amazon Sony HX5V reviews
For the purpose of changing the “taste” for consumers, camera manufacturers are increasingly cramming more functions for their products, especially high-end travel camera. Sony does not seem to be out of the race either the HX5V’s latest addition to the wide-angle zoom range is also equipped with a host of other cutting-edge functions such as GPS satellite navigation, digital compass, 1080i HD video recording and multi-format card support, memory Stick…
The Sony HX5V looks very similar to the other compact super zoom models such as the Panasonic ZS7, Canon SX200 and even the “model” Canon S90. The body though not ultra-thin yet relatively compact, it can fit into a shirt pocket. The front of the HX5V is quite simple with the flash in the left corner and the retractable lens on the right. The body feels quite slippery due to the small grip and no ripple to increase friction. The location of the flash is quite “dangerous,” sometimes causing the finger to cover the light output when shooting at the widest angle.
The back is prominent thanks to the LCD screen size up to 3 inches, equipped with anti-glare technology and automatically adjust the brightness according to the environment. However, the relatively low resolution of the screen (230,400 pixels) will make many people disappointed. The large size of the screen forced Sony to cut out the optical viewfinder and reduce the area of the joystick system to the right. In return, the company carefully designed a recessed pit on the back that made the thumb position convenient. In addition to the simple joystick system that is common in compact cameras, Sony has added a red button to enable movie recording without rotating choose mode dial.
The bottom of the machine has a versatile connector for AV, HDMI and USB connectivity. The HX5V memory card slot can use both Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD / SDHC memory cards.
The HX5V lens consists of 10 components divided into seven groups, including four aspheric lenses to minimize image distortion and chromatic aberrations. The 10x zoom range of the machine ranges from 25mm wide angle to 250mm telephoto (converting film camera) so it is very useful when traveling or taking a family photo. The tests show that the G lens that Sony equips for the HX5V is better than most of the super-zoom cameras available on the market today. The image is very sharp at the center at every focus setting. The edge of the image is slightly blurred when zoomed up to maximum, but still acceptable. The very low distortion and distortion of the image shows that Sony was smart at eliminating these errors from the JPEG processing. The HX5V also has the ability to capture macro at a distance of up to 5 cm on a 40 x 30 mm surface. The picture quality is good with high detail and standard white balance even when the flash is activated.
where can you get a Sony HX5V online
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The CMOS sensor on the HX5V is 1 / 2.4-inch and 10.2-megapixel. At low sensitivity settings under ISO 400, the camera shows a good color range and dynamic contrast ratio, however, still slightly worse than the Panasonic TZ10. Although using Sony’s latest Exmor R technology, the high ISO shots on the HX5V are still very noisy and lose a lot of detail. This is also a common weakness on all current small-scale travel camera series. The white balance and brightness of the camera are stable in outdoor shooting conditions. However, the automatic white balance produces a dark yellow image when taken under the light.
The HX5V has a decent performance ratio compared to comparable competitors from Canon and Panasonic. Machine startup time is about 2.2 seconds. It took only 0.35 seconds to focus and take the first picture. Continuous shooting speed is up to 10 frames per second, the fastest among compact travel cameras. However, it took 6.1 seconds to wait between the two shots when using the light at the strongest power (though, the flash of HX5V is weak).
Panorama function on the HX5V is quite impressive. You just hold and move the machine vertically or at a certain speed. The remaining work will be done by the BIONZ processor. Up to 100 photos can be put together in less than 1 second. The output image resolution of up to 4,912 x 1,080 pixels with a maximum viewing angle of 270 degrees, and the size of an HDTV screen. The camera also features two different shooting modes, Handheld Twilight and Anti Motion Blur, which combine high-ISO images to reduce noise and shorten shutter times. These two functions work great, though the images are somewhat blurry and lose some detail.
The HX5V also comes equipped with many other trendy features such as GPS satellite positioning and digital compass, which records the location and shooting direction of the attached EXIF file. The refresh time for positioning data is about 15 or 30 seconds. When you enable this feature, it may take a few minutes for the GPS receiver to detect and authenticate. This sometimes annoys the user for having to wait or miss out on beautiful moments. Sony claims that it can capture more than 300 images or 155 minutes of video even when the function is very “consuming power” as the GPS positioning is activated. The HX5V also supports 1080i movie recording at 60 frames per second in AVCHD format. Stereo sound quality meets Dolby Digital standards.
Although its appearance is not very attractive and there are some disadvantages associated with flash, the Sony HX5V is a super-zoom camera of interest owning many advanced technologies and image quality obtained in pretty good compared to many competitors.