Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V Review

August 4, 2015 | Jack Baker | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

The Cyber-shot HX90V replaces last year's HX60V as Sony's high-end travelzoom compact camera. Like the HX60V it sports 30x optical zoom, though where this used a Sony G lens, the new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V gets a Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T-star coated optic. In an effort to stay competitive with class-leading cameras like Panasonic's Lumix TZ70, Sony has equipped the HX90V with a high resolution pop-up electronic viewfinder. It also gets a new lens barrel control ring and a flip-up screen. But it's the HX90V's sheer compactness that makes it stand out from the crowd, as it's appreciably smaller than key rivals like the TZ70, Canon PowerShot SX710 HS and Nikon Coolpix S9900. A host of extra features like Wi-Fi with NFC pairing, GPS, exposure bracketing and full manual control help justify what's currently a relatively high retail price of around £339/$428.

Ease of Use

Although the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V may share some similar specs to the HX60V, on the outside they're very different animals. At 102 x 58.1 x 35.4mm, the HX90V lines up alongside Sony's WX500 as the smallest camera on sale to feature a 30x optical zoom. By comparison, the HX60V is 6mm wider, 5.5mm taller, 3mm thicker and 28g heavier. The HX90V is also noticeably smaller than the 30x compact camera competition from Canon, Nikon and Panasonic. And yet despite this, it's not short on features.

The 30x zoom lens is certainly impressive, giving a 24-720mm-equivalent focal range, but it's not enough to set the HX90V apart. That's left to the new pop-up electronic viewfinder. Keen followers of the Cyber-shot range will recognise this from the premium RX100 III, and it ejects in the same way. Flick the release switch by your left hand and up it pops, powering the HX90V on in the process. You'll also need to pull the eyepiece towards your eye though, as otherwise the EVF won't activate when you go to use it. Once it does burst into life, the 1,440k-dot resolution is crisp and colour reproduction faithful.

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V
Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

Also packed in to the HX90V's top panel is a pop-up flash, however this, the EVF and smaller case design means you no longer get a hotshoe mount for attaching a flashgun or other accessory. The HX60V's useful exposure compensation dial has also been deleted from the HX90V, and instead you'll have to nudge the rear panel D-pad down and use the surrounding control ring to adjust exposure. It's no particular hardship, but a dedicated dial would be even easier.

The compacted case design also has a knock-on effect of compressing the rear panel buttons together to a point that they're far fiddlier to use than a Canon SX710 HS or Panasonic TZ70. The lack of button space also means the rear thumb rest is small and not particularly grippy, although there is a good-sized – if plasticky – front finger ridge. This makes the HX90V far more comfortable to use than Sony's WX500, despite the two cameras sharing an otherwise-identical case design.

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V
Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

Whilst the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V's compactness is a mixed blessing compared to its predecessor, you do at least get an improved LCD screen. It's still a 3-inch, 922k-dot panel, but now it can flip up through 180 degrees, making low-level shots easier to compose and selfie-snapping a doddle. Nikon's S9900 features a fully articulating screen rather than just a tiltable unit, but it's also much bulkier than Sony's version.

Move round to the front of the HX90V and there's another new feature: a control ring around the lens. You'll find a similar gadget on the Panasonic TZ70, although Sony's implementation does feel very cheap and rather like it's just a lose piece of trim. The ring can be used to operate the zoom, but it can also be customised to control exposure compensation, white balance, ISO sensitivity, shutter speed and aperture. By default, it'll control zoom when the camera is in either of its automatic modes, adjust aperture in program auto, aperture priority and manual mode (with the rear control wheel altering shutter speed), and the lens ring sets shutter speed in shutter priority mode. If you activate manual focussing, the ring is then used to focus, and by pressing the Fn button on the rear panel, the ring will operate the last-used menu option.

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V
Top of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

The Fn button accesses a quick-reference menu of commonly required shooting settings. These include typical options like ISO sensitivity, white balance and flash modes, but also some features more often associated with DSLRs and high-end bridge cameras. You can chose between matrix, centre-weighted and spot metering options, or also dial in some flash exposure compensation. Focus area is adjustable, too, as is the amount of DRO (Dynamic Range Optimizer) that's applied to high-contrast shots. Even the drive modes include some settings not usually found on a compact camera. In addition to the self-timer (2, 5 and 10 second delay options) and continuous shooting (10fps max for 10 frames), there are also extensive bracketing options. You can choose from manual and continuous three-frame exposure bracketing with multiple exposure variation options, plus white balance and DRO bracketing.

When in playback mode, the Fn button can be used to activate the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V's Wi-Fi connectivity to send a single image or multiple shots to a smartphone or tablet. NFC pairing makes establishing a connection as simple as just tapping your smart device against the camera, and once connected, a full resolution image will take roughly eight seconds to transfer via Sony's PlayMemories Mobile app, available for Android, iOS and Windows Mobile. Unlike many Wi-Fi systems, the app won't let you remotely control the HX90V from a smartphone, but there is a way around this. The camera can be upgraded with Sony's PlayMemories Camera Apps, one of which will enable remote control from a smartphone.

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V
Flash and Viewfinder Raised

In addition to Wi-Fi, the HX90V also packs GPS to geolocate your images, and with the aid of Sony's PlayMemories software, you can plot your shooting locations on a map. Activating GPS does inevitably sap some battery life, but given the HX90V will manage an excellent 390 shots-per-charge without GPS, activating it will be relatively harmless. If you don't feel a need for GPS, then Sony also offers the HX90 non-V model which omits it.

Being a high-end compact camera, the HX90V features a full range of creative shooting options like manual control, shutter and aperture priority modes. There's also a Memory Recall mode (labelled MR on the mode dial) whereby you can store a particular shooting set-up for quick recall. In addition to a full complement of scene modes, the HX90V also gets Sony's iSweep Panorama feature which occupies a dedicated position on the mode dial. Finally, there are three automatic modes: program auto enables the usual adjustment of ISO sensitivity, white balance, metering and focussing options whilst maintaining automatic shutter speed and aperture. Then there's the standard scene-detecting fully automatic mode which is selected by opting for the green mode dial icon. Alongside this is the yellow Superior Auto mode icon which unleashes all of the Bionz X processing power to automatically capture multiple frames in low light or high contrast scenarios to help minimise image noise or boost dynamic range. This trickery can noticeably enhance image quality, but you'll need to wait a frustrating second or two for the camera to process a multi-frame image.

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V In-hand

With so many modes and features, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V can be somewhat intimidating to get to grips with if you're coming from a budget no-frills compact camera, especially if you delve straight into the plethora of options in the main menu. Sony's menu design is clear, with settings laid out in logical tabs and sub-pages, though the positioning of particular options within these isn't always intuitive. Fortunately the Fn button and its quick reference menu mean you can usually steer clear of the main menu, whilst the mode dial can be configured to display a brief splash screen graphic explaining the mode you select. At the bottom of the rear panel, to the left of the playback button, is another helpful control labelled with a question mark. Press it and useful hints and tips are displayed to assist you in shooting whatever scene is detected by the HX90V's automatic shooting modes.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V is a tad sluggish to power up and snap an image, taking approximately 1.8 seconds, although this is only marginally slower than average. Once up and running, fast autofocussing ensures daylight subjects are locked on to almost instantly, and with the aid of the AF-assist lamp, autofocussing only slows fractionally in low light.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 18 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

Given the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V sported a 20.4-megapixel sensor, some may find it strange that Sony has equipped its replacement with an 18.2MP chip. Both are standard 1/2.3-inch sized CMOS devices, so dropping the megapixel count means each light-gathering photosite on the HX90V's sensor is slightly larger, making them more light sensitive and less prone to generating image noise. It's a theory Panasonic implemented with the 12MP Lumix TZ70, and to good effect, as that camera is able to resolve more detail than many 20MP compacts.

The trick also seems to have worked for Sony, as the HX90V is capable of capturing plenty of detail. There is some slight grain visible event at low sensor sensitivities if you pixel peep, but it's nothing out of the ordinary. What's important is that Sony hasn't attempted to eliminate this with noise reduction, hence there's no associated detail smoothing which can make landscape shots look painterly.

Even without close scrutiny, images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V impress with punchy colours and good dynamic range, helped by using the camera's Superior Auto mode which enables automatic multi-shot HDR if the camera detects a high-contrast scene.

The limitations of a small 1/2.3-inch sensor are inevitable, however, but the HX90V deals with them about as well as could be reasonably expected. Grain and colour speckling is suppressed up to ISO 800, and even at ISO 1600 there's only a marginal increase in grain, whislt colour speckling is almost non-existent. ISO 3200 is the tipping point for noise though, and in some cases you'll need to downsize images to around 50% to hide the extra grain. Select the Multi Frame NR ISO setting and the camera can go as high as ISO 12800, though the results aren't pretty.

Even so, at this sensitivity the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V performs better than rival 30x zoom cameras like the Canon SX710 HS which is more prone to colour speckling, and also the Nikon S9900 which has a greater tendency to smooth fine detail. The Panasonic TZ70's image quality is a close match for the HX90V in all lighting conditions though, irrespective of its lower megapixel count.

What's more, the TZ70 seems to edge ahead on the grounds that it can record raw images and the HX90V can't. Thing is though, whilst raw capture is advantageous for a large-sensor camera like Sony's RX100 IV or a DSLR, the tiny Exmor R sensor in the HX90V can't produce the same dynamic range or achieve a comparable signal to noise ratio. Therefore much less image data is lost through JPEG compression, and given Sony's noise reduction processing is fairly restrained, shooting raw and doing your own post processing is unlikely to reveal more detail.

With such a huge focal range, lens distortion seems inevitable, but through what likely is image processing, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V avoids any trace of barrel or pincushion distortion at extreme focal lengths. The Zeiss Vario-Sonar, T-star coated optic also manages excellent corner sharpness, whilst chromatic aberration is minimal.

Noise

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V has seven standard sensitivity settings available at full resolution in single-shot mode, ranging between ISO 80 and 3200. There's also a Multi Frame NR feature which enables ISO 6400 and 12800 sensitivities by compiling multiple consecutive exposures into a single image with supposedly reduced noise levels.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

iso80.jpg iso100.jpg
   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso400.jpg
   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso1600.jpg
   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso6400.jpg
   

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

 
iso12800.jpg  

Focal Range

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V's 30x zoom lens achieves a focal range of 24-720mm when converted into a 35mm camera format. Here you can see just how big a zoom range that gives you and it covers almost any shooting scenario. The lens is also capable of a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at wide-angle, which is unremarkable but fairly typical for a superzoom optic. It means the lens can't open particularly wide to let light through to the sensor, hence the camera must compensate with longer shutter speeds and higher sensor sensitivities. The HX90V's lens barrel control ring can be set to zoom the lens between stepped focal lengths, or at constant slow or fast speeds. The zoom ring around the shutter release also operates two speed settings.

24mm

720mm

focal_range1.jpg focal_range2.jpg

File Quality

Two JPEG compression quality options are available to accompany all image sizes: Fine and Standard, with file sizes around 6.5MB and 4.5MB respectively.

Fine

Standard

quality_fine.jpg quality_standard.jpg

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)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   
sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

Chromatic Aberrations

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V 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)

chromatic1.jpg chromatic2.jpg

Macro

Sony quotes a minimum focus distance of 5cm for the HX90V, which isn't particularly impressive. We however were able to focus down to around 3cm with the lens at maximum wide angle. This is still no match for the increasing number of compact cameras able to focus as close as 1cm, but given how tricky it is to avoid casting unsightly shadows when so close to a subject, a 3cm macro focus distance isn't a deal-breaker.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

macro1.jpg macro1a.jpg

Flash

Four flash settings are available: Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync and Rear Sync. The flash itself is reasonably powerful, but there is some vignetting visible at wide angle from a distance of 1.5m.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (24mm)

Forced Flash - Wide Angle (24mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (720mm)

Forced Flash - Telephoto (720mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

A separate menu option controls whether or not red-eye reduction is active. When disabled, our testing revealed a hint of red-eye, but red-eye reduction successfully eliminates this.

Forced Flash

Forced Flash (100% Crop)
flash_on.jpg flash_on1.jpg
   

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

flash_redeye.jpg flash_redeye1.jpg

Night

Night-time landscapes can be captured in three ways: Night Scene mode captured this scene with a long 2-second exposure at ISO 80, making a tripod essential. The default Superior Auto mode tries to be clever and shoots multiple frames to reduce image noise. However, the exposure metering is off and the result is too bright. Finally, you can switch to shutter priority mode to manually select a long exposure. This option was used to shoot the last of our three night-time test images and the result is a 1-second exposure at ISO 125.

Night Scene

Night Scene (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg
   

Night Superior Auto

Night Superior Auto (100% Crop)

night2.jpg night2a.jpg
   

Night Long Exposure

Night Long Exposure (100% Crop)

night3.jpg night3a.jpg

Image Stabilization

Sony's Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation system does a good job of ironing out any camera shake when shooting in good light. In darker conditions some slight blur can show up in some shots if you're not being extra careful to hold the camera still. Like many other Sony compact cameras, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V doesn't let you disable image stabilisation, but you can adjust it between Intelligent Active, Active, and Standard modes.

Intelligent Active

Active

antishake1.jpg antishake2.jpg
   

Standard

 
antishake3.jpg  

Picture Effects

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V contains thirteen Picture Effects, some with additional sub options: Toy camera (normal, cool, warm, green, magenta), Pop color, Posterization (colour, mono), Retro photo, Soft high-key, Partial color (red, green, blue, yellow), High-contrast mono, Soft focus (low, mid, high), HDR painting (low, mid, high), Rich-tone mono, Miniature (top, middle horizontal, bottom, left, middle vertical, right), Watercolor, Illustration (low, mid, high).

Toy Camera

Pop Color

picture_effect_01.jpg picture_effect_02.jpg
   

Posterization

Posterization B&W

picture_effect_03.jpg picture_effect_04.jpg
   

Retro

Soft High-key

picture_effect_05.jpg picture_effect_06.jpg
   

Partial Color (Red)

Partial Color (Green)

picture_effect_07.jpg picture_effect_08.jpg
   

Partial Color (Blue)

Partial Color (Yellow)

picture_effect_09.jpg picture_effect_10.jpg
   

High-contrast Mono

Soft Focus

picture_effect_11.jpg picture_effect_12.jpg
   

HDR Painting

Rich-tone Mono

picture_effect_13.jpg picture_effect_14.jpg
   

Miniature

Watercolor

picture_effect_15.jpg picture_effect_16.jpg
   

Illustration

 
picture_effect_17.jpg  

iSweep Panorama

Sony's iSweep Panorama mode gives horizontal and vertical panning options. Three horizontal widths are available: Standard (roughly 120 degrees), Wide (180 degrees) and a full 360-degree pan. There's no ability to simply stop panning at will though. Whichever width you choose, the result is a seamless panorama with a consistent exposure, albeit considerably downsized to 1080 vertical pixels. To be fair to Sony, most competing compact cameras with sweep panorama modes have similar limitations. If you're after something more spectacular, you'd be better off manually snapping adjacent overlapping images and stitching them on a computer with additional software.

Standard
panorama_standard.jpg
 
Wide
panorama_wide.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V camera, which were all taken using the 18 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample video from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V camera at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 25 frames per second. Please note that this 21 second movie is 41.5Mb in size.

Product Images

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V / Lens Extended

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V / Flash and Viewfinder Raised

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V / Viewfinder Raised

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V / Image Displayed

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V / Main Menu

 

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V / Tilting LCD Screen

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Top of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Bottom of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V

 
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX90V

Battery Compartment / Memory Card Slot

Conclusion

We liked last year's HX60V, but with slightly underwhelming image quality and no EVF or lens barrel control ring like the competition from Panasonic, it couldn't quite compete. Sony has clearly listened though and the Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V addresses most of our concerns.

The move to an 18.2MP Exmor R sensor has given the HX90V a much-needed image quality boost, and although the results are no better than the class-leading Panasonic TZ70, they're certainly on a par, whether shooting in daylight or indoors. Detail capture, noise levels, colour reproduction and exposure metering are all top notch.

Camera manufacturers seem to have currently hit a wall in optical zoom range for compact cameras, as 30x zoom has been the limit for a couple of years. Sony's move to a Zeiss T-star coated optic does make the most of the zoom range though, with good sharpness and minimal flare or fringing. Just be sure to hold very still when zoomed in to the max, as Sony's Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation isn't the most fool-proof system.

It's the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V extensive features that set it apart from most of its rivals. EVFs are still rare in this sector, so the fact that Sony has fitted the HX90V with the high quality unit used in its premium large-sensor compact cameras is a big plus. The tiltable screen, Wi-Fi, GPS and enthusiast-focussed shooting options make the HX90V an exceptionally versatile camera, as does its incredibly pocketable proportions.

There are only a few drawbacks: being so new, the price has yet to fall and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V is currently around £40/$30 more expensive than the Panasonic TZ70, though if compactness and a titling screen are important to you, that could still be a price worth paying. But if that's too much of a stretch, then Sony's WX500 offers the same sensor/processor/lens combo and therefore identical performance and image quality for around £70/$100 less. You will however have to do without an EVF, GPS, the lens barrel control ring and a front finger grip.

It's a shame that the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V's sheer compactness does make some buttons small, and restricts the size of the rear thumb rest, but that's an inevitable consequence of the space-saving. We'd also like to see the camera feature a touchscreen like the Olympus SH-2 offers, and Ultra HD video recording would be another great selling point. The HX90V's lack of raw capture doesn't seem great on paper, but as explained in the image quality section, raw recording in this sector isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be.

Assuming the HX90V's price falls below the £300/$400 mark in the coming months, then it'll make an excellent all-rounder and a tempting alternative to the Panasonic TZ70. Whether you're a novice or enthusiast photographer, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V makes for a highly versatile and high-performing compact camera that includes almost every feature you could want.

4.5 stars

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

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V.

Canon Powershot SX280 HS

The Canon PowerShot SX280 HS is a new travel-zoom camera for 2013, offering a 20x zoom lens and a 12 megapixel back-illuminated image sensor. Other key features of the Canon SX280 include built-in GPS and wi-fi connectivity, a 3 inch LCD screen, full 1080p HD movies with stereo sound, fast 14fps burst shooting, and a full range of manual and automated exposure modes. Read our in-depth Canon PowerShot SX280 HS in-depth review now...

Fujifilm FinePix F900EXR

The FinePix F900EXR is the range-topping camera from Fujifilm, sporting a 20x lens with a versatile focal range of 25-500mm. The 16 megapixel F900 EXR also features fast phase-detection autofocusing, wireless image transfer, GPS support, full 1080p movies, a high-contrast 3 inch LCD screen and 8fps continuous shooting. Read our in-depth Fujifilm FinePix F900EXR review now...

Nikon Coolpix S9900

The Coolpix S9900 is Nikon's new flagship travel-zoom compact camera for 2015. Featuring a 30x zoom lens with a focal range of 25-750mm, the Coolpix S9900 has a 16 megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor, high-resolution 3-inch vari-angle screen, 7.5fps burst shooting and boasts GPS tracking and both wi-fi and NFC connectivity. Read our in-depth Nikon Coolpix S9900 review now...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ70

The Lumix DMC-TZ70 is Panasonic's new flagship travel-zoom compact camera for 2014. The 12-megapixel TZ70 (also known as the ZS50) offers a 30x wide-angle zoom lens, lens control ring, RAW file format, focus peaking and an electronic viewfinder. Read our Panasonic DMC-TZ70 review to find out if it's the best travel-zoom camera...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V from around the web.

amateurphotographer.co.uk »

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V falls into the travel zoom category, with its seriously impressive optical zoom range of 24-270mm (35mm equivalent) inside a newly designed body that takes inspiration from Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III. The HX90V is smaller than its HX60V predecessor, and it promises better image quality and extra functionality, such as a tilting LCD screen and pop-up electronic viewfinder.
Read the full review »

trustedreviews.com »

The Cyber-shot DSC-HX90 is Sony's latest travel compact. It offers an amazing 30x zoom range in a body that will easily slip into your pocket. The HX90 looks and feels good too, and the inclusion of optical image stabilisation makes the zoom useful when shooting with the camera in the hand. For the most part the £320 Sony HX90 is a great little rival to the Panasonic TZ70, one of the most popular superzoom compacts of the moment.
Read the full review »

digitalversus.com »

If Sony took longer than its rivals to get around to launching the 2015 version of its 30x compact, it was for good reason: everything has changed! The HX series has been completely redesigned, now offering a new 24-720mm f/3.5-6.4 lens, a pop-up electronic viewfinder, a 180° adjustable screen and a brand-new chassis inspired by the RX100 III. The HX90V and HX90 (respectively with and without GPS) are now the smallest 30x compacts around.
Read the full review »

cameralabs.com »

The Sony Cyber-shot HX90V is the World's smallest compact camera with a 30x optical zoom. Announced in April 2015, it's the successor to the HX60 and HX50 models, sharing a similar optical zoom range, but packed into a smaller body.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Size & Weight

Dimensions (W x H x D) (CIPA)
102.0 x 58.1 x 35.4 mm
Weight (CIPA)
218 g (Body only), 245 g (With battery and media)

Sensor

Sensor Type
1/2.3 type (7.82mm) Exmor R CMOS sensor
Effective pixels
18.2MP

Lens

Lens type
ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* Lens
F-number
F3.5 (W) - 6.4 (T)
Focal length
f=4.1-123 mm

Zoom

Optical Zoom
30x
Digital Zoom (Still Image)
Up to 120x (VGA)
Clear Image Zoom
Still Image: 18M Approx. 2.0x / 10M Approx. 2.7x / 5.0M Approx. 3.8x / VGA Approx. 15x / 13M (16:9) Approx. 2.0x / 2.1M (16:9) Approx. 5.1x / Movie: Approx.60x

Stabilization

Steadyshot
Optical Stedyshot

Focus

Focus Type
Contrast detection AF
Focus Mode
Single-shot AF, Continuous AF, DMF, Manual Focus

Exposure

Exposure Compensation
+/- 3.0 EV, 1/3 EV step
Light Metering Mode
Multi Pattern;Center Weighted;Spot
ISO Sensitivity (Still Image)
ISO 80-12800
ISO Sensitivity (Movie)
ISO 80-3200

LCD

Screen Type
3.0'' (7.5 cm) (4:3) / 921,600 dots / Xtra Fine / TFT LCD
Viewfinder
0.2-type electronic viewfinder
Brightness Control
Auto, Manual (5 steps)

Shutter

Shutter Speed
iAuto (4" - 1/2000) / Program Auto (1" - 1/2000) / Aperture Priority (8" - 1/2000) / Shutter Priority (30" - 1/2000) / Manual (30" - 1/2000)

White Balance

White Balance Modes
Auto;Daylight;Shade;Cloudy;Incandescent;Fluor.: Cool White;Fluor.: Day White;Fluor.: Daylight;Flash;Custom;One Push, One Push Set
Bracketing
Yes

Storage Media

Compatible Recording Media
Memory Stick Duo;Memory Stick PRO Duo;Memory Stick PRO Duo(High Speed);Memory Stick PROHG Duo;Memory Stick Micro;Memory Stick Micro (Mark2);SD Memory Card;SDHC Memory Card;SDXC Memory Card(UHS-I);microSD Memory Card;microSDHC Memory Card;microSDXC Memory Card

Recording

Recording Format
Still Image: JPEG(DCF Ver.2.0,Exif Ver.2.3,MRF Baseline complians);Movie: XAVC S, AVCHD format Ver.2.0 compatible, MP4
Still Image Resolution
3:2 mode: 16M (4,896×3,264) / 8.9M (3,648×2,432) / 4.5M (2,592×1,728), 4:3 mode: 18M (4,896×3,672) / 10M (3,648×2,736) / 5M (2,592×1,944) / VGA, 16:9 mode: 13M (4,896×2,752) / 7.5M (3,648×2,056) / 2.1M (1,920×1,080), 1:1 mode: 13M (3,664×3,664) / 7.5M (2,736×2,736) / 3.7M (1,920×1,920), Sweep Panorama: Wide (7,152×1,080/4,912×1,920), Standard (4,912×1,080/3,424×1,920), 360(11,520×1,080)
Movie Recording Mode
NTSC Mode: AVCHD (up to 1,920x1,080/60p at 28Mbps) / XAVC S (up to 1,920x1,080/60p at 50Mbps) / MP4 (up to 1,920x1,080/60fps at 28Mbps);PAL Mode: AVCHD (up to 1,920x1,080/50p at 28Mbps) / XAVC S (up to 1,920x1,080/50p at 50Mbps) / MP4 (up to 1,920x1,080/50fps at 28Mbps)
GPS
Yes

Built-in Flash

Built-in Flash Mode
Auto / Flash On / Slow Synchro / Rear Sync / Flash Off
Flash Type
Built-in, manual pop-up
Built-in Flash Range
ISO Auto: Approx. 0.3m to 5.4m (W) / Approx. 2.5m to 3.0m (T)

Shooting

Image Processor
BIONZ X™
Shooting Mode
Intelligent Auto;Superior Auto;Program Auto;Aperture Priority;Shutter Speed Priority;Manual Exposure;MR (Memory Recall) 1,2,3;Movie Mode (Program Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority, Manual Exposure);Panorama;Scene Selection
Continuous Shooting Speed (maximum)
10 fps (for up to 10 shots)
Self-Timer
Off / 10sec. / 5sec. / 2sec. / 3 consecutive shots with 10sec. 5sec. or 2sec. delay selectable / 3 consecutive bracketing shots with 10sec. 5sec. or 2sec. delay selectable
Scene Selection
Portrait;Advanced Sports Shooting;Landscape;Sunset;Night Scene;Handheld Twilight;Night Portrait;Anti Motion Blur;Pet Mode;Gourmet;Beach;Snow;Fireworks;Soft Skin;High Sensitivity
Photo Creativity
Yes
Picture Effect
Movie: Toy camera;Pop Color, Posterization, Retro Photo, Soft High-key, Partial Color, High Contrast Mono., Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Richtone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolor, Illustration / Still Image: Toy camera, Pop Color, Posterization, Retro Photo, Soft High-key, Partial Color, High Contrast Mono., Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Richtone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolor, Illustration
Panorama (Shooting)
Intelligent Sweep Panorama (supports 360 format)

Playback

Playback Modes
BRAVIA Sync (Control for HDMI);Auto Orientation;Slide Show;Forward/Rewind (Movie);Delete;Protect;Motion Shot Video;Beauty Effect;9/25-frame index view

Power

Power Consumption (Camera Mode)
Approx. 1.4W with LCD monitor and Approx. 1.5W with viewfinder (CIPA standard)
Battery Life
Up to 390 shots / 195 minutes

Interface

Input and Output Terminals
Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0), Micro HDMI, Multi/Micro USB Terminal
Wireless Capabilities
NFC One-touch functionality, Wi-Fi

What's In The Box

  • Rechargeable Battery Pack NP-BX1
  • AC AdaptorAC-UB10C/UB10D
  • Micro USB cable
  • Wrist Strap
  • Instruction Manual
  • AC Power Code
 

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