This is almost as good as a DSLR, but has the advantage of a compact camera viz. easier to carry and take to functions. The controls are intuitive and easy to use. I like to take some unusual kinds of pictures, and have found that this is a great camera for that. You can take pictures with subjects as close as 1 cm in macro mode.
The lens is also great. It has farily good aperture bracket for this camera class. You can see a bluish tinge when you take pictures in bright sunlight, but probably a sky light filter like the VF-74MP might fix it(I haven’t tried it yet). The zoom level and quality at telephoto is also pleasing. Plus you have good anti-stabilization.
The viewfinder is large, and you can tilt it up or down. That’s great too! That has helped me take some great shots in crowded places, when I had to hold the camera high. The colour and brightness are also good. And you have many preview modes. The histogram mode helps you analyze the brightness levels of the scene if you have control over the lighting conditions.
The startup time of 2 second lets you take photos almost as soon as you turn the camera on. If you see something interesting, and you’ve taken the camera out of the bag, within 2.5 seconds, you have a picture! Great for candid pictures. The controls are also quite easy to use, with most used features accessible easily. The "easy" shooting mode is good for beginners and in times when you just want a quick picture. There is nothing in the screen cluttering the image(except the number of remaining shots). Now if you want your grandma to take a picture, just give it to her, and ask her to point and shoot. No getting confused, no explaining the controls(except of course, the shutter button).
Other candidates I were considering were Olympus SP 560 UZ, which is cheaper than this and has 18x zoom. Comparing them, Olympus uses AA cells(which are easily available in case of emergencies), has more zoom, has ISO upto 6400(this has 3200), 8.1Mpix. But DHC H50 wins because it has faster shutter speed(1/4000 against Olympus’ 1/2000) and aperture upto f/8(against f/4.5 of Olympus’) and remote!
That takes me to the remote control - Its good for taking pictures of a group with you included. Put the cam in timer mode, press the shutter button on the remote, keep the remote in your pocket and wait.
Haven’t used the in-camera retouch yet, because I use The GIMP to edit photos.
The only drawback I’ve felt is that I cannot attach an extra flash unit. I would really like to attach a bigger flash to take better party pictures at night. Other than that, I’ve never felt any problem with the camera.
Overall, great for beginners as well as experts. Almost a DSLR(but not), and a great buy.