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- My rating: 0 stars
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"Good camera has a lot to offer but..."
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
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:
battery life is short
camera feels like its made of cheap plastic
does not always focus correctly
features are hidden in menus
***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, 2008I 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!
- 1 reply to this review
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full 1080 hd (but doew require additional cord to purchase at $39.99) ?
Excuse me can u clarify please?
Where to buy
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 (Black):
$599.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$599.99 | Yes |
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