The wait is worthwhile.. the 3rd generation of H1 is here (almost) and it's mouth watering... Just looking at the specs will make me drool at night... here's the list of WOW factor for the H9

8.1 mp 1/2.5" CCD - that's a lot of mp on a very small sensor.. I hope this is the 2nd generation of Sony high ISO sensors that will work better than the one found in the 1st generation (H5 and W100 etc)

15x optical zoom (31 mm to 465 mm equivalent) - That's wider and longer than my H1 (imagine it with my 0.7 and 1.7 converters). And it's Carl Zeiss optics.. world class leading company

up to ISO3200 - My H1 stops at ISO400, my alpha at ISO1600 and H9 supports up to ISO3200!! I'm skeptical about the image quality at ISO3200 but if it turns out decent ISO800 pictures.. that will rule given the amazingly versatile lens

Shutter speed - 30" - 1/4000, that's 1 stop faster than H1 could offer and 2 stops faster in manual mode... suitable for BIF too because...

Continuous shooting - 100 8mp pics at 2.2 fps!!!! My alpha manages 3 fps at 10mp with unlimited shooting. But 100 pics at 2.2 fps is not far away!!! Good for trying BIF too and the lens is fast too at f4.5 (though slower than f3.7 of H1 but it zooms more and better high ISO will more than make up for the difference)

3.0" 235 000 pixels tilt lcd screen - yes!!! Step aside Canon because tilt screen is here on H9 with its ultra large tilt screen of high quality (and very visible in sunlight).

Nightshot mode - I almost went for the now ancient Cybershot V3 just for its nightshot mode with that cool laser hologram focusing ability means that you could shoot sharp pictures even at night. And it's back with a vengeance on what must be the flagship cybershot H9

The money part is, it is priced agressively at 480 USD or about 750 SGD (maybe higher locally) but its the price of a good fast lens for my dSLR. I shall wait (if i can) till it comes out (in April 07) for 1/2 a year (Year end sale) before buying one (so i get loads of freebies from Sony too).

Wow, what's not to like in this new H9...

Now to see if the image quality lives up to the H series reputation given this new lens and if the SSS of sony improved since this could be the 3rd generation SSS for Sony too.

Camera Banter... I'm loving it