Sony DSC-H9

Reviewed May 2007

Characteristics

Using a 1/2.5 inch CCD with 8,286,000 pixels, of which 8,083,000 pixels are effective, the DSC-H9 captures images with a maximum image size of 3264 x 2448 pixels. A total of 6 image sizes are available with the DSC-H9:

Unlike any other current camera however, the DSC-H9 only offers JPEG compression and does not offer any compression choices, recording all images at compression ratios that, depending on the complexity of the subject, vary from 9:1 to 14:1.

The DSC-H9's sensitivity range starts at 80 ISO and extends up to 3200 ISO (80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 ISO), any of which are selectable when the camera is set to P, A, S, or M. In addition, an Auto ISO setting — the default setting for the Auto shooting mode and the Scene modes — is also available, allowing the camera to adjust sensitivity automatically from 80 ISO to 800 ISO.

The DSC-H9's 15X Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom is composed of 13 elements in 8 groups (including 1 ED glass element and 4 aspherical elements to minimize curvilinear distortion). The lens has a focal length range that covers from 5.8 mm to 78 mm, the equivalent of a 31 to 465 mm zoom on a 35 mm camera.

The zoom is stabilized by Sony's Super SteadyShot, which has 2 stabilization modes:

• Shooting applies stabilization at the moment the shutter is released.
• Continuous stabilizes the image continuously.

Or the stabilizer can be set to Off when the camera is already stabilized such as when it is mounted on a tripod.

Along with the flower-shaped hood and lens adapter, the DSC-H9 kit also includes a full function remote control.

The remote control (RMT-DSC1) can be used to shoot the camera at any time, adjust the zoom, display the menu or the Home Screen which can then be navigated using the four directional cursors while selections are confirmed using the centre button. In addition the remote control can be used in playback to see images manually one at a time, or to present a slide show using settings for on-screen time and background music previously set; or even zoom into an image or see them as thumbnails in an Index view.

• Scene Selection (only when the Mode Dial is set to SCN): presents the Scene menu.
• Image Size: serves to select the image size (see above).
• Face Detection (only with Auto or Portrait modes): On or Off. Allows the camera to detect one or more faces and focus on them.
• Colour (only with P, A, S, M and Movie): Normal, Vivid (increases saturation), Natural (decreases saturation), Black and White, or Sepia (only Normal, Sepia and Black and White are available in the Movie mode).
• White Balance (only with P, A, S, M, High ISO and Movie): Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent 1 (white), Fluorescent 2 (natural white) Fluorescent 3 (day white), Incandescent, Flash, One Push, which recalls a previously set white balance using One-Push Set, and One Push Set, which sets the white balance instantly under ambient light.

• Flash Level (only with P, A, S, M): adjusts the output of the flash over a range of ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
• Red-eye Reduction (in all modes except High ISO, Advanced Sports Shooting, Twilight, Fireworks and Movie mode) controls the way the H9's flash strobes:
  • Auto, only operates when using face detection.
  • On always strobes before a flash photo.
  • Off, does not strobe.

• Contrast (only with P, A, S, M) More (+), Normal, or Less (-), or D-R which adjusts the contrast automatically.
• Sharpness (only with P, A, S, M) : Sharper (+), Normal, or Softer (-).
• SteadyShot: selects the stabilizer mode (see above).
• Setup: accesses the Shooting Settings, which are the same as those accessed through the Home Screen (see the Interface and Software section of the review).

In the Playback mode, the MENU button of the H9 presents the Viewing Menu whose appearance is similar to the Shooting menu, but whose options appear superimposed over the image under review:

• Delete: serves to delete the image under review, or multiple images, or all those contained in a specific folder.
• Slide Show is the same function as the one available in the Home Screen (see the section about the Home button in the Ergonomics section of the review).
• Retouch offers options to change a selected image:
  • Soft Focus, softens the look of an image.
  • Partial Colour: allows selecting a point in the image that will remain in colour while the rest becomes black and white.
  • Fisheye Lens: allows adding a fisheye effect, the intensity of which can be varied.
  • Cross Filter: adds a starburst effect to light sources in the image.
  • Trimming: allows trimming a part of an image and then re-saving the trimmed section as a new image.
  • Red-eye Correction: automatically removes the red-eye effect in an image.

• Protect serves to protect an image against any accidental deletion.
• DPOF allows selecting images to be printed.
• Print (this function is the same as the one presented on the Home Screen) serves to print images once the camera is connected directly, via USB, to a PictBridge compatible printer. The number of prints of each photo can be selected as well as the print size or the creation of an index sheet, and the date and time when the image was captured can be superimposed on the print or not.

• Rotate: serves to change the orientation of an image in 90° increments towards the left or the right. Movies or images captured using Multi-burst cannot be rotated.
• Folder serves to select the folder from which images will be read.

Equipped with 31 MB of internal memory, the DSC-H9 is sold without a memory card. It is, however, compatible with the Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Pro Duo formats.

The Memory Stick slot is located next to the battery compartment, underneath the camera and inside the grip, covered by a solid plastic door.

The chart shown below provides approximate capacities using either the internal memory, or an optional 1 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo:

Power for the DSC-H9 comes from a small rechargeable Lithium ion battery, NP-BG1. A charger is included with the camera — with a built-in plug for cameras sold in the US and Canada, and wired elsewhere in the world. A full charge requires approximately 330 minutes.

The camera can also be powered directly from household current using the optional AC adapter (AC-LS5K). The adapter plugs into the DC-In jack that is located at the top of the H9's right side, next to the neck strap post.

For communications, the H9 has one external connection, on the left side of the camera near the bottom. The connection is well hidden by a hard plastic cover that fits tightly.

A multi-purpose cable is supplied in the kit, providing connections for A/V and USB (2.0 Hi-Speed) at one end, and a specific connector for the camera at the other (shown below). Although the H9 is capable of 1080i (HDTV) output, the cable for it, a component video cable, is sold separately.