H9 Build and Control Quality - Disappointing

[montmorency]

I think it would be kind of neat to have some rubber armoring
around the body; maybe enough so that the camera would bounce if
you dropped it . Maybe market it as skins so one could have a
"hot pink" or "cool blue" H9. Oh, wait, that's not what they're
talking about when they say "image quality", is it?

No, that's a "photographer's personal image" issue

Actually it was designed that way, so that if you ran out of memory
you could change sticks without powering down the camera.
Apparently dpreview thinks of this as a "pro" feature, so if the H9
doesn't have it that will undoubtedly be listed as a "con" in their
review. In practice, it was pretty awkward to remove just the
Memory Stick anyway

Yes, it was one of those "good-in-theory" features, hard to use in practice.

Regards,
M.

 

[Izzy5156567]

I personally do not mind light. I prefer light. I was just referring to the feel not being rubberized. I'll take some pictures today and compare with the H5.

The H5 weighs 17.3 oz with only 12x zoom,

H9 is 15.2 oz with 15x

H7 is 14.1oz

Someone else said the same thing, that it felt light and cheep, but
after some use liked the portability.

Please keep us posted of what you like and don't like. I like the
non fan boy approach.

 

[Izzy5156567]

Agreed. forgot to mention the lens cap just popping off.

Also, the lens adapter is big. At the end of the day it will look like a dslr with a telephoto attached!

• The USB cover is flimsy, I hope I don't break it
• The USB cable is hard to unhook
• Camera doesn't warn you when the lens cap is on, just pops it off

by itself

• My wife noticed it felt lighter than my previous H1, not a bad

thing though I guess

• The screen attracts finger prints
• The lens adapter is mammothly huge! With the lens hood on it's

probably as deep as the camera itself.

Just my .02

--
Former H1 Owner
Soon to be H9 Owner

 

[Izzy5156567]

I hadn't taken many pictures but you are quite right.

I miss that quick adjustment on the front. In no way is it made up for by turning the job wheel. The wheel is a little fragile feeling and much less useful when actually taking pictures, because one has to move the camera from the eye.

In comparing your H5 to your H9, what do you think of the "dial
wheel" on the back that replaces the jog wheel on the front. As
you know, on the H5 you press the jog wheel and rotate it to select
what variable you want to adjust (aperture, shutter speed, or EV).
Does the new dial wheel make this easier or more difficult, or
about the same?

Also I note on the H9 the FOCUS mode button is gone. That sounds
like a bad mistake to me. Any opinion?

 

[Izzy5156567]

I thought I'd miss the focus button, but I didn't.
Sony did something very, very right here.

There is a row of controls along the bottom of the display:

ISO Shutter Speed f/Stop EV Focus Mode

All of the things you might change while taking shots are all
together and work the same way.

But it is still not as useful as that control was in the front which one could adjust while keeping the H5 glued to the eye.

IMHO, it also elevated ISO to a co-equal partner with the rest of
the exposure and focus settings. About time someone did that!

Yes. Speaking of noise, I find that my neat image noise program does not handle the noise from the h9 as well as noise was handled with earlier h5 and canon dslr.

Personally, I find the new layout at the bottom of the screen
brilliant!
It's one of my favorite things about the H9.

And you don't have to look all over the screen to find the stuff
you change all the time. It's all in a row. And you use the wheel
to roll from one to another. Click the center dot. Roll to change.

At the risk of seeming very stupid, I have still not figured out how to change the focus method on the H9.

 

[Izzy5156567]

The only place a good camera has a "rubberized" feel is where you
grip. And the grip -is- rubberized.

You can't possibly define the build quality of a camera by the
texture they applied to the plastic!!! Tell me not, please.

I like the smooth plastic. It makes it easier to clean!

Ok.

As for the -real- build quality, it's every bit as good, or bettter
than the H5. The fit and finish are better, the camera is tighter.
I would call it "more refined".

Ok. Don't you miss the front control wheel, though?

As for the battery door. You say it's flimsier than the H5? Are you
sure you really have one?

The H5 had to be sturdier than the H9 because it handled AA batteries. But do you not notice the extra wiggle in the H9 door? It is flimsier.
'

The battery compartment door on the H5 is that double-hinged
thing? If you didn't open it right, you only got the memory card,
not the battery!. That always struck me as the flimsiest and
most-likely-to-break part on the camera. The new one is one solid
hinged piece (the compartment is much smaller) and seems to me to
be infinitely sturdier.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper

 

[Meshwork]

--
Mesh
Australia
R1, 828
5% lighting, 5% composition. 90% location. Get there.