Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 Review
Review Date: September 11th 2006
Author: Gavin Stoker
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this review were taken using
the 6M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around
2.5Mb.
Noise
There are 6 ISO settings available on the Sony Cybershot
DSC-H2 which you can select at any time if the camera is in
the creative shooting modes. Here are some 100% crops which
show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
There is no discernible noise at the slowest settings of
ISO 80 and 100, and ISO 200 is also pretty clean. Noise is
apparent at ISO 400 but it's still usable. The fastest settings
of ISO 800 and 1000 show obvious levels of noise.
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality
50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening
applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are soft
at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further
sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively
you can increase the in-camera sharpening level.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 handled chromatic aberrations very
well, with only very limited purple fringing in areas of high
contrast, as shown in the example below.
Macro
The Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 offers a Macro setting that allows
you to focus on a subject that is 2cms away from the camera.
The first image shows how close you can get to the subject
in Macro mode (in this case a compact flash card). The second
image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 are Auto,
Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash and One
push. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a
distance of 1.5m.
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Auto Flash - Telephoto (432mm) |
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And here are some self-portraits. As you can see, neither
the Flash On or the Red-Eye Reduction option caused any red-eye,
although there is a small purple area present in both shots
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Flash Off (100% Crop) |
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Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds,
which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in
night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter
speed of 2 seconds, aperture of f/2.8 at ISO 80. I've included
a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.
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100% Crop |
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Image Stablization
The Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 has an optical image stabilization
system, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter
speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took a
handheld shot of the same subject with the ISO speed set to
80. The first shot was taken at the widest focal length, the
second at the longest focal length, both from the same standing
position. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results.
As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the image issharp
at both wide-angle and telephoto settings. This feature really
does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a
successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
Overall Image Quality
While the level of detail captured by the Sony Cybershot
DSC-H2 isn't comparable to that of a budget DSLR with quality
optics, thanks to a quality Carl Zeiss lens it is still reasonably
sharp. Left to the default setting of 'normal', colours are
more vivid that those produced by competing super zooms (apart
from, in my opinion, Kodak's EasyShare P880), with reds, greens
and blues particularly retina-searing. However, under bright
conditions some highlight detail is lost. It's fairest to
describe the Super SteadyShot function as providing the possibility
for a greater number of usable shots that would be achievable
without; inevitably you'll still get the occasional blurred
image, especially at maximum telephoto. The zoom range however,
is especially great for candid portraiture. Under closer scrutiny,
there is some evidence of fringing between areas of high contrast,
a problem that appears to be inherent across the Cybershot
range, and is not unexpected at this level. Neither is the
fact that shooting above ISO 400 gradually introduces more
image noise. Again though, such 'defects' are less intrusive
than found elsewhere, due in part to the Sony Cybershot DSC-H2's
Clear RAW NR algorithm boosting signal to noise ratio. Although
not a flawless performance, the Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 delivers
results that are more than acceptable and won't noticeably
deteriorate if printed film-poster sized.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Sony Cybershot DSC-H2
have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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