This Camera is awesome. I used it exclusively for 3 years taking pictures all over the world. I even used it to take pictures in the Glow Worm Caves in New Zealand where Flash is NOT PERMITTED using the long exposure mode and the night vision modes! Perfect. Unfortunately, I wrecked the sensor when coming inside after taking night pictures of falling snow when moisture condensed on it. Didn't know about the danger of using a digital in cold environs and then taking it inside without warming it slowly.

amazing...no receipt, no warranty paper, no documents at all. my camera started to show a black screen, nothing else. I brought to sony service in Macau (SAR- China), 3 years after I bought. 3 days later, they called me to go and pick it up. no charges...surprised..well, it is still the same camera and quality.

My extended warranty was not honored at all. All the mode dial indicators wore off and they would not even send me the $10.64 part. "That is a cosmetic issue." When the CCD went out, and they were forced by the courts to recall, they fixed the camera. Until then, they suggested I buy a new camera. They said I must have dropped it. Now I get memory stick error messages and they want to charge me $ 250 to fix it. Hell I can but a new/better camera for less than that.

jcs

I've loved this Camera For 7 yrs . I also purchased the follwing model F828 . But sold it because the F717 took clearer images. The major concern now is the Acc jack for additional remote control doesn't work. Sony wants 231.00 for a flat rate repair. That's not right

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=DSCF717&news_id=118

you have less than one month left to get it on.

We have owned our DSCF717 since late December 2003, and it's been the best camera we have ever owned. Like so many others, the CCD unit was defective had to be replaced, but Sony paid for the repair and shipping, and it arrived back at home...one week to the day from when we had sent it off.

We have been able to capture special moments and scenes from many holidays, birthdays, reunions, weddings, parties, family vacations, and a hundred other things.

It's tempting to think of purchasing a new camera with higher resolution (translate: higher megapixels), but the photo quality has been so consistently good, we're very satisfied with it. We can produce near-professional grade photographs with a camera designed for everyday use.

This has to be one of the best products Sony has ever made, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a good quality, mid-priced digital camera.

Our sister-in-law bought this camera in China and gave it to us. It went out black last year sometime. My husband went to Sony website in U.S. and filled out a form, they sent shipping labels to us and fixed it for free. It's as good as new. I took great pictures in Europe and U.S. The optical lense is very good, can capture big clear view with great color, yet the file size is relatively small.

I turned my camera on today and the image was distorted and unrecognizable; the camera was broken as others have described here. I went to the Sony web site, filled out a form, and Sony is fixing the camera for free, including the shipping both ways. Go to www.sony.com, select "Service & Support", then "Product Support", then "News & Alerts". Enter DSC-F717 in "Option 1" and click the arrow. Click the link to the Product Alert dated 03/21/2006, "Important Notice About Your Sony Product". Read the description and view the sample images of the defect. If the problem applies to you click the "Yes" button at the bottom of the screen and fill out the form. I'm buying a new small digital camera today for $100 AND I'm getting the DSC-F717 fixed for free!

The camera performed well for a good well and then like so many others of this model the camera's chip began to malfunction and then died completely. I will be trying to get the chip replaced on the class action suit.

It can't compare to newer cameras like the Nikon d-50 and d-40 - I replaced it with a D-50 and rediscovered photography without the horrible Sony electronic viewfinder. The Sony was also lousy for any kind of action potography.

Junk and Sony has obsoleted memory stick so it cant be used in new laptops.
Barely used camera needs to be fixed again so it is going in the trash.

I was heartbroken when our camera "died." My husband told me that it would be too expensive to fix. We had been wanting to upgrade to an SLR so we bought one and the Sony went into the garage for donation. Today I was doing some research on CCD/CMOS sensors and realized that this could be the problem with the Sony. I did a search to see how much it would cost to replace the sensor and found this site. Imagine my surprise to read about the defect! Thank you for posting!!!

This camera has nothing but performed for me. Crisp images combined with vivid colors are the norm for this product. The only issue I have had with this camera is the slow shutter speed.

-Dawn

My camera was not exhibiting the problem described on Sony's site, but I called 1-866-703-7669 anyway to see if they would fix my camera for free. It has worked flawlessly for 2 years and suddenly started taking pictures that are overexposed... actually, half of the raster is composed of fixed-value horizontal lines (magenta). I described this to the support representative and he said it is a CCD failure and that my camera falls within the parameters used for the repair service. Before you give up and bash Sony as I almost did, call them. You may be pleasantly surprised.

I have absolutely LOVED this camera. Have shot many special occasions, weddings, showers, etc. Very versatile and very powerful with many desirable features. However, the CCD chip went out for no apparent reason. My viewfinder is black. The chip cannot "see" what the lens is seeing. I found information on line that says this is a known problem with this camera and SONY is repairing them free until fall of 2007. I would expect better quality from SONY, considering the price of the camera, but they are backing up their product and I am glad because I really do love this camera.

I love this camera, it is very user friendly in my opinion, it is a bit heavy but the quality of pictures is worth the wait. Well it had to be the day of a wedding when i turn it on and the view finder image is distorted to the point were the screen sometimes goes black. If you tap the camera from the bottom it seems to want to have picture come in, also i noticed that the display screen has like a yellowish tone to it that also when tapped on the bottom of camera turns white again. I am very upset being that I like my camera so much does anyone know where i can send it to possibly get fixed. thanks

I have had DSC-F717 for 3 yrs and used it without having any problems. Last week every picture i clicked turned white on the LCD and when i downloaded the pics to my computer they where just white pictures and i could hardly see the subject in the background. I turned the camera off and on and took the battery out and tried it again and surprisingly it worked. Yesterday i had the same problem and now I can't get it to work......
Has anyone experienced the same problem????

I agree, this is an AWESOME digital 5 mpxl for its time, but I ALSO have the fogged-out image issue. The picture is there... but is washed out and useless. Does anyone know the reason for this? I get the feeling this is a common problem. I know there is the class-action suit to get a new CCD sensor, but this issue does not fall under that settlment unfortunatly. I bet it will eventually.

Excellent camera - Sony will repair for free if your CCD failed or is failing. Contact Sony and they may authorize you to ship at their expanse the camera to Texas for repair and will ship it back for free. My was fixed and back within two weeks and it is better than new.

I've never been anything but happy with my 717 but I 've noticed this in the last week or so: If I turn the camera on, or switch from playback to camera mode, in bright light with the cap off, things get very overexposed. I mean, shadows go very gray and highlights and midtones are all white. However, if I switch the camera on, or switch from playback to camera with the lens covered (the cap, my hand, doesn't seem to make a difference), things are fine. OK, so the obvious solution is, keep the lens covered until after the camera's on, but can anyone else's experience with the 717 or similar cameras tell me whether there will be other problems down the road, and are they fix-able? Thanks. Would really like to keep this camera as it's been a stellar performer except for this.

We had this camera for 3.5 years and the screen went black. Sony will fix for free ...this is a known problem with its digital and camcorders. Will also fix the cameras with the washed out photos. The link is http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=DSCF717&news_id=118. Wish I could contact those who have complained of this issue. Hope this helps. This camera does take great photos.

I bought mine from Broadway Photo 3 years ago and have been very satisfied until 3 days ago when my viewing lens, and the photos themselves, became lilac and blue. I am writing Broadway Photo to see about sending it to check and repair as it it such a good camera. Wish Sony would honor fixing this problem which -when reading other��s opinions- they seem to have had the same problem. I will keep my fingers crossed.

to long for shutter to act on any moving object and goes to black after 14 months, real piece of shti no wounder Sony droped it.

Have taken thousands of pictures.I found it heavy and cumbersome to hold. Had to keep it mounted on tripod. Suddenly the LCD went out. It did worked great but failed when I needed it most.Wondering how it will be after repair is completed.

I really liked this camera until I went to turn it on recently and it would not focus or take photos.. Sony should be fixing our camera's for us for FREE....

SONY DSC-F717
I took about 10000 pictures with the camera and suddenly the lcd screen an view finder became with red an purple stripes. The pictures are still good. Repair cost 180 euro. I think never again a Sony.

Reviewed 06/12/06-Fell in love with this camera and have never been disappointed. Bought this camera when my son was dying. Wanted to have photos and video clips to keep as memories. Easy to use on both accounts. I have thousands of photos and so many video clips of my son and they are all wonderful. This camera has been taken to Canada, to Mexico, to Florida, all over Oregon where I live, on cruises and never a problem. Would recommend to everyone.

Thanks for letting me know about Sony repairing this camera. I too was one of the ones affected by LCD suddenly turning black. Camera reponds fine to all controls except only takes black pictures. I suspected the ccd went out on it. Took good pictures when it worked.

This is an excellent camera. Sony is offering an extended warranty and replace the CCD FREE for those having problems (not just the F717). They repaired and shipped mine back the day they received it.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=DSCF717&news_id=118

As very well said before I'm member of the sad club that had lot of joy with this camera until it stopped working.Can't report how many pics were taken with it but all of a sudden it also died.Sent it to the sony support and was informed that the ccd repair will cost me U$400...a joke they mean!
Now I'm a glad Nikon Coolpix 8800 owner.
Gill Brazil

Worked great and then the screen turned black and the camera will not take pictures.

I own a Sony F717 - Bought it in 2003 - Last night (3/29/06) I got the dreaded C:13:01 error message in the viewfinder. The camera can't read or write to the memory stick. Three years of use and it has a problem - I WOULD BUY ANOTHER SONY PRODUCT IN A HEARTBEAT!!! - Yes....I WOULD buy another!

Why is it that some people expect their digital cameras which are solely electronic to last forever? If you read the reviews you will ALWAYS find someone that is disgruntled with ANY manufacturer because of problems - One F717 user commented that he took his F717 all over the world into rainforests, etc. Is it any wonder it would eventually fail? - I love my F717 and am having it repaired - Am I happy it broke? No....but such is the way with our electronic digital world folks! Wake up....take better care of your cameras! Oh....buy an extended warranty too! :)

Apparently there is a common problem with moisture in Sonys older cameras esspecially in high humid areas. I have had my camera for the last two years and have been rather impressed with its overall performance. Until recently when I need to take photos at a wedding. I turned on my camera and quess what? It did not work. I ha the same problem as the guy mentioned above! "The LCD screen is about 25-75% pink wavy lines and this varies depending on the light. When I take a photo, it captures whatever is displayed on the screen, with the wavy pink lines and all" Apparently the agent I took my camera too said it is a common problem and sony will replace the part free of charge. Thank you Sony! I will keep you all up to date with the progress there after.

Good photos, yet, nothing special compared to the same price Canon or Nicon models. Broke down in 1.5 years of extreemly carefull use. Repair cost is $250 - because CCD is build into the lens. No more Sony products.

I purchased camera on 6/04 took about 250 pictures throughout the year, On late 07/05 ( Warranty Expired ) cameras battery power would not work. I tried all the manufacturer's recommendations reset, new battery etc. Called Sony about the problem and they informed me nothing could be done. Except mailing it in to a Sony Service Center and pay 211.00 for repair. Boy did I get taken. I paid 699.00 for this camera plus taxes and now they want me to pay 211.00 that comes out to 910.00 for one year of useage. That's 75.00 a month, It would have been cheaper to rent a camera at this price. I will never Buy A sony product again, I will buy a reputable camera brand next time such as a Nikon,Canon,etc

my father n law purchased this camera, but i use it all the time. I took my sons senior pictures with it and people could not believe it. These were better then some they had that were done by a pro.i want my own sony F717 but there no longer available.

This was my first digital camera. I bought it with some hard-earned money I saved up in college and I took thousands of pictures with it over the nearly 3 years of owning it. I took this camera everywhere I went in the past 3 years (from the Philippine rainforests to the local streets in LA), getting some awesome shots, even winning a few amateur contests. Then on a photo trip about a month ago, the camera just decided to screw up after taking just 2 photos. The LCD screen is about 25-75% pink wavy lines and this varies depending on the light. When I take a photo, it captures whatever is displayed on the screen, with the wavy pink lines and all. Sometimes it adds its own hints of green. I dont know if this is a problem with the chip, processor,etc. I was going to get it fixed but after reading reviews on many websites, I think I might just get a new camera. I thought I made a good investment in the camera from the time I bought it til around Xmas '05, but it was a mistake trusting Sony with camera quality in the long run. Sony needs to stick to their TV's and DVD players. NEVER BUY A SONY CAMERA OR A SONY CAR STEREO!

Having chosen this model from amongst all the competitors, price and performance criteria, i've found it to be superb!. A compromise needs to be found when trading off features and i've found this to be the best,pound for pound. Currently looking to purchase a wide angle lens VCL-DH0758/flashgun HVLF1000 to further enhance iys performance. Any ideas as to where would be the best place.
Regards
Chris

For those complaining about the LCD not suddenly not showing an image, Sony may pay for your repair! From the Sony website, http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=DSCF717&news_id=95

"From October 3, 2005 through October 2, 2007, Sony will repair, free of charge, affected products exhibiting the above-mentioned problem where it is caused by the image sensor device. Sony will also cover the cost of shipping and handling to service to correct this issue."

"Please contact the Sony Customer Information Services Center for further assistance at 1-866-703-7669."

I just called them (on a Sunday), spoke to a real person, and they'll be sending me a prepaid shipping label within the week.

A terrific camera until it died prematurely.The faulty CCD panel turned it into a worthlesss,but attractive piece of junk.I was originally quoted $250AUD to repair it but on further inspection it rose to $700 as the panel was seriously dead.I was thinking of setting it in clear 2 pack resin & sending it back to Sony.My advice to anyone foolhardy enough to buy a Sony camera is firstly don't,but if you must-take the extended warranty as you're definitely going to need it.Sony should stick to their music and leave camera production to the professionals.This was a waste of hard-earned money and I will never darken their door again

After two years of great pictures, this $1000 camera suddenly washes out every shot to almost white. No matter what setting, it over exposes and loses the image. Sometimes it flashes color stripes across the LCD as though the computer chip inside was faulty. Other times it looks fine on the viewer and through the view finder but captures a totally washed out image. It is useless.

I bought this camera to get used to the articulating lens, nightshot capability and two-hand use before investing in the much more expensive and larger sister model F-828. Since I liked the camera, I upgraded after 7 month to the F-828 at great expense, and occasionally used the smaller F-717 during travel. Recently I took it out to charge and sell the camera on ebay and found that the LCD screen would depict all the camera setings on a black screen, but not the image. After taking it to two shops I learned that this is a known problem and is due to the articulating lens. Cost for repair between $ 250 and $ 350 about what it sells for used. What makes me mad is that apparently this is a known problem to Sony, but mostly occurs after 1 to 2 years when the warrantee has run out. I wonder if the same is going to happen to my F-828. I would like to hear from other users that have experienced this problem and collectively device a plan of action for Sony to step up and fix a known defective problem and publish a recall or repair commitment. And please spread the word. Hans

After 20 years with at SLR, I decided to purchase a digital camera. I wanted a 5 megapixel with manual features. It took me over a year to learn it, but after shooting 7500 photos, I love it. I still haven't mastered the manual settings, but I can alter shutter or apeture to satisfy my needs. The only fault I had was that when I took low light photos, the shutter would get too low for me to hold the camera and therefore, most photos were out of focus. A monopod solved that problem. Also, the grain is more than I like as well, but I figure that I just haven't learned how to master that feature. One last note. I took my camera to work with me at the local racetrack, and after the horsemen saw my work, they purchased almost $1,000 in race photos in one month. I couldn't have done the volume I did with my SLR. I will never go back to film.

After 2 years of shooting pictures the LCD screen has fogged up. I was so happy with it until now. All my pics come out foggy. Don't know what to do. I going to invest my money on Nikon or Canon cameras. Sony is only good for stereos systems.

After 2 years of great performance and over 5000 pics taken, camera started taking blurry, like in thick fog covered pictures. No matter what mode, pics are unusable.

Unfortunately, my problem is not covered by recall, so Sony rep told me. Somehow they were able to estimate repair cost over the phone ($ 185). I didn't expect my camera to quit working after two years, that is why I chose well known brand and paid lot of money for it. I am not paying for repair. At the moment, working F717 is worth about $300, so it doesnt make sense to invest any more money into it. I am very dissapointed with Sony and I understand that they don't really care about loosing one customer, after all they have so many...

I am doing research for new one, so far Olympus E300 looks very good to me. Can get it for about $600 fairly equiped.

Good luck to all F717 owners. See you later with different brand :-)

Martin

I received this camera as a gift. It took me a long time to grow accustomed to it being a die-hard 35mm SLR user. But after getting incredible shots in all weather and lighting conditions, this camera has proven time and again that it can do everything my old beloved Pentax did and more. For example, I shot indoors at several circuses in Paris with excellent results and clarity even with fast changing theatrical lighting. And then I used the camera for three straight days and nights in subzero weather shooting "The Gates" in Central Park in snow, ice, bright sun and midnight darkness. The lens is so sharp it captured the actually weave of the fabric flying in the breeze, something film never would have done. The boomerang style lens comes in handy too when you need to set up shots at night and you don't have a tripod with you, it makes its own nifty support that you can prop up with the lens cap or a glove, set up the shot via the lcd on the back and then set the camera on automatic to get a no-wiggle pic. I love this camera, and I love the looks I get from photo fans when I'm shooting with it in Europe.

Even when I first got it and did not know what I was doing the pictures came out great, now that I've had it for 3 years I can do allot with it, I take pictures of deer and wild life, I have some pictures of deer that are so good it makes me amazed, there is so much you can do with this camera, I have taken pictures of deer 500 yards away and you know what the picture has in it, clear and beautiful, I'm getting zoom lens for it next week so I can't wait to see what those 500 yard shots become, I'm sure they will be awesome, over all one great camera!

This camera was my second digital. The first was a simple point and shoot. The auto-modes in this camera are so good, that I usually don't fool around with manual settings.
I owned a professional photography business for many years shooting weddings, pet and people portraits, little league and lots of freelance work. This camera performs as well as my Nikon w/1.2 and Canon w/1.4 with it's quick response and clarity in daylight. It is slow to focus on auto in low light, but I have not liked auto focus in general. The portraits this camera makes are as good as the 35mm up to an 8"x 10" print. I have noticed less than stellar performance at night, but that's an acceptable compromise for me as I no longer shoot for anyone but myself. I find the macro to be an incredible one. I have taken a close up of a flower after rain, and I could actually see a reflection of the SURROUNDING area, myself included, in a raindrop on one of the petals quite clearly. Amazing. I shoot hundreds of pix a year and with two batteries and two 128mp sticks, I always have a shot.

I wish I would have bought a Nikon for the money. With the DSCF717, in darker conditions, the images come out grainy with violet/purple pixels. It is very annoying especially when you are trying to smooth out the images in Photoshop to help.

Outdoors, on the other hand, the pictures process with clear and crisp resolution. But again, however, the color is not vibrant.

Easy to use. AWSOME ZOOM. Every time I show someone a photo (including myself) 100% satisfaction.

This camera is not for everyday users. It's mostly for people who enjoy photography. I purchase this camera a year ago and never had a problem since.

At minhaj-ul-Quran we used this camera for frequent use. we took about 500 pictures in one program some times. we found this camera excellent in performance

My husband and I purchased this camera over a year ago. I was extremely skeptical with the purchase because we had owned another digital prior to this one and I was just to spoiled with the picture quality of my SLR to set it aside and pick up the digital.
What can I say? We purchased this camera and I have not taken the film camera out since. The picture quality is so impressive and I have yet to find one thing that this camera cannot do that my film camera could do better.
The large lens at the end may seem odd, but let me assure you, it is not just for looks. This camera takes great photos and is easy to navigate. I would definitely recommend it as a serious choice for anyone who wants to keep their SLR quality and also enjoy the freedom of being "film free."

This is one impressive camera, albeit a bit heavy. Its performance is impeccable. Prints are fantastic. I have taken pictures of people at 30 feet using the zoom and the quality is amazing.

This camera was my first digital camera and I absolutely love it! I did many comparisons between this camera, Nikon, and Olympus. I was not looking for all the bells and whistles, not to mention reading a manual for a week to figure out how to even take a picture with the camera. Overall the reasons I went with the Sony were ease of use, shutter speed, lithium battery (did not feel like lugging around packs of batteries with me on vacations), Carl Zeiss lens, and I could go on forever. I wanted a camera that was going to take crystal clear shots with not a ton of messing around. I take a lot of pictures at NASCAR races and this camera does a great job with action shots. I have also taken professional quality pictures in Las Vegas that I have won rewards for. A perfect camera to make an amateur look like they know what they are doing!!