Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9

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The Sony H9 has plenty of manual exposure modes and controls. Many are located in the menu system, but some can be changed directly on the LCD screen. Those include ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and focus mode. These can be changed by scrolling with the control wheel and making selections with the Set button.

 

Auto Focus
While the Sony H5 had a 5-point auto focus system, the H9 upgrades to a 9-point system that works very well. There was hardly any shutter lag and subjects remained crisp whether static or in motion. The auto focus mode can be set using the control wheel and the set button, and is visible on the LCD screen in the manual exposure modes. Auto focus modes include Center, Spot, and Multi. Each mode displays green boxes where it is focused when the exposure is locked. The Spot auto focus mode can be manually moved around the frame.

 

The macro mode can be found by pushing the left portion of the multi-selector. It can focus as close as 1 cm. In the recording menu, the auto focus system can be set to run only when the exposure is locked or continuously (called Monitor by Sony). In the setup menu, users can activate the auto focus assist lamp for aid in low light.

 

New to Sony digital cameras is the face detection technology included on the Cyber-shot DSC-H9. This does not work in the manual exposure modes – only in the Auto and Portrait modes – because it recognizes faces and then meters and automatically adjusts the exposure from them. Faces were recognized quickly and boxes would appear much like Canon and Fujifilm’s face recognition technology. Sony’s face detection is equally as fast, but not quite as effective. Sony claims that their system can detect up to 8 faces in a frame, while Canon and Fujifilm can recognize 9 and 10 at a time, respectively. I tried to get the H9 to recognize multiple faces. It quickly recognized one or two faces in a crowd, but I could never get it to show more than that. This could be a quirk of being a preproduction model though.

 

Manual Focus
The manual focus mode is grouped with the auto focus modes when scrolling around the LCD screen with the control wheel and the set button. Once selected, a horizontal bar appears with “1 cm” on the left and “∞” on the right. As users push the multi-selector right and left, they can watch a line move on the bar to show where the focus is on the range. The LCD screen’s resolution is good enough to ensure proper focus.

 

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 has a wide range of ISO settings available with the control wheel and set button interface. Auto, 64, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 settings are all available at full resolution. There is also a High Sensitivity scene mode located on the mode dial that combines high ISO settings with quick shutter speeds to reduce blur.

 

The white balance options can be found in the recording menu with a small live preview behind the text. The white balance can be set to Auto, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, Fluorescent 3, Incandescent, Flash, or One Push. The latter option is Sony’s manual white balance mode. It is set by scrolling to the far right and last option on the list called One Push Set. Once scrolled onto the option, the camera waits about a half-second and then takes a measurement – so users better be centered on something white by this point – and automatically scrolls back to the One Push option. This seems to work well, and it worked best at the Sony booth where lime green colored backdrops and poor lighting seemed to throw all other settings off a bit.  

 

When the shutter speed and aperture cannot be changed in the manual modes, the exposure compensation appears for adjustment with the control wheel and set button. The typical +/- 2 scale is available in steps of a third with a live view. Grouped with the burst modes accessible by a button atop the Sony H9 is the exposure bracketing mode. The camera snaps three shots at either +/- 0.3, +/- 0.7, or +/- 1.0.

 

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 has a metering button next to the burst button behind the shutter release. This yields Spot, Center, and Multi-pattern metering choices.

 

A faster shutter speed is available on the new Sony H9 – perhaps. The preproduction model maxed out at 1/2000th of a second, which is where the H5 stopped. Sony representatives assured me that the published specs are correct and that there will be a faster 1/4000th of a second shutter speed on the new model. The specs claim the automatic range will be ¼-1/4000, the program auto range will slow down to a second, and the aperture priority range will wander from 8-1/2000th of a second. The manual and shutter speed priority modes will have full access to the entire range of 30-1/4000th of a second. There is no bulb option. The shutter speeds are changed on the LCD screen with the control wheel and set button; this provides a nice live preview.

 

The Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom lens on the Sony H9 has a nice wide aperture of f/2.7 when the lens is zoomed out. When in the manual or aperture priority modes, users can choose from these apertures: f/2.7, 3.2, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.6, 6.3, 7.1, and 8.0. When zooming in on subjects, these apertures are available: f/4.5, 6.3, 7.1, and 8.0. Considering the length of the ultra-zoom lens, the maximum f/4.5 aperture at the telephoto end really isn’t too bad.