It took a while to find a camera that I can use in place of my DSLR (Nikon D300S) so I could still get great shots but without the backpack full of gear.
Now, this is not a DSLR, and, dspite what the commercials show, there's not a point & shoot that can completely equal or replace one. Yet. For now, this one's close enough for me.
I shoot for the local paper and one thing this camera needed to do was to give me good enough shots in a lot of different conditions that would work for the paper. I like to have a camera with me at all times, but have gotten tired of carrying my full backpack everywhere.
I am also a "serious amatuer," in that I enjoy bringing back great photos of places I've been and things I've seen.
So - check on both of those counts.
The camera itself:
It's small, but solid. I can fit it in a back pocket or jacket easily. Controls are straight forward enough that I haven't needed to consult a manual. After the first few uses, I did turn off the on screen guide, which got a little bothersome. And, overall, it's easy to find items on the menu.
The photos:
The real reason to buy a camera...
I continue to be impressed with the photos I'm getting out of the Sony. I've shot inside, outside, action, etc. Just about every type of situation I would normally do with the Nikon.
Picture quality is great. And the 20x zoom has been excellent to use in a few situations. The zoom isn't very fast (which is good) and it's not as precise as a manual zoom (no surprise), but that 20x optical is great to have. The "Clear Image" zoom seems to do just fine, though I haven't really pushed that one.
The 10 frames/second mode is just that, and has been great to have ina couple of situations, like getting a full series of shots of a fire breather at a festival. One caveat, though, is the camera takes several seconds to process those 10 shots, rendering it useless for more shots until it's done. So plan ahead on when to push the shutter release.
Surprises:
All good, I assure you.
I didnt' buy the Sony because of any of the various "modes." The panoramic sweep mode sounded interesting, and I thought I might use that once or twice. Wrong. The panoramic sweep has been a great addition to how I shoot. I've used it to get great indoor shots that would have been too wide otherwise. And shots at a festival done with the panoramic sweep look great. I'm actually looking for reasons to shoot more panoramics.
The other modes are also useful. I especially like the "Toy" mode, that gives a nice vignetting around the edges and richer colors.
The "Paint" or HDR mode gives that cool HDR effect, but even on the light setting, I thought it was a little heavy handed. (Another caveat - the camera again takes several seconds to process any of the mode shots.)
Tip:
I have found the best results, and easiest way to control the camera settings, by setting it to "P," which leaves the most menu options open with the touch of a few buttons. But if you leave the camera on one of the automatic settings, it works well, too.
For the size, and for the 20x zoom, the Sony HX20V is exactly what I want with me now whenever I don't want to lug around 30-pounds of gear, but still want the great shots I'm used to.
A gallery of shots done with the Sony (most with little or no post editing):
[...]
Check out more photos on Flickr to get a good indication of what this camera can do. Then buy one.
Update:
Just took both my DSLR and the Sony HX20V to a concert and shot with both. I'm actually happier with the shots from the Sony. Better, more consistent focus. Better exposure (I set it to P and center weight on the Auto Exposure). I put it in 10 fps mode and can pick out the best shot from each group.
I'm happier and happier with this camera the more I use it.
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This Item  Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Black) (2012 Model) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $205.00 | $549.00 | $137.08 | -10% $179.99 List: $199.99 | -20% $398.00 List: $499.99 | -17% $149.00 List: $179.99 |
| Delivery | Get it Jun 5 - 6 | — | — | Get it as soon as Friday, May 17 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 17 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 17 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Zoom | ||||||
| Picture quality | ||||||
| Image stabilization | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Sold By | Chumdog LLC | Woodland Hills Camera & telescopes | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | PROCAM | Amazon.com |
| display type | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD |
| display size | 3 inches | 3 inches | 2.7 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches |
| lens type | Zoom | Wide Angle | Wide Angle | Telephoto | Wide Angle | Wide Angle |
| zoom type | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom | — | Optical Zoom |
| shooting modes | Easy | Automatic, Movie, Panorama | Automatic, Portrait, Landscape, Macro | Panorama, Automatic, Easy | Aperture Priority, Manual, Program, Shutter Priority | — |
| connectivity tech | HDMI, USB | Wireless | USB | wired, wireless | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, Micro HDMI | USB |
Reviews with images
Plusses and minuses
I was looking for a small high-zoom camera that can double as an HD camcorder. My impressions so far are as follows:Pro's* The 20X zoom is good (but note that the minimum focal distance to your subject is about 6 feet when zoomed in all the way).* The image stabilizer in this camera does a good job of compensating for motion.* USB charging is convenient; I don't like carrying around a power adapter brick.* Battery life has been good so far.* I found the flash to be plenty bright for indoor shots, much brighter for example than the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS19 Digital Camera, BlackCon's* The small F3.2 aperture usually requires a flash when used indoors. Low-light images otherwise turn out very grainy and have yellow or green splotches.* Indoor video recording also requires very bright lighting conditions or the video is also grainy/splotchy. The lighting that the camera requires for video is much higher than that required for still photos, and is about double that of the usual camcorder (plus the camera has no light as you might find on a camcorder).* I don't like the physical location of the flash; it pops up right where I tend to hold the camera.* I don't like the position of the micro-USB connector on the bottom of the camera which requires that I sit the camera on its lens or on its back while charging, and also makes it impossible to use external power when attached to a tripod. Also note that the micro-USB connector does not plug in all the way.* Severe ghosting occurred on night shots of bright objects. For example, I counted about a dozen ghost images when I took a picture of a post lamp (see attached image).In summary, the camera can double as a camcorder in daylight conditions, but a camcorder (or camera with a wider aperture) would be better for indoor or night photography. Unfortunately most camcorders don't have decent still photo resolution (check the gross pixel count, not the number of extrapolated artificial pixels printed on the side of the camcorder), hence I'm still looking for the perfect camera that can do both.
Top reviews from other countries
Odile Faucon
Petit appareil vraiment tres performant !
Reviewed in Canada on March 2, 2019