Sony DSC-H1

Reviewed June 2005

Image Quality

Whether it is 10X, or 12X as is the case with the Sony DSC-H1, compact cameras with powerful zoom lenses are attractive simply because they allow shots that other cameras with shorter lenses cannot capture. Moreover, when a long zoom camera is equipped with an optical stabilization system as is the H1, the camera becomes that much more appealing.

Indeed, while a powerful zoom can be a big advantage for some photos, if the camera is not rock-steady, it can also be a disadvantage. Long telephoto lenses amplify any camera shake dramatically, and camera-shake blurred images can occur easily.

With a 12X zoom that is the equivalent of a 36 to 432 mm lens on a 35mm film camera — a magnifying power that is illustrated by the wide angle photo shown above and the telephoto shot shown at right — the importance of a stabilizer is even greater.

At the maximum telephoto setting, a powerful lens such as this would normally demand a very high shutter speed to ensure a sharp image. With the Steady Shot stabilizer a sharp image can be had at much lower shutter speeds, expanding the functionality of the camera.

The DSC-H1 offers an image quality that can easily be described as ranging from very good to excellent. Helped by the use of ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass in the lens, colours are usually precise, and with the camera set to its default settings, it produces images that are not overly-saturated. For one, some of this precision in colour rendition can be credited to an Auto white balance that is reliable, and which adapts very well to most light sources.

But for another, credit must also be given to the default Multi-pattern metering which is generally accurate — especially when the subject is evenly lit — and which yields images that are well exposed.

This said, no metering is perfect, and some attention should be exercised with subjects that contain zones that are overly bright, or highly reflective as under such circumstances clipping can become noticeable in images, the overly bright areas disappearing altogether in the photo.

Photos from the H1 also show that barrel distortion at the wide angle end is effectively minimized by the aspherical element used in the construction of the lens, while telephoto shots are free of any pincushion distortion.

However, wide angle photos also show that the camera is subject to a small but detectable chromatic aberration in strongly contrasted areas of the image. Yet with photos captured at telephoto settings, the aberration seems to be lessened, and limited to contrasting elements imaged near the perimeter of the frame.

Similarly, we noted that wide angle images appear to be softer focus than those captured at all other focal lengths. And that images captured at the maximum telephoto were generally tack-sharp.

It is likely that some of this image sharpness can be attributed to the fact that, when compared to other recent Sony digital cameras, the DSC-H1 applies a lighter compression at the Fine image quality setting which allows more detail to remain visible in the image.

Set to its highest sensitivity of 400 ISO, the DSC-H1 yields images that contain visible noise, appearing as random specs of colours which are most noticeable in areas of an image that contain a section of similar colour, or deep shadows. But, starting with 200 ISO, noise becomes much less obtrusive, and effectively vanishes at settings of 100 ISO and 64 ISO, in all but the image's deepest shadows.

Finally, one other strength of the DSC-H1 is worth mentioning: flash photography.