Hi:
I am thinking about buying the Sony DSC-H5 digital camera. With so many in the market, I do not have a clue as to whether I am purchasing the best in the price range. It seems to be listed at $433.00. I saw dpreview.com and there were a lot of good reviews and some bad ones. Some people talked about purple fringing as a negative and I am not sure how much of a factor it is. Can you help me with the right purchase if you have opinions about a digicam in this price range? Thanks.
Sidhaartha I bought the DSC-H1 which is the 5.1megapix version. It is a nice camera and I paid about $525 last Oct. I have taken tons of great pictures and videos. However, if I had to do over again I would go with a Fuji camera. I had a little 3.2 megapix Fuji and the colors were so awesome. Take a look at the Fuji S9000. First you did the right thing by checking dpreview.com
This is a great site and really puts a camera through its paces. As for the purple fringing...this is chromatic abrasion and it appears on the edges of dark subjects when placed against a bright background. This is something to be concerned about but a low priority for most weekend photographers. You may find it acceptable in most images you create. It sounds like you really have to enlarge the image to see it and if you're only doing 4x6s it shouldn't be too bad. I also found it interesting that the camera is sharper at f/stops under f/5.6? This is strange.
One thing that would be a deal killer for me with the camera (and most others in this class) is no hot shoe on the top of the camera. If you are limited to the pop up flash in the camera I would pass. This makes red eye a problem that has to be overcome with different flash modes and settings and....ect.....things I don't want to bother with.
I think I would look hard at the Canon S3 IS. It might come down to how the cameras feel in your hands. How you hold the camera or the size of your hands can make a big difference in selecting one of these cameras. He's talking about very tiny flaws at extreme uses of the camera.
Here's what you should do. Go to your local Circuit City store and fiddle with one on the shelf. It will be right next to several others. You will see very clearly that it is the best ultrazoom camera on the market in that class.
Personally, I chose to buy the R1 camera instead. This 10 megapixel monster is the best camera you can get currently for under $2 grand (the SLR cameras all suck balls with their kit lens, requiring you to spend a fortune on a decent piece of glass). Anyway, I paid about $650 and change for mine all told. It was a mega bargain. Go check out the review on the R1 to see what I mean. Also, go play with one in the store. You will probably have to go down to a Sony store in order to find one (check their website for one near you). | 