If you have low budget and you need to do serious photography, I will recommend Sony Cybershot H-7 or H-9. These cameras takes care of all lighting and movement situations giving excellent result. There are three Sony cameras in the market of similar type but go for H-7: Sony DSC H-9: All features like H-7 but with tilting monitor and night shot as extra feature. Costs Rs. 21, 000
Sony DSC H-3:Does not have viewfinder so you will not be able to take pictures in daylight when scene is not visible on monitor. This is biggest drawback. It has only 10X zoom. Costs Rs. 15, 000.
Sony DSC H-7: Best value for money. This review is about this camera. Costs Rs. 16, 000. See the picture on left side here, which was shot with Sony H-7 in evening light. You can see the clarity in sky, good contrast, details in shadow and lighted areas with brilliant colours. Fringing almost absent.
According to me a serious photographer needs his camera to do the following:
1) Take pictures in various lighting situations from darkness to noon.
2) Take steady shots of sports and even when travelling in car.
3) Have enough zoom to get closer to the subject from a distance for wild life and nature photography.
4) Has strong flash to illuminate to at least 30 to 40 feet.
5) A good lense to give clear and sharp pictures with brilliant colours and contrast.
6) Should be easy in operation.
7) Should auto-focus and shoot instantly at press of a button (many digitals don't).
Most of the digital cameras are small sized gadgets that take longer time to focus and shoot thus losing onthe moment you wanted to catch. Most cameras will not have enough flash light to illuminate properly. Most will not have more than 3X zoom.
There is lot of confusion that the higher the pixel the camera is capable of shooting, the better it is. Well, you need only 3 Megapixel camera for good 5X7 prints and very sharp views on computer monitor. Any camera of 3 Megapixel is good for photography. You need not shoot on above 3 MP else you will waste your memory space and will have to wait for processing the higher file size of photo between every shot.
SONY CYBERSHOT DSC H-7: Now, I am talking about a camera Sony H-7 that will do all the above listed needs and will cost just Rs. 16, 000 (in Mumbai).
Specifications:Detailed specifications of H-7 are given on the website https://dpreview.com/news/0702/07022705sonyh9h7.asp Here is some important information (summary) about specifications:
8.1 MEGAPIXEL: Well, you will not require to shoot above 3 Megapixel as it gives good 5X7 size prints as well as accommodate 1300 photos on 2 GB memory stick.
MEMORY: 31 MB internal, can also use up to 8 GB memory card.
ISO 3200: Enables to shoot in extremely low light condition. But going above ISO 400 setting will give little grains.
CARL ZEISS LENS: Well known brand with applications in microscopes across the world.
ZOOM 15X: This is equivalent to 400mm zoom in SLR camera. Good enough to bring subjects very close.
STEADY SHOT: Best steady shot performance. Pictures will not gat shakey. ISO 3200: Enables you to shoot in very low lighting conditions although with some grains.
LITHIUM ION BATTERY: Is much more powerful than NI-MH battteries and can shoot upto 300 pictures in one charge.
SHUTTER SPEED RANGE FROM 1 SEC TO 1/4000 OF A SECOND. Can cover almost all lighting conditions and catch freezed movements of fast moving objects.
SHOOTING MODES: There is choice of auto as well as manual mode along with shutter priority and aperture priority modes. The scene mode gives you choices of various lighting conditions like indoor, fireworks, twilight, cloudy, beach, snow, etc.
FULL MANUAL MODE: Allows for freedom to set shutter speed, aperture, ISO, EV and white balance as well as focus for photographing in difficult situations.
FULL AUTI MODE Does everything for you to get brilliant pictures.
OPTICAL STABLIZATION: For shake free shots.
WHITE BALANCE: Auto as well as manual.
BIG LCD MONITOR: Gives you clear view of scene while shooting and also playback.
POWERFUL FLASHGUN: That can illuminate more than 40 feet distance.
VIDEO: Surprising very high quality video that can be shot in low lighting conditions with clarity and sharpness with sound.
FACE DETECTION: Remembers / detects up to 5 faces in picture and sets the camera automatically to produce optimum results.
WIRELESS REMOTE: For shooting and playback monitoring with zoom control.
HDTV OUTPUT for viewing crisp and sharp photos on HDTV.
EASY CONNECTIVITY TO COMPUTER: Plug to computer and transfer images at great speed.
COMPARISION WITH OTHER CAMERAS:** There is not a single camera in the market that can give you the results at Rs. 16, 000 budget with ISO 3200 and 15X zoom.
There is cheapest one Fujifilm 5700 that has only 12 x zoom and 1600 ISO. It costs Rs. 12, 000 but the picture quality is not as good as Sony H-7.
Nikon S-10** has good picture quality but looks are not professional and comes with only 10X zoom and NIMH batery. It does not have features as a professional will need. For very serious and highly professional needs go for Nikon D-40. It will cost Rs. 45, 000 with zoom and normal lens.
