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343 of 344 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sony's Latest "Bridge" Camera, May 20, 2008
This review is from: Sony Cyber-shot DSCH50 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Electronics)
The Sony DSC-H50 Cybershot camera has generated significant interest in the photographic community for a number of reasons. First, there is the ever-present hope that this new model may move us closer to that "gold standard" camera of our imagination, the point-and-shoot camera that rivals DSLR performance in terms of picture quality, containing a single lens that spans all the way from a true wide-angle to high telephoto range, with good overall performance, customizable features, and low weight. Then, there is the large, bright, and articulated screen that so many photographers desire, yet is strikingly absent from most recent models. And, of course, there is the interest always garnered in the technology upgrades that new models typically possess, such as support for ever-larger memory cards, more sophisticated processor algorithms, and improved photographic features that help make everyday photo-taking easier and more successful.
After owning this camera for a few days, I can report that from the usability standpoint, the DSC-H50 is a gem. The camera is lightweight, easy to hold, and has a comfortable grip. Sony's implementation of a bright, clear, articulating 3-inch LCD screen makes the camera particularly easy to use, and only a short time using the camera is required to find that the camera's shape "works." Controls are laid out in clear, easy to understand manner, and users of previous Cybershot models will recognize the trademark Sony approach to controls on point and shoot cameras. A new, self-explanatory menu system explains each menu option, and the system is mastered in short time. The camera feels solid and well-built in spite of its light 15-oz. weight. Beyond the normal rotary knob that places the camera in its various modes, a number of dedicated buttons control image playback, burst mode, slideshow mode, and "night shot" mode.
Picture quality also appears to be generally good. The DSC-H50 may be of interest to more demanding photographers who are looking for a secondary camera when not wishing to lug around a full set of lenses and a DSLR, albeit with a necessary amount of post processing to remove sensor noise and the chromatic aberration that appears in some shots. Macro performance is excellent, and the "Steady Shot" technology appears to work well. It is important to remember that this camera, though having a full 15x telephoto lens, is not a "true" wide-angle lens, with the wide end only reaching 31mm. Nevertheless, this is wider than most point and shoot cameras, with only a very few select models reaching the 28mm width so usefulfor landscape and close-up group shots. The DSC-H50 is a coated Zeiss Vario-Tessar, and seems well suited to take high-quality shots, as long as one understands the limitations of the unit.
The camera is designed to make general point and shoot photography very easy, and the camera certainly meets those goals. There is automatic scene detection, face detection, ISO detection, and many other features that will appeal to the typical home user. When shooting in automatic mode, the camera produces good quality images that will satisfy the average user. From my preliminary results, it looks as though the DSC-H50 will make happy a large number of users who are looking for this type of a camera.
There are also a few other unusual "plusses" for this camera. First, the camera comes standard with a wireless remote control, which is almost unheard of. And the remote control is not a simple shutter release control: you can do almost anything you can do by holding the camera, including using the menus, with this remote. Next, the camera comes standard with a lens adapter, which in the past has been a $30 or $40 accessory necessary if you wish to use add-on lenses. Further, both a wide-angle and an additional telephoto lens are available for the camera. And last, but certainly not least, Sony has finally adopted a small and lightweight battery charger that does not use the cable-and-brick approach, but rather, plugs directly into a wall socket. All of these are welcome additions to the camera.
PROS
- Very good optical lens range, from somewhat-wide (31mm) to 15x zoom (465mm)
- Generally good image quality
- Excellent macro performance
- Effective image stabilization
- Outstanding, pivoting 3" LCD screen
- Feels solid and well-built
- Lightweight
- Good ergonomics
- Full set of customizable photographic settings
- Extrememly bright flash (strongest I've seen on a point-and-shoot)
- Intuitive, redesigned user interface/menu system with descriptions
- Can use up to 16Gb Memory Stick Duo
- Very easy to use, even for novice users
- Comes with remote control and other accessories
- Both super zoom lens and wide-angle lens are available accessories
CONS
- Not quite wide-enough short end (only 31mm, not 28mm)
- Small sensor makes noise both inevitable and present, even at low ISO levels (noise reduction can be adjusted in-camera)
- Chromatic aberration/purple fringing under certain conditions
- No true HD video (compare Panasonic DMC-TZ5)
- No RAW mode (but commonly missing now in "bridge" cameras)
- Camera carrying case not included
- Can turn camera on with lens cap in place, allowing lens to push into lens cap; lens cap also pops off occasioanlly
In summary, this lightweight camera with loads of features, generally good picture quality, and aggressive pricing makes the DSC-H50 appear to have hit all the major marks quite well, particularly for the average user who wants to shoot decent pictures with little effort.
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106 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing camera, May 12, 2008
This review is from: Sony Cyber-shot DSCH50 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Electronics)
Okay, so I originally had a Sony Mauvica digital camera. That was my first taste of Sony camera's. My husband and I decided that the Carl Zeiss name was enough to invest in a camera. That camera was amazing. I then went to the Sony Cybershot DSC-W80 because I wanted something smaller and those little bitty pocket cameras came out from everywhere. That is a good camera as well, but nothing like the mauvica and especially this H50. I was a little worried buying this camera because it had so little reviews out there. I'm glad I did. It's really great. The zoom feature is wonderful. I have children and we really need a good zoom for their school concerts and musicals. I have tried this zoom in every atmosphere I can think of. It does so good outside. The steady feature is great because I don't always have a steady hand. Inside in low light, the zoom is good and doesn't look too grainy on the computer unless you zoom into the picture really close. Good for printing 8 x 10's. I haven't tried anything over that.
The portrait mode is fabulous. I love taking close up pictures of flowers, the kids and animals with this.
The new smile detecting feature is really cool. I didn't really think it would work, but it does. I tried this by having my kids not smiling and then waiting a second to smile. It does seem to detect a smile. There is a setting you can change to detect smiles, low, medium and high. It is suppose to have an editing feature to be able to add smiles after you take the picture... I couldn't get this to work. If I do get it to work, I will add more later.
The editing program that this camera has is very cool. You can change the photos you've taken to black & white and the other basics like red eye and sepia also, but it has an option to select one object to stay in color and put the rest of the picture in black and white. It's a really cool feature in my opinion. There are other effects also like blurring everything around one center item. I posted some pics that I took and edited. I will also say that once you upload those pics to Amazon, they lose a lot of their quality.
One of the reasons I love sony cameras is because it has a night shot option. It's infrared and lets you shoot in complete dark areas. You can also record video in night shot. I have used night shot in the past with a Sony camera when I couldn't use a flash and it worked great in Disney's "It's a Small World" ride.
Another cool feature is when you view your pictures, you can do so with music. Now what I like about this is you can upload your own songs to the camera from your PC.
There is a noise reduction feature that lets you automatically set to low, medium or high. This is a great feature once you learn what you need to use. It eliminates a lot of the grainy photos.
I can't say enough about face detection, it makes photos of people turn out better. It has no problem detecting faces for me.
The LCD screen comes out and tilts. I really don't know what I will use that for, I wish that it would turn around for self portraits.
It comes with a lens hood, I have to admit that I haven't even tried using this yet.
I hope I have listed enough to tell you about the features of this camera. I usually look at user reviews as well as professional ones to determine what camera I purchase. There is more to talk about, but for the semi-novice user that I am, I feel like these are some important qualities. Overall, I believe this is well worth the money. I do believe it will come down in price after time, just like everything else. Next to a DSLR, this is a camera worth having.
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156 of 165 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
So far...., June 7, 2008
This review is from: Sony Cyber-shot DSCH50 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Electronics)
...I'm ambivalent about this camera. I loved the earlier version (the DSC-H2) which I'm still using, but decided to replace it because the viewfinder isn't working well.
About the camera:
I bought the camera to have an all-purpose camera light enough to take backpacking (which my digital SLR with it's lenses isn't). It's a little bulky, but light (although it feels sturdy) and it's versatile enough to take long-distance wildlife shots or macros of flowers in virtually the same moment.
The camera takes very good photos, but is not a huge change from the earlier version of this camera, even though it has half again as many megapixels. If the ISO is left on auto, as it is when using the fully automatic modes, I find the photos can be noisy, which may be part of the problem other reviewers are describing. I recommend using the adjustable settings, like the "P" program and setting the ISO on 80 or 100 to keep noise level to a minimum, especially in outdoor light. This camera has settings for in-camera noise reduction, which I don't use since I prefer using computer software for noise removal if it's necessary. This series of camera excels at outstanding macros. The image stabilization works well on the zoom, and long distance photos taken with the zoom are generally very good.
The menus are very easy to see and navigate, in fact I've barely read the instruction manual because it is so self-explanatory. The DSC-H50 offers some manual controls including shutter and aperture settings, which is great for more advanced users. The optical viewfinder mirrors the view through the lens and is clear and sharp enough to compose a photo, or to make sure you got the optimum shot. Many cameras are doing away with their optical viewfinders, much to the detriment of outdoor photographers. It can be hard to compose a decent photo in bright sunlight using an LCD alone. However, the LCD on the DSC-H50 is large and bright, and can be positioned up or down, which is nice when taking a photo at an awkward angle or close to the ground. Unfortunately, it does not swivel or enable storage with the LCD hidden. The display seems quite vulnerable to damage as the glass surface is exposed all the way to the corners and is not recessed at all.
I don't understand why point and shoot cameras have gotten away from offering a choice of image formats instead of only jpeg. No matter how many megapixels the camera is, you will still end up with artifacts related to jpeg compression.
Main issue:
What really bothers me about this camera and the biggest reason for the 3 star review (it would get 4 otherwise), is that Sony made the accompanying ring/hood in a non-standard size (74mm). The newer flared end design of the filter ring is an improvement over the old ring, since it means no lens vignetting at wider angles, but it seriously irritates me that Sony couldn't have made the opening to fit a standard 72mm filter. This means that the reasonably priced Hoya or Tiffen filters will not fit, and that you must buy the costly Sony brand ($90-$100 for a polarizer) if you want a filter on your camera. I tried the inferior quality 74mm Opteka filters (apparently hastily made just for Sony), and the polarizer came apart while I was cleaning it to put on the camera. Faced with the prospect of buying pricey, odd-sized Sony filters for a point and shoot camera, especially when indications are they may not fit future models, I managed to find a $7 off-brand 74-72mm step down ring (made by Bower for Sony products), which is supposed to fit the Hoya filters I just ordered (about $40 for both). The $120 Sony telephoto extension I bought for my DSC-H2 camera a year and a half ago is completely useless for the DSC-H50, which is a further irritation.
Sony's apparently increasing level of specific and non-interchangeable accessories will make me think twice about buying Sony cameras in the future. They make a good product, but I won't buy from them if I am forced to purchase a whole new set of accessories every time they update a model. I was unable to find the specs about the end sizes of the hood and ring for the DSC-H50 prior to purchase, but there was no reason to assume that the opening of the ring would be anything but standard. I thought I'd be able to incorporate the accessories I had already purchased for my DSC-H2 by using step-up step-down rings, which are easily available, as long as the diameters are standard sizes, which was the case with the DSC-H2.
Also, as of the date of this review, Amazon's technical specification information on this product is pitifully inadequate, even though I gave them feedback regarding their lack of usable information at least two weeks ago. I had to go to the B & H photo website to get some decent specs on this camera, and probably would have bought it there, if Amazon hadn't been $20 less expensive with free shipping.
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