Sony H-1 vs. Kodak p850: any thoughts?

[Argelius]

Hello All,

I've researched and read every review of the Sony H-1 and the Kodak p850 and have come to the conclusion that I am at a total loss as to how to proceed.
Their specs seem more or less identical.

Admittedly, this is a VERY open-ended question, but does anyone have opinions as to which is the "better" camera, or which camera has the least annoying flukes? (Given that I am posting this in a Sony forum, the responses probably will be biased, but thought I'd give it a shot...)

Thanks to anyone to takes on my questionless-question!

;)

[Jason25]

I own the H1, and would recommend it to anybody for outdoor shooting. The colors are brilliant and the lens is fantastic. The build quality is top-notch as well. The flash is overpowering (even on low settings) and very slow to recycle, but I don't care now that I have my Nikon. The autofocus in the H1 is fast for a P&S camera, and shutter lag is very small. I would go for the H1 if you don't care about using flash much, or shoot outdoors a lot, it really is a great camera, and I'm keeping it to compliment my D50 due to the long reach.

After using my D50 and SB600 flash, I would highly recommend a camera with a hotshoe if you plan to use flash often, due to the flexibility an external flash provides. The RAW and TIFF modes are also in the Kodak's favor (H1 has neither), although the H1 gives great jpegs straight out of the camera.

Hope this helps some :D

[Argelius]

Thanks for your thoughts -- every little bit seems to help. I'm definitely leaning toward the Sony. About the only thing holding me back at this point is the fact that I currently have a 1GB SD card that I'd hate to see go to waste. Too bad Sony has greedily stuck to their proprietary MS format, which has no advantages that I am aware of (and one big disadvantage of being significantly more expensive than SD cards...)

[Jason25]

Thanks for your thoughts -- every little bit seems to help. I'm definitely leaning toward the Sony. About the only thing holding me back at this point is the fact that I currently have a 1GB SD card that I'd hate to see go to waste. Too bad Sony has greedily stuck to their proprietary MS format, which has no advantages that I am aware of (and one big disadvantage of being significantly more expensive than SD cards...)
Well, if worse comes to worse, you could sell the SD card or give it to me, I could use another one for my trip to Mexico :D

Don't let something that silly keep you from getting the camera you really want :)

[Argelius]

Oh, not to worry. I'm a gadget nut...so no force on earth will keep me from a new gadget...

[Jason25]

Same here!

I just saw your post over on DPR as well. AAK (member over there) will give you lots of good insight, as he's done extensive tests with his H1. Read this white paper by AAK, it will give you lots of information regarding the H1:

http://www.aakatz.com/h1whitepaper

[Argelius]

Thanks -- that was most interesting (which it not to say I've read it all yet!).