Sony Cybershot DSC-H9 8MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Image Stabilization Zoom

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 2.5 x 1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000M4KXK6
• Item model number: DSCH9/B
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,059 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 28, 2007

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Capture the action and relive the magic with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 camera. Its 8.1-megapixel resolution, powerful Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom lens design and Advanced Sports Mode with high shutter speed (1/4000 seconds) combine to make digital photography more exciting and creative -- and the NightShot system lets you shoot nocturnal scenes by infrared light. Also: a large 3.0-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus screen that tilts up for low-angle shooting, Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization, high sensitivity (ISO 3200) and new high-tech features like a Face Detection and HD output for sharing memories with family and friends in spectacular high-definition clarity on compatible HDTV screens.

Cyber-shot DSC-H9 Highlights

High-power Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom A superb lens for bringing long-distance subjects up close, the pro-quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens design of the DSC-H9 provides 15x optical zoom design -- with 25x HD digital zoom to enlarge the center portion of the picture so you see even more detail.

8.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD More megapixels give you more detail and definition for editing, cropping, and making large digital prints. Sony’s advanced Super HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

3.0-inch tilt-up screen, simple controls The DSC-H9 provides a huge, bright 3.0-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus screen that tilts up for comfortable low-angle shooting -- plus simple camera menus, a new GUI Home button, and Function Guide display that makes it easier to learn camera setup operations.

NightShot infrared system Sony’s NightShot system provides infrared illumination for shooting in near-dark or totally dark conditions without using a flash -- so you can capture sleeping children, nocturnal animals and creative night scenes that lie beyond the power of conventional cameras.

Advanced Sports mode To capture fast-moving subjects in split-second detail, this innovative DSC-H9 shooting mode combines high shutter speed (1/4000 seconds) with intelligent continuous AF that responds more quickly to rapid motion -- a great way to catch the perfect moment in sports, children’s games, pet tricks and more.

Long-Distance Flash A powerful flash provides extra illumination to light up subjects farther from your camera, with precise light control and the ability to adjust flash for both front and rear sync when shooting at low-speed sync setting.

Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization Other image stabilization systems crop in to compensate for "camera shake" -- but with the Super SteadyShot system, optical sensors detect camera movement and send correcting signals to a stabilization lens that allows even ultra-long-distance digital photos to capture more detail with less camera shake distortion.

High Sensitivity mode With Super SteadyShot image stabilization to minimize blur, High Sensitivity Mode (ISO 3200) lets the DSC-H9 shoot effectively in low light without flash to preserve the mood -- and Sony’s original Clear RAW NR (Noise Reduction) image processing technology helps suppress the color noise that can accompany high-sensitivity shooting.

Face detection. By automatically controlling focus, exposure, color and flash, this new Sony feature reveals faces in shadow, makes skin tones look more natural and eliminates harsh facial glare -- to help bring out every expression on every face in every shot, so you’ll capture the personalities and emotions that make memories come alive.

HD output Thanks to Sony, your photo album can go high-def -- with direct HD output to your compatible HDTV screen, so you can view DSC-H9 still photos in spectacular high-definition clarity and detail. Your life never looked so exciting!
_{Note: HD output requires an optional Sony HD connector cable; HDTV sold separately}

HD slide show with music It’s the high-definition viewing experience that makes photos come alive on compatible HDTV screens, accompanied by your choice of visual effects and any of four preset musical selections stored in memory or your favorite MP3 tunes downloaded from PC to your camera for use as background music.

9-point Auto Focus. Because an off-center subject can make your shot more interesting, the DSC-H9 can measure auto-focus precision at 9 points on your screen -- giving you greater creative freedom to compose your image.

D-Range Optimization Powered by the exclusive Sony Bionz high-speed processing engine, D-Range Optimization preserves image data in bright highlights and reveals more detail in shadows or backlit areas -- for great results even in difficult lighting conditions.

In-camera retouching The DSC-H9 lets you add creative effects to photos after you shoot -- including soft edge filter to soften backgrounds, cross filter to place starry "dazzles" at highlight points, partial color filter to mute surrounding colors, even fish-eye filter to create interesting fish-eye lens effects.

In-camera red-eye reduction Irritating "glowing eyes" can ruin even the most creative photos -- so the DSC-H9 gives you in-camera correction at the touch of a button to reduce lingering red-eye effect that other systems might miss.

Electronic color viewfinder In addition to its bright 3.0-inch LCD screen, the DSC-H9 has a built-in electronic color viewfinder that lets you shoot in traditional camera style and save battery power by turning your LCD screen off.

Remote control function In both shooting and play mode, you can use a supplied remote control unit to control basic camera functions -- including zoom, menu settings, etc. -- so you can put yourself in the picture when shooting with a tripod or sit back and enjoy the show when you share images on your home TV screen.

Wheel dial for manual exposure modes For more creative freedom, a simple wheel-dial control lets you quickly change camera settings in manual modes (shutter speed priority, aperture priority, manual exposure) and also control ISO sensitivity, focus area, and exposure value. In play mode, the wheel dial provides a quick way to view your next or previous shot.

31 MB internal memory The DSC-H9 allows you to capture shots in-camera for later transfer to PC or Memory Stick Duo media -- so even if you forget your flash memory card, you can always get the shot.

Memory Stick Duo media The DSC-H9 has a built-in slot for optional Memory Stick Duo media or higher-capacity Memory Stick Pro Duo media -- the ultra-compact media for shooting, storing and sharing your photo images.

76x Smart Zoom feature Sony’s Smart Zoom feature gives you an amazing ultra-close crop on the central portion of interest in your photo while avoiding the image degradation of other digital zooms.

MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode The DSC-H9 can capture VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second) -- with optical zoom in movie mode to let you zoom in or pull back while taking action shots.

Stamina battery power The DSC-H9 provides up to 250 shots with a fully-charged NP-BG1 Lithium-ion battery -- enough shooting capacity to cover a long weekend or a whole vacation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I am gonna keep it, May 29, 2007

By	montaigne "baselitz" (Brooklyn, NY, United States) - See all my reviews

I bought this camera because the technical specs appealed to me. But when I read all the critical comments I was beginning to feel I made a mistake.

Some critics claim that certain features were missing in the H9 that were listed in the specs before the camera was released. No doubt, that's not cool. Also, I haven't figured out how to set ISO levels. Probably I never will because the H9 insists of doing it for me. And then there is the lack of RAW storage.

I have all these features in other cameras I own. And although it's nice to know it's all there if I want it, I have to admit I don't use these features all that often.

As other bridge cameras with advanced features, the H9 caught the attention of many people in the upper segments of the market who then were dismayed to discover its technical parameters.

On the other end of the spectrum, the H9 may be a bit too sophisticated for the point-and-shoot crowd to take full advantage of what it is capable of. The fact that the manual is almost unreadable doesn't help.

Now to the good part:

1. I haven't had that much fun with a camera in a long time. The H9 is light enough to accompany me almost everywhere, and I get a lot of terrific shots that I used to miss out on because I didn't feel like dragging around my heavy equipment. Because it is a super zoom, no shots are lost because I have to change lenses.

2. The macro function is nothing short of sensational.

3. I have been able to take amazing shots with the lens all the way out to 480.

4. The H9 is fast - no shutter delay and super fast storage of images

5. No matter what I throw at the H9, it seems to handle it beautifully. I am sure I will figure out its limitations
as I go along and learn to respect them. The more I get to know this camera, the more it grows on me.

6. The large semi-flexible screen is a real plus, particularly for candid shots.

Well, as this generation of super zooms go, the plusses more than outweigh the minuses.

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Features galore, June 12, 2007

By	John Wolever "vernonite" (Camp Verde, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Received DSC-H9 from Amazon 1 week after ordering. Included 2 GB memory card.
After about 4 hours for battery to charge I was taking pictures. The manual that comes with camera is not very good (37 pages), there is a much better manual (137 pages) available on the supplied CD. Following are my notes:

1) Must take battery out of camera and move to charger, rather than charging directly in camera.

2) Remote only works from front of camera within about 15 feet, needed is wireless remote that would work from 50-100 feet, in any direction.

3) Memory card did not fit my "11 in 1 reader", however the card (SanDisk Ultra II, 2 gb) came with adapter which provided compatability to one of the reader slots.

4) It took awhile to figure out the lens adapter, initially the hood attachment did not align correctly causing black framing on picture when wide angle. I later discovered that the knurled ring can be rotated for proper alignment of hood (not mentioned in instructions).

5) The LCD tilts but does not rotate to allow display from front of camera for self pictures (yet remote only works from front).

6) Flash tries to pop up, with left hand finger in the way, it takes awhile to train the left hand finger to avoid pop up cover.

7) Tried HD mode, colors too vivid for my DLP, changed color mode for less vivid color. This makes good HD images, however the color mode change does not apply for normal automatic setting.

8) No movie files played to HD TV, skipped over MPG files during slide show.

9) Slide show interesting, includes music and transitions.

10) Cannot edit picture files and copy back to memory card. Displays FILE ERROR. Online chat with Sony technical support confirms. OK to store on PC and copy back if not changed.

11) Interesting non documented feature that HD TV displays same as live camera LCD.

12) No audio for stills.

13) Movies are only 640 x 480, with HD capability I was expecting better.

14) Guide says "Your camera is designed for use under the temperatures between 0 C and 40 C (32 F and 104 F). Shooting in extremely cold or hot places that exceed this range is not recommended." I should not use this camera during June - August in Phoenix, AZ since normal daytime temperatures exceed the recommended range.

The first impression of the DSC-H9 was that its very lite almost flimsy. The name plate for ZEISS stating optical zoom 15X and another stating 1080 HD stills are just stuck on the camera body almost temporary.

After a weeks practice trying most of the functions, I am very happy with the camera. It is very fast, takes excellent pictures, has options galore. I hope they were exaggerating about the temperature range.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but a lot of fun and definitely worth the money, July 1, 2007

By	JS (Wiesbaden, Germany) - See all my reviews

There seems to be a lot of vitriol about this camera - people either love it or hate it.

Let's be fair here. It has a couple of downsides. But the speed and features more than make up for it.

Of course most people's first question is: how good are the pictures? Pictures by the DSC-H9 are outstanding. Going through the menu is a little involved, but the auto features work very well getting you good pictures anyway. If you carefully scrutinize the quality of the photos, they are not quite as good as some other cameras in the same price range. It seems the "superzoom" cameras like this one, sacrifice a slight bit of quality to the higher powered zoom. But whether this is a problem is debatable, because a 15x zoom can get a closer shot than a 10x or 12x, and you get your better picture that way. As other people have reported, there is also some purple fringing in some photos if you look closely. but wierdly, it shows up in certain shots but not others, and I can't see what the reason is. The fringing is also more noticable on the LCD screen than in the actual pictures, because the LCD screen runs with the color values turned a little high. I've taken loads of pictures with it in the last couple weeks and only noticed the fringing on two photos.

The camera is also the fastest I have ever had. Less than two seconds from power on to shoot!

Now to address the allegation that "sony lied" about the compression settings. Nowhere on the box or in the instructions does it say it has compression settings. Apparently, some early advertising put this out. Most likely, it was a planned feature that was dropped before it was released. Many people expect that Sony will put out a firmware update to take care of it, but that's no guarantee. So, the issue is simple. If selecting different compression levels is important to you, then don't buy this camera. This is really only a problem with a few types of photo editing. But for over 90% of camera users (like me) it will not be important.

The included software has a load of extra stuff, although I had no use for it myself.

The night shot feature sends out an infra red light that lets you take pictures in the dark, although they are of course in B&W. In total darkness, you won't see much unless you are very close to your subject. In semi-darkness, however, it works great.

Pros: 15x Optical Zoom lens, VERY fast snapshot time, big bright LCD screen, remote control, lens hood, night shot feature, tilt screen.

Cons: No compression settings, purple fringing in some photos, non-intuitive menu, tilt screen doesn't twist to front for self-portraits.

Overall, for the price great mid-range camera for people who need something more than a compact digital, but are not ready to spring for an a professional level SLR. People who take a lot of night pictures will love it. The combination of the high zoom and fast action would also work great for people who take a lot of photos of wild animals or sporting events.