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Sony Cybershot DSC-H50

82

Very Good

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6 User Reviews | add yours »

Pros
Powerful 15x optical zoom
Tilting 3-inch LCD screen
Cons
Slow startup speed
Short battery life

$296.99 - $412.99
From 23 Merchants

Pricing: Very Inexpensive: $399.99 (5/6/2008)
Performance: Superior: 92
Features: Fair: 69
Design: Good: 79

Find out how these four scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Pricing

Very Inexpensive: $399.99

Performance

Superior: 92

Battery
Battery Life Score	Good
Number of Batteries	1
Number of Shots	291
Battery Life	160.25

Image Quality Tests (Max. points = 100)
Image Quality Score	Superior
Image Quality, Color	68.7
Image Quality, Color--Auto	61.2
Image Quality, Color--Adjusted	76.1
Image Quality, Exposure	63.7
Image Quality, Exposure--Flash	58.8
Image Quality, Exposure--Normal	65.9
Image Quality, Sharpness	49.8
Image Quality, Distortion	53.8
Image Quality, Distortion--Noise	41.9
Image Quality, Distortion--Noise Reduction	47.5
Image Quality, Distortion--Sharp Interpolation	64
Image Quality, Overall	67.3

Features

Fair: 69

Imaging
Max. Megapixels	9.1Megapixels
Maximum Resolution	3456 by 2592
Optical Zoom	15X Zoom
Zoom Range Min. (mm)	31
Zoom Range Max. (mm)	465
Highest Shutter Speed	4000
Lowest Shutter Speed	30
Wide-Angle Aperture Maximum	2.7
Telephoto Aperture Maximum	8
Manual Focus	Yes
Interchangeable Lens	No
Lens Model	Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar
Accessory Lens	No

Hardware
LCD Screen Size (inches)	3LCD Screen
Dimensions	4.6 by 3.2 by 3.4
Weight (ounces)	16
Viewfinder	Electronic
Image Stabilization	Hardware
Media Slots	Memory Stick
Starter Media or Internal RAM	No
Battery Type	Rechargeable lithium ion
Charging Dock	Yes
Remote Control	Yes
Flash Shoe	No

Controls
Scene Modes	12
Aperture Priority	Yes
Shutter Priority	Yes
Full Manual Exposure Control	Yes
White-Balance Calibration	Yes
White-Balance Bracketing	No
Exposure Bracketing	Yes
ISO Range	ISO 80 to ISO 3200
Flash Slow Sync	Yes

File & Printing Formats
PictBridge	Yes
File Formats	JPEG

Warranty & Support
Labor Warranty (years)	One
Parts Warranty (years)	One
Weekday Support Hours	13
Saturday Support Hours	9
Sunday Support Hours	9
Toll-Free Support	Yes

Reliability & Service
Summary of results for all of brand's products in this category	Sony digital cameras are reliable, easy to use, and have few out-of-box problems, readers report. All-in-all, this is a great showing for Sony--and a repeat performance from our last R&S survey.

Reliability of brand's products in this category
Reports of product arriving with problems	Better than Average
Reports of products with any significant problems	Better than Average
Reports of problems that render a product unusable	Average
Buyers' rating of product's	Better than Average
Overall satisfaction with reliability of brand's products in category	Average

Service & Support Quality
Overall quality of vendor's phone support	Average
Reports of problems unresolved after contacting service	Average
Overall quality of service	Average

Design

Good: 79

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 Digital Camera Review

by Danny Palmerlee, PC World

- Sony's new Cyber-shot DSC-H50 has some outstanding features. But it also has a few kinks that may or may not hang you up, depending on how picky you are about certain functions.

Read Complete Review »

User Reviews for Sony Cybershot DSC-H50

Reviewed by: fabijw

Duration of ownership: 2 Months

Strengths: Great zoom, Good night shot

Weaknesses: Wide angle lens is awful. Picture shows big shadow caused by flash. There is no aux to attach separate flash-not included on H50's. $150 lens made especially for this camera makes camera useless for interior designers and interior pic with flash.

Overall Evaluation: Very upset. Sony unwilling to to assist.
Reviewed by: ryzvy

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Versatile zoom range, Strong flash, delivers photos with pleasing natural colors, night-shot mode, feels good in the hand

Weaknesses: Default photos a bit soft, wide angle and tele-photo not quite upto what the competition offers, battery life not that great, proprietary battery, hate the eyelets for the strap

Overall Evaluation: I have been using this camera for over three months now. I bought it for a trip to Peru and it took great pictures on both the Machu-Pichhu trek as well in the amazon rain forest. The photos came out slightly soft for my liking but the color saturation and tone were spot-on. After slight tweaking in Picasa the results were amazing. The flash is strong, bright and adjustable and recycles fast. But I guess this also leads to a battery life that is by no means great. I would call the battery life adequate. I carried a spare on the trip and I lasted 5 days without having to recharge with about 1000 shots. The camera is very well made and has a nice heft to it without being heavy. It feel nice and comfortable in the hands. My biggest pet peeve with the camera is the eyelets for the strap that rotate continuously. It drives me nuts as I am a bit OCD about such things and am un-twisting teh strap non-stop.