Sony DSC-H5

Reviewed August 2006

Introduction

In general appearance, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 is a twin of the DSC-H2, sharing both body design and instruction manual. Like the H2, the H5 offers a 12X stabilized Carl Zeiss zoom, but adds a 3-inch LCD monitor instead of the 2-inch monitor of the H2. The critical difference however, is internal: the H5 has a different CCD, which gives it a 7.2-megapixel resolution.

The H5 is equipped with a large, 3-inch (7.4 cm) LCD monitor. The monitor is composed of 230,000 pixels, and offers a clear and well-defined image.

The size of the monitor, however, leaves little space to hold the camera without infringing on the space occupied by the external controls on the right side of the monitor.

The electronic viewfinder of the H5 measures 0.2 in. (0.5 cm) diagonally, and is composed of 201,000 pixels, giving a small but sharp image. A dioptre corrector, positioned underneath the exit pupil, is also included and makes it possible to adjust the image to one's eyesight.

The top of the grip supports the chromed 2-stage shutter release, which is angled slightly towards the front.

The Jog Dial is embedded at the top of the grip, directly below the shutter release. The Jog Dial serves to change settings such as the aperture and shutter speed combination when the camera is set to Program Shift, or the aperture and shutter speed in the other modes (see further), or even other settings such as exposure compensation.

The dial can be rotated and clicked like a mouse button, making it possible to adjust a setting, click the dial to register the setting, then rotate the dial to get to another setting, clicking it once more to allow making changes.

Two buttons are positioned directly behind the shutter release:

controls the Focus Mode: Multipoint AF (the default) uses three AF points, placed next to each other at the horizontal middle of the frame. This is the only focus mode available when the camera is set to the Auto shooting mode. Centre AF uses only the centre AF point.

The Mode Dial is is positioned near the right edge and has 13 positions, each corresponding to a capture mode. Turning the dial to select another mode displays an animation on the turning dial on the monitor or the viewfinder, and a short description of each mode as the dial is clicked through the various modes:

Auto places all photographic settings under the control of the camera, and all the user has to do is decide if the flash, macro mode, or self-timer is required.

	Program, just like the Auto mode, also leaves the selection of the aperture and shutter speed up to the camera, but alternate combinations of aperture and shutter speed — emphasizing either depth of field or speed — can be selected by the user with the Jog Dial (Program Shift). In addition, all other photographic parameters can be controlled.
	Shutter Priority makes it possible to select a shutter speed from a range that covers from 1/1000 second to 30 seconds, while the camera handles the aperture.
	Aperture Priority provides a choice of apertures from f2.8 to f8 at the wide angle end, and f3.7 to f8 at the telephoto end, while the camera matches it to a shutter speed.
	Manual allows selecting both the shutter speed and the aperture along with all other parameters. The camera displays the exposure compensation scale to indicate over- or underexposure.
ISO	High Sensitivity makes it possible to capture sharp images in dark places without the use of the flash, by allowing the camera to adjust sensitivity from 80 to 1000 ISO.
	Twilight allows a maximum exposure time of 2 seconds while cutting off the flash and forcing the sensitivity to 80 ISO. Noise reduction is automatically applied post-capture.
	Twilight Portrait provides the same settings as the Twilight mode, but uses the flash set to Slow Sync to capture a subject standing in front of night scenery. If Red-eye reduction is needed, it has to be activated in the Setup menu first.
	Beach limits the use of the flash to Forced On, or Forced Off and the slowest shutter speed is 1/8 second. Sensitivity is automatically adjusted from a range that covers from 80 to 320 ISO, and the camera automatically boosts blue saturation slightly.
	High Speed Shutter is intended to capture a moving subject by optimizing the shutter speed. The minimum shutter speed is 1/250 second and sensitivity is adjusted over a range of 80 to 320 ISO.
	Landscape has a shutter speed range of 1/8 sec to 1/2000 second and the flash can be set to Forced On or Forced Off. Sensitivity is automatically adjusted over a range of 80 to 320 ISO.
	Portrait also has a shutter speed range of 1/8 to 1/2000 second, and sensitivity is automatically adjusted from 80 to 320 ISO. Set to this mode, the camera softens sharpness slightly and accentuates skin tones.
	Movie Mode makes it possible to capture clips with sound at any one of three frame sizes: 640 (Fine) records at a frame size of 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second, using a low compression. This option is only available when a Memory Stick Duo Pro is used. 640 (Standard) records a 640 x 480-pixel image at 25 frames per second, with a stronger compression. 160 records a small frame size, 160 x 120 pixels, at 25 frames per second, using a standard compression. During movie recordings, the 12X zoom remains useable, as does the auto focus, and the white balance is adjusted as required. The length of the movie is only limited by the space available on the Memory Stick.

The Power button is to the left of the Mode Dial, and next to it is a small LED that glows green while the camera is On, and which serves to indicate the active position of the Mode Dial.

To the left of the Power button, another button () controls the On/Off of the Stabilizer. Two stabilization modes are available:

• Shooting: stabilization starts when the shutter release is pressed to the halfway point.
• Continuous: stabilization is active all the time, stabilizing the image in the viewfinder and when the image is being captured, but consuming more power.

The stabilization mode is selected in the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for more details about the Setup menu).

Two more buttons are located on top of the camera, on the right side of the viewfinder. The button on the right is to start the DSC-H5's Playback mode, or get out of it. While the button on the left, closest to the viewfinder, is to select either the monitor, or the viewfinder.

Uppermost on the camera's back is the Zoom control, which not only serves to adjust the zoom position but also, when the camera is in Playback mode, as a tool to zoom into part of an image (up to 5X) when pressed on the T side; or display captured images as thumbnails — an Index view — showing 9 thumbnails at a time when pressed on the W side.

Below, the first of two buttons stacked above each other, , controls the Display. Exclusive on the H5, the button also allows brightening either the EVF, or the monitor's image, unlike the on the H2 where only the monitor's brightness can be increased.

One display shows the remaining charge for the batteries, the shooting and flash modes, current image resolution and quality settings, the remaining number of photos that can be captured, the memory in use (internal or Memory Stick), the ISO setting, the AF mode, the shutter speed and aperture.

A second display adds a histogram in the lower right of the display.

And the third turns off most indicators, leaving only basic items such as the remaining charge of the batteries, the AF frame, and the focus mode.

In the Playback mode, the information superimposed on the display is similar. On one display the battery state, image counter, the file name and the date and time at which the image was captured are indicated. On another, the image’s histogram, and basic shooting data for the photo are displayed (exposure compensation, ISO, flash, white balance and aperture/shutter speed). A third display mode only shows the image.

The 4-direction control is next, occupying all the space available in that part of the body. As usual, the control is not only designed to navigate the menus and confirm selections with the centre button, but its directional arrows allow control over other settings when the camera is set to a capture mode:

The left arrow serves to adjust exposure compensation in increments of 1/3 EV over a range of ±2 EV when the camera is set to the Auto mode, or one of the Scene modes.

	The up arrow controls the Flash mode: Auto, Forced On, Slow Synch, or Forced Off.
	The right arrow activates the Macro mode, which allows the camera to focus on a subject that is 2 cm (0.8 inch) from the front element of the lens when the zoom is a the wide-angle end, and 90 cm (35.5 inches) at the telephoto end.
	The down arrow engages the Self-timer which, when pressed once, inserts a 10-second delay after the shutter has been released, or when pressed twice, a 2-second delay.

The last external button of the DSC-H5 is below the 4-direction control and is labelled . It has a dual function: in the capture modes, it serves to select the image resolution, or the size of the movie frame by displaying a short menu from which the image or movie resolution is selected (see the Characteristics section of the review for more information about the images sizes offered on the DSC-H5).

And when the H5 is in Playback mode, the button serves to delete one or more images, or even the entire content of a folder.

The DSC-H5 is equipped with an automatically released pop-up flash, which, when the sensitivity is set to auto, has a reach of 9 m (29.52 ft) when the zoom is a the wide angle end, and 6.8 m (22.3 ft) at the telephoto end.

Ergonomically, the major difference between the H2 and the H5 is the size of the monitor, which restricts the space available to hold the camera. While with the H2 there is sufficient space to hold the camera comfortably, with the H5, it is easy to accidentally press one of the buttons on the right side of the monitor. This, in addition to a noticeably shorter battery life, should be considered as the drawbacks to having such a large, but pleasant to use, monitor.