Sony H9 or Canon S5 IS?

[KC10Chief]

My mom's birthday is coming up in a couple weeks. Her old digital camera is due for replacement. It's about 5 years old. An Olympus I think. It never has taken very good shots. Anyways, she wouldn't be interested in an SLR, and I couldn't afford to get her one anyways. But I'm looking at two advanced point and shoot cameras for her. The Sony DSC-H9 and the Canon S5 IS. They're both about the same price and get pretty good reviews on other websites. You guys are the experts though. What do you think? I've owned a couple Sony cameras and have been pleased with them. But when I compare the H9 and the S5, the Canon feels like a more solid camera. The one they had at Best Buy was kind of screwed up, probably from people handling it constantly. Anyways, your opinions are appreciated! Thanks!
Matt

 

[shorty6049]

well, i owned a sony h1, wich was the first in the H series, and i loved it, and i think that camera was what really got me into photography, its got a great mix of manual and automatic features so you dont really feel hindered by it, when i bought mine, i was comparing to the canon s2-IS i believe, wich i'm guessing wasnt too much different from the s5, The swivel screen is a nice feature on that one. I dont knwo what screen size either of those have on them but i thought sony's was bigger. I still shoot sony, so i'm probably naturally biased towards them, but if the cameras have progressed in quality equally, then they're probably pretty evenly matched. If theres one feature on one of them that you like over the other, then thats probably the camera you want to buy her. They're that close. (unless something big has changed )

 

[KC10Chief]

Thanks for the info! The Sony does have a bigger view finder. It's 3" vs. 2.5" on the Canon. I doubt my mom will ever take photos on anything other than the automatic mode. The Sony looks easier to use. My dad has an H5 that he likes a lot. Hmmmm..... Anybody else have some input?

 

[shorty6049]

well, remember, when shopping for someone like that, ease of use is key. I bought my mom a camera for christmas and made sure to look for something as simple and foolproof as possible. As much as i dont like kodak easyshares, thats what i bought for her. good luck choosing!

 

[littleladybug]

I am also interested in people's opinions on these two cameras. I am looking for high quality and fast shutter time. The one thing I do like about the Canon S5 IS is that you can add a flash to it.

 

[bemmermazda]

I had the H9 for 6 months. Viewfinder is tiny compared to a DSLR but it works. It takes great pictures except in low light. I used it for action and for macro, worked really well.

If you look in the last few pages, all were taken with a H9
www.flickr.com/thomasferrer

 

[sabbath999]

I would get the S5 IS.

 

[Jennyboo7481]

The H5 gave me my start in photography. I gave it to my mom when I decided to upgrade. She loves to use it and the quality of the photos is excellent. The H9 has some cool new built in features like "fish eye" and is supposed to do well in low lights. I got great results with a tripod at night.