New Digital Camera

So I received some money from relatives for graduation, and figured it was time for a digital camera. I bought a 35mm SLR a few years back; in retrospect it was a mistake. It’s a blast to use, and takes great pictures, but film just doesn’t make sense anymore. Mostly when I take pictures I want to use them on the computer, and film costs a fortune to shoot. For decent processing, I bet it averages $5-10 per roll, and I don’t shoot fancy film.

I decided on a Sony Cybershot DSC-H3. I also considered the Panasonic Lumix TZ3 and the Canon Powershot SX100-IS. My price cap was $250, and I was looking for something fairly small, with a decent optical zoom, image stabilization, and some manual control options. There were a few other models that were larger, and a few that had some nice features (I really like the Olympus weatherproof models), but these three interested me the most.

I’m glad I tried them before buying, because it was an easy choice with the cameras in hand. The Canon had more manual control, and nice controls/interface, but was too slow. Autofocus took too long, and the shutter lag on unfocused shots was terrible. The Panasonic would be my second choice. It was small and sleek, performance was very snappy, and the controls were comfortable. I decided against it because it lacked any manual control options, and because of the impressive performance of the Sony.

It’s fast… The camera powers on and is ready in a couple seconds — fast enough to just grab the camera and shoot. Autofocus was noticeably faster than the other models, and shutter lag is negligible.

I don’t feel like writing a crazy-detailed review; there are plenty of them online already. So far I like it a lot. It seems to take nice sharp pictures, and I love how fast it is. It’s nice to have so much zoom available in such a small camera, and the stabilization helps a lot at slow shutter speeds.

It does have a couple drawbacks. I’d like a wider angle lens; I think it’s a 38mm-380mm equivalent. The 28mm lens on the Panasonic was nice. I also wish it had a standard USB cord. The cord has a proprietary plug and contains both the USB and audio/video connections. I’m sure it would cost an arm and a leg to replace.

But other than these, it’s great. I’m looking forward to figuring it out.

January 3, 2008 | Filed Under Announcements [A]

 

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