Sony Cyber-shot DSCH50 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot

I was shopping around and narrowed it down to the Sony DSC-H50 or the Canon PowerShot SX20IS. I decided to get the Sonby DSC-H50 because it was within my budget as I was a student getting ready to study abroad for the summer. I was glad that I got this for many reasons. Here are the reasons why I like the camera before I bought it and after I bought it:1. For the price, it was affordable.2. It had the blast shot/multi-shot which I needed since I was going to the outback and needed to take pictures of animals which would hop or fly off pretty fast at the sound of human beings. Just hold down the button to take pictures for 1-2 second and it'll take several frames. This is also good for taking baby pictures.3. The battery. The Canon PowerShot uses AA batteries and I didn't wanted to have to carry AA batteries with me even though I can buy the rechargeable ones. I'm more likely to lose rechargeable AA batteries than I am with a battery made for the camera. Also the charger! It's in one piece!! Unlike other camera chargers that would have a separate outlet for the charger. Just one plug into the wall, slide the battery in, and it's ready to charge!!4. It had the Carl-Zeiss lens.5. The zoom was excellent (15x zoom). Even though the Canon one had 20x zoom, Canon was just way out of my price range. Great zooms might be good but without the tripod, it might be a bit difficult to take steady photos.6. I can connect the camera to the TV. After I bought it, I found out that I can plug it into the TV and play it with the slide show with music! How cool is that?! Viewers won't be bored looking at the photos without music. You can add other music too but I haven't done that because the music provided are good slide show music.7. It takes great shot in low light setting. Believe it or not, I used the movie mode to record my brother's wedding and made a whole wedding DVD out of it! The quality of the video is really good. It still look really good watching the video on a 42 inch TV. And I'm pretty sure it will still look good on a bigger TV. The camera captures really good video. At the wedding, I could still see people in the background really well. You just have to be close to the subject in order to hear what they're saying unless they're speaking on the microphone. I had to stay within 20 ft of the speakers in order to get good sounds when people are speaking on the microphone. I just don't like how it only records up to 10 minutes of video at a time. But it's fine. It makes it easier for me to separate the video clips.8. It's got several USB connection mode. I don't really understand how it works but when the USB Mode was in Mass Storage Mode, I couldn't connect my camera in a computer at Australia so I had to use the USB Mode in PTP. I guess different computers recognizes different USB connectors. There is an Auto USB detector mode.9. There is the pop out tilt screen but I just wish I can turn the screen 360 or even 180 to take self portraits like how the Canon version can turn the whole screen.The cons:1. Sometimes it doesn't focuses on certain objects that I want to take.2. It uses the Sony Memory Stick which is the more expensive memory card compared the the SD card used in many other cameras.To be honest, I use only 3 mode of the camera which is the Auto, the Easy, and the Movie mode. It's really easy to use. This is my 3rd digital camera. I upgrade digital cameras every 2-3 years, hopefully, I can keep using this for at least 5 years.

I take this hobby seriously and Sony always offers a nice camera, no matter which one you buy. I have the T300 but in the winter, with gloves on, its a bit too small to hold onto. I looked into the H50 and the side grip takes care of that problem, which is the main reason I bought this. The 15X zoom is wonderfull too. No need to carry a lot of equipment and extra lenses. I have a Nikon D80, too, and sometimes I dont want to carry a heavy camera for the type of photography Im going after so the H50 takes care of that issue, too. While this wont fit in my purse like the T300, and it doesnt have interchangeable lenses like my Nikon D80, this one is a perfect "in between" type camera. I have researched a lot of cameras and find this one to be great. The pictures come out nice and sharp. If you are considering this, just buy it. You wont be sorry!

...I'm ambivalent about this camera. I loved the earlier version (the DSC-H2) which I'm still using, but decided to replace it because the viewfinder isn't working well.About the camera:I bought the camera to have an all-purpose camera light enough to take backpacking (which my digital SLR with it's lenses isn't). It's a little bulky, but light (although it feels sturdy) and it's versatile enough to take long-distance wildlife shots or macros of flowers in virtually the same moment.The camera takes very good photos, but is not a huge change from the earlier version of this camera, even though it has half again as many megapixels. If the ISO is left on auto, as it is when using the fully automatic modes, I find the photos can be noisy, which may be part of the problem other reviewers are describing. I recommend using the adjustable settings, like the "P" program and setting the ISO on 80 or 100 to keep noise level to a minimum, especially in outdoor light. This camera has settings for in-camera noise reduction, which I don't use since I prefer using computer software for noise removal if it's necessary. This series of camera excels at outstanding macros. The image stabilization works well on the zoom, and long distance photos taken with the zoom are generally very good.The menus are very easy to see and navigate, in fact I've barely read the instruction manual because it is so self-explanatory. The DSC-H50 offers some manual controls including shutter and aperture settings, which is great for more advanced users. The optical viewfinder mirrors the view through the lens and is clear and sharp enough to compose a photo, or to make sure you got the optimum shot. Many cameras are doing away with their optical viewfinders, much to the detriment of outdoor photographers. It can be hard to compose a decent photo in bright sunlight using an LCD alone. However, the LCD on the DSC-H50 is large and bright, and can be positioned up or down, which is nice when taking a photo at an awkward angle or close to the ground. Unfortunately, it does not swivel or enable storage with the LCD hidden. The display seems quite vulnerable to damage as the glass surface is exposed all the way to the corners and is not recessed at all.I don't understand why point and shoot cameras have gotten away from offering a choice of image formats instead of only jpeg. No matter how many megapixels the camera is, you will still end up with artifacts related to jpeg compression.Main issue:What really bothers me about this camera and the biggest reason for the 3 star review (it would get 4 otherwise), is that Sony made the accompanying ring/hood in a non-standard size (74mm). The newer flared end design of the filter ring is an improvement over the old ring, since it means no lens vignetting at wider angles, but it seriously irritates me that Sony couldn't have made the opening to fit a standard 72mm filter. This means that the reasonably priced Hoya or Tiffen filters will not fit, and that you must buy the costly Sony brand ($90-$100 for a polarizer) if you want a filter on your camera. I tried the inferior quality 74mm Opteka filters (apparently hastily made just for Sony), and the polarizer came apart while I was cleaning it to put on the camera. Faced with the prospect of buying pricey, odd-sized Sony filters for a point and shoot camera, especially when indications are they may not fit future models, I managed to find a $7 off-brand 74-72mm step down ring (made by Bower for Sony products), which is supposed to fit the Hoya filters I just ordered (about $40 for both). The $120 Sony telephoto extension I bought for my DSC-H2 camera a year and a half ago is completely useless for the DSC-H50, which is a further irritation.Sony's apparently increasing level of specific and non-interchangeable accessories will make me think twice about buying Sony cameras in the future. They make a good product, but I won't buy from them if I am forced to purchase a whole new set of accessories every time they update a model. I was unable to find the specs about the end sizes of the hood and ring for the DSC-H50 prior to purchase, but there was no reason to assume that the opening of the ring would be anything but standard. I thought I'd be able to incorporate the accessories I had already purchased for my DSC-H2 by using step-up step-down rings, which are easily available, as long as the diameters are standard sizes, which was the case with the DSC-H2.Also, as of the date of this review, Amazon's technical specification information on this product is pitifully inadequate, even though I gave them feedback regarding their lack of usable information at least two weeks ago. I had to go to the B & H photo website to get some decent specs on this camera, and probably would have bought it there, if Amazon hadn't been $20 less expensive with free shipping.