Sony's midrange megazoom
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3
(Credit: Sony Electronics)Suddenly, it seems that compact, inexpensive megazooms without an eye-level viewfinder are all the rage. Canon just announced its first foray at the $300 price point, the PowerShot SX100, and now Sony follows suit with the Cyber-shot DSC-H3.
The H3 will offer the usual set of buzzword features, including face detection and HD downconversion for correct-aspect HDTV output.
Sony rated performance specs:
- Startup: 1.8 secs
- Shutter lag: 0.3 secs
- Shot to shot: 1.3 secs
- Burst: 2fps
- Battery life: 330 shot
| Canon SX100 IS | Sony DSC-H3 | Sony DSC-H7 | |
| Resolution | 8 megapixels | 8 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Lens | f/2.8-4.3 36mm-360mm (10X) | f/3.5-4.4, 38-380mm (10X) | f/2.7-4.5 31-465 mm-equivalent (15X) |
| LCD size | 2.5 inches | 2.5 inches | 2.5 inches |
| Viewfinder | None | None | EVF |
| Power | 2 AA batteries | Proprietary lithium ion | Proprietary lithium ion |
As I mentioned in my dicussion of the SX100, it's not clear who this camera is for; competitors like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS and even the last-generation Canon PowerShot S3 IS offer a much better feature set for the price. The H3 will be available in silver or black when it ships in early September.
