Digital Trends

Sony CyberShot DSC-H3 December 9th, 2007 | by David Elrich

Testing and Use

The DSC-H3 is a very speedy performer. It pops to life in less than two seconds as the lens extends. Where this camera blows the TZ3 away is in continuous shooting mode. Even though this is an 8MP digicam versus the 7.2MP TZ3, the H3 fires away at almost D-SLR speeds. This is a bit of hyperbole since the cheapest D-SLR is $500 USD, not $279 (real world) like this one. Still it’s close and the difference with the TZ3 is like night and day—it’s that dramatic. Sony states with your finger on the shutter you can capture almost two shots per second—and my tests matched that figure; this is with the flash off, of course. You can keep firing away up to 100 shots before the camera—or your card—gives it up. If sports or action photography is high on your list, then the Sony DSC-H3 is the winner with the TZ3 fading down the stretch…

I started off at highest resolution which is 3264 x 2448 pixels and in Auto. Face Detection was engaged as was OIS with all other settings in default (ISO, white balance, exposure compensation). Surprisingly there were no compression options (Fine, Super Fine). I imagine Sony sees this as a true aim-and-forget camera but it would be nice to have; this is something Kodak typically does not a Canon or a Nikon. Once in gear, I took a load of shots indoors and out, switching to the various modes via the main dial and working through the menus. I also used Program and Manual to round it out.

The DSC-H3 is a lot of fun to use. It grabs focus very quickly (thanks to a 9-point AF system) and there were no problems in very low light due to the AF Assist lamp. And as noted, it saves files to the card very quickly in single shot or burst mode although things slow down noticeably with the flash on. The menus are a breeze to you and although they don’t have all the deep onscreen explanations as other point-and-shoots, it’s child’s play making adjustments. I particularly enjoyed shooting in the Program and Manual modes where you can unleash your inner tweaker. You’ll find things like DR (Dynamic Range) adjustment, adjusting the flash level and lots more. When my capturing and downloading was done it was time to turn out a raft of prints.

Image Courtesy of Sony

Before commenting, let me note the DSC-H3 has a number of in-camera fixes you can do like red-eye correction, add star bursts, turn a portrait into a fisheye view, things like that. They’re OK but I’d rather leave the editing to the computer—who wants to work on a 2.5-inch screen anyway? The same holds true for the slide show capability during playback. Although you can watch it with music playing in the background, the small screen takes away from the experience.

Now to the photos. For the most part I was very pleased. I did a lot of shooting of a still life in a very dark corner with available light, using 400 through 3200 ISO. I was very surprised the 3200 image wasn’t a pixilated mess; granted the noise was very noticeable in an 8.5x11 print but it better than most of the point-and-shoots recently used. Using the high ISO let me shoot at f/3.5 for 4 seconds and the OIS did a good job eliminating blur but there was some since no human can stand statue-still for that long. Also the images were soft because of all the noise reduction. However it’s good to know you can take decent shots with the flash off. As for the photos taken outdoors, there was no problem at all. Colors were rich and spot on with little purple fringes on high-contrast edges. The Face Detection system worked quite well too, not quite as good as Canon’s but still you’ll be happy with people shots.

Conclusion

While I liked the Panasonic DMC-TZ3, the Sony DSC-H3 has more positives such as much faster shot-to-shot times and quicker focusing. Image quality was just a tad better, not dramatically different but shooting at higher ISOs delivered less noise. I really wish the H3 had a larger LCD screen and the 28mm option because that would make it a slam dunk winner. As always do your own hands-on test but if it were my money, speed wins out—and the Sony has it to spare.

Pros:

• Takes quality photos
• Very responsive
• Reasonable noise at High ISOs

Cons:

• LCD screen too small
• No compression options
• Limited manual options