Sony's bantam HX80 compact camera packs a brobdingnagian zoom

Sony is slowly becoming known to pack its small bodied-cameras with some big features, like its full-frame mirrorless cameras, but the company hasn't lets its compact cameras fall to the wayside either with the introduction of the super zoom DSC-HX80.

Beating its own HX90V model from last year, Sony is claiming its new DSC-HX80 model to now be the world's smallest compact camera with a brobdingnagian (/bräbdiNGˈnaɡēən/ - adjective - gigantic) 30x optical zoom. It's also the second high-zoom compact camera to include a retractable electronic viewfinder.

However, despite its bantam (\ˈban-təm\ - noun - a smaller and domesticated breed of wild birds) its other admittedly impressive specs seem to be borrowed from last year's camera, including the same 18.2 megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor and Zeiss lens.

Other similar features include a pop-up flash and a 180-degree tilting 3-inch LCD boasting 921K dots) for those necessary selfies. The HX90V included the same 1080p Full HD video recording, with support for XAVC S format 50Mbps nitrate, as well.

Interestingly, the HX80 misses out on GPS, but you get the usual fare of Wi-Fi and NFC, meaning you'll be able to share your selfies on social media quickly, you just won't be able to geotag them from the camera.

The Sony DSC0-HX80 is expected to go on sale sometime during April for about $350 (about £245.27, AU$468.69).

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