Canon or Sony?

[kelvin]

I'm planning to buy a new camera, use for snapshot & ocasionally in a baseball game. Thinking about Canon S3 & Sony H5. Similar price around $600. The SonyH5 has 7mp, 12x & 3inLCD and the Canon S3 has 6mp, 12x & 2inLCD. Looks like H5 has the edge of the specs, but image quality is the most important thing to me. Any ideas?
>kelvin

[mannyb]

Go here & check out the reviews: http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Personally, I have a Canon because it uses SD cards which my Tomtom GPS & my i-mate K-Jam PPC uses. With the Sony, I would have to get their own proprietary memory sticks. I don't like having two kinds of memory cards. Just so you know, Canon & Nikon have 80% of the digicam market.

[kelvin]

thanks man, i think i'll go w/ canon rebel XT.

[gateway]

Canon hands down

[express.items]

Canon hands down

Canon, eh? Have a read.

www.e18error.com ;)

"The E18 seems to be a significant flaw in an otherwise great camera."

[gateway]

Canon, eh? Have a read.

www.e18error.com ;)

"The E18 seems to be a significant flaw in an otherwise great camera."

I'm saying canon from personal experience, my very first digicam was the canon a60, 2.0mp, and it was awesome. Great photo printing on a 4x6, at that time my gf had the sony T1, about 500 bucks more than mine, and her photo quality of a 4x6 print is no way near as good as mine. I then bought a SD300, which again didn't disappoint me. After seeing 2 canon's I've owned, my gf sold her T1 and decided never to own a sony digicam anymore, even with their carl zeis lens, canon still have a better lens. She now is a canon fan as well, and just bought the SD630, makes my SD300 look so cheap

[rfdrfd]

Does the Canon have anti-shake?

The Sony H5 is an awesome camera. With its AA battery, 2" LCD, live histogram and 12x zoom, its a fantastic camera.

Check out some action shots people took with their H1 (or H5) :

http://www.pbase.com/herbrd/mallorca_2005_sony_h1_pictures

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=17016200

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=16801469

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=15788326





For the previous poster, the T series of Sony is the worse series. Its lens is way too small and flash is way too weak.

I have the Sony W1 and its simply the best camera out there for that class. Amazing pictures.

Sony's user interface is one of the easiest to use. Every other camera are copying it, including Canon. Canon menus are sooo confusing. My brother has a Canon.

[ProfessorChaos]

how about a digi rebel xt?

[isleepinadrawer]

sony is entering in the dslr scene, which only benefits the end users. most competition, the better.

talking about copying canon L series

anyways, i dont think sony's business model has ever been aim at professional grade products. i'll stick with canon.

Sony 70-200mm F2.8 lens
http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/artikelen/55/sony_alpha_100_LGD9.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
http://www.usa.canon.com/app/images/lens/ef70-200_28lu_586x225.jpg

[ProfessorChaos]

sony is entering in the dslr scene, which only benefits the end users. most competition, the better.

talking about copying canon L series

anyways, i dont think sony's business model has ever been aim at professional grade products. i'll stick with canon.


well they DID buy konica-minolta....plus the pro market is already saturated by Canon, Nikon and Hasselblad

[x21hx]

Canon, eh? Have a read.

www.e18error.com ;)

"The E18 seems to be a significant flaw in an otherwise great camera."


I've heard of this error so many times....and its always the same argument (small portion of people since canon sells so many...maybe its the same people complaining everywhere)

but I have owned or family member has owned canon s30, s400, a75, s30, sd230, s2, s80

also many friends and family own the canon s or sd series.... and I have dropped a few so has others...but we haven't come across that e18 error...not saying it doesn't exist...but until I come across it...as you can see i'm sticking with canon...

i chose the s2 cuz of the swivel screen...i think once you use it..you'll c how its so convenient....but yeah low light focus is sometimes really hard....but i haven't had much experience with sony cameras so my opinion is obviously bias toward canon

[isleepinadrawer]

i can see losta ppl with psp and stuff buying sony dslr cuz of the memory-duo whatever

[cipher]

sony is entering in the dslr scene, which only benefits the end users. most competition, the better.

talking about copying canon L series

anyways, i dont think sony's business model has ever been aim at professional grade products. i'll stick with canon.

Sony 70-200mm F2.8 lens
http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/artikelen/55/sony_alpha_100_LGD9.jpg

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
http://www.usa.canon.com/app/images/lens/ef70-200_28lu_586x225.jpg


Minolta has had white lenses for a long time. The "new" white Sony Alpha lenses are just rebranded KM white lenses. Most people mistakenly think that Canon was the only company to have white lenses.

[SENSEI]

If you're torn between the superzooms and a DSLR, also take a look at the PANNY FZ7 and FZ30.

[rfdrfd]

Getting back to the OP's 2 choices, here's a side by side comparison:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s3is%2Csony_dsch5&show=all


Is that page wrong? In that Canon S3 does NOT have 3:2 aspect ratio ? That to me is very important feature. (Its the exact size for a 4x6 print, no cropping needed. All DSLR uses 3:2 ratio, so you can see its a professionally desired feature)

Sony H5 PROS over Canon IS
- 3:2 ratio
- 7 megapixel (Canon is 6)
- Carl Zeiss lens
- ISO has 1000
- Manual focus, 5 presets
- wider aperature range
- 32 meg internal memory (16 meg on Canon)
- anti-shake feature
- uses only 2 AA batteries (Canon needs 4)
- LCD is 3 inches (Canon is 2 inches) A BIG difference if you see it
- LCD resolution is much better (230,000 vs. 115,000 pixels) A BIG difference
- weight is lighter


Canon IS wins over:
- faster shutter speed
- 3 quality levels (Super-Fine, Fine, Normal) Sony has 2


So if anyone can offer other comments, from the specs, the Sony H5 is the better specs'd camera in this case.

You will enjoy the LCD larger and higher resolution, anti-shake feature, and use of only 2 AA batteries. If its anything like my W1 (2 AA), it can take well over 500 photos until you need to change batteries. 4 AA is just sooooo yesterday technology.

[Silver Bullet]

check out dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com) this is pretty much the best site for digital camera reviews bar none. Also I would say go with Canon ;), I have the S2 IS and it works great.

[BD006]

Getting back to the OP's 2 choices, here's a side by side comparison:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s3is%2Csony_dsch5&show=all


Is that page wrong? In that Canon S3 does NOT have 3:2 aspect ratio ? That to me is very important feature. (Its the exact size for a 4x6 print, no cropping needed. All DSLR uses 3:2 ratio, so you can see its a professionally desired feature)

Sony H5 PROS over Canon IS
- 3:2 ratio
- 7 megapixel (Canon is 6)
- Carl Zeiss lens (Is that even a pro?)
- ISO has 1000
- Manual focus, 5 presets
- wider aperature range
- 32 meg internal memory (16 meg on Canon)
- anti-shake feature (The S3 does have image stabilization)
- uses only 2 AA batteries (Canon needs 4) (The S3 can take more pictures with it's 4 batteries)
- LCD is 3 inches (Canon is 2 inches) A BIG difference if you see it
- LCD resolution is much better (230,000 vs. 115,000 pixels) A BIG difference
- weight is lighter


Canon IS wins over:
- faster shutter speed
- 3 quality levels (Super-Fine, Fine, Normal) Sony has 2
- SD cards
- Heavier but smaller
- Swivel screen


So if anyone can offer other comments, from the specs, the Sony H5 is the better specs'd camera in this case.

You will enjoy the LCD larger and higher resolution, anti-shake feature, and use of only 2 AA batteries. If its anything like my W1 (2 AA), it can take well over 500 photos until you need to change batteries. 4 AA is just sooooo yesterday technology.

I'd go with Canon, regardless of the "sepcs".