Sony Cyber-Shot Digital Camera with GPS: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V Review

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX9V digital camera comes with an in-built GPS and compass to geo tag your position (you can easily view the raw latitude, longitude and altitude using detailed data) while you shoot.

This pocket size camera is an improvement on the HX5 and has an excellent image quality and shooting performance.

Colors are bright and vivid and shots are generally sharp as it uses a built-in gyro sensor to detect camera shake and automatically shifts the lens to help prevent blur without sacrificing image quality.

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• The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX9V digital camera has great features which includes a crystal clear video recording with capabilities for 60p in 1080 Full HD.
• It also features 16x zoom range and ultra wide angle that makes it easy to take distant photos as it brings the image super close.
• A 16.2 mega pixel “Exmor R” CMOS image sensor that brings out the full resolving power of the camera’s G lens to deliver extremely fast speed, high resolution.
• For still photography the Sony CyberShot HX9V offers 10fps continuous shooting
• It also has automatic(Easy, Intelligent Auto, and Superior Auto) and manual shooting options which gives you some freedom of control. Although the manual mode is limited to two aperture settings each.
• The Sony CyberShot DSC-HX9V can produce superb images with its 3D still image and 3D Sweep Panorama capabilities by combining up to six shots to produce images with greater clarity and the best part is that you can view them on compatible TV sets.

I quickly purchased this Sony CyberShot DSC-HX9V as soon as it came out. I was looking forward to the 16x optical zoom range advertised. It is pretty much compact and top notch in terms of quality of image and video.

Pros: The good

• I like the fact that this sony cybershot digital camera allows me to shoot vertical or horizontal panoramas, tilting up and down, left and right in all directions.
• Image quality and HD video recording is superb and the shooting performance is excellent. You can easily zoom in video mode and the movie it makes within system range is perfect enough for me.
• There is the issue of the in-camera charging but that can be sorted by buying an external charger. But overall the camera has an outstanding battery life especially if the GPS functionality is turned off.
• The DSC-HX9V features a custom button at the top that allows you to custom set its function between ISO, EV or White Balance which makes it convenient

Cons: The bad and ugly

• Slow to change between photo/video modes which was a bit irritating especially if you want to take an unexpected shot. You just miss the moment.
• Going from one setting to another takes longer than in typical point-and-shoot.
• Unlike its predecessor HX5V, the Sony Cybershot DSC-HX9V has virtually no internal memory
• A bit pricey if you ask me, but for the quality of images it produces it can be worth it
• Has too many features. I have still not taken the time to learn all of it. While this may have its advantages, it can make it complicated especially for someone who wants a simple camera that still produces great quality images.
• You may still need to do some manual adjustments as colors can get oversaturated on the display and shots over-exposed in the Auto shooting mode. But it can help if you use the 'P' mode at the top of the camera.
• It has no RAW shooting mode

Overall, I would say the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V is a great camera with lots of features. It fits the perfect description of small but mighty. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5.

The customer reviews on Amazon are positive overall with 4stars out of 5, but there were a few niggling points raised

One customer said:

''The flash pops up just where your finger goes, the dial on the back is not easy to turn because it is so smooth and lastly and most importantly, the time between shots is too delayed. I bought this to take quick shots of my three year old and it definitely did not capture images quickly''.

Another Customer said:

''The flash failed to pop up, even in manual mode. I love everything about this camera, but I should have listened to my instinct about the mechanical pop-up flash. It just seem like a horrible idea for a point-and-shoot camera to add more mechanical moving parts that could increase rate of failure

Read More Reviews of the Sony CyberShot DSC-HX9V Camera

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