Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7

The image quality doesn't quite live up to the expectations that the camera raises. Firstly the images suffer from distorted edges, which adds a slight pincushion effect in wide-angle images. Besides that the detail levels produced by the camera is not at par with what you'd expect from a considerably higher-priced superzoom.

Colors were handled well in perfectly lit areas, as in the flower macro shots below. The colors and gradients were perfectly reproduced.

But once I moved to the shadows, things got very different. The gradients and the colors took on rather a pasty look in full view, especially with regard to skin tones. The camera also had a bit of trouble handling greens.

Night shots weren't too impressive either. As you can see from the photo below, the scene I shot (keeping the camera on a steady surface) shows well-lit areas as a bit blurred. That and the color distortion created by the higher ISO setting are quite obvious.

In burst mode the camera shot pictures at intervals of 0.6 seconds (without flash). It took a little over two seconds for the camera to start and the same time to shut down. The battery life was pretty good though. I got close to 100 shots (some with flash, some without) before the battery showed any signs of dying.