Three of a kind…Sony DSC H50 Comparison Review
You will have noticed that my Point & Shoot of choice has been the Sony DSC H9, a super-zoom (31 to 465mm in 35mm equivalents). These super-zooms, which are available in one flavor or another from just about every major digital camera maker, are sometimes called bridge cameras…more advanced, with more complex settings, than the garden variety 1-3 or 1-5 pocket digitals, but still not a Digital Single Lens Reflex with their interchangeable lenses and considerably larger bodies (and larger image sensors).
The assumption seems to be that digital photographers begin taking pictures of the kids and family with a pocket P&S, then move up to a bridge camera, with its wider range zoom and more precise adjustments, as they get more serious…before crossing all the way over and eventually buying the full DSLR rig, with its bag of lenses. The advanced super-zoom forms a bridge between the pocket P&S and the DSLR.
I have been the SLR route back in the film days, and, despite (or perhaps because of) a recent temptation involving a DSLR I had to purchase for my work, I have made a conscious decision to pursue photographic excellence through an advanced P&S. In that sense, my H9 is a true bridge camera…my ultra portable, ultra adaptable, ultra capable bridge to the world of images around me.
The H9 was not, however, without its drawbacks. When it first reached the market there was a lot of controversy over at the dpreview Sony Forum about the image quality, or lack there-of, of the H9. I was an early adopter, having pre-ordered my H9 before it was even officially released, so I already owned it when the first, shall we say, lukewarm reviews started appearing. Some of the image quality issues people complained about were easy to see, and disappointing in a Sony product. Some were more subtle, and varied with the scene being captured to such a great extent that they caused endless argument on the Forum.
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