Photo Samples: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20

The photo quality from the H20 is very good, though it's really only reliable at ISO sensitivities below 400. At that ISO, you can see that noise reduction has killed a lot of fine detail, making edges fuzzy. However, the results are certainly fine for prints smaller than 8x10inches. ISO 800 is suitable for 4x6-inch prints and smaller, as long as you don't mind the blurry details. I can't recommend using the 1,600 or 3,200 settings for anything other than capturing the moment. On the upside, there's very little color shift.

At ISO 80 you get fine detail and sharpness.

At ISO 400, subjects become smoother from noise reduction, so you lose details like the texture of the bark on this tree.

This isn't a crop, but a demo of the zoom range on the H20.

Megazooms are typically slow performers, but the H20 is better than most. Plus, it has an Advance Sports Shooting mode, which was used here. If you're getting this for action shots, you've got a decent chance of capturing what you want as long as you're good at anticipating action.

Purple fringing was at a minimum with the H20.

Barrel distortion was minute at the camera's widest position (top). Pincushion distortion when the lens was fully extended was nearly nonexistent, too (bottom).

The H20 does very well with colors. They weren't entirely accurate, but were nice and natural looking.