Sony Cybershot DSC H7/B Review

My aging Olympus C765UZ is still going strong - despite the battering I've given it over the past two years. With it's 10x Optical zoom, it's actually gotten a lot of great shots for me...

But... I've actually sold a print or two here and there, and there are limitations to what a 4 megapixel camera can produce. I thought it's time to upgrade.. My ultimate goal, I suppose, is to invest in a nice DSLR camera, but with the expense of additional lenses right now it's out of the question.

Olympus, a few months ago, came out with a new 18x Optical zoom, 6MP camera (SP-550UZ). Now, it's a nice camera, but with a list price of $499, has some drawbacks... Reviews show a somewhat grainy picture at high ISO's... the video mode is similar to that of my current camera - not great, but not terrible either.

But Sony a few weeks ago released a pair of new cameras.. The DSC-H7 and H9 series. Both are 8.1MP, with a 15x optical zoom. The camera is faster with the memory stick duo cards than the Olympus XD format, and you can shoot 'burst mode' for an extended number of shots... With the higher resolution and other benefits, it's a nice pair of cameras.

The differences are primarily in the display screen. The smaller H7 has a display screen that is fixed on the back of the camera - very similar to the Olympus SP-550UZ. The H9 has a larger, swivel screen. It also sports a night-shot mode that uses infrared lighting - but which is good only for short distances.

And oh yeah, both cameras sport a wireless remote control - allowing you to compose the shot, then go and join the family or whoever, and push the button remotely.

At $499 list, the H9 is comparable in price to the Olympus, but the H7 is more in line with the Olympus in terms of functionality (the smaller, and non-swivelable, display screen.) But at a hundred dollars cheaper, ... well, that's where I decided to put my money.

Through Dell's website, they had a special discount plus free shipping, so that pushed the price down under $350... So 15x Optical, Nice even if not movable display screen, 8.1MP resolution, sounds great...

I got it yesterday - still waiting on the memory card, but this camera DOES have built-in memory, enough to store about 11 8MP shots.

So far, so good, BUT. (Isn't there always one of those).

One thing I didn't really know - till I got the camera and started using it... is that the format of the images is probably the camera's weakest point.

I now have 8MP shots, that average about 2.3MB each. On my Olympus, at 4MP, I was averaging 2.6MB per shot in highest quality JPG setting, and a LOT more per shot in TIFF mode. The Sony does not allow you to change format. Period.

What I see as the biggest problem with this is that the images that I am getting - if I use a higher ISO value especially - when viewed at 100% resolution on-screen, have a noticeable pixelation/distortion... I think this is at least in part due to the compression used by Sony in storing the images. I think this camera has a TON of potential - if Sony would release a software/firmware update for the camera that allowed us (camera enthusiasts) to change the default settings - I'd give up the speed anyday for higher quality images. It's nice that I can shoot 100 shots in a row in under a second each... BUT... Hey I'd love to shoot 10 in under a second each with say, 8MB files with more embedded color/light/pixel data than to have the data compressed so much that the images become grainy or pixelated at larger sizes.

I can conquer some of these issues by keeping the ISO low, and keeping the camera super-steady (time to invest in a better tripod). This camera IS a keeper - for the money, a better point-and-shoot with a great zoom, may not be available...

The zoom, the price - and yes, the speed, make me keep the camera. I look at it this way, I can get a nice 11x14 at least out of it. The zoom has a 35mm equivalent of around 465mm range. Most "kit" lenses that come with a higher priced DSLR type camera are maybe up to 70-80mm. Even the 2nd kit lens offered with some models may only go up to 200mm. To reach 465mm, we'd be talking say $600-800 for the camera, and several hundred more for the optional lens.

But I can see it not being the do-all end-all of cameras for me. One of these days when I make a million with this camera, I will definitely be investing in DSLR technology. As it is, I will live with this camera's shortcomings - because despite them I have seen scenes through this camera's eyes, that I never saw through my old camera's eyes.

An old farm's grain silo is just down the way from my back porch. I see it almost every day - and I've taken a number of photos of it over the past few years, but until yesterday, I had no idea that the silo looked like this, with the alternating patterns on the metal of the roof. You can also see greenery growing out of some of the cracks between blocks in the wall of the silo.


Silo by =arkansawyer on deviantART