Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX400V Point & Shoot Camera Review

Sony DSC HX-400V

This time I'm back with the review of a somewhat older Sony DSC HX-400V Point & Shoot camera. I have not had my hands on it till now but I'll be reviewing it based on information collected from a number of sources.

Sample 1

It is a 20 megapixel point & shoot camera that boasts a 50x optical zoom. Not a big surprise as camera manufacturers, nowadays, tend to give that "high optical zoom" tag to their latest point & shoots. It also has a 100x clear image digital zoom ( if you want to know the difference between optical zoom and digital zoom, let me help you out: Digital zoom vs Optical zoom ).

Sample 2

Its battery has a juice of 1240mAh and Sony claims it can handle upto 300 clicks. But practical observations have revealed that carrying an additional battery is a good option as the battery fails to keep up Sony's promise. It has a 3 inch LCD with 921600 dots and also an electronic viewfinder. The texture and the look & feel of the camera is so good that you will fall in love with it just after using it for a day or two. Those additional features like Wifi, NFC and GPS which you get for spending a little extra are also available. The highest resolution which you can get is 5184 x 3888 at an aspect ratio of 4:3. Still images are also possible at 3:2, 16:9 and 1:1 aspect ratios. The camera is also capable of Full HD video recording. It also offers full manual control.

Sample 3

The image processor engine is the Sony's trademark Bionz X, the back-illuminated version, which is also used in other high end Sony light capturing devices. The image sensor used is the 1/2.3" Exmor R CMOS sensor, which is another trademark of Sony. The sensor size is a decent one for such a high end bridge camera. The optics is handled by Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T lenses. Thats a significant advantage for this camera as Carl Zeiss is an internationally well-known brand which has its history dating back to the 19th century.

Sample 4

The camera offers a wide range of ISO settings from 80 to 12800. The range of shutter speeds is from 1/4000 to 30 in shutter priority and manual modes. The range of aperture varies from f/2.8 to f/8.0(W) in aperture priority and manual modes ( if you want to know about ISO, shutter speed and aperture, let me help you again: ISO shutter speed aperture ).

To sum it up, the camera is good choice for any beginner photographer or hobbyist, especially if you are not ready to spend a handsome sum of money on a DSLR and its lenses. So if you are looking for a bridge style point & shoot camera with decent specs and which costs within $500 (Rs.27,000 in India) this definitely should be your choice. Other companies like Canon and Nikon also have great cameras but DSLRs are there main areas of concentration. For a point & shoot this should definitely satisfy your needs. Hope my review helped. Thanks for reading guys!