Camera Test: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H9

The H should stand for Hooray. The Cyber-shot DSC-H9 ($459, street), the new flagship in Sony's line of superzoom electronic-viewfinder cameras, has a 15X optical zoom, 8-megapixel capture, image stabilization, and a slew of fun and useful features. It's almost as good as a DSLR, with the added benefit of a 31-465mm equivalent f/2.7-4.5 Carl Zeiss zoom.

Can it measure up? Sony certainly has gotten it closer to the DSLR mark than any superzoom EVF we've ever tested. Through ISO 400, it puts up Excellent image quality numbers: Excellent resolution (just shy of 1800 lines at ISO 80-200), Excellent color accuracy, and noise no higher than Moderately Low.

At higher ISOs, noise reduced the image quality rating, but we were pleasantly surprised. At ISO 800, the H9 displayed Moderate noise and Extremely High resolution, about 1550 lines average. At ISO 1600 and 3200, noise creeped into Unacceptable -- but not by much. This is much better than many highmegapixel compacts we've tested, and similar to some recent DSLRs. Plus, the H9's grain pattern at high ISOs is tight, like grainy color film. So, if not enlarged too much, shots at ISO 3200 could be usable.

Then there's the Super Steady-Shot lens-based image stabilization system. Giving you up to 3 stops of additional handholding, according to our DxO Analyzer 2.0 tests, it works well enough to let you turn down the ISO when shooting fairly stationary subjects. We used it to shoot from a moving boat, with the lens cranked out to 465mm, and got remarkably sharp pictures.

Fire! Fire! Fire!

The shooting speed of the H9 also represents a leap forward. While its EVF has low magnification -- a small viewing image -- we preferred it to the big LCD for tele shooting, as it helps steady the camera and improve aiming accuracy. The EVF redraws so fast that you can pan quickly and not see a jump in the image. AF and shutter response are such that, with instant review off, we could focus and fire with less than 1 sec between single frames, and just a momentary blacking out of the EVF after each.

Continuous shooting is trickier, since the EVF freezes frames during bursts, making panning guesswork. But it fires up to 20 highest-quality JPEGs at high speed (we counted up to 2.5 fps), and keeps blasting up to 100 frames at better than 1 fps. Several DSLRs would envy this.

We also like the D-Range Optimization setting, borrowed from the Sony Alpha 100 DSLR. This compresses or expands dynamic range according to the scene lighting, and does a good job of toning down excessive contrast. You also can set contrast manually to three levels. We found the default (middle) level a bit high in contrast, and we got the best color accuracy using the -1 contrast setting.

Hold That Thought

The handling of the H9 is very pleasant; you can grip it much like an SLR, left hand cradling the lens.

The control setup is a bit chaotic, though. Some settings (ISO, shutter/aperture, exposure comp, AF pattern) appear on the screen and are adjusted by a dial around the four-way jog controller, used for LCD info, flash mode, focusing mode, and self-timer.

Often, we inadvertently switched the flash mode when we were trying to enter exposure comp. Other controls -- meter pattern, drive mode and bracketing, EVF/LCD screen switch -- are scattered on various buttons, and more adjustments are in the menus. You'll need time to become familiar with the controls.

The big 3-inch LCD screen, which tilts up and down, is a boon for careful composition, as well as picture review. You can even superimpose grid lines on it.

The H9 performs some clever tricks. Nightshot slides the infrared filter off the sensor, so you can shoot in total darkness using the camera's infrared lamp. (Distance is limited to about 10 feet, and exposures are in the tripod zone.) After-shot fixes span the useful (redeye reduction, cropping) to the fun (fisheye effect, starburst filter). You can shoot stills in 16:9 widescreen format and display them in high-def with the included HDTV cable.

What's not to like? The H9 lacks both RAW capture and Adobe RGB color space. A more serious omission is a hot-shoe for an accessory flash. Its long zoom lens does show some purple fringing at the edge of pictures, confirmed as chromatic aberration by DxO Analyzer 2.0 tests. And as evolved as the H9's EVF and monitor are, we still prefer the direct optical viewing of an SLR.

But just try to find an 8MP DSLR with an image-stabilized 31-465mm f/2.7-4.5 lens for less than $500. Which fits in a cargo pocket. Which shoots fast, with no vibration. Which weighs less than a pound.

And if you can live with a fixed 2.5-inch LCD and no Nightshot mode, the Cyber-shot DSC-H7 is otherwise the same camera and carries a street price $90 less than the H9. Hooray, indeed!