DSLR vs. the Sony DSC-H1 12 X cameras

[Mike2002]

I am looking at the Sony DSC-H1 12X camera mainly due to the zoom feature.
Intent of use would be for long range photo's of boat races, car races, my son's baseball games, and next year I plan a vacation to Alaska and would like some photo's of those big brown bears but only from a distance. This is why the Sony seems appealing, But.. everything on this site seems to advise on a SLR. Would the Sony do the job? Also with the boat races I would like to enlarge some photo's to poster size and hang in my den. Will any of the digital cameras do this or will they have so much distortion that I need to consider 35mm.

If I went with an SLR (probably Nikon N70 or Cannon Rebel XT) what lens would you recommend for the long action photo's?

I would welcome all advise on this.

Thanks,

Mike2002

[timmciglobal]

Loaded question...

A BIG issue with big prints is focus accuracy. Something LOOKS focused 4x6 may be slightly out of focus 8X10 and very visible at 20X30.

dSLR's are really only ones capable of producing high quality large prints due to very low image noise/high detail. You have to upsize the image and the bigger it starts with more fine detail the better.

As far as long lenses go, dSLR's cost a lot more then fixed camera lenses. A good lens will cost you as much as the H1.

Something else to consider is going to be the vast difference between daylight bright conditions and cloudy or night conditions. Shutter speed is very important long zoom and when the light isn't perfect when your zoomed out to 300>400 mm you are going to have issues not only freezing the action (blurred boat for example) but on camera shake.

Really a budget question. If you don't have the funds to comit to a dSLR then I like the new FZ-30 coming out in september, very exciting specs with a good lens and very fast operation. FZ-20 is also nice with a faster lens but slower AF. The H1 doesn't impress me.

Tim

[coldrain]

The Sony H1, Canon S2 IS, Panasonic fz20 and fz5 all will do what you want quite nicely.
The lenses are equivalent of around 430mm lenses of 35mm film camera's.

With a 1.5x or 1.6x crop factor a 300 mm lens will give about the same range. But the cost of a DSLR and a good 300mm (zoom?)lens will be much higher.

A cheaper zoom lens like a sigma 75-300 apo lens will not give significantly better results, although some here will dispute that. The H1, S2, FZ20 and all have stabilized lenses, helping a lot with those tele photos... a stabilized zoom lens for a DSLR is going to cost more than the H1 and such.

I personally would look at the FZ20 or S2 IS instead of the sony. Have you made a concious decision to go for the Sony? Or is it just the one you happen to have come across?

[timmciglobal]

I'd most deffinitly disagree but then I wouldn't buy a sigma.

The 70>300 IS USM lens from canon will give you MUCH better prints (both in level of detail, noise performance which is a huge issue) and resolution.

The 70>200 F4L will give you leaps ans yards beyond if you can handle 320 mm long end.

Tim

[mathfiend]

Although I own and enjoy the Sony DSC-H1, it has a limited burst mode - able to produce only 9 consecutive shots as opposed to cameras which will shoot until the memory card is full. This may be a factor in your decision since you will be shooting races and baseball games.

If that would be an issue for you then, I'd consider waiting for the Panasonic DMC-FZ30. It has a much larger CCD than the current crop of zoom cameras and the sample images which were released by Panasonic (available for review at dcreview.com) really looked FABULOUS. Plus it promises to offer improved results in low light over its predecessor (mediocre low light performance is one of the reasons I chose to pass on the FZ20).

If I were still able to return my Sony to the store, I just might have chosen to do so so that I could buy the FZ30 when it is released! However, I don't know what the FZ30's selling price will be. Too high a price point would scare me off! If cost is also a factor for you and you don't mind the limited burst mode, then I'd recommend the Sony H1 over the Canon S2 and Panasonic FZ5 (feels like a toy and has too small a viewfinder and its picture quality not as good as my Sony). I have commented about the Canon S2 IS vs. the Sony DSC-H1 on a few other threads. Search for DSC-H1 and I'm sure you'll find my comments among some of the threads that come up if you care to read them. :)

Good luck!

Mathfiend