Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 Digital Camera Review

by Alex Burack
Published on January 01, 2004

Navigation
Intro	Testing / Performance
Physical Tour	Components
Design / Layout	Modes
Control Options	Image Parameters
Connectivity / Extras	Overall Impressions
Conclusion	Specs / Ratings

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 has an electronic viewfinder, which is typical of the ultra-zoom cameras. DSLRs usually have optical viewfinders, and compact models are now, more often than not, omitting viewfinders completely, so the electronic viewfinder seems to be the middle ground between compact cameras and DSLRs.

 

The H5’s viewfinder is small: only 0.2 inches. The surrounding eyecup looks much bigger – and much more comfortable – than it really is. Although its rounded edges suggest otherwise, the eyecup is actually hard plastic. .

 

 The viewfinder protrudes quite a bit from the back of the camera, but the actual window is just the tip of its the “nose.”  The window has 201,000 pixels of resolution; despite the viewfinder’s small size, this seemed insufficient when focusing the diopter.  The diopter adjustment itself, located on the viewfinder’s bottom, rotates smoothly, is easy to fine-tune, and has a wide range.

 

 Mainly because of its size, the viewfinder was difficult to use. Its glass also catches glare, even with the fat eyecup, and the Bright and Normal display options in the setup menu only provide marginal help.  Finally, the viewfinder’s slow refresh rate  makes the live view look choppy; this problem plagues the LCD as well. Overall, the Sony H5’s viewfinder has a few nice perks like the smooth diopter adjustment, but doesn’t really provide the smooth view it is supposed to. Users can stretch the battery life by using the viewfinder instead of the big screen—the Finder/LCD button to the viewfinder’s right switches views—but the LCD is far more appealing.

 

Compact models have been including larger LCD screens lately, but the HC5’s 3-inch screen could be the first of its size on an ultra-zoom model. The LCD has 230,000 pixels of resolution, so the view is fairly smooth, although certainly not perfect. Sony’s TFT Clear Photo LCD screen has an anti-glare coating that allows users to view it from fairly wide angles. The view is decent in most situations, but is hardly usable when the sun is overhead. Bright and Normal options, available in the setup menu, help alleviate this problem, but  don’t solve it completely. The screen’s refresh rate  is also slow, so moving the camera produces a lovely blur of the colors in front of the user. Besides these problems, though, the 3-inch screen is nearly flawless.

 

The Finder/LCD button to the right of the viewfinder switches the display between the two components. There is also a button, just below the zoom switch, that changes the information displayed with the images. Pushing it cycles through a live histogram and exposure information. Users can’t ever really clear the display completely, though. It will always display settings like the flash mode and burst setting, as well as shutter speed and aperture when in manual mode. When users snap shots, the recorded image pops up for a second if the Auto Review function is on. When it is turned off, the images still show up, but only for a split second. They appear with a message that says, “Recording.” Even this split second seems too long when trying to grab a bunch of shots quickly.

 

Overall, the 3-inch LCD screen is impressively large and certainly improves on the H1’s 115,000-pixel version. The slow refresh rate is disappointing, but not disappointing enough to ignore the 3-inch view.

 

A built-in flash on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5  automatically pops up when needed. Users can also prompt the flash  by activating the proper mode  from choices of Forced On, Auto, and Slow Synchro  , but u cannot pry the flash up with their fingers like on some models. The flash is effective from 1 ft to an impressive 29 ft 3 inches at the widest focal length and the automatic ISO setting. Bumping the sensitivity up to ISO 1000, extends the flash: it reaches from 2 ft 11 inches to 52 ft. Hardly any built-in camera flashes can reach this far.

 

For those lovely portraits, the Sony H5’s flash has a red-eye reduction system that can be activated to fire in any of the flash modes.  It sends out a series of five or six pre-flashes before firing the final flash and seems to work pretty well, as none of my portraits returned red eyes. The slow synchro mode takes several seconds. The camera even has a flash sync option, in the setup menu, that fires with the front or rear curtain.

 

Users can ramp up the power or dull it a bit with a flash compensation setting in the recording menu—after pushing the top end of the multi-selector to choose the flash mode, they can change the flash level from normal to + or --.  Dulling the flash still doesn’t make it effective in macro shooting; don’t even try using it with subjects closer than a foot, where the flash causes a harsh shadow to fall from the long lens. If subjects are at a reasonable distance, though, the flash won’t blow out foreheads or make detail disappear.

 

Colors remain fairly true, although it is still obvious that a flash is being used. If the bright-subject-against-dark-background look isn’t the best style, users can access the High ISO custom preset on the huge mode dial. This deactivates the flash and instead uses the higher 800-1000 ISO range to keep pictures bright. Still, this brings more noise into the picture and deteriorates the quality.

 

The built-in flash on the Sony H5 functions well. It has various levels, red-eye reduction and sync modes, and is effective over large distances.

 

The original Sony H1 had a 12x optical zoom lens that offered the same focal lengths and apertures but didn’t come with the Carl Zeiss brand name or the smooth control through the range. The Sony H5 has a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 12x optical zoom lens that measures 6-72 mm, equivalent to 36-432 mm in 35 mm format. It extends from the camera in a single barrel, but is constructed of 11 elements in 9 groups with a single ED lens and another aspheric element.

 

The outer rim of the lens is threaded for a conversion lens adapter, which is included in the package with the H5. The adapter has a 58 mm filter diameter and can accept the following Sony conversion lenses: the VCL-DH0758 high grade 0.7x wide angle or the VCL-M3358 close-up lens. The former lens costs $149 and the latter $69. Users can also purchase an optional polarizing kit for $100 and a neutral density filter kit for $50. When a conversion lens is attached, users must inform the camera by entering the setup menu and selecting the proper conversion lens.

 

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 includes a lens hood, adapter ring, lens cap, and a strap to attach the cap within the package. It has a decent macro mode that shoots as close as 0.74 inches. The macro mode does show some barrel distortion, , which is hard to get rid of on such a long lens, but the 12x optical zoom lens has some serious perks. Sony’s Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization system can work continuously or only when recording. Users can select modes by pushing the circular button atop the camera.

 

While the H1 had image stabilization and 12x zooming capabilities, the H5 still managed to make some improvements. The H1’s lens was difficult to control, making larger jumps than anticipated when users pressed the zoom switch. The control on the Sony H5 is much smoother. Users can get about 45 stops within the zoom range, which is incredible and allows easy framing for anything. Coupled with an effective image stabilization system,  the high-quality Carl Zeiss 12x lens keeps the picture looking as smooth as its zoom control.