Sony Cyber-shot DSC-D770 1.5MP Digital Camera - Silver

3.73.7 out of 5 stars

3 product ratings

5stars
0rating
4stars
2ratings
3stars
1rating
2stars
0rating
1star
0rating

3 reviews

by fineartvideo05 Nov, 2019

The First Digital DSLR. Solid. Well built. Still Usable Today.

Although this Sony D770 camera (and the identical D700) is nearly 22 years old, it's the first of the DSLR digital cameras to hit the consumer market. Amazingly, it can still find use today. No, you aren't going to create crisp 16 by 20 inch posters with this, and no, it doesn't sport a 24 or 36 megapixel sensor. In fact, it's paltry 1.5 megapixel sensor, by today's standards, will create a usable image of 8x10 at best. For web images or eBay sales, this is perfectly acceptable, but that really isn't the point of owning this camera 22 years after it came to market.

This camera is a collectors item. It's built like the proverbial brick outhouse. It's solid, it's heavy, and it has a substantial professional feel to it that eludes many of today's better performing brethren. Yet, the battery it uses is still manufactured by Sony for other Sony cameras made today. So there's no fear of not being able to use the D770. The 5 to 1 zoom lens is well made, and the camera can be used fully manually, fully automatic, or with any combination of settings in between.

In its day, it was the king of cameras for newspaper journalists, who made it difficult for the rest of us to find one. Today, it's a relic of our past. A conversation piece to put on the mantle, and pull down every now and then to appreciate how far digital imaging has advanced in 22 years. Plus, the darn thing is just so cool looking, even today.

The D770 and D700 are identical except for one thing. The D770 starts at ISO 50, and the D700 starts at ISO 100. Both top out at ISO 400, where grain becomes visible. The sensor needs light. Being its limit is ISO 400, the ISO 50 setting is notably cleaner than ISO 100.

If owning a piece of digital history is your thing, grab one of these while you can. A fully working, clean D770 or D700 is getting harder to come by as the years tick forward.Read full review