s2 is or dsc h1

[avi777]

Should I buy a Sony dsc h1 or the canon s2 is. Which one gives better pictures?

[Jason25]

Wait a little bit, both their replacements have been announced for PMA. The S3 or the H2/H5.

[wisely_foolish]

yes, I would encourage you to wait a lil while too, the S3 and H2/H5 were just announced the other day and will be out soon.

As for choosing between the S2 or H1, both are excellent and you can't go wrong with either. Have a look at my different albums, these pictures were shot with the S2 and I am very happy with the images produced.

http://photobucket.com/albums/f254/wisely_foolish/

However, here's my 2 cents about it: although both cameras will give you more freedom than a simple point and shoot, you also must be aware of the limitations and people tend to expect too much from them and get dissappointed. The big limitation is shooting in low light. Day time, camera will be excellent

1) shooting at night, you will have to shoot with wide appertures, and slow shutter speeds which will introduce blur, or high ISO which will introduce alot of grain/noise. Either that, or use a flash but the range you get is limited. I believe the H1 as less noise (fractionally) than the S2. Also, focusing in low light, though people say the S2 cannot focus as well as the H1 in terms of low light, I find my S2 focuses quite well, it's the other issues above, that causes images to blur. a DSLR is better for this

2) fast moving objects, eg. sports, you will be balancing again shutter speed, focus and amount of light available. I believe the H1 is a bit slower than the S2 in this regard. However, both will not get as good results as a DSLR

3) purple fringes, high contrast subjects look like they have a glowing purple outline on them. the H1 suffers more from this than the S2.

4) ergonomics, very subjective. depends on what you like when you hold them

5) Zoom, everything is a compromise, you want to have a large range of zoom, but you will sacrifice image quality for it.

6) memory cards, SD for S2 (preferable as you can use it with other cameras, as well as some DSLR like the Nikon D50 or that new Panasonic DSLR which looks like a leica rangefinder, saving you money later when you upgrade) compared to proprietary H1 sony memory stick.

7) whats included in the box, H1 offers more stuff, inc charger, batteries, lens hood than S2

If you want greater control with less limitations, I suggest you save up for the entry level DSLRs which are pretty cheap nowadays. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with either camera. Just be aware about the low light performance, common to all p&s

[avi777]

Wait a little bit, both their replacements have been announced for PMA. The S3 or the H2/H5.

I checked out the feature os the H2. Pretty much the same as the H1. Just that it's 6 MP. Would you say that 5 MP is good enough? If so, H1 would be a good option. Basically, what I am looking for a less noise and good night shots. could you suggest?

[coldrain]

The S3 IS and H2 seem to be less noisy (from the specs). But it will be a long wait (April/May).

[avi777]

April May is certainly a long wait. In the meantime I could go for the sony. or does anyone think the canon is better.

[Jason25]

I checked out the feature os the H2. Pretty much the same as the H1. Just that it's 6 MP. Would you say that 5 MP is good enough? If so, H1 would be a good option. Basically, what I am looking for a less noise and good night shots. could you suggest?
I owned the H1 for several months, and just recently sold it since I never used it after getting my D50. It's a great camera, but the flash is pretty bad. If you don't use flash a lot, it's a fantastic camera. Noise is good for the class it is in.

This is the closest thing I have to a night shot that I took with the H1 :

http://home.comcast.net/~jmodzik/sunrise1.JPG