Up until a few months ago I used, and was very happy with, a Canon Powershot SD870IS camera. I carried it with me pretty much everywhere, and used it quite a bit. Then one day, I pulled it out of my pocket, turned it on, and my LCD was cracked. I was presented with a small circular “hole” in the screen, right in the top center. The camera still works fine, however the crack in the screen is growing, and with no viewfinder having part of the LCD being broken really means that the camera becomes harder to use, eventually becoming impossible. I knew I’d need a replacement eventually.
As I slowly started to stop using the 870 I have been using my Palm Pre more and more for taking pictures. the 3 Megapixel camera in the Pre takes good pictures for the most part, and I have found that I didn’t really miss carrying my 870 with me all the time anymore. I knew I would eventually need a new camera, especially for when I am on holidays this year, but I waited until I absolutely needed it before buying, so I would know what kind of camera I would want, and waiting for new models to come out.
As much as I would love an SLR camera, they are very expensive, and quite frankly, I probably wouldn’t use it as much as I should because of the size. There would be no point to me owning an SLR camera if I’d never take it with me anywhere. So an SLR was out. I had a few features I really wanted in a smaller camera. They were
- longer zoom, at least 8x
- 720p video mode
- good low light images (for the type of camera)
- some kind of manual controls
- Good image stabilization
There were several cameras that met at least those requirements, the last two that I was looking at were the Sony Cybershot DSC-HX5V and the Canon Powershot SX210IS. I won’t break down all the features, but there are a few differences between them. The Canon camera has a longer zoom (14 over 10), more megapixels (again, 14 instead of 10), overall better camera controls, and a slightly better flash than the Sony camera. Where Sony’s camera excels is in it’s manual options, slightly better low light pictures, better video options (capable fo 1080i video, and more options for taking videos) as well as featuring a Compass and GPS for geotagging photos. The rest of the features were similar.
After trying out the cameras, and reading several reviews, I picked the Sony Cybershot over the Canon camera. There were a few reasons why, some of them more important than others. The Sony camera has been regarded as generally having better image quality, especially in lower light conditions. Sony pulls this off because their lens is a little shorter thanks to the smaller zoom and the sensor has a backlight that illuminates when the camera is in a low light situation to improve on the amount of light it can collect. Having fewer megapixels also helps a great deal, as fewer megapixles on the same size sensor means that each pixel will be larger. Because of that, each pixel can collect more detail. I’m very happy that Sony decided that the mexapixel arms race is not as important to them anymore, and kept it to a reasonable 10.2 megapixels in an effort to increase image quality, and it worked.
The better video modes on the Sony camera also really tipped the scales. the Sony Camera is capable of shooting 1080i AVCHD video, with full control of the zoom lens and the ability to focus while a video is shooting. I will likely be shooting in the camera’s 720p H.264 mode, because the file sizes are considerably smaller (60 seconds of recorded 1080i AVCHD video from the camera came out to a whopping 167MB), and H.264 is a format that is easier to manipulate and compatible with more software. Having a point and shoot with HD video, with full zoom and focus control, means that I can put my Flip Mino HD away, and can carry one camera to take images and video.
Having a GPS and compass was a nice little add on that I believe I will really appreciate over time. With that feature I can tag exactly where in the world I was when I took a picture, as well as what direction I was pointing when I took it. That info is built right into the EXIF data in the picture, so it will always be there. I’m looking forward to going into software like iPhoto in a few months and looking at all the different locations I’ve taken pictures, especially when I’m on holidays or on the road for work. My Palm Pre has geotagging on pictures thanks to it’s GPS, and while it doesn’t work 100% of the time thanks to a weak GPS in the phone, I really like looking at the map of the pictures I have taken, even around the city.
The last thing to say about this camera is that I didn’t buy it to take with me everywhere. It is very solid and sturdy and could stand up to that no problem, and when I’m going somewhere and carrying a bag of some sort with me, I’ll probably toss it into the bag. But when I’m just heading out, my Palm Pre does the job just fine. My hope is that the DSC HX5V will be the last “pocket camera” I ever buy, and that by the time I’m looking for a new phone again, the quality of the cameras in them will be almost as good, or nearly as good, as the point and shoots we get now. The iPhone 4 comes very close to this, and I look forward to others catching up. Maybe when that happens I can look at getting an SLR, but until then the Sony Cybershot DSC-HX5V will be my camera of choice, and it does the job well.
I will be taking a ton of pictures with the HX5V on an upcoming trip. Some of them will end up on Flickr while I’m on the trip (though I will mostly be uploading pictures taken with my Pre direct). After I’m back there will be a proper set on Flickr with the pictures taken with the camera.