Sony Cyber-shot H5 Review
Simon Joinson, July 2006

Review based on a production Sony DSC-H5

The Cyber-shot DSC-H1 was Sony's first foray into the increasingly crowded compact, image stabilized 'super zoom' market, and it was a very successful one too. The DSC-H5 (along with little brother the DSC-H2) arrived almost exactly a year later in February 2006. The H5 is notable as the first 'big zoom' compact camera to feature a 7 megapixel sensor (a new Sony 1/2.5" CCD), and for its huge 3.0" screen. Otherwise the specification is pretty much the same as the H2, itself a fairly subtle update to the original H1 - no bad thing given the very high standards set by that model. Let's start with the headline features:

• 7.2 million effective pixels
• 36-432mm equivalent (12x optical) F2.8-3.7 Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom lens
• Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization
• Wide ISO 80-1000 range
• Clear RAW™ noise reduction technology
• 3.0” LCD (230,000 pixels) & 0.2" (200,000 pixel) Electronic viewfinder
• Full photographic control
• Real Imaging Processor & 14-bit DXP A/D Conversion
• Optional wide and tele lens converters
• Scene selection (7 modes)
• Histogram indication
• 32MB internal memory, plus a Memory Stick/PRO Duo slot

Note that the majority of the descriptive text in this review is taken directly from the DSC-H2 review, as the cameras are functionally identical.

Cyber-shot DSC-H5 vs DSC-H2

The H2 and H5 are essentially the same camera with a few important differences:

• Higher resolution sensor (7MP versus 6MP)
• Larger LCD screen (3.0 vs 2.0 inch)
• Higher resolution screen (230k vs 85k pixels)
• Black body option (H2 is silver only)
• Slightly heavier than H2

As shown above the H5 (left) and H2 (center) are physically identical (save for the body color) from the front - the only difference on the back is the screen size. Shown for comparison is the original H1 (right).

Color Options

Unlike the H2 (and H1 before it), the H5 is manufactured in two colors. The silver version is - at the moment anyway - only available if you buy directly from Sony via its Sony Style online store.

DSC H-5 key specifications

* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2006 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.