Sony DSC-H5 Review

The Cyber-shot H5 features a Carl Zeiss 12x, 6 to 72mm (36 to 432mm in 35mm equivalent), F2.8 - F3.7 zoom lens. It is constructed of 11 elements in 9 groups with 1 ED glass element and 1 aspheric element. Sony's Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization feature counteracts camera-shake to ensure sharp images. This feature also benefits low-light photography by allowing the use of longer shutter speeds with reduced risk of image blur from camera-shake.

Equipped with a low-light AF-assist lamp, the contrast detection autofocus system has a range of 19.7" (50cm) - infinity in normal mode and from 3/4" (2cm) - infinity in Macro focus mode. Focus modes are selectable and include: Multi point AF, Center AF, Flexible Spot AF and Manual Focus.

Supplied with a screw-on lens hood and 58mm filter adapter, the H5 is compatible with the Sony VCL-DH0758 0.7x wide angle conversion lens, the VCL-DH1758 1.7x telephoto conversion lens and the VCL-M3358 close-up lens.

The auto popup speedlight has modes for: Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Fill-in and Slow-sync. The working range at ISO Auto: 1' to 29' 3" (0.3-9.0m) wide angle and at ISO 1000: 2' 11" to 52' (0.9 -16m) wide angle. The flash squelches down nicely for macro exposures and has 3 power output settings.

The eyelevel electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a tiny 0.75cm color LCD monitor with 115,000 pixels and a magnified eyepiece. The diopter adjustment lever is underneath. The EVF can be used for framing, review and menu operations. The FINDER/LCD button switches the active display from EVF to the large color LCD - the information displayed on both monitors is identical.

Controls on the back: The Zoom lens controls, they function as the Index and Magnify buttons when in review mode. The MONITOR button controls the amount of information displayed on EVF or LCD. The MENU button calls up and dismisses menu screens. The 4-way controller is for navigating menus, changing settings and selecting playback images. The center button accepts menu selections. In record mode the 4-way buttons are used for: "Up" change flash modes, "Down" enable selftimer, "Left" is for exposure compensation and "Right" is for Macro focus mode. The button below the 4-way controller is used to select the Image Resolution in record mode and for image deletion in review mode.

Top controls: Out in front of the shutter release button is the Jog Dial (used to change settings in the manual modes.) The FOCUS button selects the desired focus mode (Multi point AF, Center AF, Flexible Spot AF, Manual Focus). The BRK button selects the drive mode (Single, Burst, AE Bracketing, Multi Burst). The "Hand" icon button turns the Super Steady Shot image stabilizer on/off. The Power on/off button. The Mode Dial has positions for: AUTO, Program AE, Shutter-speed priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, High-Sensitivity, Night, Night Portrait, Beach, Sports, Landscape, Portraits and Movie. The FINDER/LCD button selects the active display. The "arrow" button enables the playback mode.

On the left side are the I/O ports:

A/V output, video is NTSC or PAL, audio is monaural

USB 2.0 (high speed) data port. This is PictBridge compatible for direct printing to most modern photo printers.

The H5 stores its data on ~32MB of internal memory and optional Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Duo PRO Cards. Memory Stick Duo PRO is required for capturing the MPEG-VX Fine mode 30fps motion video clips.

Number of Storable Photos (approx.)

The Cyber-shot H5 is powered by two AA type batteries. Sony recommends using only NiMH rechargeables and supplies a pair of Stamina 2100mAh cells and a BC-CS2 charger with the camera. A fully charged set can capture up to 340 shots.

Check out our Rechargeable Battery Page for info and prices on popular brands of high-capacity NiMH AA cells.