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.
On Sale Now: $399.95
View the latest prices for Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3 (silver)
Senior Editor Lori Grunin has been covering digital imaging for two decades, but her memory's kind of sketchy on the details. You can hear about it every week on Indecent Exposure, the podcast she co-hosts with Matt Fitzgerald. 
