Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5

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Features
In terms of features, the H5 is more of an incremental upgrade to the H1 than a whole new camera by itself. According to Sony, the H5 (and H2) are the first Cyber-shots with long-range zooms to feature the double anti-blur technology. That aside, we've already witnessed the compact Cyber-shot DSC-T9 sporting this feature.

The double anti-blur technology on the H5 uses Sony's Steady Shot (image stabilizer) and a high-sensitivity setting. Gyro sensors in the camera detect the angles and speed of hand shake and move the internal shift lens to compensate for the movement. In addition, users can select the maximum sensitivity setting of ISO 1,000 for capturing subjects at a faster shutter speed. Sony also claims its Clear RAW NR system has an improved signal-to-noise ratio which reduces color and luminance noise. If you recall, Panasonic uses a similar two-prong approach for eliminating blurriness in photos. The Lumix DMC-FX01 and the Lumix DMC-TZ1 are two cameras equipped with the company's high ISO and MEGA Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S).

	The dual-hinged cover allows you to pop open the media card cover without risk of your batteries falling out when you are switching cards.

There are two avenues for accessing the high-sensitivity option on the H5. A more idiot-proof method is to rotate the mode dial to the ISO position and the camera will automatically determine the suitable ISO level to use. However, if you prefer to do the work yourself, you can manually select the various sensitivity levels (ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,000) in the other modes.

The 12x optical zoom lens works between the 36mm-to-432mm (35mm equivalent) range for long distance photography sans lens changing (on a digital SLR). It helps that the lens doesn't extend a lot further than the lens barrel--approximately 31mm--at the telephoto end.

Having a large 3-inch LCD monitor comes in useful when you are sharing recently taken pictures on the camera, but it's also a fingerprint magnet. In addition, if you use the EVF often, chances are you will transfer marks from your greasy face onto the screen. Keep a soft cloth handy to clean your LCD.

There's a fair bit of creative features (aperture, shutter priority and full manual) onboard the H5 to keep an enthusiast happy. We like how the mode dial appears as an overlay on the camera's monitor when we are changing settings. That gives us a bit of leeway especially when we have our eyes glued to the screen. What's even better (in a way that makes us feel Sony wants us to have our sight fixed on the LCD) is that we are able to change exposure settings by using the jog dial, which also doubles as a selection control in the creative modes.

That's not all. There are customizable settings when you go into the menus which include the color mode, metering, white balance, picture quality, flash level, contrast and sharpness. What we find useful, however, is the flexible spot autofocus option which allows us to select our desired AF point by using the directional control as a pointing device. The manual focus mode, on the other hand, may be baffling for first-timers.

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