The Cyber-shot DSC-H1 was Sony's first foray into the increasingly crowded compact, image stabilized 'super zoom' market, and it was a very successful one too. The DSC-H2 (along with big brother the DSC-H5) arrived almost exactly a year later in February 2006. In truth the H2 isn't a major upgrade - a bit of a re-style, a few new features and an extra megapixel - but some of the refinements, though small, are significant. Let's find out if the H2 has what it takes to compete with the likes of Canon's PowerShot S3 IS, starting with the headline specifications:
6.2 effective megapixels
36-432mm equivalent (12x optical) F2.8-3.7 Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom lens
Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization
Wide ISO 80-1000 range
Clear RAW™ noise reduction technology
2.0” LCD (85,000 pixels) & 0.2" (200,000 pixel) Electronic viewfinder
Full photographic control
Real Imaging Processor & 14-bit DXP A/D Conversion
Optional wide and tele lens converters
Scene selection (7 modes)
Histogram indication
32MB internal memory, plus a Memory Stick/PRO Duo slot... [read more]