Sony DSC-H10

While the H9 highly ressembles the H8, the H10 is more compact and comfortable in hand.  With a super CCD HAd sensor with 8.1 million pixels, the H10 totally changes design. Can we say as much for the quality of images?

Handling

Sony opted to offer a compact bridge camera with a stylish look.  And this turned out to be a very good idea! Panasonic already has this type of compact model, notably the TZ5, which also has a 10x zoom.  The H10 is a bit thicker, more imposing and has a small handle for a good grip.  The back of the H10 features a 3 inch screen with a definition of 230,000 pixels but it becomes quickly covered with finger smudges. Otherwise, navigation is simple: there is a dial for setting the main modes (auto, scene, video, etc.) and a MENU button giving direct access to the various shooting parameters.

Overall, this camera is not very fast.  Startup takes almost 1.78 seconds and only autofocus in good lighting conditions is rapid at 0.53 seconds.  As for the burst mode, it attains 2 i/s, a more or less average score.  Unfortunately, there is still no wide angle and the screw thread for a tripod is still not aligned in the optical axis.

Quality of images

Sony still offers an 8 million pixel sensor (1/2.5") but now includes a 10x zoom (the H9 has a 15x).  This new bridge still doesn’t have a wide angle (36 mm). Overall, image quality is good with efficient noise control.  The ‘’billowing’’ effect is well contained up to 400 ISO while white balance has a slight violet dominance (the same problem with the H9).  On strongly contrasted areas, the presence of purple fringes is visible.  Otherwise, optical stabilisation is efficient as it prevents going into higher sensitivities too quickly.  In our tests, we obtained sharp shots of our test Barbie at 400 ISO and 1/6 of a second although granulation is too strong at this ISO setting.  You should avoid going any higher.  As for the macro mode, it’s entirely satisfactory.  Finally, video isn’t overly impressive and results were typical of most digital compacts.