Sony Cybershot DSC-H7

Out of the box impressions: Ultimate point and shoot. There may be downsides for those into serious digital photography but for semi-advanced idiot shooters like me, this is tops. Biggest advance for me: No shoot-the-head-get-the-tail lag in sports mode. 15X zoom is great. Movie mode works seamlessly and seems of high quality. I've seen critiques of the H9 on Amazon that were long and scathing and so I was somewhat skeptical. Those with concerns about advanced color and a real need for 8 mp should check them out. They're well done. But the serious critiques seem to come from those looking for a pro SLR, not a point and shoot. Which to me is like saying a great family car isn't like a sports car. Two different animals. But for my needs, which include some shots for publication and web publishing, this is an enormously big camera at a reasonable price. Battery pack works great. Strobe is big. One annoyance: not sure if sound-effects can be shut off. Serious problem for wildlife fotogs. Updates...See comments on how sound can be turned off. Also, after a few months of use, still feel great about the camera. Con: On close photo shots, if you have the lens attachment on, the lens attachment will throw a shadow as it blocks the strobe.

This is by far one of the best value-for-money compact Sony Cybershot in the market, along with all the H series from Sony. Granted the H series does not perform very well optically, (there's wheel barrel distortion at wide end zoom and visible purple fringing), but the recent upgrade in terms of megapixels and increased optical zooming in the H7 (and H9) plus remote control and improved processing speed (thanks to the BIONZ processor) really makes this compact worth a second look.

Surely the quality of the Carl-Zeiss lens on the H7 can in no way compare with those of either the R1 or the Alpha, but please bear in mind that the H7 is after all a compact point and shoot camera. I have previously owned a W600, a P100 and a P200 from Sony. The resolution of these cameras were of course lower than 8.1MP, and the cameras were of course slower than the H7, but generally these cameras could not out-perform the H7, especially when it comes to picture reproduction. The purple fringing is visible on all models under bright light, the wheel barrel distortion is horrible on the W600 but less visible on the P100 and P200, but most of all these compacts do not provide extensive manual handling (W600 doesn't provide any), which makes them unfavorable under alot of shooting conditions.

The H7 captures and focuses at an amazing speed (with the help of the new processor I presume), and it also has enough processing power to do full resolution bursts up to 100 pictures per burst (which i find amazing considering the price of the camera). My R1 can only do 3 bursts at one click and has to stop to to clear its buffer for a few seconds (to process and store the images), and although the images are almost flawless (the T coated CZ lens is unbelievably sharp, corner to corner), the inability of the R1 to continuously capture images has cost me alot of precious "kodak" moments, and the R1 is a USD999 camera. The USD350 H7 can snap away like a crazy ADD kid on adrenaline capturing every moment in 8.1MP without needing a breather... (personally i can't hold my finger down for 100 shots) :)

This camera of course has it's limitations: the burst mode limits the ISO setting to only 400 (you wouldn't want anything more than that anyway because the images tend to get really noisy after ISO 400), and certain shutter speeds (max is 1/4000 sec, impressive since even my R1 could only do 1/2000) are only available under certain aperture sizes and certain zoom ranges. Also, the images are generally noisy in darker, shadowy areas (then again it's no more than any other compact cameras and even those cameras with APS-C sensors suffer from picture noise as well; they're just a bit less visible on screen (due to the size of the sensor) but you'll see them alright) and the H7 does not come with a hot shoe for you to use external flashes to do those beautiful bounce-flash photography or super long range flash photography (it's actually pointless anyway because the optical zoom on the H7 is so powerful (up to 475mm) that there's no external flash in the market that could reach as far as the camera).

If you're looking for a compact point and shoot that has enough features and manual controls to drive you crazy while shooting pictures of the moon all the way to your kid's sports game, look no further. The H7 is a steal :) Manual controls found on D-SLRs like Aperture Priority, Full Manual and Shuttle Priority can all be found here, just like the R1 and Alpha, and although the picture quality of the H7 cannot compete with those from the R1 or Alpha, it compensates well with a built-in mega zoom lens (the R1 can only go from 24mm to 120mm whereas the Alpha requires multiple lenses) that goes from 31mm to 475mm, light weight and a very compact chassis (for a compact with such a powerful built-in zoom lens) and speedy responses that match those of the Sony Alpha (they both use the new BIONZ processor). Can't wait to see what Sony will introduce for the H series family next year..

I did a lot of research on "bridge" cameras (digital cameras that fall between "point and shoot" and DSLRs) and finally decided on the H7 for two reasons. First, I owned a 3.2 mp Sony camera prior to this one. I was pleased with the way it worked and found the in-camera menus easy to use. I wanted to upgrade to more megapixels and larger optical zoom, but still have an "easy to use" camera. Second, Sony cameras had ALL the features I wanted (steady shot, face recognition, high ISO, etc) whereas other brands tended to only have one or two of these options.

The camera was easy to set up and I started taking pictures within 5 minutes (the battery was 2/3 charged out of the box). The camera came with a remote, carrying strap, lens cover, and lens shade. You have to buy a memory stick, but I just used my extra one from my PSP.

Pros:
-8.1 megapixels with 15x Optical zoom: These two features are hard to find together in a camera. I found with other cameras I had to compromise on one or the other. The mix of these two features creates some great pictures.

-Steady Shot: Like other reviewers said, I found this helps a lot when you are at maximum zoom

-Face recognition: It takes some fiddling to make it work right, but it does help center your pictures on the people rather than the background.

-Menus: Having owned a Sony camera before, learning the in camera menus wasn't that hard. However, it may take some time for folks not used to Sony products.

Cons:
-LCD screen: The screen smudges very easily and quickly. The resolution on the screen isn't very good for what I expected from Sony and is the main reason I can't give this product 5 stars.

-Body style: While the construction of the camera gives a very professional look, it can be hard to hold. You will probably need two hands if you're doing a lot of shots.

-Accessories must be Sony made: As with all Sony products, you must buy only their accessories. I know this is a big factor for folks who already own a large collection of lenses.

-Action shots: I probably need to work the settings on the camera, but all my action shots seem to come out blurry. I had seen some reviews of this camera that said this was an issue.

All in all, this is a great camera. As a previous reviewer said this camera is not for folks looking for a DSLR. It is a step above the first generation of "point and shoots." However, for all the features you get, it is a great value.

I've used the Sony DSC-H7 for a couple of weeks now and I've gotten a good sense of the strengths and weaknesses of this camera. Overall a strong recommendation and only a few minor flaws.

Here's the breakdown:

PROS:

- Incredibly high quality 8 megapixel photos
- Serious 15x optical zoom (not pixelated digital zoom)
- Takes pictures in very quick in rapid succession, 3 per second if desired
- In camera picture editing including red-eye reduction
- Extremely solid physical construction overall (one exception below)
- Powerful flash that lights up even far away targets
- Long battery life (200+ shots in my tests with still half power left)
- Has high-quality Sony add-ons for wide angle and telephoto lenses

CONS:

- Screw on light baffle (included) seems cheap and doesn't stay in position and can ruin shots
- Automatic settings mode can lead to blurry photos in action sequences unlike other Cybershots
- Face recognition mode doesn't seem to work more than 8 feet away or so
- Long battery charging time if you use more than a quarter of the charge.
- Smallish rear LCD screen makes checking photos more difficult than it should be, expected larger in a camera like this
- Flash pops up and is auto-activated more than any other camera I've used before and more than seems needed

Overall a really solid performer and happy with it, you just have to get used to its personality, it's definitely not a grab and go as the thin Cybershots, but with a tiny bit of study you can produce pretty amazing results.

I have the H7/B version, which is essentially the same camera as this. Having owned another SONY camera before, I was glad to see that most of the functions on the back had not changed all that much, therefore, not a steep learning curve. Pros: flash automatically flips up when needed for a shot. Cons: 1) When you turn on the camera, the lens automatically pops out, causing the lens cover to fall off. 2)only takes Sony DUO memory sticks (can't use old ones in new camera, but vice versa ok with adaptor.)3) Cover for USB port seems flmsy, doesn't like to bend out of the way, and is probably going to break off. 4) software required to view photos on PC. Pros: Recording in movie mode is pretty good. Quality is good, speed is good. Shutter lag is minimal for stills, less than half a second typically. Face recognition technology does seem to work well, making faces perfectly lit in any light. Beware of bright back-lighting though, which will trick camera into thinking no flash is needed. Result: silhouettes. Zoom is great, and steady shot seems to really work well, as evidenced when my 8-yr-old took a picture using zoom to its full extent. Despite shaky small hands, picture came out clear.