User hands-on review of the Sony DSC-H50 w/lots of photos

[jack55]

lisalonewolf wrote:

Jack, seen the great pics you have been doing with your H50...am thinking of getting one. I, too, can find no review of it...did find the 'facts' on it...which did help. I found out about the H50 by accident when looking for a smaller...oh well...camera...I have the H1...which is a great camera...and a few others...but, there are a few things that I would like that are not on that one or my others...namely the moveable LCD and high MGP 9.1 is pretty good when I think of macro flowers I like to shoot.
I also have the alpha 100 which I am still working on...had not done much with until I got a new diopter which helped my sight...
Which brings me to the question I had for you...is there a diopter adjuster on the h50, couldn't find it mentioned anywhere?

The LCD movability, the night vision(which I had on my 717 and liked), higher shutter speed, and higher ISO...are all big pluses...but, mainly it is the movable LCD. I loved the canons...but...shrug...

LLW

Thank you for the compliments. I had the Canon S5is for six months. Nice camera. There are some posts I made on that here in places.

I did a little review on the Sony H50 over here:
http://www.photographyreview.com/cat...7_6446crx.aspx

[jack55]

In another post, I had said one of the reasons I got this Sony DSC-H50 was that I liked the original H1 series so well. I have a habit of getting a new camera every 6 months, but this one I hung onto for over 2 years and the only reason I got the Canon was to try something new and I had dropped my H1 on the pavement, OUCH! I bought a few cameras while I had the H1 and ended up taking them all back, (except the canon) as the H1 was better made and did the job just fine. Here is a photo I took with that H1 and you will see what I mean.



The specs:

[jack55]

Here is a hand held shot taken with available light in my living-room.
This was unheard of a couple years ago.

[mtclimber]

Thanks for posting the excellent H-50 photos, Jack-

Your samples sort of restored my faith in the Sony H-50. Some of the previous sample I saw were nowhere the quality that I can easily see in your photos. Yes, I good professional review would be very helpful, I agree.

Sarah Joyce

[jack55]

mtclimber wrote:

Thanks for posting the excellent H-50 photos, Jack-

Your samples sort of restored my faith in the Sony H-50. Some of the previous sample I saw were nowhere the quality that I can easily see in your photos. Yes, I good professional review would be very helpful, I agree.

Sarah Joyce

Thank you Sarah! Here is a variety of shots I took last weekend with this great little camera!

[mtclimber]

Well, Jack-

I am just about sold on the H-50. What about camera size? How does it compare to say the Canon S-5 or the Nikon P-80 in terms of size?

Also any external flash possibilities?

Sarah Joyce

[jack55]

mtclimber wrote:

Well, Jack-

I am just about sold on the H-50. What about camera size? How does it compare to say the Canon S-5 or the Nikon P-80 in terms of size?

Also any external flash possibilities?

Sarah Joyce

Well Sarah, The size of all three are pretty close with the Canon s5is being the smallest and the one that "looks" more solid. The Nikon & Sony are more of a plasic feeling camera. I had the Canon for 6 months and have no real complaints about it. I just like the features on the Sony better. The big difference is the H50 LCD is much more clearer than the Canon was... and the Nikon. Also the between shots is faster. I was real happy with the H1 when I had it for two years.

The canon has the advantage of adding an external flash, but unless I'm doing weddings or portaits, I didn't need it. However, I did do a wedding with the H1 that turned out pretty good considering the flash limitations:
http://1-4u-computer-graphics.com/Ka...er_wedding.htm

However, I imagine one could buy a slave flash that would work?

Another big plus for the Sony was the remote. How many times have you rushed the timer shots? With the remote, you can take the picture when your good and ready. Plus it is great when you hook up the camera to the TV!

I thought I should add; you should do like I did and go down to Best Buy where they have the Canon s5is, Nikon P80 & Sony DSC0H50 side by side. Spend an hour or longer trying each one out to see how they feel to you, then take the exact same shots with the zoom & wide angle and compare. Compare the shot times, check out the LCD's etc. Then you will know which one you like. They are all nice cameras and it is really the person "behind" the camera that "makes" the photo's happen.

Hope this helps.

[mtclimber]

Jack-

Thanks for the added info. Yes, a big slave flash is about the best you could do with the H-50. But, it would give more coverage and better background lighting. That would be a bonus.

I will keep you posted on where I go with this one. I have three more weeks of teaching to do on Alaska cruises, before I am able to head for home in Oregon, where I will get a three week break before heading out again.

The wedding photos with the H-1 were well done. That must have been a challenge due to the flash limitations.

Sarah Joyce

[jack55]

Let's see how good the Sony DCS-H50 zoom is!

Here are some comparisions so you can see just how much zoom the Sony H50 has!

All shots are HANDHELD! No tripod as I forgot it.

This was shot from the 14th Floor of my folks retirement condo. The yellow arrow is where the ships show up later. I had forgot to shoot wide then... just zoomed in.



Now compare where that yellow arrow is and see just how close I got to the tall ships!



Ok, now compare this wide and zoom shot... pretty darn good zoom!






I'm telling you folks... to get a DSLR zoom lens that goes that wide and then zooms that far out you have to buy two lenses and it would set you back a couple thousand at least and yet, they won't really get any better quality than this $400 camera!!! AND I don't have a backache from carrying around all those lenses and tripod.

[jack55]

Here is using the Scene/Fireworks mode... works pretty well.

This was shot from my bedroom balcony overlooking Tacoma, WA




This was shot from my backyard balcony.