Customer Reviews: Read 113 more reviews...
 H5 is a 5! June 16, 2006
J. Davidson
145 out of 147 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic camera. It is easy to use, and the pics are beautiful. I researched several different cameras and just sort of happened upon this one. Am I glad that I "risked" it! Since this is a new camera, there weren't many reviews. I highly recommend checking out dcresource.com['s] review; it was what ultimately swayed me.
I compared pics from the H5 to Canon's EOS REBEL XT DSLR with Lens kit, and honestly couldn't see much difference. Yes, the Rebel has less noise at higher ISO settings, but since I am mainly a hobbyist, I'd say it won't be a problem.
The Sony software isn't the world's best by any means, but the camera takes such great pics, you really don't need anything other than a photo organizer. I am truly amazed at the camera's abilities. The price is way way better than DSLRs, and for the prosumer, the H5 has just about everything you would need.
The only Cons I've come up with are:
-No RAW capabilities for the serious prosumer (I could care less, but I think my husband was a little disappointed.)
-The memory is pretty expensive, but you can catch really good deals.
So far, those are the only cons I can dredge up.
Overall, the H5 makes me feel like a much better photographer than I actually am. I am probably as close to a beginner as you can get (My last digital camera was bought in 1999). I posted some pics above, so check them out, if you want to see some examples of what the camera is capable of.
A Great Camera for Anyone September 3, 2006
amazon customer
109 out of 111 found this review helpful
I have now had this camera for over two weeks and have already taken almost 700 pics! It has something for everyone. The color is true to life and there are no flaws in its pictures besides the occasional purple fringing in bright shots and some noise at ISO's above 400. The flash is extremely powerful and actually enhances color, not bleaching out shots or causing red eye like other cameras. You can go all of the way out to 12x zoom, and because of the image stabilization, you can still take shots without any blur. I did find that the autofocus light is intimidating to people and causes them to look away, so you should turn that off and put up with slightly slower focus speeds. Th camera fits very well in my hand, with a great rubber grip and a handy adjustment wheel below the shutter button.
When I was shopping for this camera, I had a tough time choosing between this camera and the Canon S3 IS. They are direct competitors, and I found that the only way to decide between them was to see them and actually use them at the store. Either one is a fantastic piece of hardware and the only real things that should influence your purchase are how you like the camera's feel and what kind of lcd you like. The canon has an lcd that can be positioned at any angle, which is nice, but the sony has a huge, beautiful 3 incher that is pretty much the most impressive one that I have seen on a camera. You'll get a lot of oohs and ahhs with the Sony. I ended up getting the sony because I liked the way it fitted in my hand better than the Canon. I also like to have a cooler looking camera. For additional research besides amazon reviews, I used dpreview.com and of course, cnet.com. I hope this review helped people figure out which camera they should buy.
 Image Quality Trumps All Else February 3, 2007
Bookman (California USA)
70 out of 71 found this review helpful
There are several things I don't like about this camera, and I'll get to them in a bit. But first things first: This is the big-zoom prosumer camera to buy. Check out the photo comparisons between the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H5 and the Canon PowerShot Pro Series S3 on the net at steves-digicams. Among other things, at every ISO setting above 100, noise is noticeably worse in the Canon S3 than the Sony H-5. If image quality is your top priority, look no further than this camera. The comparison photos at steves-digicams and other sites should convince you.
I've had my Sony H-5 for three weeks. I've taken about six hundred pictures with it. And except for the strange effect of TV lights (at a televised dog show) on my Auto WB, everything about my photos--the saturation, hues, brightness, contrast, and sharpness--has been excellent. I don't even bother "cleaning them up" with Photoshop levels. They're ready for printing, slide-shows on my TV, desktops, and screen-saving just as they are, unprocessed. Even at ISO 400, noise is virtually unnoticeable when I view them on my 19-inch LCD computer monitor.
More good news... With the Sony rechargeable batteries that came with the H-5, I took over 400 throw-away pictures (I didn't count these in the 600 I mentioned before; I was trying to run-down the batteries to see how long they'd last, so I just sat and snapped pix of nothing while I watched TV). I took at least one-third of them with one flash setting or another. I finally got so fed-up with how long it was taking to wear-down the batteries that I did everything I could to speed-up the process--continuous AF, brighten the LCD screen and EVF, all photos with flash. I kept snapping pix. Then I turned-on the camera's perpetual "slide-show" and put the camera down. Forty-five minutes later the batteries finally gave out. And then for thirty bucks at Costco I bought a 15-minute rapid-charger with three pairs of batteries and a car-adapter. I don't worry about battery life.
The LCD screen on the H-5 is actually useful for framing. My old Konica Minolta DiMage Z1 had a 1.8-inch screen that I never used for picture-taking because it was so small. Now, I don't have to take all my pix with the EVF. A good thing, as I'll note later on.
The image-stabilizer has been all I could've wished for. I can consistently take crystal-clear hand-held shots at 1/40 sec. I've even taken several beauties at much lower speeds--all the way down to 1/15. This is quite a boon for someone like me who shoots on P, A, S, or M (98% P) and prefers not to use the flash for indoor photography.
I was impressed by the Sony H-5's ability to focus rather quickly in low light. (My DiMage Z1 never focussed at all in low light.) Even the H-5's manual focus, while awkward to use, was nevertheless 100% accurate.
The excellent low-light AF, the image-stabilizer, and the large LCD screen make shooting flashless indoors a pleasure and not a gamble.
Now the bad news...
Unless the lens hood is attached, the lens cap attaches to the camera body. It's a good-news/bad-news thing. The lens cap doesn't pop-off by accident--a good thing. But it causes two annoyances. First, the camera won't fully start up in capture modes with the lens cap on. Turning the camera on first is like not turning it on at all, for capture purposes, because even with the camera "on" nothing happens--no lens barrel extension, no menu--until you remove the lens cap. Second, unless you have the lens hood attached, you can't reattach the lens cap while the camera is still "on." You have to walk around with the lens exposed or turn the camera off. In a hurry, it's quicker to remove a lens cap and take a picture than it is to remove a lens cap, turn on the camera, wait a couple of seconds for start-up to be completed, and then take your picture. Tip: When you aren't taking up-close photos in macro mode, put the lens hood on and keep it on. You can attach the lens cap directly to the end of the lens hood while the camera is "on" and the lens barrel extended. This is the only way I know how to walk around with the Sony H-5 "on" and keep the lens protected.
The EVF has serious parallax (or parallax-like) error. I took a vertical photo of a lamp post in Portland's Chinatown. It looked something like a big red metallic saguaro cactus. In the EVF, I had the entire lamp post in the frame. When I got home, the top half of the lights were cut off. Tip: When you frame with this camera's EVF, give yourself more room on the margins than you'd want in your print.
The camera doesn't come with a Memory Stick Pro Duo reader that can be plugged directly into a USB port. Instead, to download pix you have to connect the camera to your computer via the provided cable, with your camera turned on--using battery power that should be saved for picture-taking.
Every prosumer camera should have a dedicated ISO button. This one doesn't. Regardless of which camera you buy, you want to take every picture on the lowest ISO setting practicable. You'll learn, with practice, the lowest shutter-speed you or AE can set which still lets you take a hand-held, jitter-free photo. (My "safe" minimum is about 1/40.) Without a dedicated ISO button, if you're at ISO 80 and you want to raise it to 100 or 200 to get a faster shutter-speed you have to go into the menu, raise the ISO setting to 100 or 200, leave the menu, push the shutter button half-way down to check the shutter-speed, and if necessary, go back into the menu and raise it to 200 or 400, etc. (Switching from P to "Auto" won't raise the shutter-speed much, if at all, so I don't waste my time with that maneuver.)
You can't review photos in capture modes. You have to exit your capture mode by pushing the "play" button. A minor inconvenience.
Bottom Line: Despite its "cons," superior image quality makes the Sony DSC-H5 the big-zoom camera of choice.
Superb, crisp photos are only the beginning October 23, 2006
science gal (Johnson City, TN United States)
65 out of 65 found this review helpful
A word about the reviewer:
I am an amateur photographer who was interested in "stepping up" from a simple point and shoot. In particular, I wanted a camera with greater than a 3X optical zoom (better for nature photography) and an above average level of resolution. My husband is a serious hobbyist - he was interested in having a backup camera, or one that could easily be taken hiking without having to bring along the LARGE dSLR and the lenses. When American Photo picked this camera as its Editor's Choice in the Superzoom EVF category we decided to check it out. I am so very glad we did. This review will focus on comments not covered by other reviewers.
CONS:
1. Short battery life
This camera comes with a set of 2 rechargable batteries. However, it will suck through them quickly; approximately 100-200 pictures. I HIGHLY suggest that you purchase an extra set of batteries and keep them charged and with you. I always have the backup set in my pocket when we head out with the camera.
2. Shutter lag
I find it difficult to take high quality action shots (e.g., kid's soccer games)with this camera due to the shutter lag. It is better than other point and shoot digitals, but not the caliber of the Nikon D100. But then again, this camera cost ~$1000 less. If you are taking landscapes, still life or portraits this is not a problem. Interestingly, has not been a problem with wildlife photorgraphy either. Go figure.
Pros:
There are too many pros to cover them all, so here is a sampling
1. 12X optical zoom
If you, like me, are moving up from the 3x optical zooms, you will NEVER go back once you try this camera. Clear, crisp photos, with the equivalent of a 432 mm focal length will change your photography world.
2. Steady Shot image stabilizer
If you want to use that 12X optical zoom without your images being blurry you will need a tripod or a camera with a superb image stablizer. The H5's image stablizer delivers very consistent, sharp images. I have attached a few images - none were taken with a tripod. Please check out the photo of a squirrel shot with full zoom and no tripod- he is crisp and sharp.
3. Relatively small size
No, you can't stick this camera in your pocket. However, it easily straps across a shoulder and only weighs a few ounces. I can hike or bike with it and not notice it. Try doing that with a bulky SLR!
4. Easy to handle
I find this camera to be very ergodynamic - it just feels right in your hand. All controls are well placed and with the "virtual dial" that appears in the view finder or monitor means you don't have to take your eye of the subject when you change settings. Futher, the settings are very intuitive and easy to learn. With this camera, I have learned how to adjust shutter speeds and apertures to improve my photographs.
5. Superb, crisp photos
This camera takes excellent photos in its point and shoot (automatic) mode, but also has several specialized modes (macro, landscape, portrait, sport, etc) to fine tune your photo quality. In addition, it is so easy to take charge of the camera in regards to shutter speed, apeture, etc, you can "dial-in" the photos even more. It's easy.
Summary: for a beginner looking to advance or the serious hobbyist, this camera is a wonder. For significantly less than the cost of a digital SLR, you can have a camera which will do ~80% of its functions. In short, this camera has helped me to become a better photographer.
A great little camera that can and does June 21, 2006
Gadfly (El Paso, Texas United States)
56 out of 66 found this review helpful
The camera failed shortly after purchase.
Sent the H5 to Sony in Laredo for repair.
Now, almost a month later they admit they lost the camera and will send me a check in "2 to 3 weeks".
That came after many frustrating phone calls to Sony.
My calls were never returned, one time I was told I would have to pick a camera of a different model because they were out of stock on the H5. Believe that?
No I would not recommend this camera or any Sony product to anyone.
The company appears to be too large and too arrogant to actually care about it's customers.
The message I got from their representatives was that I would have to submit to company policy - no other choices.
The Sony H5 is a great little camera when it works but if you need Sony support then you have a major problem on your hands.
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