Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H1 Digital Camera

I recently started shopping for a new camera, not that there was anything wrong with the one that I had, but I just felt that I wanted to get away from the mini cd's and go with something with a memory stick. Of course if I'm going to buy a new camera, I am certainly going to look for something that has a few more features, meaning I'd rather step up than step down or buy the same basic thing that I had. So in the midst of all my research and shopping, I found the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-H1. I have watched and read about this camera for months, and it finally became available to purchase in the month of June. Well the time had come, and I had saved my money, and I purchased the DSC-H1 camera. Boy am I glad that I did. This thing is loaded with features, and takes much better pictures than my Mavica cd400 did.

It's not only better, but it's smaller, more compact, and lighter in weight. I don't really know where to begin when I explain to you what makes this camera such an awesome camera, so I guess I will start with the basics.

Description:
The Sony H1 has a miniature SLR look and feel, with a large lens barrel. The camera itself is easy to grip, and feels light-weight in your hands. Instead of the usual optical viewfinder, there's another LCD inside an eyepiece that you can use when in bright sunlight. I thought that was pretty cool. Whether you are looking through the view finder or using 2.5-inch color LCD monitor , you are always seeing a sharp crisp image. The best feature on the Sony H1 is the 12x zoom and Super SteadyShot image stabilization mechanism. This makes your pictures so much more clear and sharp. This would be great for those of you that have a hard time holding your hand steady while taking a picture. This new model, Sony's H1 Model, offers not only the six preset scene modes that are common to all other Sony cameras, but they have added a "Beach Mode". With it's four metering modes this camera offers complete exposure control. I'd have to say that "control" is probably the best way to describe the Sony H1. Simply because of it's simple interface, but yet giving you the most control over light gathering of any camera in Sony's lineup. This new camera is great for your Cyber-Shot enthusiasts and it's quality and ability lies somewhere between Sony's F828 and the P150, making this one awesome camera!!!! One of the best things about this camera that I love is that it has a 12x Zoom along with full manual exposure control, yet is simple to use. My Sony Mavica cd400 only had a 6x Zoom, so you can imagine that I'm quite impressed with 12x.


Basic Features
5.1-megapixel CCD.
12x zoom lens (equivalent to a 36-432mm lens on a 35mm camera).
Max 15-48x digital Smart Zoom (depending on res), plus 24x Precision Digital zoom.
Electronic viewfinder.
2.5-inch color LCD monitor.
Full Manual through Automatic exposure available, including Aperture and Shutter priority and seven Scene modes.
Built-in flash with five modes and an intensity adjustment.
32MB internal memory.
Sony Memory Stick storage (no card included), compatible with original Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro.
USB 2.0 computer connection.
2 AA NiMH rechargeable batteries and charger included.
Software for Mac and PC.

Special Features
Super Steady Shot (tm) optical image stabilization for steady shots at telephoto focal lengths.
Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Candle, Beach, High-speed shutter, Landscape, and Portrait modes.
Movie recording mode (with sound).
Multi-Burst slow motion mode and Burst continuous shooting mode.
Email (VGA) modes.
Shutter speeds from 1/2,000 to 1/8 sec in Auto mode; 1/2,000 to two seconds in Program mode; and 1/1000 to 30 seconds in manual mode.
Aperture range from f/2.8 to f/3.7.
Creative Picture Effects menu (black and white and sepia).
Image Sharpness, Saturation, and Contrast adjustments.
Self-timer for delayed shutter release.
Macro (close-up) lens adjustment.
Spot, Center-Weighted, and Multi-Metering modes.
Adjustable AF area and four AF modes.
Auto ISO setting or 64, 100, 200, and 400 ISO equivalents.
White balance (color) adjustment with six options.
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) and PictBridge printing compatibility

Scene Modes
There are a total of 7 scene modes including Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Candle, Beach, High-Speed Shutter,(shows a guy golfing) Landscape, and Portrait.

Twilight and Twilight Portrait both will capture an image in low light. The Twilight Portrait mode will automatically enable the red-eye reduction flash mode, making it so that the shutter speed is slower, allowing for more light, and then the background is brightened as well.

When using the Candle Mode, you would pretty much just use this for situations when the room is lit by candles or maybe around a campfire, where you DO have light but not enough for a bright clear picture.

The Beach Mode is great for the bright sunlight and when you are more likely to have over exposure because of the sunlight. It will help prevent having color loss in your photos because of the overexposure.

The Golfing Guy - High Speed Shutter Mode- This is great for those sporting events, or anywhere that you've got high speed movement i.e. Running , Jumping or any sort of fast movement. This is great for any "Action" shot you may wish to take. I have tested this by taking a picture of a moving ceiling fan. It does quite well. (Don't forget to get the best you should be pressing the shutter button down half way first before taking the picture.)

Landscape Mode sets has a never-ending focus, and it uses a smaller lens aperture to get the sharpest details both close up and far away. This mode works very very well for those distant sight seeing type of pictures.

The Portrait Mode is just that, for Portraits, anything that you want to look like a portrait will work great using this mode. What it does is that it sets it's exposure toward a wider aperture making the subject sharp, while leaving the background a little more blurred. It may not sound terrific, but believe me IT IS!!!!

Lets talk a little about the other options on the dial....

The "M" - Manual Mode: This provides you with total control with the exposure, you can manually change your shutter speed and the aperture. Apertures range from f/2.8 - f/8 and of course your shutter speed can range from 30 seconds to 1/2,000. Not bad eh? I like using this mode, but I'm still working on how to get things just right with it. So I'm not quite an expert in this area just yet, but I'm working on it.

The "A" - Aperture Priority Mode: This feature blurs the background and focuses in on your subject. You get to control the amount of light etc. from f/2.8 - f/8 using the Jog Dial which I will explain later on.

The "S" - Shutter Priority Mode: This is just a simple feature that allows you to be the one in charge of how slow or fast you want your shutter speed. it ranges from 30 seconds - 1/1,000 seconds.

The "P" - Program Mode: This mode is marked with a little icon of a black camera and a "P". While using this mode, it allows the camera to select the shutter speed and aperture, while you can control all the other variables.

The Automatic Mode: This one should be self explanatory, because it is what it says it is... The camera automatically selects what it thinks is the best exposure levels according to the lighting situations it detects. This probably the most commonly used setting. It will NOT detect Macro Mode, Image Size, Flash or Zoom etc...

The Playback Mode: is easy to see because it shows a traditional symbol that signifies Playing something. In this mode, you can scroll through your images and choose to delete them, or write protect them. You may also set them up for printing, by labeling them with a printer symbol, you can also copy, rotate, and resize your images in this playback mode.

The Movie Mode: This looks like a little film strip on the dial. Using this setting you can record a moving image, and sound, sort of like a mini clip of video. As long as you have space on your memory stick, you can record as long as you like. The resolution choices for the MPEG movies are 640x480 fine (30fps) - (THIS IS ONLY AVAILABLE WITH THE MEMORY STICK PRO CARD) - 640x480 normal (16fps), or 160x112(8fps) I wish they had one that did 800x600, but no such luck, I guess 640x480 will have to do.
While you are recording, you will be able to see a timer as it appears on the LCD monitor and it lets you know how many minutes are remaining on the memory stick, and also how long you have already been recording. This way you get an idea of how much time you have left.

I won't go into great detail on everything but I did want to at least tell what each mode was for, because I know from my last camera experience, I wanted to just be TOLD what they did, I HATE reading manuals, so if someone had the information that they could just put into simple terms I was happy for that.

Other modes that are available with this camera are the Multi-Burst mode which I honestly haven't even tried, I just simply know that it can be done, so I can't offer any real knowledge about that mode. That one a person would need to read their manual.

The Jog Dial & What It's For:
I wrote earlier that I would explain a little bit more about the Jog Dial, I have to be honest, at first I had NO IDEA what the heck a "Jog Dial" was. Even though my old camera had one as well, but heck, I used that dial to skim through the pictures, I didn't know that it had any other purpose than that. Obviously that meant that I never read my manual, and I never even tried to change many settings, right? Well with this camera I have been trying to get the MOST out of my picture taking, and I have actually cracked the manual, and I learned just what the "Jog Dial" does.
What is is used for is to Change the setting values when you are shooting with the manual adjustment modes such as the shutter speed priority mode, aperture priority mode, and the manual Exposure mode. By turning the jog dial, you can also view the previous image as I wrote that I did with my older camera. Little did I know that you could easily with the scrolling of just one dial change all sorts of settings. Using that dial you simply select what item you wish to adjust by moving your arrows and highlighting things such as Shutter Speed, it's default setting is 30 seconds, but once the seconds area is highlighted you can just scroll that dial and you will see the shutter speed time change. When you have have found the setting that you wish, just leave it there, or continue on, to change something else by using your arrow and highlighting another area. I tend to think this feature is for the more experienced photographer... If you don't really understand the whole concept you are better off just sticking to the Automatic mode where the camera does most of the work for you!

Internal Memory
Another great feature that this camera has is the 32MB internal Memory. You may actually use this camera with out having a memory stick. This feature came in handy on the first day that I bought my camera, because of the fact that this camera DOES NOT come with a Memory Stick included. I wanted to take a picture before even getting home, and the internal Memory worked well for this. I also didn't get a memory stick on the same day that I bought the camera, so I was using my sons 16MB memory stick with this camera, and I could get about 7 pictures on that memory stick. Which really stinks because either you need to delete some or you better remove the memory stick and then use the INTERNAL MEMORY which allows for 32MB of space. It's like using 2 of my sons Memory Sticks at once. I will tell you that there is a whole process as to downloading the pictures that are in the internal memory.

In the Menu options you can choose to use the Memory Stick Tool... Here you will be able to see a list of options. If you ARE using a memory stick you can choose to create folders - copy pictures from one to another folder or you can even format your memory stick which will delete EVERYTHING that is stored on the Memory Stick. If you have NO MEMORY STICK inserted into your camera, and then you go to the Memory Stick Tool, there you will find that you can only FORMAT your Internal Memory. But if you insert a BLANK memory stick OR a memory Stick with enough space on it, There you can choose to COPY the images from the Internal Memory onto the memory stick, which by the way is the ONLY WAY to be able to get your photos to download FROM the camera to your computer or printer etc. The images that are stored internally must FIRST be moved to a Memory Stick. But you MAY NOT or shall I say YOU CAN NOT move images from a Memory Stick TO the Internal Memory but you can take it from the Internal Memory and put it on the Memory stick. It goes only ONE WAY.

Battery Life:
The Sony Cyber-Shot H1 camera uses two NiMH AA batteries. Which I originally thought would be a bad thing, but I'm beginning to warm up to the idea. The battery life depends on just WHAT you are doing with your camera, but an over all average to the life of a fully charged set of batteries would be about 145 minutes if you are using the LCD viewing panel. If you DON'T use the LCD panel but instead use the view finder, you are boosting your battery life by about 15 more minutes. Not that big of a difference in my opinion so it's really nothing that I worry about. The number of images that you can get on that 145 minutes is about 290 images, but that also depends on what size images you are taking, or whether you are using MPEG movies or whatever, it all depends on just WHAT exactly you are taking pictures of.

Flash:
The dial on the back of the camera is where you can choose your different flash settings. The button for the flash is also the up arrow on that dial. If you press it, you will see the lightening bolts change. All you do to change the different flash features etc, is by pressing that button repeatedly.

This is what they mean:

If you have a bolt with a circle with a line through it, it means that you have chosen to have NO FLASH... a regular bolt means the Flash is a forced flash, meaning no matter what, the flash will go off. Next, a bolt that says SL next to it is a slow synchro forced flash. Meaning that the shutter speed is slow in a dark place in order to clearly shoot the background that is out of flash light.

When necessary, a pop-up flash deploys automatically, but there are different options for the Flash as well. Only while using the "P" "S" "A" or "M" modes are you able to adjust your flash levels from Low, Med or High. This is done by pressing the menu button on the back of your camera and scrolling to the flash options. Select which level you want it set on, and press menu again to make the screen disappear. You're ready to take your pictures.

What comes in the Box?
This is what comes with the camera when you buy it...
Neck strap..
Two NiMH AA batteries and charger..
USB cable.
AV cable.
Lens Adapter ring.
Lens Hood.
Lens Cap and retainer cord.
Software CD containing Picture Package (version.1.6 for Windows), Pixela ImageMixer VCD2 (for Mac), a PC-based tutorial, and USB drivers.
Quick-guide manuals and registration information.

This has many more options than your standard digital camera. I have found and am STILL finding that I can do more and more with it, as opposed to my last camera the Sony Mavica cd400. That was a good camera, but I can already tell you that it doesn't even compare to the the Cyber-Shot H1. I will tell you, however, that when I first got the camera I wasn't impressed at all, simply because the settings and the way I handled the camera for taking pictures is NOT like my previous camera. It takes a little adjusting, and getting used to the way things worked, but I'm finally understanding my camera better, and learning as I go. There is no reason why you can't produce a professional looking photograph with this Cyber-Shot camera. The pictures are absolutely stunning, and the auto focus is fast, the camera itself is built solid, and easy to hold. It's light weight and if you are like me and have gone from a heavier camera to this lighter one, you will have to get used to the feel. But overall this is an EXCELLENT camera.

I'm happy with my purchase, and I'm glad that I took the time to do my research before just buying a new camera. I would recommend this camera to anyone that has at least a little bit of knowledge about Digital Photography. If you are a person who isn't comfortable with changing settings, or learning to maneuver through all the extras on this camera, then I wouldn't recommend it.

If you are just starting out in the world of Digital photography, then I would suggest something a lot more simple to use such as my son's Cyber-Shot P52. (Link to that review is below) But those aren't being made anymore. What I would recommend for a beginner or the average person would be the Cyber-shot DSC-S90 Digital Camera (4.1Mega Pixel camera) or step up a little more and go with either the Cyber-shot DSC-W5 (5.1 Mega Pixel camera,) or the Cyber-shot DSC-P200 which is a 7.2 Mega Pixel camera. These are a perfect camera for the beginner - intermediate Digital user. Anything that is Point and Shoot will do fine. I don't recommend the Sony Cyber-Shot H1 as being your FIRST digital experience. With this camera being a high end point & shoot camera, you will also get the manual controls that you need in order to get the exact images that you're looking for.

So in conclusion, I'd just like to say that with the Sony Cyber-Shot H1 camera you are getting an excellent camera all the way around. You'll have great speed and resolution, all packaged with a ton of great features. Crystal clear images, and lets not forget the fact that it has that Super Steady Shot image Stabilization system that helps a user in case of any vibration or shake. This camera is both Compact and Stylish, and ready to go... It measures 4.25 x 3.25 x 3.62 inches (107.8 x 18.4 x 91.2 millimeters) and weighing 17.71 ounces (502 grams) with the batteries installed.


My Other Camera Reviews:

~ BRAINS & BEAUTY in the Photography World ~
- Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F828 Digital Camera -

~A GREAT Camera for Your Young Photographer~
- Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P52 Digital Camera -