Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 (Black)
Manufacturer: Sony Part number: DSCH50/B
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Though its lens isn't as wide and suffers from many of the same lens artifacts as its competitors, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 is a good megazoom camera with a lot of features for experiment-minded snapshooters.
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CNET editors' review
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 (Black) price range: $359.99
- Reviewed by: Joshua Goldman
- Edited by: Lori Grunin
- Reviewed on: 09/03/2008
- Released on: 05/01/2008
The good: Versatile mix of ease-of-use features and manual controls; tilting 3-inch LCD; good color reproduction; zoom operates in movie mode.
The bad: Slowish startup and shutdown; occasional fringing, noise issues; no raw support or hot shoe.
The bottom line: Though its lens isn't as wide and suffers from many of the same lens artifacts as its competitors, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 is a good megazoom camera with a lot of features for experiment-minded snapshooters.
Sitting atop Sony's line of megazoom cameras is the 9-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-H50. Its 15x f2.7-f8 31-465mm-equivalent lens, coupled with the company's SteadyShot optical image stabilization, lets you shoot far and somewhat wide. It's also built around a system of modes and options that make it as nice a point-and-shoot as it is a fully manual camera. However, while the H50 should satisfy those on the fence about moving up to a digital SLR, megazooms are also the gateway drug of cameras, likely to be quickly outgrown by budding hobbyists.
Slightly smaller than the average digital SLR, the H50 is fairly lightweight for its class at just under a pound, but it's obviously not compact enough to put in a pocket. It's available in black or silver with a mix of plastic and metal parts, and the strap attachment loops on each side of the camera swivel, letting the camera point straight down when around your neck. The large hand grip makes carrying it comfortable, though the lens puts a chunk of the weight out front, throwing the balance off a bit.
At the front of the grip sits the shutter button, followed by metering and burst/bracketing mode buttons, and the mode dial. Your thumb rests naturally on the zoom-rocker switch on back. Below the rocker is a context-sensitive Menu button, a Home button for full access to settings, and between them a wheel dial surrounding a directional pad and an OK button for navigating menus. The directional pad doubles as controls for flash, timer, macro, and display options, and the wheel dial lets you quickly change ISO, shutter speed, and aperture in manual mode.
The 3-inch tilting LCD is definitely a highlight of the H50, because it allows so much freedom when shooting subjects at both high and low angles. It also performs well in direct sunlight. A button at the top left of the screen, however, toggles between the LCD and EVF--a better option in bright sun and when using the long zoom sans tripod.
The only minor quibble I have with the design is the lens cap, which, like so many of the megazooms, flies off the second you turn the camera on (luckily there's a loop on the cap so you can string it to the camera body). Also, raw capture and a hot shoe are noticeably absent.
Dialing through the H50's various modes and exploring the accompanying shooting options reveals just how versatile this camera is. Point-and-shoot basics like scene modes with Sony's intelligent scene recognition, Smile Shutter, face detection, ISO boost for low-light shooting, and an oversimplified Easy mode are all available, letting you hand the camera over to anyone to take pictures.
Then there's the new Advanced Sports Shooting mode that uses predicative autofocus and high-shutter speed (up to 1/4,000 of a second) to freeze fast-moving subjects. Capturing soccer players in action proved no problem and combining it with the Burst mode churned out great results without worrying about adjusting a single setting. That said, anyone looking to break out of snapshot territory will be pleased with the amount of flexibility provided by the H50.
Switching to the Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Manual modes gives you control over the usual suspects as well as access to a bunch of other tweaks. You can select the amount of noise reduction applied to images and the intensity of the flash. Pick from five color modes such as Real or Vivid, or experiment with color filters (red, green, blue, warm, and cool). Adjust color saturation, contrast, and sharpness. A Bracket Shooting mode includes exposure, white balance, and warmer/cooler filter bracketing. There's Sony's infrared NightShot, too, if you want to get creative in the dark.
All feature loveliness aside, the H50's performance is a mixed bag. First, it's slow to start up--2.3 seconds to first shot--and shut down (which it does automatically after 3 minutes and there's no way to change it). Focusing and shooting under optimal conditions takes 0.7 second, and under dimmer conditions it jumps to 1.3 seconds, both of which are on the high side of average. The typical shot-to-shot time is decent at 1.8 seconds, but adding flash drives it up to a sluggish 3.2 seconds. The H50's burst rate is a little better than 1 frame per second. The zoom operates smoothly and unlike many competitors, you can zoom while shooting video.
While I like the range provided by the lens, the extremes exhibit noticeable barrel and pincushion distortion--and it doesn't even get as wide as most of its competitors, which now tend to start at 28mm equivalent. And, as is characteristic of these cameras, the H50 produced the occasional unusable fringe-filled shot and at about ISO 200 image detail begins to degrade steadily. On the bright side, it produces images with nicely saturated, accurate colors. Pictures are sharp below ISO 200, with even exposures even and good contrast.
There's a lot to like about the Cyber-shot DSC-H50--from its design to its shooting flexibility to its hardware features. Unfortunately its performance and the limitations of its lens might leave you wishing you'd just taken the financial plunge and gone with a dSLR.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Typical shot-to-shot time | |
Shutter lag (dim) | |
Shutter lag (typical) |
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User reviews
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Great Camera
by dbridle on April 28, 2008
Pros: Best Camera for the price
Cons: accessories
Summary: I have not had many digital cameras, but I have had a Canon and Fuji and they were both great Cameras, but the Sony beats them on quality of the ...
Summary: I have not had many digital cameras, but I have had a Canon and Fuji and they were both great Cameras, but the Sony beats them on quality of the pictures.
8 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good camera has a lot to offer but...
by blakeandrewsmommy on September 7, 2008
Pros: 15x optical
3 inch pull out lcd screen
includes remote
has lots of manual features to mimic dslr
lightweight
smile shutter
in camera editing
full 1080 hd (but doew require additional cord to purchase at $39.99)
good night shot modeCons: slugglish performance even with upgraded faster reading memory card still not as fast as compared to my Canon s5IS
battery life is short
camera feels like its made of cheap plastic
does not always focus correctly
features are hidden in menusSummary: The Sony DSC-H50 is a decent camera but has a lot of quricks to it. I have owned 2 previous Sony Cybershots (a DSC-V3 and a DSC-h5) both those cameras ...
Summary: The Sony DSC-H50 is a decent camera but has a lot of quricks to it. I have owned 2 previous Sony Cybershots (a DSC-V3 and a DSC-h5) both those cameras had easy laid out menus but the DSC-H50 hides a lot of cool features in the menu's making it hard to access quickly. I don't like spending several mins. looking for a certain feature when in a hurry to take my photographs. Another thing that really dissappoints me I sold my Canon S5IS to purchase this Sony because I thought that since this Sony had a bigger lcd screen, offered a remote (which is great) had more optical zoom, smile shutter, full 1080 hd-those things do make this Sony a great camera but...let me compare the Canon S5IS:
I had stated that the Canon S5IS did not have a pop up flash, it does have a flash, but its not automatic like the Sony DSC-H50. Also the fireworks mode on the Canon S5 is simply amazing. I took the Canon to Disney world and captured 3/4's of the fireworks display and they look very professional. I have yet to test the Sony with fireworks mode but the Canon is faster and more precise so I'm sorta doubting it can do what the Canon did. Once I test this out I will let you know how that works out with the Sony. I also have been playing around with the Sony more and starting to like it a little better than I did, I'm still sad that the body of the Sony feels like a cheap piece of plastic and does not feel like its constructed well, the Canon is all plastic but feels more like a sturdy DSLR camera. I guess this was Sony's way to make a lighter weight camera to easily pack around, I can say that the Sony is so light I sometimes look in my camera case to make sure the camera is there!
***Canon S5IS is SO much more of a better camera. In comparison the Canon is twice as fast, it feels like a sturdy camera when holding it, the lcd screen can be flipped around where when you store it the screen is not showing so it won't get scratched, the menus are laid out easily, more options to choose from, and a one touch record button for recording all of these features on my Canon made it a better camera in my opinon.***
With that being said the Sony DSC-H50 is a good camera, especially if your looking to replace an older model camera this would be a good choice, but, if you look further at the Canon S5IS you would understand why I am not bragging so much on this camera. I am definatley dissappointed in the Sony and wish I had my Canon back. After owning 2 previous Sony's I thought I'd love this camera. If your wondering why I sold the Canon for the Sony besides the extras features on the sony, I did so because the Canon did not have a pop up flash, the battery's fell out when I would take out my memory card, the lcd screen was 2.5 instead of 3 inches and the Sony offered the remote, smile shutter and full hd and the sony is a 9 megapixel the canon a 8 megapixel so that was what made my choice.
I now have the Sony so I'm making the most of it and using it, but if Canon comes out with a newer version I will sell my Sony in a heartbeat for the new canon.
Another thing with Sony is my last camera I owned a H5, the auto focus went out in it, and I researched it and found 100's of people complaining about it and stating Sony would not admit to this being a problem with that model...my camera was under warranty and I called Sony and they said it was the first time they'd heard of the H5 having the auto focus go out in it, I told them about the other reviews I had read and they would not comment and said they had never heard that. When it came down to it Sony would not replace my camera because I could not find my original reciept (I had owned the H5 for 8 months) and they wanted $185 to fix it. So long story short with the Sony H5 I purchased the Canon S5IS to replace it. Now I'm wondering why I sold my Canon to upgrade to this Sony DSC-H50. I guess I wanted to try to redeem the Sony reputation again because I really loved my Sony H5 and Sony DSC-V3. I did use the Sony H5 all the time and took around 50,000 pictures with it so I can't deny that my H5 did get a lot of use before my auto focus went out, but, under the 1 year warranty Sony should have fixed it, I had registered my camera online when I purchased it so they should have had that in their computer. Just beware if you have problems with your Sony products to have the reciept or it won't get replaced. Also if you like the DSC-H50 camera buy it, it is a good camera and it does offer a lot of features for the money, but just remember some of the things I pointed out. Go look at the camera in the store really good before you decide.
MORE THINGS ABOUT THE SONY DSC-H50
-this camera takes wonderful pictures and no matter where you are or what you are photographing it rarely blurs, the shot is usually always in focus, it takes good action shots, the smile shutter is a neat feature especially for taking photos of children. I have a 2 year old and 7 year old so when taking photos of them its hard to get them both smiling at the same time I usually miss out on the pefect moment...but this camera can hold its on and gets the exact moment. Night shot is amazing as well. So don't let my review ward you off from purchasing this camera, that was not my intention. Just take a good look at it in the store and compare it to others similar before you purchase it. If you purchase this camera I'm sure you'll love it!
Thanks for reading my review I really hope it helps others in making their decision.
Updated on Sep 7, 20083 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great camera for people who aren't quite ready for DSLR
by didlydrumr on April 8, 2009
Pros: powerful flash
takes sports pictures with very little blur, comparable to a dslr
cheap (i got it for $230)
takes great video
looks awesome (people have asked me if it's a DSLR)
a ton of things you can change
smile shutter is fun and works pretty wellCons: wimpy battery life
lens hood gets in the way of flash
Sony's ring flash isn't capable
doesn't use a mini usb cable, but insteads uses a different cable that seems delicate
noise issues
sports pictures are blotchySummary: The reason i bought this camera was because it was really at the top end of non-dslr cameras, but not a rip off. i wasn't ready for a DSLR ...
Summary: The reason i bought this camera was because it was really at the top end of non-dslr cameras, but not a rip off. i wasn't ready for a DSLR because i still wanted to take video. the h50 takes great video.
especially compared to my dad's dslr, its seems pretty small in your hands at first, but it still looks great. for the size of the camera, the lense seems huge, and, zoomed all the way in, it is very wide angled. but it seems to always curve straight lines.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Camera for Average users
by JS82712 on June 21, 2008
Pros: Super optical zoom 15X, high picture quality, multilanguage, user-friendly interface
Cons: a little heavy, but not a big problem
Summary: If you are an average user looking for a camera with excellent picture quality, and other technologies like face detection, night shot option, smile detection, and anti-glare, but dont want ...
Summary: If you are an average user looking for a camera with excellent picture quality, and other technologies like face detection, night shot option, smile detection, and anti-glare, but dont want to spend big money for SLR Cameras, this is the one you are looking for, the controls are very easy to use, easy to setup, multilanguage for you to choose. Also, it has high quality lens, and a nice 3" LCD.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Camera for Moms
by dalejrs1gal on March 23, 2009
Pros: Gorgeous Color and detailed photos. Action Shots are amazing. Love the re-chargable battery, flip up screen, EVF, and remote control! My son's football pictures will never be blurry again! :)
Cons: Lens cap and strap for neck- need improved upon. No other cons.. This is a really great camera.
Summary: For the price it's definitely one to buy! I love that it makes me feel like a professional photographer. Pictures are so amazing! Action shots are crisp and clean- ...
Summary: For the price it's definitely one to buy! I love that it makes me feel like a professional photographer. Pictures are so amazing! Action shots are crisp and clean- not blurry at all! Definitely one for Soccer and Football Mom's and Dads who want to capture the action of their kids sports! Flash photography is also great!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Sony finally got it right (almost)
by danv23 on January 4, 2009
Pros: Amazing high quality pictures and all the freatures you could ask for
Cons: Cheap feeling frame, lens hits lens cap when turned on
Summary: I bought the DSC-H1 approximately 3 years ago and thought it was great. However, over time it has simply degraded in the quality of pictures (blurry) and battery life (about ...
Summary: I bought the DSC-H1 approximately 3 years ago and thought it was great. However, over time it has simply degraded in the quality of pictures (blurry) and battery life (about 40 pics). I did a lot of research before replacing it with another Sony, because I was pretty pissed about my original investment with them.
Like I said, the frame feels cheap and you can't have the lense cap on when you power it up, but if you can get past those defects this is the best choice hands down. This thing actually has a 'smile detection' setting that DOES take the picture when your subject smiles. I have no idea when I will actually use it (successful test), but it speaks to the amazing technology packed into this camera. It is almost impossible to take a blurry picture and they finally decided that rechargable AA batteries are stupid to use.
I have every belief that I will get more than 3 years out of this thing and would buy it all over again.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This camera is awesome
by soundguy99 on August 31, 2008
Pros: The picture quality is so sharp its scary . You can literaly count the freckles on the kids faces I am by no means a camera expert but in less then 2 weeks I have mastered this thing.
And the dialog boxes explain the features as you use themCons: It could have more internal memory but I splureged for a 4g memory stick and that solved the problem
Summary: With features like face detection with adjustable priority for infant, child or adult, smile detecter, on camera editing of pics, all the differant levels between full auto and manuel steady ...
Summary: With features like face detection with adjustable priority for infant, child or adult, smile detecter, on camera editing of pics, all the differant levels between full auto and manuel steady shot and built in filters I feel like I cant take a bad picture (even thow I still managed to take a few) the li battery gives hours of camera time and with the handle on the right side with the controls I can shoot one handed if necessary I dont know how it matches up against other cameras but I know I love the ease and qualty of this one
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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camera is good, but has limitations
by onhario on September 4, 2009
Pros: functional with qualitative photos and video, great zoom and qualitative zoomed photos and some soft inside to process photo
Cons: some limitations, for example in close-up mode (macro) in doesnt show result till it is taken, but result is good
Summary: totally its good, design, and quality, but functions buttons spread out of dial mode reach
Summary: totally its good, design, and quality, but functions buttons spread out of dial mode reach
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Quite Cheap for a dSLR Camera
by MrMurder on July 7, 2009
Pros: Good picture quality, burst mode, good battery life, LCD screen tilts, automatic flash, takes a Full HD picture, wide variety of shot modes.
Cons: You have to use the VGA resolution to use the burst, LCD screen is a fingerprint magnet, battery.
Summary: My dad wanted a camera with a good optical zoom, and he wanted one that's cheap. I told him to get the Panasonic Lumix that was listed as the ...
Summary: My dad wanted a camera with a good optical zoom, and he wanted one that's cheap. I told him to get the Panasonic Lumix that was listed as the Editor's Choice for Best Megazoom Cameras, but he went for this one instead. The camera looks decent and has an impressive picture and video quality for a camera that costs under $300, but the thing I hate the most is the way the LCD screen smears so easily when you put your finger on it. I also wish it had a 10 megapixel resolution. But it is still a great camera if you are on a budget.
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extremely disappointed
by shellybry on July 7, 2009
Pros: after only 4 months cannot find a pro, all the features that were suppose to make this a great camera are defective
Cons: blurry pictures - I cannot for the life of me figure out why 2/3 of all the pictures I take are horribly blurry.
Summary: blurry pictures , when taking a video the quality is terrible and choppy. I have never had a digital camera with this terrible of quality. Sony has gone down hill fast!...
Summary: blurry pictures , when taking a video the quality is terrible and choppy. I have never had a digital camera with this terrible of quality. Sony has gone down hill fast!
This inconsistency has ruined alot of shots of vacations that should have been beautiful. I am so disappointed. I have had alot of 10X digital cameras and NONE have had this inconsistent blurryness. I have only had this camera 4 months now and it's the biggest waste of money $400 I've ever spent. I will never buy a Sony again ... going back to the kodak easyshares they never let me down.
I focus, take my time (no motion) and most picture will be blurry. I can take 5 pictures in a row (changing nothing) and three will be blurry and two look great.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sony
- Part number: DSCH50/B
- Description: Beauty is in the details, and this model captures them all. The DSC-H50 is a full-featured point-and-shoot with outstanding high-power zoom capability. It includes Smile Shutter technology which captures smiles the moment they happen, as well as Face Detection technology to optimize focus, exposure and color for up to eight faces. Shoot detailed images with 9.1 megapixel resolution, and bring your subjects closer with the 15x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens. Intelligent Scene Recognition automatically selects your camera's settings based on detected lighting conditions, while Sony's double anti-blur solution helps keep your images blur-free. The DSC-H50 completes the package with a 3.0" ClearPhoto LCD Plus display that lets you easily view your images and menu options.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - Compact
- Width 4.6 in
- Depth 3.4 in
- Height 3.2 in
- Weight 14.6 oz
- Enclosure Color Black
Main Features
- Resolution 9.1 megapixels
- Color Support Color
- Optical Sensor Type Super HAD CCD
- Effective Sensor Resolution 9,100,000 pixels
- Light Sensitivity ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1000, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO auto
- Digital Zoom 2 x
- Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
- Shooting Programs Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Landscape, Soft snap, Sports mode, Smile shutter, Twilight mode, High sensitivity, Twilight portrait
- Image Stabilizer Optical (Super Steady Shot)
- Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec
- Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom. This camera utilizes built-in Super SteadyShot stabilization to assist in taking sharper pictures.
- Min Shutter Speed 1/4 sec
- Exposure Modes Manual, Program, Automatic, Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority
- Exposure Compensation ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- Face Detection Yes
- White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Flash, Cloudy, Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent light (daylight), Fluorescent light (cool white), Fluorescent light (warm white)
- Digital Video Format MPEG-1, MPEG VX
- Still Image Format JPEG
- Remote Control Remote control - Infrared
- TV Tuner None
- Video Capture MPEG - 640 x 480, MPEG - 640 x 480, MPEG - 320 x 240
Memory / Storage
- Supported Flash Memory Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo
- Integrated Memory 15 MB
- Floppy Drive None
- Image Storage JPEG 3456 x 2592, JPEG 3264 x 2176, JPEG 2048 x 1536, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 1920 x 1080, JPEG 4224 x 2376, JPEG 3656 x 2304
Camera Flash
- Camera Flash Pop-up flash
- Flash Modes Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective Flash Range 8 in - 30 ft
- Features AF illuminator, Flash +/- compensation
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 5.2 mm - 78 mm - F/2.7-4.5
- Focal Length 5.2 mm - 78 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 31 - 465 mm
- Focus Adjustment Manual, Automatic
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Min Focus Range 0.4 in
- Lens Aperture F/2.7-4.5
- Optical Zoom 15 x
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
- Lens Construction 8 group(s) / 13 element(s)
- Filter Size 74 mm
- Lens Manufacturer Carl Zeiss
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 10 sec
- Additional Features DPOF support, Face detection, Contrast control, Histogram display, Sharpness control, PictBridge support, PRINT Image Matching, USB 2.0 compatibility, Digital image rotation, Digital noise reduction, Dynamic Range Optimizer, Dual image stabilization, Camera orientation detection, Automatic face tracking technology
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type LCD
- Viewfinder Color Support Color
- Viewfinder Diagonal Size 0.2 in
- Viewfinder Resolution 201,000 pixels
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 3 in - Color
- Display Form Factor Folding
- Display Format 230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Microphone Technology Electret condenser
- Microphone Operation Mode Mono
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x USB
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x Memory Stick PRO Duo
Software
- Software Drivers & Utilities, Sony Picture Motion Browser
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support Apple Mac OS 9.1, Apple Mac OS 9.2, Apple Mac OS X 10.0, Apple Mac OS X 10.1 - 10.5, MS Windows XP Home Edition, MS Windows XP Professional, MS Windows 2000 Professional
- Peripheral Devices USB port, CD-ROM drive
Miscellaneous
- Carrying Case None
- Included Accessories Lens cap, Lens hood, Shoulder strap, Lens adapter ring
- Cables Included A/V cable, USB cable
Power
- Power Device Battery charger - External
Battery
- Supported Battery Sony NP-BG1
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 960 mAh ( Included )
Product series
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 (Black)
Manufacturer: Sony
Specs: Full body, 9.1 megapixels, 15 x, 3 in LCD display
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 (Silver)
Manufacturer: Sony
Specs: Full body, 9.1 megapixels, 15 x, 3 in LCD display
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- Sony
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sony products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.sonystyle.com
- Address:
16765 W. Bernardo Dr., San Diego, CA 92127 - Phone: 1-877-865-SONY
- Email: contact@sel.sony.com
- Fax: 941-768-7790
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