Manual Control Options
There is no manual mode on the M2 and manual controls are hard to come by. The few that exist can be found within the Program recording mode. Users can manually select options for white balance, ISO, and focus.
Focus
Auto Focus
This Sony Cyber-shot uses a contrast detection system that is controlled by three modes: the default 5-area multi-point AF, the center-weighted AF, and the spot AF. All of them worked quite quickly, although oddly the default multi-point seemed to be the slowest of the three modes. Each mode shows a different set of brackets indicating where the central focus is. The orange auto focus illuminator can be turned on and off within the setup menu. The M2 can focus from 19.7 inches normally. The auto focus system is responsive and works fairly well-although this was not a final production model. In the M2’s macro mode, that shortens to 8 cm and shortens even more to 1 cm in the super macro mode. The macro mode is easy to access with the flower icon on the left portion of the multi-selector. The super macro mode is found within the scene mode menu as the Magnifying Glass mode.
Manual Focus
This Cyber-shot has a 5-step manual focus that can be found on just about any Sony digital camera. Users can select from five preset focus points, but it’s hard to tell whether the subject is actually in focus with the menu in front of the view.
Metering
The metering is not manually selectable, but an all-purpose multi-pattern metering mode is used in the Sony M2. It seems to work pretty well except when subjects are backlit in the movie mode. When taking backlit still images, it seemed to properly expose pictures just fine.
Exposure
The Sony M2 has a standard +/-2 EV range with the typical 1/3 steps. Users unsure of which exposure value to use can activate the exposure bracketing function within the drive modes. This function takes three pictures in a selectable +/- 0.3, 0.7, or full stop increments. The pictures are taken in succession like a burst mode; it doesn’t take one frame and adjust it to three different exposure values like some digital cameras do.
White Balance
With its five preset modes, the Sony M2 is poised to capture accurately colored images in the following lighting situations: Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, and Flash. While this, along with the Auto mode, catches all the basics, mixed lighting could be tough to shoot in because there is no manual option. Many Sony digital cameras have a one-touch manual white balance option, but the M2 does not offer that. This is somewhat surprising for a $500 model.
ISO
Sony doesn’t go above and beyond in its ISO selections. Many compact models are starting to offer higher sensitivities; however, the Sony Cyber-shot M2 sticks with the standard range. It has an automatic ISO setting and manual options of 64, 100, 200, and 400. The ISO selection appears on the viewfinder so users can see what setting they’re in.
Shutter Speed
Night photography won’t be a strong point of the M2. Its shutter speeds range from 1-1/2000th of a second with extended speeds to 2 seconds. There is a slow shutter noise reduction feature that cleans up some pictures and will help in low light conditions. Getting the shutter to open for a long time is difficult though. The shutter speed cannot be manually adjusted, so users must activate the Twilight scene mode for the longest possible shutter duration.
Aperture
The Carl Zeiss lens on the M2 has apertures from f/3.5-f/8 when at its widest angle. When the lens is zoomed to its 19mm focal length, the apertures range shirts to f/4.3-f/10. The maximum apertures aren’t very impressive as many models now have wider f/2.8 openings. The small aperture settings further alienate the M2 from night photography and possibly more importantly takes away the low light video capture potential of the camera.
