Customer Reviews

Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 6MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilization Zoom

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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This camera lives up to all of the expectations set by these reviews (as well as others) and the reviews on Amazon. I could do a write up, but the reviews posted on the sites above go into far greater detail than I could ever do and show comparison photo's to boot. What I can do is give you my reaction to this camera now that I have it in my hands...

PROS:
1 - Super easy to use, out of the box experience. Pop in some AA batteries and you'll be shooting photos in just a few seconds.

2 - Speaking of batteries they are the AA batteries you already have in your house. I have kids so I am already using rechargeable batteries.

3 - Image quality is great!

4 - Supplied software is fantastic for storing photos - I love it already.

5 - Fits very nicely in your hands.

6 - Very intuitive controls. You can jump from full auto to full manual with ease.

7 - Very quick shutter lag.

8 - Nice burst mode.

9 - Functional image stabilization

10 - 12x optical zoom is superb; 24x digital zoom actually works with no image degradation.

CONS:
1 - Low light focusing is too soft. You will need to manually adjust for this in very low light situations (like taking a photo of cereal boxes inside of a kitchen closet with no light on).

2 - Higher ISO settings are too noisy (anything above 200). The built in flash will correct for this in many situations, but not all of them. They could have used better algorithms.

3 - LCD could have been larger, but it is not worth paying extra for (for example the H5).

OTHER:
1 - There have been some reviews here that have lamented the "special" USB connection on the cable. To be accurate the cable supplied by Sony has a standard USB interface for the PC end and a standard micro-USB for the camera end. The micro-USB interface is the exact same one used by my Blackberry phone, my SanDisk MP3 player and my Cannon PowerShot camera. There is nothing special about it.

2 - Some have commented about this camera is not able to write to non-Sony memory sticks. While this was true for the first batch of these cameras that were released, Sony has since provided free downloads to correct for this. The newer cameras come with this new software already installed. I have a non-Sony meory stick in my camera and it works just fine.

[...]

I've only owned this camera for a few days, but my first impression is WOW. I've owned 8 digital cameras over the past 10 years. By far this is the finest.
I originally bought the Cannon S2, but in less than 2 weeks it died on me. Before it died, I was very happy with the picture quality, but the Sony H2 is even better.
The Sony H2 also includes several extras that Cannon charges for, like the lens adapter, rechargeable batteries, and the battery charger.
The 12x zoom and the stabilization is what makes this camera great, but it is loaded with other features.
So far I only have three complaints. I found the manual to less than adequate, the menus not as straight forward as other cameras I've owned, and I really wanted to stay with SD cards. Only because I already owned so many.
Note: I am using a SanDisk Pro Duo Memory stick, and it works fine.
Several people complained about the flash on the H1. I've taken half dozen portraits using the flash, and they all look great.
I'm primarily a point and shoot guy, that likes everything automatic, and in the automatic mode things work great, but I occasionally need more options, and this camera has everything.
I don't know why Sony went from a 2.5" LCD on the H1 to a 2" LCD on this model, but the 2" is much better than the 1.8" on the Cannon.
I may add more in a couple months.

Sony has improved on the H1 with an excellent quality picture format and the lowest noise level in its class. Yes, it only takes Sony memory sticks but I bought mine at Best Buy cheaper than Sandisk. Disregard DMM from Washington's rating as this person has been on every review I have looked at before purchasing my H2, knocking Sony. If you know anything about photography, it's there is only so much any mfg. can do with a 12x optical zoom with an image stabilizer at this size. If your looking for the perfect package you need an SLR with multiple lens, which is twice the size and price. I would recommend the H2 highly. The next best is the Panasonic DMC-FZ7, larger lcd, but much higher noise.

This is my 3rd digital camera . This past May I purchased an Olympus EVOLT 500 DSLR for $799 . I was not impressed with the quality of the pictures . So I bought the Sony H2 . I can't believe the image quality . Perfect outdoor pictures under any conditions . The image stablization works very well. I am able to take pictures with full zoom (which is the equivilent of 430mm on a 35 mm camera ) without using a tripod . Even in the evening the pictures do not blur . The shutter speeds are fast enough for sports photography . The 2.8 f/stop allows for fast shutter speeds . The lenses that came with my DSLR did not have that wide of a lens opening . I would have had to buy a much more expensive lens to get 2.8 f/stop.
The macro setting works exremely well on the Sony H2 capable of taking pictures as close as 1 inch away . In order to get this close with my DSLR I would have to buy a macro lens costing $200-300 .
I constantly print out 8x10 prints from this camera and they turn out crisp and sharp with highly accurate and rich colors .
The only area were my DSLR preformed better was at high ISO settings . The H2 had more noise in the pictures at high ISO . This can easily be fixed by inexspensive noise reduction software .

The auto setting works great but dont be afraid to experiment with the manual settings . The metering in the manual setting will let you know if your picture is under or over exposed , so you can correct the shutter speed or aperture as needed.

Dont fall for the hype of entry level DSLRs like I did . I spent $799 on an entry level DSLR . The Sony H2 was only $350 and has more features and higher quality pictures .

I've tested it for few days and the image is just amazing. For those who want low end DSLR quality and don't want to carry extra lens, the SONY H2 is defintely worth consider.
The Image Stablization is amazing. Very sharp and never had blurr shots even at 1/6 sec.
The color is very neutral and the AF is accurate and fast.
No shutter lag or anything like that.
You can zoom in to 432mm even in video mode.
I love Canon DSLRs but I got to give credit to SONY point and shoot over the Canon.
Zeiss lens is great.
The LCD is 2" ( smaller than its big brother H5 ) but it doesn't really affect the image quality.
6.0 meg pix is enough to print amazing photos up to letter size. Some say 13X19, but I would prefer higher resolution at 13 Meg Pix.

The ISO noise is acceptable upto 400. However, the IS is much more valuable than high ISO. I do gain 4 F stops as suggested with much better result than shooting at ISO 1600 or 3200.

We recently bought a Sony H2 after using a Nikon Coolpix 2000 for several years. I'd been interested in photography for quite some time, but the Nikon has no manual controls at all. That was all solved when we bought this camera. My wife still uses the automatic mode on the H2 (and her pics come out fine) but I do everything in Manual mode. And this is what you can do (*slurp*) in Manual mode:

(1) Adjust aperture from f/2.8 (at the wide end of the zoom) to f/8. Not a superlong range (most DSLRs go to f/16 and beyond) but it works.

(2) Adjust shutter speed from 30 seconds to 1/1000 second, which is good enough to do just about anything. One thing that's missing from this camera is a Bulb mode (where the shutter remains open for as long as you hold down the button) but I haven't yet found a situation where I couldn't get by with one of the longer built-in shutter speeds.

(3) Both aperture and shutter speed are set using a jog dial on the front of the camera --- no hunting through menus!

(4) As you change the aperture and shutter speed, the camera provides an Exposure value (0EV is what it thinks is correctly exposed, +1EV is overexposed by one stop, etc).

(5) The strength of the flash (which is stupendously powerful for a built-in flash unit) can be manually adjusted in a menu (just make sure the flash is switched on, or the option won't appear).

(6) White balance can be set to one of several presets, including a Custom setting (you aim the camera at a white card or surface and push a button to tell it what white looks like).

(7) ISO can be set from 80 to 1000 (in manual mode). The high ISOs are kind of noisy, but the medium speed (80--400) work pretty well.

(8) Focus can be set in four different ways. There are three different autofocus modes and a manual mode. Usually, manual focus on a camera that uses LCDs is a waste of time. Sony solved this by providing `peaking' --- once you switch it on, the edges in the image that are in sharp focus are painted blue. I was skeptical at first, but now (having taken 2000+ shots with the camera) I'm happy to say that it works surprisingly well.

(9) The LCDs (there are two --- one on the back and one in the electronic viewfinder) can display a realtime histogram. Once you learn how to read it (google it), this can be a real help in deciding whether or not you're exposing the image correctly.

(10) The camera comes with builtin Image Stabilization, which corrects for handshake (especially when using the long end of the zoom).

(11) The 12x zoom (36mm --- 432mm EFL) is amazing.

(12) Though I don't use either much, the H2 also has exposure bracketing and burst (high speed) modes. The burst mode is not particularly fast, though (about 1fps if I remember correctly).

(13) The supplied adapter that screws onto the end of the camera has a 58mm thread and so you can buy 58mm stuff to put on it. I currently have a bunch of filters (all Cokin and Hoya): UV, circular polarizing, ND8 (which can be used to take amazing shots of waterfalls), 81B (a warming filter), and a graduated grey. I also tested a third-party wide-angle/macro lens (which reduced the 36mm EFL to 18mm) but decided not to buy it. So don't be fooled into thinking you can only buy accessories from Sony --- lots of manufacturers make 58mm stuff.

So that's how I use this camera --- in full manual mode all the time, and the pictures it takes are unbelievable. We recently spent two weeks in Australia, and when we got back we showed off the best pictures to my inlaws. Suffice it to say that my sister-in-law is now using one of those shots as the screensaver on her PC. And my wife tells me that when she zooms in on pictures we've taken with this camera, her eyes widen and she mutters "wow! wow! wow!".

So that's the good --- what's the bad? Ummmm, not much. There should be a bulb mode. A manual focusing ring would be nice as well, but the manual focusing on the camera still (thanks to the peaking) works nicely. And one odd thing --- when I was photographing a wedding a few weeks ago I switched all the sounds off (the shutter noise and the menu "ploink" sound) and the camera misbehaved (when turned on, it would say "please turn the camera off and on again"). But with all the sounds turned on, it works fine.

If you're looking for a good camera that will enable you to fiddle with all the manual settings but don't want to spend ~$1000 on an SLR, look no further. This is a really good camera. If you google for reviews on the net, you'll find several where it trumps its main rival (the Canon S3 IS). The best pictures I've taken with the H2 are jaw-droppingly good. And, in the end, that's what really matters.

I did a lot of research before deciding on a mega-zoom camera (at least 10X optical zoom). All the reviews favored the Sony DSC-H2 (or H5), the Panasonic Lumix FZ7, or the Canon PowerShot S2 (or S3). I read many photography forums and found that the Sony owners were on average the happiest with their purchase of the DSC-H2. The Canon has better video/audio recording with many owners complaining of "fog" in their photos. The Panasonic is slightly smaller and gives a better photo quality that is only discernable to real professionals, but takes a specialized battery pack. You will find pluses and minuses for any camera, but in my opinion the Sony has them beat with its picture quality, ergonomics, easy menu and button layout, and dependability.

After buying the DSC-H2, I am completely happy with my choice. I can put it on automatic mode and get great pictures, or I can play around with the manual controls and have fun with it. I am an amateur, but the pictures I'm taking are amazing.

Keep in mind that this is a big bulky camera (larger than my camcorder). The bulk is worth having that 12X zoom lens though - I get outstanding pictures that my Canon PowerShot A530 with a 4X lens cannot match. That big lens lets in lots of light and my photos look great.

The DSC-H5 gives you 7+ megapixels but in reality most people will never utilize the 6 megapixels that the H2 provides. The H5 has a slightly bigger LCD, but I've read that battery life suffers slightly when powering that large screen. In my opinion, it made sense to buy the H2, a big Memory Stick, a case, and a tripod for less money than the H5 alone.

You really are not going to take clearer pictures with any other camera. This camera does everything you want and more. I recommend you buy this camera most importantly over the Kodak because it has image stabilization. In general, most of pictures come out awesome, and the 12x zoom makes it seem as if the subject (birds/animals) were right in front of you when you took the picture. Plus, the pictures are stored on the memory card in a split second so there is no lag time when taking pictures. Yes, there are more expensive cameras, but the pictures are not going to be any clearer than what this camera is producing. Of course, if you do buy a more expensive camera, then that's your choice to throw your money down the drain. Image quality I guarentee will be the same as this camera.

I'm no expert, in fact a novice. I don't take a lot of pictures but I have used digital cameras for about 9 years. This is the most complicated camera I have owned to date. I've had the camera about two weeks. I'm leaving in a few days for Europe and wanted the camera before I left. Here are some of my observations.

The manual though not detailed was more than adequate to get me through most of my questions. I was able to find what I needed and answer my questions.

I love the 12x optical zoom. I played with the camera testing subjects at all distances. At about a mile away I got a pretty good picture of a landing passenger jet. I took very sharp pictures of an apartment that was at least 3 hundred yards away. The images that were not crisp and clear (I can't always hold the camera steady) were more due to the 20-30 mile an hour wind and my lack of experience. I found the built in stabilization quite good and I tended to get a good picture most of the time.

I am no expert, but I found the image quality well within my requirements. I was shooting using the 6 megapixel resolution.

Pictures of my cats were crisp and clear and motion seemed to be no problem. The automatic feature was good enough for what I needed. I did experiment with the manual features and found I could push the camera to limits I would generally not need, but were quite useful for anything I would ever do. Action shots were captured well. I haven't tried any night shots yet outside, but reasonably I'm not likely to use it often outside.

I tried the feature that took multiple shots rapidly. It worked very well. I haven't tried taking movies but then if I wanted to do that I would have purchased a camcorder.

I have had no problem with the size of the camera or the location of the buttons. I'm a 6ft 1" guy with big hands but I had no problems. The viewfinder not only worked well the focus wheel meant I didn't have to wear my glasses to frame a shot. The LCD was a bit small, I would have prefered 2.5 or 3 inch but for the money and features I was not disappointed.

I opted to purchase the Sony 2 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo. This memory stick has a slightly higher record speed and this gives me the ability to take pictures a little faster. I don't find the setup time between pictures a problem. If I wanted faster speeds I'd pay a lot more for an SLR. I realize there are cheaper memory sticks available but I opted for the Sony one to avoid any possible compatability issues. I had heard horror stories about being able to take pictures but having either poor quality or not being able to retrieve the pictures from the memory stick.

Overall I love the camera. The optical zoom is great. For the features the price is good. The manual though not as good as I might like it was more than adequate to help me through the tough moments of learning the features. I would buy the camera again.

I've owned this camera for just a few weeks, and still have much to learn about the many features, but so far I am very pleased with the operation and picture quality of the DSC-H2. This is only the 2nd digital camera I have used. The previous being a Finepix 3.1 MP camera. I'm still trying to get used to all the manual settings, but the automatic settings have been very impressive. I think the accessories included with the camera make it a very good buy. I purchased a Sandisk 1GB Memory Stick Duo Pro to store the photos. It has worked well in the short time I have used it. The minor criticisms I have for this camera are, as with most didital cameras, the compact size of the camera body make handling the camera difficult with my larger hands & fingers. I have hit buttons accidentally once or twice. Something added to the camera body for the left hand would be nice. The viewfinder option to compose a photo is a little dark & I find it is difficult to see peoples' facial expressions until viewing the picture. My eyesight is partly to blame for this, I suppose. The owners manual, at times, can be downright trying. I wish filters could be attached to the lens front rather than the adaptor/hood, but I can see why it isn't with this design. Still, it all comes down to the features the camera does have, the picture quality and the price, and that's why I give it 5 stars. I still have alot to learn about this camera, but so far, everything I've tried has worked well. Even when I guessed at the settings before consulting with the manual. I look forward to experimenting more. A person who just wants to point and shoot shouldn't be deterred by all the features. Just set the date/time and make sure it has fresh batteries and shoot away. Also, I purchased the 4 yr service plan with this camera. I hope I never have the occasion to offer a review on that, but with previous experience with a camcorder, I felt like it was worth the money.