Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 20.4 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Sony CyberShot DSC-HX300 produced images of good quality during the review period. It handled noise fairly well, with a little noise appearing at the relatively slow speed of ISO 400 and then becoming progressively worse at the faster settings of ISO 800 and 1600. The fastest settings of ISO3200-12,8000 all suffer from a loss of fine detail, so much so that we wouldn't use any of them unless absolutely neccesary.

Chromatic aberrations were in evidence but were well-controlled, with some limited purple fringing effects appearing in high contrast situations. The 20 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can increase the in-camera sharpening level.

Macro performance is excellent, allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject. Commendably barrel distortion is well controlled even at the 24mm wide-angle focal length of the incredibly versatile 50x zoom lens. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure. The maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds allows the cameras to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.

The Backlight Correction HDR feature dramatically increases the detail in the shadow and highlight areas, although we miss being able to choose just how much correction is applied. There's a good range of Color Modes and Picture Effects on offer, while the Sweep Panorama mode makes it simple to take wide-vista shots.

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300's 50x zoom lens offers an incredibly versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:

24mm	1200mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are just a little soft and ideally benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively you can change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with some purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 allows you to focus on a subject that is just 1cm away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Syncro, No Flash, with a Red-eye Reduction option in the Main menu. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (24mm)	Forced Flash - Wide Angle (24mm)
Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (1200mm)	Forced Flash - Telephoto (1200mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, both the Forced Flash setting or the Red-Eye Correction option caused a tiny amount of red-eye.

Forced Flash	Forced Flash (100% Crop)
Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds in the Manual mode, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 80.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Background Defocus

Background Defocus attempts to mimic the sharp subject and out-of-focus background effect that DSLR owners typically enjoy, shooting two frames in quick succession and varying the aperture between each one.

On	On (100% Crop)

Backlight Correction HDR

DRO is Sony's solution for improving shadow and highlight detail in photos taken in contrasty light, significantly increasing the image's dynamic range. The examples show the rather dramatic effect of turning this feature on.

Off	On

Picture Effects

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 offers a range of nine creative Picture Effects.

Off	HDR Painting
Rich-tone Monochrome	Miniature
Toy Camera	Pop Color
Partial Color (Red)	Soft High-key
Watercolor	Illustration

Picture Effects

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 offers a range of four color modes.

Off	Vivid
Real	Sepia
B&W

Intelligent Sweep Panorama

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 allows you to take panoramic images very easily, by 'sweeping' with the camera while keeping the shutter release depressed. The camera does all the processing and stitching and even successfully compensates for moving subjects, with the new High Resolution mode successfully creating a 40+ megapixel image.

Standard

Wide

360

High Resolution

 

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 camera, which were all taken using the 20.4 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Turned On

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Pop-up Flash

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Tilting LCD Screen

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Turned On

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Main Menu

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Settings Menu

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / In-Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 Guide

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 / Tilting LCD Screen

Top of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Bottom of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 is a rather modest update of last year's HX200V model, principally adding a bigger 50x zoom and slightly more megapixels. This doesn't feel like enough of a step forward though, especially as most of our criticisms of the HX300 haven't been addressed, namely a lack of direct access to the ISO speed and other key settings, a missing second control wheel, no RAW format support, a low-resolution electronic viewfinder, an LCD that can only be tilted up and down, and the inability to attach an external flashgun. The move to a 20 megapixel sensor, while looking good on paper, has resulted in slightly poorer image quality than the HX200 offered, and that camera's GPS functionality has disappeared entirely from the 2013 model.

The inclusion of a 50x zoom lens means that the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 offers the same 24-1200mm focal length as one of its main rivals, the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS. Commendably we were able to achieve sharp results shooting handheld even at the far reaches of the zoom, although the camera somewhat inevitably increased the ISO speed to try and compensate, resulting in noisier images. Still, its heartening to discover that the 50x zoom is actually a lot more usable in real-life than you might first imagine. We are disappointed that the electronic viewfinder still only has a resolution of 202k dots, especially considering that it's imperative to compose your photos through the viewfinder given the huge focal range, and there's no longer any automatic switching between LCD and EVF either when you hold the camera up to your eye.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 ultimately suffers in comparison to the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS, Fujifilm FinePix HS50 EXR and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 by not offering enough prosumer features, especially when you factor in its high price-tag. In a crowded marketplace with less well-specified models available at cheaper prices and better-specified alternatives for the same kind of money, it's difficult to more whole-heartedly recommend the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300, even thought that 50x zoom lens is literally hard to ignore.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4
Value for money	4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 from around the web.

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