Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 review

Digital SLR-style compacts with high zoom ratio lenses and electronic viewfinders have been extraordinarily successful for manufacturers since their inception, around five or six years ago.

Sony's early attempts resulted in models such as the 5 megapixel DSC-F505 and, latterly, the 8 megapixel DSC-828 with their massive Carl Zeiss zooms and innovative hinged body that did away with the necessity of a viewfinder.

Sony seems to think the market has had its fill; those strikingly original designs have made way for the more traditionally styled and fairly compact 5 megapixel H1 with its 12x optical zoom, image stabiliser and electronic viewfinder. Although the body and finish are different, the Cyber-shot DSC-H2 is pretty much a revamp of the H1. As well as upping resolution by a million pixels to six, the new model has seen some subtle but welcome improvements.

Firstly, in-line with its own recent introductions, and those from its rivals, Sony has increased sensitivity to a fast ISO 1000 - making successful low ambient light photography much more likely. And, thanks to Sony's grand-sounding Clear Raw NR algorithm, noise levels are slightly lower than its predecessor. Even so, you wouldn't want to crop heavily into an image or make A4 prints from the maximum setting. As well as heavy speckling, colour accuracy and saturation are still poor, but overall the H2 produces cleaner files than the H1 and has the edge over arch-rival Canon's S3 IS.

The Sony-branded zoom on the H1 already featured optical image stabilisation, and with around a one to two-stop advantage over conventional zooms, depending on conditions, it was reasonably effective. However, the H2 now boasts a Carl Zeiss zoom lens. With a variable maximum aperture of f/2.8-3.7 it has no more light-gathering properties than the optic it replaces, but it is super-sharp and capable of resolving plenty of detail. But while it produced consistently good results, we were surprised by the amount of lateral chromatic aberration at the edges of our photos. Although inherent in the majority of zoom lenses, especially telephoto-zooms, we saw the unpleasant purple-fringing effect in many of our test shots. This is one aspect of performance where both the Canon Powershot S3 IS and, to a lesser extent, the Panasonic FZ7 both pull ahead.

Neither model can match the Sony for responsiveness and general handling, though - the H2 is simply a joy to use. Start-up time may be slow compared to a point and shoot, but in contrast to most of its rivals it's fast, and a 2fps, seven shot burst mode might be useful at times. While the body is still a little thickset for some users, mostly, we found the controls fall readily to hand.

We also like the electronic viewfinder; it's marginally bigger and brighter than the previous model. But we can't say the same for the LCD panel on the rear. At 2in and with a resolution of just 83k pixels, it's smaller and less detailed than that of the H1, but it is reasonably clear and refreshes quickly. Also, Sony claims battery life from the two AA rechargeable cells supplied is also improved, although we couldn't tell from our tests.

While the choice of LCD screen lessens the appeal, you can take solace from the price. At around £300, the Sony undercuts the Canon S3 IS by a hefty £78. With slightly better image quality than the H1 and the same great responsiveness and handling, the Sony H2 is still a great choice.