fixed at 100, 200 or 400

Image Size - 1600x1200, 1600 (3:2 ratio), 1280x960, 640x480

Picture Quality - Fine or Standard

Record Mode - Normal or E-mail

Flash Level - High, Normal or Low

Picture Effect - None, Negative Art, Sepia, B&W, Solarize

Sharpness - Default is 0 but may be +1, +2 or -1 or -2

The DSC-P31 is basically an automatic point-n-shoot type of camera but it does have several pre-programmed modes available when the Mode Dial is turned to the SCN (Scene) position. The Screen above shows the Night mode which gives you slower shutter speeds to capture dark, night scenes. The other Scene modes are Night Portrait which is the same as Night mode with the addition of flash to illuminate a person or foreground subject as well as capturing a night background. The Landscape scene mode sets the camera's focus to infinity for capturing outdoor scenic shots.

Scene mode options:

SCN - Scene mode: Night, Night+Portrait, Landscape

Exposure compensation - Override the metering +/-2EV in 1/3EV increments

Focus - Multi AF, Center AF or 0.5m, 1m, 3m, 7m infinity

White Balance - Auto, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Sunny

Image Size - 1600x1200, 1600(3:2 ratio), 1280x960, 640x480

Picture Quality - Fine or Standard

Record Mode - Normal or E-mail

Flash Level - High, Normal or Low

Picture Effect - None, Negative Art, Sepia, B&W, Solarize

Sharpness - Default is 0 but may be +1, +2 or -1 or -2

The recording screen in the "HQX" Movie mode which is new for 2002. The HQX mode is HQ+EX which means it is full screen @ 16fps and the length is limited only by the space available on the Memory Stick. The DSC-P31 does not have a microphone so no audio is recorded.

Movie clips can also be recorded at normal 320x240 or 160x112 resolution, these movies will playback in a smaller window. The advantage is that the file sizes are smaller and more practical for email purposes.

Movie mode options:

Exposure compensation - Override the metering +/-2EV in 1/3EV increments

Focus - Multi AF, Center AF or 0.5m, 1m, 3m, 7m infinity

White Balance - Auto, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Sunny

Image Size - 320(HQX), 320x240, 160x112

Picture Effect - None, Negative Art, Sepia, B&W, Solarize

SETUP options - CAMERA menu:

MOVING IMAGE - Sets the mode for the Movie position of the Mode Dial:
MPEG MOVIE
CLIP MOTION (capture 2-10 images at 160x120 or 120x108 and save them as an animated 256-color GIF image)
MULTI BURST (shoots 16 - 320x240 frames in a single JPEG file, can select 3 intervals: 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 sec)

DATE/TIME - Enable date or time+date stamping on the image

RED EYE REDUCTION - Enable/disable the flash Red-Eye mode

AF ILLUMINATOR - Enable/disable the autofocus illuminator

SETUP 1 options:

FORMAT - Format the Memory Stick

FILE NUMBER - SERIES (sequential auto number) or RESET

LANGUAGE - Menu language, English or Japanese

CLOCK SET - Set the internal clock

SETUP 2 options:

LCD BRIGHTNESS - Bright, Normal or Dark

LCD BACKLIGHT - Normal or Dark

BEEP - Enable camera "beep" sounds when buttons are pushed

VIDEO OUT - NTSC or PAL signal timing

USB CONNECT - USB protocol, PTP or Normal