Sony Cyber-shot® DSC-H7 Digital Camera with Monster 15x Optical Stabilized Zoom
Written: Jun 01 '07 (Updated Nov 03 '07)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Photo Quality:
Shutter Lag
Pros: Monster 15x zoom, image stabilization, wide angle, new battery system improves performance
Cons: Price, size, Sony camera-only Memory Stick Duo
The Bottom Line: I recommend Sony DSC-H7 if you want an 8.1MP camera with good optics, wide angle, 15x optical stabilized zoom. It certainly can produce beautiful...
dkozin's Full Review: Sony Cyber-shot® DSC-H7 Digital Camera
The mega-zoom cameras by Sony (H1, H2, H5) suffered from slow operation because of the use of two AA batteries. The new H-series cameras are supposed to change that with the use of proprietary Li-Ion batteries. The update on the 7.2-Megapixel Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H5, the 8.1-Megapixel Sony CyberShot DSC-H7 improves in many aspects, including resolution, zoom and wide angle capabilities.
I got The H7 for $368. It is almost $100 cheaper than the Sony H9 with not many tradeoffs.
The H7 (just as the original mega-zoom H1, H2 and H5) competes with optically-stabilized mega-zoom cameras from Fuji, Panasonic, Canon and Kodak and has the same kind of major features (over 10x optical zoom and optical image stabilization, full manual control). But it ups the ante with 15x optical zoom, 31-mm wide angle capability, 8.1-Megapixel resolution.
The competitors include Panasonic FZ8 and Canon S3 IS, both of which are quite impressive. Still, with 15x optical zoom and other impressive features, Sony H7 looks like a formidable competitor, at least on paper. And if you want the same features, but with a larger 3-inch articulated LCD screen and NightShot technology, there is also a Sony DSC-H9 model.
What Is Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H7?
The Sony CyberShot DSC-H7 is a 8.1-Megapixel digital camera with a 15x optical zoom (31-465 mm equivalent f/2.7-5.6 wide, f/4.5-8.0 telephoto), optical image stabilization, a 2.5-inch fixed LCD screen, powered by a proprietary Li-Ion batteriy.
The camera stores pictures on its built-in 31MB of memory or a proprietary Sony Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick Duo Pro and features fast USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection to PC and Mac computers.
The camera features advanced manual control options, including manual focus, manual exposure, exposure bracketing and macro mode.
Getting Started
The H7 is hefty and feels sturdy. It is convenient to hold and its controls are within easy reach. Once I charged the supplied Li-Ion battery pack, I set the camera’s clock and was ready to shoot.
The H7 is rather large comparing to the Canon S3 IS and even more so in comparison to the Panasonic FZ8. Even without batteries it is subjectively much heavier (and much larger) than the FZ8, which is one of my favorite mega-zoom travel cameras.
The camera looks like an SLR with a pronounced handgrip and a sturdy mode selector wheel on the top deck. But it is obviously not an SLR camera and rather belongs to a popular group of mega-zoom advanced digital cameras. The H9 feels sturdy and well-made. It accepts Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick Duo Pro cards.
The bottom has a tripod mount. The back features a 2.5-inch LCD screen, an electronic viewfinder (EVF) with diopter adjustment, buttons for menu control and other functions and zoom buttons. The top deck has a mode selection wheel, shutter release button, buttons for focus mode selection and burst/bracketing button.
Once powered, the camera extends its lens forward relatively fast and you are ready to shoot in about a two seconds after you turn the camera on. The lens itself proudly proclaims that it is Carl Zeiss and Vario-Tessar. Works for me.
The shutdown takes about 2-2.5 seconds. The controls have generally good tactile feel with only slightly too much effort required.
Ease of Use
The camera is very easy to use. I have not opened the manual, but was able to use the camera and all its features in no time. The camera can be used by any member of the family and by photographers of all levels of expertise from novices to advanced ones.
You zoom in and out by using the zoom buttons on the rear of the camera. The camera has an electronic viewfinder (EVF) and a 2.5-inch LCD screen that is bright, accurate, fluid (slightly less fluid in the dark) and works well in the sun.
The H7 can be set to its Auto mode. You do not have to do anything other than point and shoot - the camera takes care of the rest. The camera uses multi-area smart autofocus. You press the shiny shutter release button halfway to make camera focus (the camera shows you that it focused and beeps to confirm focus) and then you take the picture by pressing the shutter release button all the way.
If you want more control, you can select one of the scene modes (Portrait, Landscape, Show, etc.). For even more control, you can select Program mode, in which you can select ISO, white balance, exposure compensation, flash output adjustment, metering mode, sharpness adjustment, contrast adjustment, saturation adjustment, color, picture effects and more.
And if you want even more control, you can switch to the Aperture or Shutter Priority or full Manual mode, where you get to control aperture and shutter speed directly.
The flash mode can be selected by pushing the arrow right button on the rear panel, the macro mode can be selected by using the arrow left, the timer by arrow. There is a separate button for review as well.
The flash pops up automatically if the selected flash mode requires it to. It pops up rather high and generally works well.
Performance
The camera has a very versatile 15x optical zoom, which is smooth and has a wide angle of 31mm equivalent, which is an impressive number for its class (most mega-zoom cameras start at 35-36mm). The competitors only have 12x optical zoom.
The camera features an optical image stabilization system called Super Steady Shot. You can select (using the setup menu) to have it engaged when the camera takes a picture only (default) or have it work continuously to eliminate shake when composing the shot as well. The second approach is more energy-consuming and I do not use it.
The image stabilization works well, letting me shoot handheld a couple of stops slower than I would normally dare using the 1/focal length rule. For example, at wide angle (31 mm equivalent focal length), I normally would have to shoot at a shutter speed faster than 1/30 s. And at full telephoto, it would have to be faster than 1/450 s. But I was able to use much slower speeds with no blur, including 1/100 s at telephoto and 1/8 s at wide angle.
The problem however is the fact that the camera is so heavy, I am not sure if the good results were caused by the efficient image stabilization or by the weight of the camera. But in any case, the bottom line is you can shoot handheld at higher zoom levels and in darker conditions than you would ever dare with a non-stabilized camera (e.g. Kodak EasyShare Z740).
With the use of a proprietary Li-Ion battery and Sony Bionz processing engine, the camera finally has appropriate speed. The older models were slow at many tasks, including focusing and shooting. In particular, the burst and bracketing modes of the H5 were definitely not burst. The H5 had a burst mode that was about 3 times slower than competition (1.5 fps at best vs 4 fps) and the H1 was only about 0.7 fps. The H9 is 2.2 fps, which is definitely acceptable.
You can take pictures in normal mode at about one every 1-1.5 seconds or so. The flash no longer takes up to 12 seconds to recycle, which proves that using 2 AA batteries for such a power-hungry device as a mega-zoom digital camera is not necessarily a good choice.
Picture Quality
The camera has a Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom (31-465 mm equivalent focal length) with f/2.8 maximum aperture at wide angle, f/4.5 at telephoto, which is rather good. It lets you select the resolution for your images up to 8.1M. You also get a choice between Standard and Fine quality.
The H7’s built-in memory is not enough for anything other than taking a small number of pictures (in single digits). You will definitely need to get a memory card.
The camera produces very good, well-exposed, sharp, contrasty and richly-colored photos. The H7 has good auto white balance, aside from incandescent lighting. The photos are sharp throughout the frame.
There are small amounts of chromatic aberration noticeable, but it is not bothersome and is definitely not the worst in comparison to other mega-zoom cameras.
The H7 lets you select automatic ISO or select ISO up to 3200. The image noise is low up to ISO 200, gets more pronounced at ISO 400 gets worse above that (and some fine detail get softer to diminish noise). Still, if you are printing 6x4 or 5x7 pictures, the noise should not be visible at all up to ISO 1600 and will only be slightly visible at ISO 200-400 with larger prints.
The eight megapixel-resolution photos the H7 produces, you can print your photos at up to 13x19 inches with good detail (ISO 100-200). The ISO 1600-2000 are only barely usable for 6x4 prints and not if you are perfectionist.
More on Features and Controls
The H7 features a low-light focus assist illuminator that helps it focus in low light. It is very bright and works well. You can use the exposure compensation in the Program mode and it comes in handy in some situations. There are a bunch of scene modes as well, which help the camera tweak the focusing and exposure settings according to the type of scene.
LCD
The camera has a 2.5-inch LCD screen and an electronic viewfinder. Both the LCD and EVF coverage as about 100% - you can see exactly what will be recorded. The LCD is bright, fluid, has good visibility in sunlight or darkness and good resolution, which helps you confirm the focus.
Computer Connectivity
The H7 uses standard USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection to transfer pictures to a computer. You can also remove the Memory Stick Duo memory card (if you use it) and use a memory card reader (if you have one), which I did.
Menu System
I have not read the manual, yet was able to use the camera in all modes. I like Sony's menus less than recent Canon menus or Panasonic ones. But they are certainly usable, it just takes more time to do the same thing with Sony menus than it does with Canon or Panasonic.
Reservations
I somewhat dislike the fact that the camera uses somewhat expensive (and used exclusively in Sony cameras) Memory Stick media. SD cards would be a much better choice for us, consumers. But Memory Stick is much better choice for Sony. That way they can make more money. If I was a Sony shareholder, I would appreciate this kind of thinking. But I am not.
Bottom Line
I recommend Sony DSC-H7 if you want an 8.1MP camera with good optics, wide angle, 15x optical stabilized zoom. It certainly can produce beautiful photos and is feature-rich and sturdy. The impressive 15x zoom, optical image stabilization and the 31-mm wide angle make it a flexible photographic tool for virtually any situation. It is great for travel and sports photography.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 368 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
8.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom lens; 2.5-inch LCD display High S...More at Amazon Marketplace
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