Sony HX200V review

Sony's 18.2MP bridge camera offers a 30x optical zoom, Full HD movies and GPS

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX200V
The 18.2MP superzoom is expensive but produces great images

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX200V

Click here to see the full resolution image

This maximum 27mm equivalent wide-angle shot reveals natural colours, a good even exposure and an impressive level of detail across the frame, although to be picky we are seeing a slight softening towards the corners, particularly noticeable in the tree branches top left of frame. There is also some purple fringing visible on close inspection.

Sony HX200V review

Click here to see the full resolution image

By contrast this is a maximum telephoto shot taken from the same position - and taken handheld too. You really see the possibilities of that 30x optical zoom here, which is capable of picking up the rusting paint on these gates that were themselves barely visible from 300 or 400 yards back.

Sony HX200V review

Click here to see the full resolution image

On an overcast day, the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX900V's Vivid picture mode can be deployed to add punch otherwise missing, here really bringing out the pinkish beak of the ostrich and also the umber-coloured sand of its enclosure, background sympathetically defocused by virtue of shooting towards the telephoto end of the zoom.

Sony HX200V review

Click here to see the full resolution image

A handheld maximum wide angle close up shot taken in the low light of an aquarium, with the Sony's lens pressed up against a Perspex screen to cut down on reflection and the possibly blurring effects of hand wobble. OK, it's not razor sharp, but given all the elements that were conspiring against us, the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX200V has acquitted itself well here.

Sony HX200V review

Click here to see the full resolution image

Another image that shows the very best of the Sony Cyber-Shot HX900V's capabilities - this one taken handheld at maximum telephoto setting; again there's bags of detail preserved in the face, and, again, desirable bokeh.

Sony HX200V review

Click here to see the full resolution image

A wide-angle shot that makes the most of the Vivid setting selectable in Program mode, which here produces an attractive but not at all unnatural result. There is some slight barrel distortion here witnessed in the slightly leaning houses right of frame, but it's reasonably subtle.

Hands on: sony hx200v review

Click here to see the full resolution image

This was taken at ISO 800 in very dim conditions, but there is a decent amount of detail present.

Hands on: sony hx200v

Click here to see the full resolution image

Taken using the Black and White: Green mode, which makes everything apart from the colour green black and white. There are also red and blue options.

Gavin Stoker
Freelance

When not wrestling wild bears or leaping tall buildings in a single bound, Gavin Stoker can be found editing British Photographic Industry News, the UK's longest running and only photo trade title. He has over 25 years of camera testing and reviewing under his belt.