Out of the box impressions: Ultimate point and shoot. There may be downsides for those into serious digital photography but for semi-advanced idiot shooters like me, this is tops. Biggest advance for me: No shoot-the-head-get-the-tail lag in sports mode. 15X zoom is great. Movie mode works seamlessly and seems of high quality. I've seen critiques of the H9 on Amazon that were long and scathing and so I was somewhat skeptical. Those with concerns about advanced color and a real need for 8 mp should check them out. They're well done. But the serious critiques seem to come from those looking for a pro SLR, not a point and shoot. Which to me is like saying a great family car isn't like a sports car. Two different animals. But for my needs, which include some shots for publication and web publishing, this is an enormously big camera at a reasonable price. Battery pack works great. Strobe is big. One annoyance: not sure if sound-effects can be shut off. Serious problem for wildlife fotogs.

I have the H7/B version, which is essentially the same camera as this. Having owned another SONY camera before, I was glad to see that most of the functions on the back had not changed all that much, therefore, not a steep learning curve. Pros: flash automatically flips up when needed for a shot. Cons: 1) When you turn on the camera, the lens automatically pops out, causing the lens cover to fall off. 2)only takes Sony DUO memory sticks (can't use old ones in new camera, but vice versa ok with adaptor.)3) Cover for USB port seems flmsy, doesn't like to bend out of the way, and is probably going to break off. 4) software required to view photos on PC. Pros: Recording in movie mode is pretty good. Quality is good, speed is good. Shutter lag is minimal for stills, less than half a second typically. Face recognition technology does seem to work well, making faces perfectly lit in any light. Beware of bright back-lighting though, which will trick camera into thinking no flash is needed. Result: silhouettes. Zoom is great, and steady shot seems to really work well, as evidenced when my 8-yr-old took a picture using zoom to its full extent. Despite shaky small hands, picture came out clear.

I did a lot of research on "bridge" cameras (digital cameras that fall between "point and shoot" and DSLRs) and finally decided on the H7 for two reasons. First, I owned a 3.2 mp Sony camera prior to this one. I was pleased with the way it worked and found the in-camera menus easy to use. I wanted to upgrade to more megapixels and larger optical zoom, but still have an "easy to use" camera. Second, Sony cameras had ALL the features I wanted (steady shot, face recognition, high ISO, etc) whereas other brands tended to only have one or two of these options.

The camera was easy to set up and I started taking pictures within 5 minutes (the battery was 2/3 charged out of the box). The camera came with a remote, carrying strap, lens cover, and lens shade. You have to buy a memory stick, but I just used my extra one from my PSP.

Pros:
-8.1 megapixels with 15x Optical zoom: These two features are hard to find together in a camera. I found with other cameras I had to compromise on one or the other. The mix of these two features creates some great pictures.

-Steady Shot: Like other reviewers said, I found this helps a lot when you are at maximum zoom

-Face recognition: It takes some fiddling to make it work right, but it does help center your pictures on the people rather than the background.

-Menus: Having owned a Sony camera before, learning the in camera menus wasn't that hard. However, it may take some time for folks not used to Sony products.

Cons:
-LCD screen: The screen smudges very easily and quickly. The resolution on the screen isn't very good for what I expected from Sony and is the main reason I can't give this product 5 stars.

-Body style: While the construction of the camera gives a very professional look, it can be hard to hold. You will probably need two hands if you're doing a lot of shots.

-Accessories must be Sony made: As with all Sony products, you must buy only their accessories. I know this is a big factor for folks who already own a large collection of lenses.

-Action shots: I probably need to work the settings on the camera, but all my action shots seem to come out blurry. I had seen some reviews of this camera that said this was an issue.

All in all, this is a great camera. As a previous reviewer said this camera is not for folks looking for a DSLR. It is a step above the first generation of "point and shoots." However, for all the features you get, it is a great value.

I just upgraqded from a dsc-h2 and wonder a few things about the design of this camera. First, the Sony DSC-H2 was a fantastic camera for the money and I only owned it briefly but absolutely love that cam.

After first opening this box and turning the Sony DSC-H7 on, it left me with some doubts..

#1 the lens cap fits on the lens in such a way that it pops off when you turn on the camera... what gives?? The DSC-H2 knew when the lens cap was in place and did nothing until you manually removed the cap. Turn this DSC-H7 camera on and the lens cap pops off from the lens moving outward.. annoying if you only wanted to connect it to your computer to transfer photos, etc.

#2 The hood is large and bulky and won't fit in my camera case I used for the DSC-H2. Maybe this is not really a problem, but I was used to leaving the hood on my dsc-h2 because it was not bulky and it protected my lens even if it wasn't really needed all the time and fit in my case that isn't much larger than the DSC-H2 camera.

#3 The camera is not as ergonomically comfortable as the DSC-H2.. it also doesn't have the nifty scroll wheel that was in front of the shutter button on the dsc-h2.

#4 The battery pack is expensive and you can't just pop in some AA batteries if your pack runs out like you could with the dsc-h2, so be ready to buy another battery pack if you want the protection of having spare power. My guess is that this was necessary to give this camera the computing power it possesses. The capability to use AA's was nice but I will surely manage with the power packs.

#5 The manual does a poor job of describing functions. I couldn't get the remote to work and tried to find info on using the remote in the manual and no useful information was present in the manual. I was referred to the cd which also didn't seem to have very much useful information about the remote... so far my remote isn't working. I would think it would be relatively straight forward and either it doesn't work or it requires study before using it.

....
These are all things I probably wouldn't have noticed if I didn't own the dsc-h2.. except for the lens cap which is actually pretty annoying.

As for pics.. it takes excellent pictures and I'm sure I will be happy with the camera after getting used to the quirks that were unexpected when upgrading. The speed of picture taking is impressive and I took a lot of pictures of family and it was neat to pick the ones in which people had just the right expressions on their faces to keep. It should be terrific for nature shots.

I'm really enjoying testing out this camera and give it a 90% approval rating. I find it easy to use and a good buy for the average hobbyist like myself. I have found a few of the problems mentioned by other DSC-H7 and H9 users, but most have not been that serious (like the easy to fingerprint window...I simply learned how to hold the thing to avoid touching the screen). If I can figure out a way to end the unexpected fuzziness I found in a few shots, the pluses will definitely outweight the minuses and I'll be keeping it.

PROS: Fast (doesn't have the typical digital camera click/record delay), great image stability, good focal range, lightweight (for ME that's a plus), easy to hold (I like the more extended right side for gripping), menus easy to read/understand, (I did not have a problem finding any of the options other people have mentioned like sound off, change in pixels, whatever), the book is very basic, but I haven't felt like I needed anything else yet (comes with a more detailed CD instruction manual I haven't even opened, so who knows what's there) does a good job with moving targets, slim battery charger is easy to use/store. (Personally, I did not want to be using regular batteries again. Bulkier, heavier, and I doubt they hold a charge longer. I've used other Sony products in the past where the batteries held up great. Hoping this is the same. Last camera took AAs and drained them in no time.)

CONS: only takes Sony specific add ons (read other reviews), does not come with a DC cord, does not have an eyepiece that tilts up so I can see what I'm shooting at low levels (and I don't think the H9 screen will tilt enough to make it worth the extra money for me), cover port for USB is flimsy, but I've had others similar so I think if I'm careful it will last. One note: I did find the purple streaking with two sun shots, but it only appeared on the screen, not in the final pictures. Also, I am considering trading this for something with less "fringing" (I've done about 80 test photos with different settings, and while most turned out great, the yellow flowers and butterflies look fuzzy.) I'm totally torn on whether or not to keep this camera. Compared to the 4MP, less zoom, less stability camera I was using before it's a huge improvement and I don't feel like going over $500 total with camera and add ons. But like I said, I did see a "smearing" problem in a few situations. My advice...be sure to do a lot of testing within the return period and see for yourself whether the image quality will meet your needs.

Pros: Image Quality, Color Reproduction, Macro Mode, Face Detection
Cons: Flash can be too bright sometimes; proprietary battery; hard to find a good case

I picked this camera up about a week ago and have take about 100 pictures and 4-5 mini-video clips with it. Overall, it's a good camera, but I can't give it a 100%. First the pros:

The image quality and color reproduction are very admirable. Reds are reds, blacks are blacks. With the camera cranking out full resolution, you get really good pictures when viewed on a computer or on a HDTV (note though that the HD mode only works with HDTVs with an OPTIONAL cable). Even zooming in on the pictures gives you great clarity on the point of focus.
Macro mode is really really cool. I'm just a casual photographer, but this camera churns out some professional looking macro shots. I took some closeups of my dad's fruit trees and you can see every little bump on apricots and the veins of the surrounding leaves.
Face detection works well too, although I'm still on the learning curve. The face detection is where this camera truly shows it's a point-n-shoot. Just whip out the camera, and squeeze off the shutter and you'll most certainly get an in-focus shot.

The cons: I've found the flash really fills in the frames when it's used indoors especially. I'm not sure if there's a way to decrease the vividness of the flash but i'm not too happy with that for now. I'm still on my first charge with the battery, and it's about 75% drained. Obviously i've been using it more to take test shots, but it worries me that when I go on a trip, I'll need to take the charger with me, or worse, shell out another 40-50 bux on an extra battery. But that was something I anticipated beforehands. As for the case, I haven't really found one that fits the camera well. I wish there was a glove-fit case for this cam but I haven't come across it yet.

A couple other good things about this camera: It comes with a pretty good bundle, including the remote control (with which a tripod would be great) and the lens hood.

Overall, I recommend this camera.

Compared to my Sony F828 for taking long distance shots the photos taken with the H7 have far less digital noise. One complaint is when attaching the adapter ring and the flower lens hood, you can't take a photo with the flash without getting a half moon shaped shadow area at the bottom of the photo. The flash is just not high enough. So without being able to use the adapter ring I cannot protect the lens with the protective filter. The picture quality is very good.

This camera is great! I find that the pictures are studio quality. Just have to get used to all the different settings. Definitely recommend this to everyone.

I basically bought the digital camera for the first time.
It's got all the functions needed for beginners to intermediate photographers to use and is fairly easy to maneuver. Battery life is also on the better side.

For starters like myself who want to gain experience first and also thinking about getting better ones like EOS and SLR in the future, I strongly recommend to get this.

A Good Camera
Pros:-
- Picture quality is much better as compared to the DSC W-80 I have.
- Very Good Quality pics even at 15x zoom in daylight.
- Ability to zoom in/out of video is very good and handy.
- The flash light is very strong, and illuminates distant objects as well.
- Has a convenient playback button.
- Has a convenient LCD/ViewFinder selection button.
- Battery, Memory card and USB cable can be used interchangeably with DSC W-80.
- Menu options are the same as DSC W-80

Cons:-
- As with DSC W-80, lens comes out once even when connected to PC in USB mode. It causes more inconvenience when lens cover is on, which gets popped off.
- The flash light hood which opens up automatically in low light photography, does not go back automatically on switching off the camera.

I make hand tied crappie jigs and before the camera I was using gave me a lot of trouble showing the true colors. Also I make Glow Jigs and that camera couldn't show the Glow Colors at all, but with this camera it's very easy and I still don't even know all the features of this camera yet.

[...]

This is by far one of the best value-for-money compact Sony Cybershot in the market, along with all the H series from Sony. Granted the H series does not perform very well optically, (there's wheel barrel distortion at wide end zoom and visible purple fringing), but the recent upgrade in terms of megapixels and increased optical zooming in the H7 (and H9) plus remote control and improved processing speed (thanks to the BIONZ processor) really makes this compact worth a second look.

Surely the quality of the Carl-Zeiss lens on the H7 can in no way compare with those of either the R1 or the Alpha, but please bear in mind that the H7 is after all a compact point and shoot camera. I have previously owned a W600, a P100 and a P200 from Sony. The resolution of these cameras were of course lower than 8.1MP, and the cameras were of course slower than the H7, but generally these cameras could not out-perform the H7, especially when it comes to picture reproduction. The purple fringing is visible on all models under bright light, the wheel barrel distortion is horrible on the W600 but less visible on the P100 and P200, but most of all these compacts do not provide extensive manual handling (W600 doesn't provide any), which makes them unfavorable under alot of shooting conditions.

The H7 captures and focuses at an amazing speed (with the help of the new processor I presume), and it also has enough processing power to do full resolution bursts up to 100 pictures per burst (which i find is amazing considering the price of the camera). My R1 can only do 3 bursts at one click and has to stop to to clear its buffer for a few seconds (to process and store the images), and although the images are almost flawless (the T coated CZ lens is unbelievably sharp, corner to corner), the inability of the R1 to continuously capture images has caused me alot of precious kodak moments, and the R1 is a USD999 camera.. all this while the USD350 H7 snaps away like a crazy ADD kid on adrenaline capturing every moment in 8.1MP without needing a breather... (personally i can't hold my finger down for 100 shots) :)

This camera of course has it's limitations.. the burst mode limits the ISO setting to only 400 (you wouldn't want anything more than that anyway because the images tend to get really noisy after ISO 400), and certain shutter speeds (max is 1/4000 sec, impressive since even my R1 could only do 1/2000) are only available under certain aperture sizes and certain zoom ranges. Also, the images are generally noisy in darker, shadowy areas (then again it's no more than any other compact cameras and even those cameras with APS-C sensors suffer from the noise as well; they're just a bit less visible on screen but you'll see them all right) and the H7 does not come with a hot shoe for you to use external flashes to do those beautiful bounce-flash studio photography or super long range flash photography (it's actually pointless anyway because the optical zoom on the H7 is so powerful (up to 475mm) that there's no external flash that could reach as far as the camera).

If you're looking for a compact point and shoot that has enough features and manual controls to drive you crazy while shoot pictures of the moon all the way to your kid's sports game, look no further. The H7 is a steal :) Manual controls found on D-SLRs like Aperture Priority, Full Manual and Shuttle Priority can all be found here, just like the R1 and Alpha, and although the picture quality of the H7 cannot compete with those from the R1 or Alpha, it compensates well with a built in mega-zoom lens (the R1 can only go from 24mm to 120mm whereas the Alpha requires multiple lenses) that goes from 31mm to 475mm, light weight and a very compact chassis (for a compact with such a powerful built-in zoom lens) and speedy response that matches that of Alpha (they both use the new BIONZ processor). Can't wait to see what Sony will introduce for the H series family next year..

I bought this camera for a New York trip. I took almost 500 pictures and less than 10% are OK, the rest are blurry or with noise. I read the manual and tried with all the settings without success. Thanks to the outstanding return policy of Amazon I was able to return it and get my money back.
I do not recommend this camera. I may have done something wrong but most of the pictures were taken using the auto function and in daylight, so there are no excuses.

Buena óptica. Tanto el macro como el zoom óptico 15X permiten obtener buenas imágenes. El flash tiene muy buen alcance y permite imágenes de calidad. Tanto el menú de visualización como el de grabación son claros y bien organizados.
LIMITACIONES: El formato de la cámara es incómodo. Hay que ser muy cuidadoso al sostenerla para no tocar el display y mancharlo con tus huellas digitales. El botón del macro es incómodo pues al sostener la cámara puedes pulsarlo involuntariamente. No recomiendo usar el ISO de alta sensibilidad ni el zoom digital. Las imágenes resultan pobres en ambos casos. Para ser 8.1 megapixeles esperaba mayor definición de imagen.

I absolutely love this camera! I don't "do" high tech thingies and this camera is high tech without all of the hassle. The instructions are very easy to understand and implement. I bought this Sony when it first came out earlier this year with the goal of taking better pics to scrap book with and have been thrilled with the results. I use the action mode quite a bit for soccer, baseball and basketball shots of my kids and they are impressive! I also captured some really cool night shots of the kids lighting sparklers on July 4th, very viewable with some neat special effects. I have found this product surpasses my expectations and was worth every dollar!

I received the camera almost a week before it said I would. I was so happy that I got it so early because I was going to a music festival and wanted to use it really bad. I got it only a day after I bought it and everything was great. I got the camera and loved it! It had great zoom. It focused fast and took great pictures. The only thing I noticed was that when you take a picture, the camera focuses on what is closer, and I couldn't figure out how to focus on what I wanted. It works really easy and is great for begining photographers and children, as long as they are careful. I was so grateful to amazon.com because I bought it at less than the manufacturer and didn't have to sacrafice quality or service. Thank you Amazon.com!

Easy to use, excellent pictures, my first non-Olympus camera! The zoom is great and the speed is a real improvement over my old camera. Perfect for a beginner or experienced alike.

I bought this camera 4 days ago. It does not take steady pictures when you change it to "SCN" mode or "Twilight" mode. You have to use "Auto" Mode to get steady pictures in low light. But then by using "Auto" mode, the background in the dark does not come good. So whats the use of having SCN and Twilight mode when it can not take steady pictures. The camera claims to take "Super Steady Shots" But it does not do that when you are trying to take a Landscape/portrait picture in dark. All the pictures come blurred. Instruction manual recommends to use a tripod using these modes.

I called Sony custormer service. The call support center was located in Phillipines. So there were communication problems. I had to repeat my concern at least 5 times to the agent for her to understand and still I did not get a satisfactory answer.

I believe this is a common problem with all cameras. My 4 year old digital camera has the same problem, so I thought if I am purchasing a sony camera after 4 years, image blurring in the dark would have been resolved with technology advancement, because sony claims DSCH7B to be a "Super Steady" camera. Unfortunately, it is not. I felt that my old Fuji S5200 still takes better pictures that DSCH7B.

Camera is supposed to be HD, but resolution of the pictures that I tried to display on HDTV were not HD Quality.

I would recommend FUJI S7000( which is an enhanced version of S5200 that I have) over this camera. It has almost same features as this camera, takes excellent pictures, and is almost 1/2 the price.

An excellent camera, functions essentially as I hoped. Video quality is very high. I have two concerns about the proprietary nature of this camera:

1. The USB cable is difficult to plug in to the camera and is of a type I have never seen before (it is either very obscure or proprietary). Which means if you don't have the cable with you, you aren't transferring any pictures.

2. The battery pack is proprietary and expensive! I have no idea why Sony decided to move away from AA batteries (which are cheap and available everywhere) to a proprietary battery pack (which is expensive and difficult to obtain). The previous incarnation of this model used AA batteries and suffered no decreased battery life. If you are out and about with a dead battery and haven't purchased a $50 backup battery pack, you are out of luck.

As I mentioned, netiher of these changes to this model improve it in any way, they only decrease it's usefulness. Other manufacturers still utilize mini USB connectors and AA batteries which makes them more user friendly.

The only reason I can imagine for these changes is so Sony can make extra cash selling accessories. Didn't they learn their lesson with Beta Max?

DSCH7 camera is a very good value for money. I am loving its remote... now no more 10 seconds timer hassel.
Its light weight and takes great shots. Amazon has delievered it really fast. Thanks much once again Amazon.

I've used the Sony DSC-H7 for a couple of weeks now and I've gotten a good sense of the strengths and weaknesses of this camera. Overall a strong recommendation and only a few minor flaws.

Here's the breakdown:

PROS:

- Incredibly high quality 8 megapixel photos
- Serious 15x optical zoom (not pixelated digital zoom)
- Takes pictures in very quick in rapid succession, 3 per second if desired
- In camera picture editing including red-eye reduction
- Extremely solid physical construction overall (one exception below)
- Powerful flash that lights up even far away targets
- Long battery life (200+ shots in my tests with still half power left)
- Has high-quality Sony add-ons for wide angle and telephoto lenses

CONS:

- Screw on light baffle (included) seems cheap and doesn't stay in position and can ruin shots
- Automatic settings mode can lead to blurry photos in action sequences unlike other Cybershots
- Face recognition mode doesn't seem to work more than 8 feet away or so
- Long battery charging time if you use more than a quarter of the charge.
- Smallish rear LCD screen makes checking photos more difficult than it should be, expected larger in a camera like this
- Flash pops up and is auto-activated more than any other camera I've used before and more than seems needed

Overall a really solid performer and happy with it, you just have to get used to its personality, it's definitely not a grab and go as the thin Cybershots, but with a tiny bit of study you can produce pretty amazing results.

Although the "flat" Cybershot I bought three years ago still takes great photos, and can still fit in my pocket, its fatal flaw--a screen which becomes useless in bright sunlight--led me to buy this model, which has an electronic "viewfinder" which can be seen in any light. The photos I've taken so far are terrific.

Other mechanical aspects are amazing: the hand-hold is very comfortable and secure, the camera body is light and easy to handle (so light that it feels like a toy until you realize what great photos you're getting), and the viewfinder can be focused, with just enough difficulty that it won't adjust inadvertently.

Unfortunately, the charger which comes with the camera requires five hours to charge the battery (which must be removed to do so). This didn't bother me much until I started reading the "Accessories" folder while I was waiting for it to charge so I could start playing with the camera, and learned that a charger is available at additional cost which will charge the battery in ninety minutes. This should be included with a camera costing more than three hundred dollars!

Similarly, the camera's internal memory isn't sufficient to take more than a few pictures, so to use the camera you will immediately need to purchase "accessory" memory. (While you're at it, given the time it takes to charge a battery, you probably want to buy another battery, too).

(It's been so long that a camera came with even a rudimentary case that I won't even list that deficiency. I consider myself lucky that a strap, lens hood, and lens cap are included!)

La verdad, me parece una excelente camara a un precio muy accesible. Altamente recomendada para quien como yo, no es un fotografo profesional, pero gusta de hacer fotos decorosas. Ademas, es Sony. La recomiendo a ojos cerrados.

I've owned the camera for 3 months, have taken very good quality pictures. Am impressed by the good quality of low light pictures with no flash. But, it now has a vertical line in each picture and is seen in the view finder. I'm returning it to Sony for repair/replacement, lets see how it goes. -- Sony replaced the ccd, returned it one day after recieving it. rh 4stars

I chose the cybershot for the 15X zoom, and for the sports mode. So far the camera has been terrific. Easy to use, and the zoom is great. The pictures have been excellent, and almost always in focus. I especially like that there is no delay between pushing the button and the actual shooting of the photo.

This camera is an outstanding digital camera. The zoom is all that I expected and more. All the features are exceptional for a camera of this price. I even give it an excellent when comparing when it with my digital SLR camera.

The Sony Cybershot appeared to be a great little ca mera and turned out to be a major disappointment. Most companies include the memory card in the box, but Sony requires the customer to obtain it separately at additional cost. In addition, the specs do not indicate the size filter the camera takes, if any. I've had several digitals and found downloading a very simple procedure, but the H7 is anything but user-friendly. I followed the complicated instruction a number of times with no success, even resorting to the Sony Help line. Without downloading the camera is useless and so I returned it.

this is really a good point and shoot camera. i bought it in October it is a good camera and had really a good capturing speed and many shooting programs in it. it takes time to understand the camera, because of the operational modes. it took almost a month to get used to it. I need to do little more work to study the camera. It did captured very good pictures for my album.
only concern is the battery backup is very low. it is advised to carry an additional battery.

Of all the cameras I've had throughout my 63 years this one is the best........the telephoto is killer.....just took it to Thailand and took over 1000 shots...everyone perfect!! The telephoto at 15X is unbelievably amazing and never a blurred image. Hardly ever need to use the flash......it's easy to use and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a great digital camera........new or older camera buffs! Love this camera and for the price it's by far the most versatile......buy it now! Can't wait to purchase and try the telephoto and wide angle lenses. Robert Wunce, Santa Cruz, California

If you are looking for a good camera to take great pictures at a lower cost than a DSLR this is one of your best options. I just bought the H7 a month ago and I would recommend it to anyone.

The picture quality is great, the 15X optical zoom works fine and the manual controls are excellent for this kind of camera. Overall, I think that the Sony H7 is a bargain for the price (I paid $303 on Amazon). I bought it with the purpose of learning a little bit of photography and I think it was a great choice.

- Battery life is pretty good.
- LCD screen is good enough.
- 15X zoom is just great.
- Auto focus works fast.
- Steady shot is very good.
- Face detection works all the time.

The camera is not bad. What is dissapointing are that cables, batteries, charger (hardware) and software are Sony-specific so be ready to proliferation and spend a couple of hundred dollars more in accesories if you want back ups.

outdoors this camera takes crisp clear pictures and the stop-action is great.
indoors at night however flash or no flash, the pictures are really grainy. i have tried resetting the camera and no help.i don't know what to do.

This camera is loaded with lots of neat options and is a great camera for a beginner to intermediate photographer. It's a great camera to gain experience prior to spending the big dollars on a high-end SLR.

I purchased the Sony DSC H7 as a Christmas gift for my son and daughter-in-law. The whole Amazon experience was the easiest thing I did all season. The camera is great with all the slide show features and amazing zoom and pixels. The shipping was fast and free and I paid less than I could buy it for locally. And they gave me some wonderful pictures of my grand-daughter with Cinderella at her castle. Even our extended family loved the camera.

Tengo 6 meses con la H7 y el selector ya no le funciona, los colores nunca fueron buenos, antes tenia una H2 y me arrepiento de haberla cambiado

I tried a different brand within the same price and specs and didn't like all the noise, so I returned it and got the DSC-H7. The only thing I wish it had (besides some of the features of the DSC-H9) is the ability to shoot in the RAW format. My older camera that I had before this one had a firmware update, but this one does not. Hopefully Sony will make this feature available soon!

We bought the camera to use during three extended trips we plan this year, but
are already using it to photograph deer in our back yard and our performing cats.
We have been more than satisfied with the results. So far, says my wife the photographer. "It's all good."

This is a wonderful camera. Pretty much everything I could ask for in a mid range package.

The camera is light weight and easy to use in all lighting situations. The battery is long lasting and with the (sold separately) memory stick can hold a ton of pics. My last vacation I took over two hundred high res shots and all of them turned out to be great.

I used this camera at several football games and the super fast shutter speed with the continous snap shot gave a great presentation of the live action.

You can't go wrong. I purchased this at 368.00 dollars last year and now it is less than 300.00. You can't beat that!

I Love this camera! I bought mine used but in like new condition from a seller on Amazon. I spent a bit more but I got some extras such as the Tele photo lens and the Wide Angle Lens + extra battery + lens filters etc. and saved money doing it this way.
Well anyway that's besides the point. The photos that this camera takes are breathtaking! In fact I filmed a friends wedding and they liked most of my photos better then the ones taken by the pro they hired and offered me money for the photos...of course I turned the money down and gave them the photos as a gift. I can share some of those photos with you if you email me.
The weight of this camera is incredibly lite and almost makes you not aware your holding it. I used to have a Sony F-828 and it was a fine camera but this H7 beats it by leaps and bounds. The 828 was much heavier.
Plus this H7 has one heck of a ZOOM...I couldn't believe it.

A problem I used to have with my old camera was blurred photos due to movement or an unsteady hand....WELL NOT ANYMORE! This H7 has yet to give me a blurry photo even as unsteady as my hands are and believe me... I have some pretty unsteady hands.
I have tried some pretty good cameras over the last couple years but I am glad I found this one...it's like holding a part of myself I didn't know I had.
I'm comfortably at Home with this camera! "sigh" of relief

I recently took pictures with my new Sony Camera on vacation...the color was accurate...and the pictures I took inside without flash were spectacular!

I have had this camera for a mere day and have already taken hundreds of photographs. This camera has shot everything from a cow, to a pile of bricks, to a dandelion, to a neighbor playing basketball, and back again. I haven't needed to take the same shot more than twice to get it to turn out just the way I want it, and i am picky! I shot water in mid air, ATV going 30mph, basketball going through hoop, and they were all sharp; crystal clear; frozen as if time were stopped. The fifteen times optical zoom and VR ( vibration reduction ) are amazing! Simply aim and push the shutter. Don't worry, just relax and let the camera do the work!

I had a Sony F-828 and made the mistake of selling it to buy an h7. I figured the F-828 was an 8.0mp and the h7 is a 8.1mp and thought I would be getting a little better camera, Boy was I wrong!
The image quality is not as sharp compared to the old 828. Which means the processor in the h7 is not as good a quality as my old camera.
So if your looking for super sharp detail the h7 will not deliver!
I also purchased the 1.7x Telephoto lens and the 0.75x wide angle lens at the time I purchased the camera...they were very pretty lenses out of the box but really didn't do that much for the money they cost.
Two things I did and at the same time did not like about the h7 was how light weight it was and the other the 15x optical zoom. However with it being so light it had a very cheap feel to it and the bad part about the zoom is it's a motorized zoom and that means battery life will suffer (also it's just something else to go wrong and need to be repaired) and you can't quiet adjust the zoom as precise as with a manual lens barrel.
In other words if your serious about photography then move on cause the h7 just isn't going to get it.
{Bottom line} "if your someone who wants a decent camera for the money and are not real critical of photo quality then this camera will do just what you need".
That is why I gave this camera a 3 star rating.
Thankfully I sold the h7 and accessories(took a loss) but now I have stepped up to a true DSLR, the Sony A100 which is a lot like the F-828 but even better.
Hope this helps, happy picture taking!

This was my first camera.It really dose what it is mentioned about it.It really delivers an professional out put for the pictures what you capture. Initally there was some trouble to understand the use of this product, but after reading the manual i could get what i was expecting from it.


Enjoy

i bought this camera a month ago. i just looked at the megapixel and zoom while purchasing it. buying an 8.1mp camera is no big deal. but buying an 8.1mp camera with 15x zoom and more than a dozen appealing features for a few extra bucks sounds interesting. the flash is perfect for low lit areas and night time shooting. the 15x zoom is amazing. make sure you buy only a sony sd card 'coz others don't fit in the memory card slot. it's a perfect cam. it gives you more than what you expect. after all, it's a japanese technology!!

if you are looking for great pictures, just go ahead. It's worth the price.

I took a good look at the reviews and chose this over the canon S5, SX100 and the olympus UZ 560. After having a first hand experience i feel that i made the right decision.

Upon opening the package the camera felt very light and almost insubstantial..... to be frank didnt feel like a premium product.Dont get me wrong,the textured glass reinforced plastic is quality stuff,its just that i like cameras that have some heft.

After putting in the battery and playing aroung for a while, i got used to it and rather liked the light weight, thats when it struck that it would be a boon for long hikes.

As for the picture quality,lets start with the positives:

# The camera is very fast,the auto focus is phenomenal and its ready for another shot instantaneously, especially without flash it can take around 2 pictures a second.
# The pictures came out very well and dont require any post processing, i really liked the colour rendition.
# The zoom is great, but dont expect telescope like Zoom...its not!
# The flash is awesome. It is very powerful and the recharge time is reasonably good.
# Impressive image stablisation even at maximum zoom.

Now for the cons:

# the pictures are good if you are making small prints or for casual viewing...Take a closer look at the blown up pictures and Uh..Oh! at maximum zoom Pincushion distorton creeps in and chromatic aberration too especially at the corners.Though it didnt feel as weird as [...] made it out to be, I think thats because their test objects are designed to make specefic flaws stand out.
# The wide end though suffers from heavy barrel distortion...but only if you get really close. I dont think it would matter for macro shots of flowers as they tend to be symmetrical.

I wouldnt recommend it to people who photoshop pictures to get the best out of it,as it has no RAW mode and they will in particular grimace at the distortions.

On the whole i would recommend it to the trigger happy guys looking for a good point and shoot and doesnt plan on post processing and big prints.The pics come out great directly from the camera and the brilliant colours more than make up for the minor abberations.

PS: For those guys deciding between the S5, UZ 560 or this, i suggest this camera over the S5 as this has a greater zoom range and the distortions are mainly in the zoom range beyond the S5's capabilities. As for the UZ i havent used it.

Everything about this camera is really well done. I have experiemces what others have said about too much color in some pictures, mainly red tones. Other than that the camera is near perfect.

This is such a fantastic camera!! It is easy to use, much lighter weight than it looks. I can't believe it was $100 less than my last camera. The shots I took with the macro lens look like they are postcards. The color of the images are very vibrant and clear, and low light shots,(which had alot of artifacts with my last camera) have great clarity. I am very happy with this purchase!

Just purchased this camera, so still getting used to it. So far, it is fantastic. Light weight, easy to use and the instructions are easy to follow. Definetly recommend buying

I bought this camera last summer when I was really wanting to upgrade to a DSLR and settled for an upgrade point and shoot. I was really excited with the zoom, which is an awesome feature, and all of the other in camera options. My biggest problem with this camera is the poor image quality in low lighting. The picture will seem to be okay on the LCD but once it's on the computer it's grainy and most of the time slightly blurred. As long as I'm outside, the shots turn out pretty good. Still not as clear and bright as I'd prefer, but not as bad as inside shooting.

Also another annoyance is when you are in low lighting situations and you zoom in close, the camera won't allow you to take a picture. I was recently at a concert taking photos from about 25 feet back and it kept just focusing and not snapping any shots (which would've been great at the moment I wanted to capture them!) instead I got the sides of heads or eyes half closed. Frustrating!

A great feature with this camera is the options for sepia & black and white. Especially because you can change this setting while filming also. At the concert I attended the lighting was this awful red and I was able to switch to black and white and have a really good video.

In all, if you take pictures outside in great lighting situations- you'll love the options this camera has to offer! If you're looking to take pictures indoors, at sporting or other events- I would definitely skip it because you'll find yourself frustrated like I still am.

I have owned the H1 and H2 and they are superior in quality compared to this camera. I use the H7 for work and bought it as a replacement for the H2 when the H2's shutter button stopped working. I have the H1 as my personal camera and it is by far the best in quality. My main concerns with the H7 are that it activates the flash when it doesn't seem to be necessary, the optics don't seem to be as good as the two previous models and the camera just feels "cheaper" by comparison. When I took pictures with the other cameras, I got some amazing shots. Like my dog's whiskers in perfect focus from across the room. If you can get a hold of an H1 somewhere, jump on it.

I bought two of these cameras. First one works great, nice pictures, clear, no problems so far. The second one i just received in the mail and i must tell you... THE BOX WAS OPEN (stickers were torn off, etc. ) when i received it. Can't find a phone number for Amazon.com anywhere to speak to someone about why the box was open. Very disapointed in Amazon about not providing the phone number. They jerk you around back and forth with FAQ but there is no phone number and my issue is not covered in FAQ. I hope there are no problems with this camera because I wouldn't know where to even start without a phone number and we all know how sending e-mails about a problem goes. Good Luck

I have taken pictures of everything from my son's birth to the lava fields in Hawaii. All pictures came out beautiful. Very easy camera to use.