Compared to... Olympus SP-550UZ

Below you will find a studio comparison between the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 the Olympus SP-550UZ at ISO 400.

Studio scene comparison ( @ ISO 400)

  • Sony DSC-H9 : Aperture Priority mode, ISO 400, Default Image Parameters,
    Manual white balance, +0.7 EV compensation
  • Olympus SP-550UZ: Aperture Priority mode (F5.0), ISO 400, Default Image Parameters, Manual (preset) white balance, +1.0 EV compensation
  • Lighting: Daylight simulation, >98% CRI
Sony DSC-H9
Olympus SP-550UZ
ISO 400, 1/320 sec, F5

ISO 400, 1/160 sec, F5.0
1,932 KB JPEG
3,833 KB JPEG

As usual once you get to ISO 400 the differences are less obvious; noise and noise reduction are the great levelers with small sensor cameras. That said the SP-550UZ's less aggressive noise reduction pays dividends by retaining a visibly greater amount of detail (though of course this comes hand in hand with more visible noise). The only thing Sony is doing better is saturation; the SP-550UZ looks quite washed out, whereas the H9 still has that rich vivid Sony color.