Sony CyberShot HX1
Image Quality & Value For Money
Sony CyberShot HX1 review - Image Quality
Considering the extent of the focal range on the HX1, both lens flare and barrel/pincushion distortion are kept to a minimum. 
At the wide end of the focal range both are noticeable, but not so much as to impair images. Fine detail is well rendered, and the HX1 no doubt benefits from possessing a CMOS sensor. Tonal rendition is good, with a pleasing balance between shadows and highlights displayed. In difficult light, the HX1 does struggle with rendering highlights, which have a tendency to blow. Colours are pleasing, being vibrant but also natural. ISO performance is good, with images generally acceptable up to ISO 800. Above that, things are slightly different, with ISO 1600 displaying a rough grain, and ISO 3200 mushing fine detail.
Sony CyberShot HX1 review - Value For Money
With a current list price of £489, the HX1 isnʼt exactly the cheapest camera on the market. Itʼs upwards of £100 more expensive than most of its superzoom competitors ? and a fair bit pricier than several good DSLRs. However, the HX1 features genuinely innovative technologies. The model is very well specified, features Sonyʼs distinctive good build quality, and almost has every base covered with regards to HD movie capture, 20x focal range and full manual control.
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Latest comments
January 16 11:37
s courtney
does the camera have manual long exposure.ie shutter can stay open for star photos
January 27 21:23
peter
cna you zoom when in hd recording mode
August 12 13:48
Paul
The panorama image doesn't use the burst mode - it uses the HD video mode. The clue is in the finished image size 7152x1080. I have and HX1 and while the panorama is innovative, it's really a gimmick. Used up close the image produced looks unrealistic because of the space/time continuum bending effect. Use it to capture far off landscapes and at a glance the image priduced is amazing but the resolution is low poor to see the detail you need. Nice idea, but if it used the burst to shoot 30 images it would have been really amazing. The burst mode can shoot 10 frames in 1 second, they're temporarily saved to superfast memory, then written to the memory card. tripling the size of this superfast memory would permit 30 images at full resolution to be taken then written to card. But they didn't do that... The HX1 is a good enough camera, and 1080p HD video is really really good, but if you're looking for great photographic image quality, in anything other than perfect light conditions, look elsewhere.
January 28 08:39
syra
Easily retouch and enhance images, and 10 in-camera tools to quickly and easily find photos of Image management functions. Plus, with PMB (Picture Motion Browser), it is easy to move, manage, store and distribute images.