H55 my new point and shoot

[Ken Nielsen]

I outlived my old canon powershot SD110 when I discovered there was little hope to override the auto functions. For instance, the flash was there to automatically fire by default so I constantly had to be busy making sure the flash was turned off. Some newer point and shoot cameras have modes, like P mode that allow settings to be retained after the camera is turned off and turned back on again. The H55 seems to be everything I could want in that regard and has good manual control.

My only observation is that I will want to keep ISO at 80 or low as possible because image degrades quickly at higher ISO's.

Any others own this camera and getting good performance out of it?

I don't think I will be taking this one back as overall it has some nice features and definitely a good lens.

Ken

[Ken Nielsen]

Killer, I just got back from a trip down to the river to run this camera through its paces. I had to come back to read the manual to see how to set the manual mode shutter speed. Easy, once you know how. Other than that, Panorama is an amazing concept. Old days photographers used to accomplish this with a long strip of film and lens that slid around the circumference exposing the film as it moved. Think how cool we have it these days, although the film did yield spectacular detail images for wall size mural landscapes. Still, this is one amazing camera packed with technology. I'm just happy to have a small size, full manual camera that I can control.

Lovin' the H55!

[Ken Nielsen]

After using the H55 for over a month now, being happy generally with everything, there was one area where this camera fell down badly and that is in low-light situations. The pics in low-light were so mottled with grain it was almost as bad as shooting with the lens removed entirely. I ended up taking the H55 back for a refund.

I now have purchased a Sony HX5 which, tried in the camera shop, has excellent low-light results. For 50 bucks more than the H55, the HX5 offers so much more quality. I do not have the camera yet, ordered on Amazon, but from the results from images I took with the store model, This is the camera that will be right for me for my small camera.

[Ken Nielsen]

Yup, the HX5V is a clear winner and now my 'keeper.' Nice low-light photos, lots of improvements and very capable camera. Even the Video is to rave about, using it in business and no excuses, it is top notch. Nothing to complain about.

Five Stars!

[Anbesol]

The HX5V is an outstanding camera for the price. Yeah the difference you are noticing in low light grain is a result of Sony's Exmor R sensor, a Backlit CMOS sensor. Excellent image grain and performance, good choice indeed Ken. I'm sorry nobody responded to this thread, but looked like you did well anyway.