Sony DSC H5 Digital Camera Review

The Sony DSC H5 is an exceptional digital camera. At around $450 new, it may be too pricey for a person just starting out with digital cameras. It does however, have many nice features. Compared to other products in its price-range, I have found this to be a bargain.

The camera boasts 7.2 mega-pixels, an outstanding movie mode, and image stabilization. I have found the movie mode of this camera superior, in most places, to most starter camcorders. It provides a very vivid image and has a built in microphone. It picks up sound quite well, but you can hear a slight hum in the background. The movies are generally very clear, but sometimes will go out of focus in an attempt to focus on something else. This can be bypassed by manually focusing it, which isn't a big deal.

Taking pictures with this camera is very enjoyable. It includes a Carl Zeiss lens and a 12x optical zoom. This really allows you to zoom in close on distant objects. It also includes a digital zoom, but these are never really that great. No matter what camera you use, it will always end up looking more pixilated. The macro mode is very nice. I took a picture of a piece of fabric, and you can actually see individual fibers.

It includes many camera modes, depending on the situation. It has everything from completely automatic settings to a low light setting, which it uses an ISO of 1000 for low light situations. It does work well, but there is somewhat of a purple noise on the picture. This is normal for any camera though. You can also set everything to manual, where you can change almost every setting. You are capable of taking almost daylight looking pictures in near pitch black. Obviously, you will need to use a tripod and not have anything moving, or it will "smear" across the picture.

This camera includes a huge 3 inch screen, which takes up nearly the entire back of the camera. This is exceptionally nice for people with bad eyes. It also includes the standard viewfinder, which is a small LCD camera. This is nice for very bright situations where the back screen isn't as easily visible or if you want to conserve batteries. It also has a focus underneath the viewfinder which is also nice for older people, who can't see close-up very well.

Overall, I am extremely happy with this camera. It does everything that a good digital camera should do and more, very well. It includes two rechargeable batteries, which will let you run the camera for several hours. I was pleased to find it actually lasted longer than my old camera that was 2MP and had a 1.5 inch screen.