The Sony Cybershot DSC-H9 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with a 15x optical zoom lens and 3.0 inch LCD display. It replaces the popular DSC-H5 model.

The 15x zoom gives a range with the equivalent of 465mm (enough for most sporting events and wildlife photography).

The 3.0 inch LCD is on a tilt-able axis allowing different viewing angles.

The Sony Cybershot DSC-H9 comes with maxmimum ISO of 3200, Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo, 31 megabytes of intenrnal memory, face detection technology (up to 8 faces at once) and the usual array of shooting modes.

Responding to the growing demand for super zoom digital cameras, Sony is introducing its new 8-megapixel DSC-H9 and DSC-H7 models. Designed to appeal to families with budding athletes in their broods, the cameras debut Sony’s new advanced sports shooting mode.

This mode combines high shutter speed shooting and intelligent continuous auto-focusing. The cameras can quickly focus on fast-moving subjects by predicting where those subjects will be in the frame. This predictive technology also helps to reduce shutter lag, the time it takes for the camera to focus and shoot.

Both cameras feature powerful Carl Zeiss® 15x optical zoom lenses for up-close shots of big plays on the field. You won’t miss the look of victory in your champion’s face with Sony’s new face detection technology. It can identify up to eight faces in the camera’s LCD frame, and automatically adjust white balance and flash as well as focus and exposure for correctly exposed, sharp photos.

The Big Game Is Even Bigger In High Definition
Half the fun is playing the game and the other half is re-living the experience by viewing and sharing your photos. Why huddle around the PC to look at pictures when you can impress family and friends with the visual impact of the game in the utmost clarity, color and detail on an HDTV set.

These new cameras feature high-definition outputs. Simply connect them to your HDTV with the Sony VMC-MHC1 high-definition component cable, sold separately, and turn photo viewing into an entertainment experience.

Shoot At The Speed of Life
Even if you’re not at full speed during the soccer match on Saturday morning, the H9 and H7 models will be. These new cameras can shoot up to 1/4000 of a second, a critical speed for capturing fast-moving sports and freezing the action.

Both cameras are powered by the Bionz™ processing engine, first used in Sony’s Alpha digital SLR camera system. This new circuitry speeds up response times and delivers the fast image processing speeds needed to produce color-rich, detailed pictures for true high-definition photo viewing.

Capturing fast action does not have to result in blurry photos. The H9 and H7 cameras incorporate Super Steady Shot® optical image stabilization to minimize blur caused by camera shake, an important feature when shooting at slow shutter speeds at full zoom. Their high sensitivity, up to ISO3200, also helps to fight blur resulting from fast-moving subjects.

The H9 camera takes fast-action shooting a step further. It sports a 3-inch, flip-up LCD screen so that you can shoot comfortably from nearly any position. You can hold the camera low to the ground for eye-level shots of kids, without having to contort yourself or crawl on the ground, or hold it high for shots of the crowd. The H7 camera has a non-articulating but large 2.5-inch LCD screen for easy sharing and viewing.

Capture The Mood
The H9 camera is the only Cyber-shot model in this year’s line to feature NightShot® technology. This feature allows you to take photographs in environments with virtually no light so you won’t miss the action, even at a late night game.

Both cameras’ high sensitivity (up to ISO 3200) will also help preserve the mood of your pictures by capturing well-exposed, natural-looking photos, even in challenging low-light conditions. You can shoot at higher shutter speeds to take in the maximum amount of light without using the flash. Picture noise, common to pictures shot at high ISO levels, is minimized by Sony's Clear RAW ™ noise reduction technology.

The Winning Finish
The H-series cameras incorporate selectable in-camera editing functions so you can spend more time on the field and less time behind a computer. Equipped with Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimizer, originally developed for the Alpha digital SLR system, the new cameras can analyze captured image data and instantly determine the best exposure and tonality of each picture before JPEG compression.

Other helpful in-camera functions include red-eye correction and photo retouching effects with filters. You can create fun and artistic photos with up to four filter selections, such as the partial color filter that can highlight your star athlete in color while the background of the photo is in black-and-white

Camera Labs has a review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 and writes, "Like other super-zooms though, smearing through noise reduction is a serious problem with the H9, but probably its biggest failing is not giving you a chance to do anything about it. Maybe Sony’s engineers realised there actually isn’t anything you can do about it, but it’s fair to say many of us would have liked a fighting chance. RAW recording would have been ideal, but to not have either noise reduction or compression settings on a camera of its class are serious omissions However much we enjoyed using the H9 and were delighted by its screen and focusing speed, its often compromised image quality and inability to do anything about it prevent us from awarding our highest recommendation."

Megapixel has a review of the Sony DSC-H9 and writes, "The fact is that however interesting and feature-laden a camera is, in our opinion the image quality is more important than anything else. And in this area, the H9 is a disappointment. Nevertheless, the DSC-H9 can satisfy the needs of many users who print their photos without ever cropping them. Only with larger prints — 8 x 10 (20 x 25 cm) and up — is there a chance that the images will be less than satisfactory. At lower sizes — 6 x 4 (10 x 15 cm) or 5 x 7 (12 x 15 mm) — our tests proved that photos from the DSC-H9 should print perfectly well."

CameraLabs has a review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 and writes, "The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 certainly has a great deal going for it, but equally a number of aspects which really let it down. ... Heading the worryingly long list of downsides though is image quality. Set the H9 at 80 or 100 ISO and you can take some great-looking photos, but at 200 ISO and above, smearing from noise reduction really begins to take its toll. We’ve seen watercolour effects on all Super-zooms, and the H9 is sadly no exception. What’s really upsetting though – and quite inexplicable – is the lack of options Sony gives you to do anything about it. There’s no noise reduction settings nor any option to record in RAW, and to make matters worse, the fixed JPEG compression ratio is arguably too high. Why they don’t let you adjust it on what’s surely an enthusiast’s camera is beyond us."

DPReview has a review of the Sony Cybershot DSC-H9 and writes, "Bottom line; if you want a huge zoom range in an affordable, compact body that offers SLR-like handling, and can be relied on to produce appealing output at normal print sizes with minimal effort, the H9 is a serious option. Overkill, sure, but compared to an SLR with similar lens coverage it's a fairly small investment even if you do only use it as a big 'point and shoot'. If you think this sounds like me saying 'if you want a big lens 'point and shoot' but don't care too much about image quality' then you're not far wrong. - and to be fair, sharpened up a bit and printed at 5x7 inches the pictures look perfectly good. On the other hand if you actually want to use all those photographic features, or have exacting image quality demands, then - like the Olympus SP-550UZ - the H9 really is one compromise too many."

Cameras.co.uk has a review of the Sony DSC-H9 and writes, "Just because a camera has a very long lens and lots of megapixels doesn't mean that it will take good photographs. In fact delivering this length of lens is a tough engineering job. Looking at my test shots Sony have done well with the DSC H9. ... If you are looking for a digital camera with an extreme zoom lens then there is not that much choice around. I haven't found any major flaws in the Sony DSC H9. So if it's extra zoom you need then this is one to go for."

CNET has a review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 and writes, "Under the right circumstances, the photos look very good. Those include shooting at sensitivity settings of ISO 200 or lower, in bright sunlight. Thanks to the fast continuous shooting, solid stabilization and reliable center-point focus, the H9 delivered the best results I've had so far shooting dogs in the park. The EVF updates quickly enough to make it possible. The automatic white balance does a solid job, if a bit cool, and colors look bright and saturated. ... If you shoot primarily outdoors in daytime--especially sports, children and animals--and don't find the interface quite as crazy-making as I do, the H9 is a great choice."

DCResource has a review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 and writes, "A camera can have all the bells and whistles in the world, but all that means nothing if it can't take a decent photo. It is here where I was most disappointed with the DSC-H9. Photos had good exposure and color, but those are about the only positives I can list. The camera applies too much noise reduction to photos, making them soft, with fine details smudged. Naturally, it gets even worse as the ISO goes up (especially in low light), with anything above ISO 800 being unusable. There's also quite a bit of purple fringing to be found on the H9's 15X Carl Zeiss lens. Redeye is a problem in flash shots, but the in-camera removal tool cleans it up well. Most of these things won't matter if you're making small prints, but any larger and you'll be sure to notice."

Imaging Resource has a review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 and writes, "Like most digital cameras, pushing the H9 to ISO 3,200 results in images so degraded that you'll struggle to make a 4x6 inch print from the files. More importantly, the H9's noise reduction also resulted in less than ideal image quality at all ISO settings. In bright light, the H9 delivered nicely-saturated, sharply-focused and well-exposed images, but indoors and in low light, noise suppression caused significant mottling of the images. If the H9's image quality weren't so dependent on using a low ISO in bright light, it would certainly have fared better in this review."

PopPhoto has a review of the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H9 and writes, "What's not to like? The H9 lacks both RAW capture and Adobe RGB color space. A more serious omission is a hot-shoe for an accessory flash. Its long zoom lens does show some purple fringing at the edge of pictures, confirmed as chromatic aberration by DxO Analyzer 2.0 tests. And as evolved as the H9's EVF and monitor are, we still prefer the direct optical viewing of an SLR. But just try to find an 8MP DSLR with an image-stabilized 31-465mm f/2.7-4.5 lens for less than $500. Which fits in a cargo pocket. Which shoots fast, with no vibration. Which weighs less than a pound."

Digital Camera Review has reviewed the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 and writes - "The Sony DSC-H9 is a full-featured camera which focuses faster than many competing models. The Carl Zeiss lens, at 15X optical, is among the broadest range available. However, images are noisy at and above ISO 400. Also, the shadow detail loss and lens distortion characteristics tend to detract from an otherwise impressive feature set. Bottom line is that it seems a bit expensive for the performance demonstrated, but if kept between ISO 80 and ISO 400, it can capture quality images, particularly those that require the quick focus and shutter release."