If you’re not ready to take the plunge into DSLR territory, but want to fool your friends into thinking you have done so, these quasi-SLR cameras are the way to go. Of course, it helps that the thing has a 15x optical zoom Zeiss lens, so your pictures will probably look pretty decent too. Its 9.1 megapixels are more than I’ve got on my Canon, and while I’ve got RAW, this Sony has some sort of special algorithm for lifting details from shadows and highlights. It’s got a nice, tilting 3″ LCD screen and all the usual fixin’s as well. I still wouldn’t trust a point-and-shoot for anything serious, but that sure is a nice zoom on this thing.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 ultrazoom announced [Digital Camera Review]