Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX300 review

The Sony HX300 wasn’t available in time for our round up of bridge cameras last month, but it’s here now and we have the full low down on its competitors to measure it against.

Big numbers abound in the specifications, including a 20-megapixel sensor, 50x zoom, a 921,600-dot articulated screen and 1080-50p video recording. There are some notable weaknesses in the spec sheet too, though. A hotshoe might have spoiled the curvaceous design but we’d still like to have one. It can’t save photos in RAW format, and 310-shot battery is below average for this type of camera. The electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a decent size, but while Sony doesn’t publish its resolution, we’re confident that it’s in the region of 200,000 dots rather than the million-plus resolutions used elsewhere. There’s no eye-level sensor so switching between the screen and EVF with the accompanying button is a bit of a chore.

The rounded design makes for an extremely comfortable fit in the hand. There’s a substantial lens ring that’s assigned to zoom by default. It’s a motorised rather than a mechanical zoom action, but the two-speed zoom motor is useful for fine adjustments. Flick to manual focus using the switch on the lens barrel, and the lens ring adjusts focus instead, with zoom still available via the lever by the shutter button. There’s a dedicated focus button that gives quick access to Multi, Centre and Flexible Spot autofocus modes. In manual focus mode, this button activates a temporary 10x digital magnify function for precise adjustment.

The command dial can be pushed inwards to cycle through the ISO speed, shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation controls (depending on the selected mode). It’s not the fastest system but it’s easy to get to grips with. The centre button on the navigation pad accesses autofocus point selection. Overall, it’s a superb set of controls, but it could be even better. The bottom of the navigation pad is assigned to Photo Creativity options, but these are only available in Auto shooting modes. An option to reassign this to white balance would be welcome to avoid having to visit the sprawling main menu.

PERFORMANCE – SHOT SPEED

Performance is a mixed bag. It was fast to focus, typically taking less than half a second from pressing the shutter button to capturing a photo. However, the time it took to save a photo varied widely depending on the ISO speed used – presumably because faster speeds use stronger, more processor-intensive noise reduction. When shooting brightly lit subjects in program mode, it captured a photo every second or so, although it was a little erratic. However, in low light at ISO 800, it slowed to two seconds between shots. At ISO 1600 it fell to 2.7 seconds. Switching to iAuto mode, the fastest it could manage in bright light was 1.8 seconds. These aren’t terrible results but rival cameras from Panasonic and Fujifilm are faster and more consistent.

Continuous shooting was at 6.7fps for ten frames – not the 10fps speed that Sony claims but still a strong result. The camera only started to save these shots after capturing the last one, but it was ready to go again about eight seconds later. There’s another, slower continuous mode that shoots at 2fps, but it also stopped for a eight-second breather after ten frames. Neither mode can update autofocus or exposure between shots.

VIDEO QUALITY

Here we test video quality and stabilisation on the HX300 – clcik through to YouTube f

Video recording is possibly the HX300’s greatest talent. Picture quality was crisp and detailed, and noise reduction kept low-light clips looking reasonably clean. The optical stabilisation performed superbly, keeping handheld shots reasonably steady at the long end of the enormous zoom range – something few other ultra-zoom cameras manage. It supports resolutions up to 1080p at 50fps and 30-minute clip lengths, but it’s a bit frustrating that there’s no 25p option at 1920×1080 resolution. The closest is a 1440×1080, 25fps mode in MPEG-4 format.

IMAGE QUALITY

The combination of a 20-megapixel sensor and a 24-1200mm (equivalent) zoom suggests that this camera should excel for capturing details in distant subjects. It’s an awful lot of pixels to squeeze into a tiny 1/2.3in sensor, though, so it has its work cut out to manage noise levels.

Distant subjects were captured with more pixels than anything we’ve ever seen – the moon measured 1,570 pixels wide. Focus at the full zoom extension wasn’t perfect and there were some chromatic aberrations towards the edges of the frame, but it compared well with other cameras that match the 1200mm (equivalent) maximum focal length. Focus was excellent at more modest zoom positions, all the way down to the widest 24mm setting.

For sheer magnification, the HX300 sets a new standard.

Photos taken at the minimum ISO 80 setting were slightly speckled but there was plenty of detail even in dense textures such as foliage. However, noise levels quickly rose as the ISO speed went up, and photos at ISO 200 didn’t stand up to scrutiny. This proved to be a common problem, as even in direct sunlight, automatic settings often reverted to ISO speeds from 200 to 800 in order to avoid camera shake. That was a necessary precaution when shooting at the long end of the zoom, but the camera was overly cautious at more modest zoom positions. We frequently felt the need to intervene with manual ISO speed settings in order to get the best from the camera.

This brightly lit shot taken at a modest 40mm (equivalent) focal length and the lowest ISO speed is packed with fine detail.

Details are sharp here too, but the subtle skin textures reveal a slight graininess, even at ISO 80.

Details have softened slightly as we begin to zoom in to this shady subject, pushing the ISO speed up to 400. It’s by no means a bad result, though.

Even this ISO 800 shot looks pretty clean, although there’s a notable lack of fine details.

Skin textures at ISO 640 are scruffy – this shot is best limited to smaller viewing sizes.

Shooting at the full zoom extension in early morning sunlight, details are quite scruffy even at ISO 200. It wouldn’t matter so much if the subject filled the frame, but this shot doesn’t stand up to heavy cropping.

This is the best of 12 shots we took of this subject – a disappointing result.

The HX300’s photos looked great when viewed at typical sizes, but many shots – and particularly telephoto ones – didn’t look so hot after some heavy cropping. Perhaps that won’t be necessary considering the enormous zoom range. However, the Panasonic FZ200, Panasonic FZ72 and Canon SX50 HS all delivered better image quality and broadly matched the Sony for video quality. The HX300 wasn’t far behind for photos, though, and it currently costs less. If funds are tight and you don’t envisage cropping or printing enlargements, it’s an excellent choice.