Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 20 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Sony CyberShot DSC-HX60V 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 5cms away from the subject. Commendably barrel distortion is well controlled even at the 24mm wide-angle focal length of the incredibly versatile 30x 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 effective Dynamic Range Optimizer function extracts more detail from the shadow and highlight areas in an image, without introducing any unwanted noise or other artifacts. The High Dynamic Range mode combines two shots taken at different exposures to produce one image with greater dynamic range than a single image would produce. It only works for JPEGs and for still subjects, but does produce some very effective results. 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 9 ISO settings available on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V. 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-HX60V's 30x zoom lens offers a very versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:

24mm	720mm

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-HX60V 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-HX60V allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms 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-HX60V 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 (720mm)	Forced Flash - Telephoto (720mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Forced Flash setting or the Red-Eye Correction option caused any amount of red-eye.

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

Night

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V'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 8 seconds at ISO 80.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Dynamic Range Optimizer

D-Range Optimiser (DRO) is Sony's solution to improve shadow detail in photos taken in contrasty light.

Off	LV1
LV2	LV3
LV4	LV5

High Dynamic Range

High Dynamic Range Optimiser (HDR) is Sony's solution for capturing more contrast than a single exposure can handle by combining two exposures into one image.

Off	1.0EV
2.0EV	3.0EV
4.0EV	5.0EV
6.0EV

Creative Styles

There are seven Creative Style preset effects that you can use to change the look of your images.

Standard	Vivid
Portrait	Landscape
Sunset	Black and White
Sepia

Picture Effects

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V offers an extensive range of thirteen creative Picture Effects.

Off	Toy Camera
Pop Color	Posterization
Retro	Soft High-key
Partial Color (Red)	High Contrast Mono
Soft Focus	HDR Painting
Rich-tone Mono	Miniature
Watercolor	Illustration

Intelligent Sweep Panorama

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V 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.

Standard

Wide

360

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V 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-HX60V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V / Lens Extended

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V / Flash Raised

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V / Image Displayed

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V / Turned On

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V / Main Menu

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V / Main Menu

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V / Function Menu

Top of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Bottom of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V is a very incremental update of last year's HX300 model, principally adding a faster Bionz X processor, revamped menu system and NFC connectivity. While they're all nice to have, the lack of prosumer features like a built-in EVF, RAW support, lens control ring and a touchscreen interface leads us to recommend the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 instead, especially as that camera has the edge when it comes to image quality.

The HX60V's 20 megapixel sensor provides excellent results from ISO 100-400, but noise is already starting to appear at ISO 800 and the faster settings of 1600 and 3200 suffer from more noise and smearing of fine detail. You should ignore 6400 and 12800 completely unless there's really no alternative.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V offers one of the longest focal lengths of any travel-zoom camera on the market, with the 30x optic providing enough width and reach for virtually any photographic situation that you'll encounter. If you're considering a bridge-style super-zoom, we'd suggest taking a look at a travel-zoom like the HX400V instead, as it still offers a very versatile focal range whilst fitting into a coat pocket, and avoids the issues of trying to keep the camera steady enough to take sharp shots at the more extreme zoom settings.

In summary, while the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V remains a good travel-zoom camera, it doesn't offer enough new features for 2014 to keep up with some of its better specified and better performing main rivals.

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

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V.

Specifications

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