Sony DSC-HX20V 18.2 Megapixel Extended Zoom Reviews Roundup
Sony announces five new "H-Series" Cyber-shot SuperZoom cameras - the DSC-HX200V, DSC-HX30V, DSC-HX20V, DSC-HX10V and DSC-H90. The HX200V (30x zoom), HX30V (20x zoom), HX20V (20x zoom) and HX10V (16x zoom) all have a new Sony 18.2 Megapixels Exmor R CMOS sensor featuring fast AutoFocus speeds of approximately 0.13 seconds in daylight and 0.21 seconds in low-light shooting situations. It features Clear Image Zoom digital zoom technology, which boosts optical zoom to 2x virtual capabilities while maintaining full resolution. These new models has Optical Steady Shot to reduce any blurring caused by camera shake during shooting.
The HX200V features Extra High Sensitivity technology which enhances low-light shooting capabilities. It comes with a 3.0-inch 921k dot resolution tilting LCD screen and supports Full HD Movie Shooting capability (1920x1080/60p) and Optical SteadyShot Active Mode (3 way shake cancelling). there's an embedded GPS functionality as well as the Photo Creativity interface and 9 Picture Effect options for creating unique, custom-styled photos and video. The DSC-HX200V is available in black this March for $480.
Sony DSC-HX20V Sample Photos on Flickr
Sony DSC-HX20V Camera Reviews Roundup
| LetsGoDigital: "The Sony CyberShot HX20V has a fast and fluid autofocus system; even in low light, the camera is able to focus quickly. Thanks to the follow focus technology, the focal subject is followed, even when it moves, so that the camera can capture fast action shots. Continual shooting (burst-mode) is also possible, with a speed of 10fps. Color representation is good, as is lighting and dynamic range. The Sony CyberShot DSC..." - Aug 02 2012 More » | |
| dpreview: "Camera performance is among the best of any travel zoom on the market. The camera starts up in 1.4 seconds, which is average, and after that, it's off to the races. The camera focuses extremely quickly, whether at wide-angle or telephoto, good light or poor. Shutter lag wasn't an issue, and shot-to-shot speeds ranged from a brief 1 second without the flash, to 3 seconds with it. The HX20V is capable of continuous sh..." - Jul 25 2012 More » | |
| Photography BLOG: "The Sony CyberShot DSC-HX20V is a more capable and more refined version of our favourite travel-zoom camera from 2011, the HX9V, with a longer lens, higher resolution and extra features helping to maintain Sony's lead over the competition in this ultra-competitive part of the camera market. The move to a headline-grabbing 18 megapixel sensor may elicit groans amongst more experienced photographers, but in reality So..." - Jul 10 2012 More » | |
| Amateur Photographer: "For such a significant zoom length, the Cyber-shot HX20V doesn't show any signs of barrel distortion at its extremities. The images are free from vignetting and show no significant fringing or aberration. With only the JPEG files to work from it is difficult to know whether these have been corrected as part of the processing or were not present in the first place, although for such a small camera the former is likel..." - Jun 27 2012 More » | |
| Digital Camera Resource Page: "The DSC-HX20V is fully loaded with features -- especially on the point-and-shoot side of the spectrum. You've got a pair of "intelligent" auto modes, including one which will use multiple exposures to produce sharper photos with less noise than you'd get otherwise. If you want to learn about a certain feature on the camera, or how to take a certain kind of photo, then you'll love the built-in help guide. S..." - Jun 21 2012 More » | |
| TechRadar: "If you're in the market for a travel zoom camera that delivers remarkably consistent, colourful and detail rich results, offers a solid-feel build that should withstand bouncing around in your backpack - plus you're prepared to pay a top-end price - then the Sony HX20V should come high up on your wish list.We liked: A high-quality metal construction including padded rubberised grip provides a firm hold when shooting..." - Jun 14 2012 More » | |
| Trusted Reviews: "Overall image quality is one of the HX20's biggest selling points. While the Program and Manual modes offer plenty of user controls, including individual controls over saturation, contrast and sharpening, the more point-and-shoot orientated iAuto and Superior Auto modes are really consistent too. In fact they also offer some degree of user input via a simplified set of on-screen controls over brightness, colour temp..." - May 21 2012 More » | |
| CNET UK: "The HX20V feels as good as it looks. There's a chunky rubber grip at one end that helps you keep a sturdy hold, even with just one hand. This is important when you're using the maximum 20x optical zoom and, even more-so, the 40x option. Sony's sales literature claims that the HX20V features '40x Clear Image Zoom' which, the company explains, 'doubles 20x optical zoom range to an effective 40x, filling the frame wi..." - May 16 2012 More » | |
| ePhotoZine: "Images are well exposed, with good colour reproduction. Background Defocus mode gives the effect of using a large aperture on a DSLR, blurring the background while keep your subject in focus. High sensitivity modes gives well exposed, bright pictures in low light. When using Superior Auto mode, the camera will (if it decides it's necessary) take multiple frames and combine then into a single image to reduce noise. P..." - May 11 2012 More » | |
| Pocket-lint: "Like the recent - and, we might add, similar-named - Sony HX200V superzoom camera, the HX20V has updated from its predecessor's 16.1-megapixel sensor to new 18.2-megapixel 1/2.3in CMOS sensor. It seems that camera manufacturers are still playing "the megapixel race" by squeezing more pixels on to the same, small sensor sizes. It's a risky strategy as the theory goes that more megapixels means less light, a..." - May 10 2012 More » |
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User Review of the camera - Sony DSC-HX20V
Outstanding "Point and Shoot" Camera, Mikey's Review "Mikey"
This camera is amazing! "Point and shoot" says it all. Compact size, quick start-up, takes great pics in low light, fast action shots of our grandkids without motion blur, reasonable shutter lag delay time, solid feel, well built. Just set it to auto mode and shoot. No view finder but the 3 inch display is high resolution and very good outdoors - although I recommend an anti-glare screen protector for better visibility in the bright sun. And the 20x zoom lens is impressive on a camera this small.
Great little camera, Ben Elmore
I specifically love the sweep panorama feature; it's fascinating how seamless it stitches it all together. The zoom is also fantastic.
Excellent, Davey Krause
Great camera, upgrade from DSC-HX9V. Delivered as promised! This product has been great for family photos, outdoor photos, and vacation pictures. Eventually I'll purchase a more robust DSLR, but this is a great beginning camera as well as a camera for experienced photographers. Great on the go
Should be better., kokou h. sewodor
I really like the quality and the outcome of my pictures. the zoom is perfect. the only thing I do not like is the fact that the flash pop up, which is not convenient for me.
Great camera, Alan Bean
Great point and shoot camera. Recently used it on a trip to Alaska and got great shots. Very flexible in many different lighting and photographic situations.
Awesome... check around for prices..., Scott C Anderson
Originally bought a Fuji camera for about $300 and was not happy with it. I got it from Walmart, so I was able to return it without hassle. I needed a camera for a summer vacation trip, so I ended up going to see what they had in-store; and sure enough they had a Cyber-Shot on sale! It was on sale for $258. It was much less than the Fuji in price, so I was worried it wasn't going to be that good. However, it turns out I got a heck of a deal from Walmart and it was normally much more expensive. Guess there was a price shift and it favored me... Long story short this camera rocks! I've taken over 400 pics (and printed over 50) and can confirm this camera is great! I hear there is a version that has a wifi feature (for a few more bucks); I think it is the 30V version... Anyway, if you can do without that, and look around for better prices, this camera can be the deal of year. I got it for about a $100 less than Amazon is offering it by looking around... It has some neat features (my fav is the panoramic) and takes wonderful pics! Great camera, but.... Shop around!!!
Good one. Less so the price., Nicolas Chevalier
That's one good camera with great quality. It gets a bit blurry sometimes when the 20x optical zoom is used, but it's usely no big deal. We could also wonder why there are 18.2MP, but, quite surprisely for me, the photos aren't that big (between 4 and 8 Mo). With a 16GB memory card, you can take up to 2000 photos, so that's enough.
The battery is a bit weird ; don't expect using this camera a whole weekend without charging it once. I read on the Internet that it had a 200-300 picture battery-life (I mean, before re-charging it) but it appeared, to me, as the battery is new, that it's more like 400-500 photos.
The price is too damn high for a camera. Of course, you get the quality and, I think, no disappointment. But, to me, it's not worth more than 250$. So should be all compact cameras.
Sony HX20V, Steve Larson
We bought this camera as an addition to a Sony point & shoot we really like. This one has proven to take great pictures in a variety of settings. We recently went to a music festival. The crowd was pretty large and we didn't feel like fighting our way to the front to take pictures. We stood well back and zoomed in on the stage, at night, and took pictures of the performers that make it look like we were in the 10th row...very cool. Nice camera, lots of features, light weight, great pictures, fair price...very good combination.
Wonderful Camera, Marianne Dwan
Very nice camera, easy to use. It travels well and takes great photos. It's slender but has the power of a larger camera.
Best camera ever!, Gwendoline Mungure
Even though I'm still new to figuring it out, I'm very impressed. The picture quality and zoom capability make it an essential travel accessory.. The only down fall is that it is a tad bit heavy but the case allows foe better handling. Also the location of the flash is a little tricky when handling. If not careful it can cause blurry pictures if its pressed down on. Still working on getting more pictures as I travel.
Good quality camera., King
Im just a normal person that used to use my iphone 5 to take pictures and i always thought they looked good. With that being said, right from the bat you can notice a HUGE difference in the quality of the pictures. The zoom in the camera is AMAZING and the best thing is that quality doesn't drop while using said function like it does on the iphone. Noise is no longer a problem with this camera, Im 100% pleased with this purchase.
Love it!, Corie
I absolutely love this camera. I have an 8 month old baby, and this camera is fast enough to capture his every move. I had him in a swing, and while he was swinging back and forth I took many pictures of him that all came out perfectly clear. I have owned many Nikons and I have to say that this is a way better camera for capturing life as it is happening.
A great camera!, Maegan Moon
I got this camera for my fiance for his birthday and he loves it! The pictures are great quality and all of the different shooting modes make it easy to capture anything!
Nice camera, Candace Koehn
All of the features on the camera are terrific, and the quality of the photos is excellent. It was a great value.
I like it, ark
The package came in time. I like the quality of pictures and full hd movies (that' the main reason I bought the camera, to have a pocket camera I can make quick quality movies and to have a pocket camera for quick shots. Even I have DSL camera that pocket camera is the additional for a traveler when you don't want to bear a big camera on you). The only main issue and why I gave it 4* is that I don't understand the purpose of GPS. I didn't buy the camera because of the GPS (it was just a feature why I gave it preference to other similar cameras). I expected the location of the point of shot would be indicated on the picture (which is interesting feature to have and I saw on the camera of my friend). But that camera doesn't have that feature. Which is surprised me. The picture's metadata has the physical coordinates of the picture taken but it didn't show the name and the country of the place where the picture was taken (or at least I couldn't find it in the manual or in the settings, which I doubt). I guess you need some special software to transfer physical coordinates of the picture to the name of the city, country but it doesn't make any sense for the amateur photographer and as I have mentioned I saw the old camera that indicates the location on the picture. But that feature isn't important for me. But we pay for something that doesn't make sense and battery life. It's a strange feature and I don't understand why Sony made that useless GPS feature.
Beside that I don't have any issues with the camera so far. I live the quality of pictures and movies (that's what it was bought for)
Love my purchase and this camera!, Jalyne Lessig
I looked at many online stores and found this at the Best Price! I was a bit scared that it wasn't going to be new, but was so pleased with my purchase!
Great for travel, Sergio Mondragon
I bought this camera for an Europe trip, the pictures were amazingly sharp, even in moving or low light condition, quick shutter response, had a lot of amenities, like 3D or panoramic pics, the zoom is awesome. Handy and fast response. Worth every penny.
NEW PURCHASE, Phillip S. Gant
JUST BOUGHT THIS AT THE STORE WITH A DOT WITH A CIRCLE AROUND IT FOR $83.00,NEVER BEEN ON,BATTERY NEVER BEEN CHARGED,EVERYTHING IN THE BOX,FOR UPCOMING TRIP,WAS GETTING SX280 UNTIL I SAW THI DEAL!!!!!!!
Took great pictures in Ireland!, Becky Ollar
Bought this camera 3 weeks before going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Ireland. Didn't have time to learn much about it, but didn't have any serious difficulties and pictures turned-out good. As with other reviewers, I thought the flash was in an inconvenient place. Also, didn't like the on/off button being so small. Overall, glad I bought it.
I have taken a number of excellent photos with it., Rbendele
This is close to being the perfect camera for me. But, it's now quiet there. My requirements are : fits in my pocket, has GPS , and quality images. This camera does theses. It reads that it has manual controls. It really doesn't. Some of the settings are difficult to use including the manual mode and the 2 custom settings.
This camera has been Discontinued, the replacement is the same camera with the GPS removed and wifi added. For most people taking family photos this may be to complicated of a camera to use. There are others that are more logical in operations.