NEW Camera!! Not even out yet!!!!

[RBennett]

I just thought I would post this for anyone looking for a new camera! We hear a lot on here as far as the debate between the Canon S3 and the Sony H5. Well, I just saw on Sony's website that they are releasing a new Sony H7 and a Sony H9!! The H9 has a suggested retail price of $480 and is 8.1MP with a 15x optical zoom and a 2.0x digital zoom, for a total of 30x! It also comes with a remote for performing the basic tasks: zoom, shooting, etc. And the best thing are the scene modes: Advanced Sports Shooting, Beach, Fireworks, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Portrait, Snow, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, and it has a Nightshot Infrared System. So for those looking, DEFINITELY something to check out!!!

 

[tinksdad]

That sounds pretty good. I like the idea of a remote for shutter control. That's what's been missing with the P&S!

The optical zoom sounds great, would not use the digital zoom thou......

 

[ukcatfan]

These and the new 18x Olympus were announced leading up to the PMA. I am a little sceptical of how that much zoom will affect IQ. It is starting to get a little too much IMO. The Sony does start wider than a typical p&s and the max focal length does not hardly change from the current models. I like that it is wider, but it looks like that range cost it some in widest aperture available. We will have to wait for some reviews to see how these perform. The nightshot mode is interesting, but if it is anything like the camcorder version, it is only a gimmick. I also agree that digital zoom should be ignored.

Kevin

 

[ukcatfan]

I just found a full review of the Olympus I mentioned above. It turns out that it is not all that great. It has many features, but way too many compromises to make it even as good as the current top of the class.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/sp550uz-review/index.shtml

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

I'm surprised that Sony would even mention digital zoom - I don't really see it hyped any more, I think they realized that consumers were getting too savvy to fall for it.

A lens with a huge zoom range is not so surprising, but like Kyle says, it takes more than a long zoom. Unfortunately, the things that are appealing on paper often result in worse photos... like a tiny camera, or a ton of megapixels, or a huge zoom range...

 

[RBennett]

So obviously excluding the digital zoom, does this sound like a good camera? I know quite a few people a while back were recommending the H2 and then the H5, so I thought this looked even better! I have to admit that one of the reasons I like Sony is because the camera I have right now is a Sony so I already have the memory stick. But if one of these other cameras are really that much better, I'll look into them instead. Thanks!!!

 

[Groucho]

Not looking closely, it's probably still going to be a good camera, but until some reviews come out, we probably won't know if they're a little better or a little worse than the current offerings. More mp and longer zoom certainly don't automatically mean better picture quality, unfortunately.

 

[Master Mason]

At that price your getting into dSLR range of cost. You could probably pick up a low end Pentax or the Nikon D40 for pretty close to that. And be miles ahead in possiblities... just MHO