Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1 9.1MP Digital Camera with 20x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization and 3.0 Inch LCD

The features are excellent in this camera. Like the burst mode which captures up to 10 pics and u can choose the best out of it. Similarly the smile detection mode which really does a good job of clicking at the right moment. The flash in completely dark ambiance comes really good as if the place had good lighting. Sweep Panorama is simply great, so easy and most of the time even if we shake the picture still comes good. The HD video is simply awesome both the quality of the video and audio.

The bad part (yes its bad, to me its highly disappointing) is the quality of the picture is really not meeting the basic expectation. The pictures are most of the time noisy irrespective of good lighting or not. In Intelligent Auto mode, you have to either choose burst or smile detection mode. The un-comfortable part is in burst mode the flash can't be switched on and in the smile detection mode flash can be switched on but the camera starts clicking automatically even before every one in the picture is ready and we are ready to take the picture (like before we adjust the area of the picture). So we are forced to go for the Manual / Program mode which is not a great answer for a point-and-shoot camera.

On a whole the camera has real great features, but the noisy image quality makes it average or below average camera. Sony should definitely correct this and release the next version.

I've owned this camera for a month now. I paid $460 and was a little dubious at first. However, the camera met my every need. And now that its down to around $400, I say run, don't walk, and put this puppy in your hands.

I've been using digital cameras for several years now and my biggest gripe was the lag between hitting the shutter button and when the shutter actually fires. I can't tell you how many priceless moments were lost because of that delay. Well, forget that delay forever. This camera is damn fast and will even bracket 3 exposures in the time it took me to get one on my old point and shoot. The steady shot works amazingly well and as someone else mentioned, you can take blur free shots in low light without a tripod. I took some night time shots of the moon rising over the Cancun beach that are just amazing for a non dslr.

In years past, I trecked across Europe lugging my trusty Fujica with 3 lenses (one, a 200mm zoom) and constantly hating the weight and inconvienence. Not to mention the constant lense changing from wide to tele and the knowledge that I probably had the wrong lens for the shot 'cause I had no time to change lenses. Of course, the solution to this problem is to carry a second camera...and you know where this story is going. The 20x OPTICAL zoom on this baby covered all my bases except extreme wide angle...and this was solved by the panorama feature. One camera...one lens...ahhhh the freedom.

The final killer feature is the HD video mode. From the back of the theater, at night, I could show the whole stage and zoom in on the stage performers faces. My audience was blown away with the clarity and zoom range. And the steady shot feature made the extreme zoom moments rock steady. The picture did not jump all over the place and looked extrordinarily professional. The only down side (if this can be considered a down side) is that the HD video can only be copied on to a bluray disk and for this you need a bluray writer, which I don't have. I was quite disappointed when I couldn't distribute the disk to my friends.

I was looking for a camera as an upgrade from my Canon S3 IS. I did quite a bit of research (read lots of review and looked at photos from the reviewers/users). This camera wasn't even on my radar until I read a review/top 5 list on [...]. After reading their review, I came to amazon's customer reviews and read them all, then looked at all the customer photos. Afterwards I went to my local Best Buy to get a hands-on "feel". The camera felt sturdy in my hands and the grip was deep enough for my long fingers. I then tested out the zoom and macro - 2 features I use extensively...I was pleased with both.

3 days after I got the camera I used it for a 3-day camping trip. I was impressed with the zoom and macro capabilities. There were only a few occasions when I couldn't get the lens to focus on a subject: once was a flower that was blowing in the breeze (have the same problem with the S3 IS) another time, while staying on the trail, the zoom was too much to focus where I wanted and the brush kept me from being able to go over and shoot macro.

With that being said, the 10-shots per second is fun to use, but those 10-20 sec. (when writing to the disc) does feel like an eternity...especially when you want to keep shooting a wildlife subject. Indoor shots (outside of automatic setting) take forever, though I did get a really cool low light photo of the inside of our RV with just the rope lights on (had my elbows resting on the table).

Putting the camera in Intelligent Auto Adjustment mode helps. I was standing in the kitchen at home and pointed the camera down a dark hallway and got a phenomenal shot, I also used that setting in my niece's hospital room as it always looks like twilight time in there (my brother-in-law was impressed with the photos I was able to take).

As for battery life, I always use the viewfinder (except for some macro shots) so that does help give more time. I love seeing how much time is left on the battery - I tried it with the LCD first, made a mental note of remaining time, then switched to viewfinder and gained about 10 min.

If you're looking for a new digital camera, do your homework online and get a list together, then I highly recommend going to a store and trying out the different cameras you're looking at first. Check out how the camera feels in your hand, try out the zoom/macro modes and take some test shots. Then you can go back online and order your camera (if you can wait that long :)).

** 9/29/09 Update to battery info - I charged up the battery last night and put back in camera this morning. Turned it on (LCD view) battery showed 228 min. In less than 1 minute it showed 227 minutes...I switched to viewfinder and it showed I had 301 minutes left.

I have only had this camera for about 24 hours, but I am very impressed about it. There are several unique features:

- The panorama feature is takes about 1 minute to master, you just turn the dial to panorama, press the shutter button and scan the area you want to photograph while pressing the shutter .
- Twilight feature (great for when you don't have access to a tripod)
- Backeting can be done easliy allowing you to make HDR images with ease (you can process them on your computer)
- The camera can shoot 10 images in a second (great for sports)
- 1080P video

There are many other features, but I thought these were the most unique.

I have had this camera for a few weeks now and like it very much. I am not going to write a technical review, because those that would understand it can interpret the data for themselves. This is a simple review for a single camera that can be used by the advanced photographer and still hand it over to you wife or kids and still get a great picture. This is truly a family camera.
Let me say that it never stops to amaze me how far technology has come. Having said that lets look at some of the less known feature.

1- In camera editing. You can change a frown to a smile, a blur to a sharp image. Mix back and white with some color elements in the same picture and shoot with a fish eye lens effect if you want and you don't need the lens. All this and much more and it's easy to use.

2- Ten pictures a second. If you have owned a digital camera, you know how slow it can be between pictures when you are trying to catch you granddaughter running about. In low light it takes multiple pictures and combines the best elements of each to give you one good image. In portrait mode it will give you a warning on the screen if the person blinks when the shutter is snapped or will take two picture when set and keep the best one. It will wait to take the picture until someone smiles and much more. The results are stunning the technology amazing.

3- Wide angle to telephoto with a small camera body and lens.

4- Scene selection works like a charm. Backlight, front light, no light, portrait or landscape it sees and selects the best setting and fill flash if needed. The amature can get excellent results in the worst of conditions. Want to do it yourself, switch to manual mode.

Hope this peaks your interest. I could go on for pages, but this is a great camera at a great price. I would recommend it and I have owned some of the best. This camera is fun and it allows you to focus on your subject and forget about the tech stuff.


OK, some additional information. I just returned from a trip to Europe and took over 700 pictures. I have to say as a point and shoot camera, it has given me some of the best pictures I have ever taken.

LOW Light - Again, no tech speak. I found some carved statues in a dark corner of a cathedral. It was so dark I almost walked past them if not for a flash light glimmer from a tour guide. With no flash allowed, I set the camera to low light, steady hand held mode and shot the picture. In this mode the camera shoots 5 fast pictures and the internal processor makes a composite picture from the 5 shots. The results are astounding! The pictures are rendered with natural light and are as clear and sharp as day. I used this feature over and over again with outstanding and dynamic results every time.

Pan Pictures - Given the wide street pictures and tall cathedrals it is very hard to compose pictures with a standard lens and not cut off buildings and towers. The 270 degree pan mode gave me incredible pictures of street scenes and buildings that would have been lost in the translation of single images. Please not that there is some distortion as you pan across the scene in some applications, but the effect is not objectionable and in some cases added to the dynamics of the photo.

In short, this is the best camera I have ever owned for this kind of work providing professional results with little or no effort. Buy one and have a ball...