Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H10

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By Lori Grunin
May 05, 2008

Sony's H-series of cameras often sport long zoom range, and its Cyber-shot DSC-H10 is no exception with a 10x optical Carl Zeiss lens. With nine autofocus points and a variety of features like face detection, optical image stabilization system and Dynamic Range Optimization Standard, etc., the H10 seems poised to reign in the megazoom category. But how did it really fare? We find out.

Editors' note:

This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia.

Design

For the Cyber-shot DSC-H10 budget megazoom camera, Sony didn't change much from its predecessor, the Cyber-shot DSC-H3. Only its 230,000-pixel 3-inch LCD is new, compared with the 115,000-pixel, 2.5-inch version on the H3. Given the lack of an electronic viewfinder, that's a non-trivial enhancement, but pretty much the only one.

The grip is a tad shallow, which make may it uncomfortable for users with larger hands.
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At 381g with battery and Memory Stick Duo PRO card, the H10 is one of the lighter megazooms, and as compact as any of them. Still, I found it relatively comfortable to hold and use.

Features

With zoom ranges as long as 18x, it seems odd to refer to a 10x lens as a "megazoom", but the H10's F3.5-4.4, 38-to-380mm-equivalent lens still seems a pretty big reach. The smaller range as well as the relatively narrow angle of view and absence of an electronic viewfinder tend to be what distinguishes the budget models from more expensive siblings such as the H9. The 8-megapixel sensor and hardware image stabilization--optical, in the case of the H10--are typical for its class.

In daylight, the H10 renders very good color--accurate and saturated.
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As with its predecessor, the H10 provides a choice between only two aperture values at any given focal length: F3.5, F4.0 or F4.4, and F8 or f/10, depending on where you are in the zoom range. It seems to be that the camera doesn't have a controllable aperture at all: According to the manual, it sounds like it just toggles a neutral density filter to decrease exposure: "When the zoom is set fully to the W side, you can select an aperture F3.5 or F8.0 (using the internal ND filter)." If that's true, then you can't control the depth of field at all. All in all, these make the camera's manual exposure mode a bit of a joke.

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