Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1

31st May 2011

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Intro

Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 is the company's latest super-whizz along whole number tv camera, sporting 9 Megapixel resolving power, a tilting 3in screen and a 20x optical whizz along reach that's equivalent to 28-560mm. Proclaimed in Abut 2009, it becomes the second mainstream squeeze camera to feature a CMOS sensor, following Canon's PowerShot SX1 IS. Like that model, this equips the HX1 with both High Definition movies along with impressive continuous shooting capabilities, although there are key differences between both models.

The Sony Cyber-shot HX1 trumps its match's 4fps continuous shot rate with one rated at 10fps. Patc it'll only capture tenner frames during this flare-up, and standoff the camera up for a while as it writes them to the card, it remains a extremely magnificent capableness – indeed for those ten images, the frame rate matches that of professional sports DSLRs. The HX1 also offers HD TV recording, although interestingly its top 1080 mode shoots at 1440×1080 pixels rather than Full HD's 1920×1080, only stretches IT into a 16:9 shape during playback, like the HDV camcorder format.

Ever the gadgeteers, Sony's also included a sweep-panorama boast on the HX1 which allows you to grab an mechanically-stitched panoramic image by simply panning the camera while holding your finger pressed connected the shutter release clit. This joins existing technologies like smile, scene and human face recognition. Completing the specification are a Sony G electron lens, full manual exposure control and an HDMI port for connecting to HDTVs. It's a compelling specification and unrivaled that's priced a trifle more keenly than its arch rival, the PowerShot SX1 IS. So the great question is how they compare? Find unsuccessful in our critique where we'll detail the HX1's unique new features and direct compare the image timber against the SX1 IS, along with a DSLR to get word how they amount-raised.

The Sony Cyber-colorful DSC-HX1 resembles the company's earlier super-zooms, and like other models in this category, it's styled like a mini DSLR with a protruding lens barrel, viewfinder head and pronounced grip. Measuring 115x83x92mm, the Cyber-shot HX1 is perceptibly narrower than the Canon SX1 IS (indeed away 13mm), and is also 5mm shorter, albeit 5mm deeper.

The HX1 is much lighter than the SX1 IS, weighing-in at 504g to its rival's 705g when both are fitted with their several batteries; the unscheduled heft of the Canon is due to its use of four AA batteries. We haven't come across anyone rejecting the SX1 IS (or its CCD-based duplicate the SX10 IS) on system of weights, but if every gram counts then you should pick them up personally and judge for yourself – certainly the Canon is deceptively heavy for its size.

The build quality of both models is roughly the Sami, although while Canon's SX1 IS features a taller bobby pin, Sony has wrapped its in a no-good coat; it's still not as tactile as it could be, but information technology's certainly an improvement over the shiny plastic surface of the Canon, and soft to grip in i hand down if indispensable.

Unlike the Canon SX1 IS, thither's no flash hotshoe on the HX1, only a popup flash which either raises mechanically or low-level instruction from a menu; this bucks the trend of its big-whizz along rivals from Canon, Nikon and Panasonic which whol involve the owner to manually grow the flashbulb away hand. The flash itself is small and quite soft, so look out for potential red-eye; luckily there's a pre-ostentate pick or auto-reduction when faces are detected. Behind the flash are stereo microphones for the movie mode.

The controls and their layout are similar to earlier Sony super-zooms, like the H9. There's a quaternion-way rocker along the tail end, which same the H9 in front it adjusts the Display, flash, mortal-timer and macro modes when you push up, right, down and nigh respectively.

The flat thumb wheel of the H9 has nevertheless been switched for an ergonomically more traditional dial in the upper right corner; this falls of course under your thumb and also has a push button-action to confirm or switch options. This is used effectively for adjusting exposures. E.g. in Aperture Priority you'll see three numbers game track along the stern of the screen which can be adjusted: sensitiveness, aperture and exposure compensation. By push the thumb wheel in, you can pedal between each setting (highlighted with a big yellow fount), so simply turn the wheel to adjust it. This is active and cushy to operate in do.

The upper surface is home to a number of buttons including ones consecrated to the focusing and free burning shooting modes, on with a custom button which can be configured to offer quick access to the White Balance, Metering mode or the Smile Shutter feature.

Grinning Shutter is the default on option and presents a bar on the left side of the screen which measures the subject's 'smiliness'. It's surprisingly effective at doing it too, and fun to watch equally the taproo rises and waterfall Eastern Samoa their expression changes. Then when the user-selectable trip stage is reached, the camera automatically takes a photo.

At length, the main mode dial sits on the upper berth right side of the top of the inning surface and we have full details of the options available lower down connected this Thomas Nelson Page.

The Cyber-barb HX1 is powered by an NP-FH50 Information Lithium battery back, which like other Info Lithium models from Sony helpfully allows connected-block out feedback on how many proceedings of charge are remaining – this is a key advantage Sony has over the competition which normally only offer a rough meter reading of charge with a segmented battery icon. A recharger is supplied and an optional AC transcriber available for mains operation. Sony reckons a full level of the battery will be good for around 195 transactions whole use or approximately 390 images taken using the main concealment. Switch to the electronic viewfinder, and these figures increase slightly to 200 minutes or 400 shots. These figures are a trifle below Canon's claims for the SX1 IS when fitted with decent NiMH rechargeables.

The battery compartment additionally houses a Memory Stick Duo computer memory card slot, which like other Sony cameras ties you into the company's card format; we'd much preferably see an SD slot here, but that's unlikely to happen happening a Sony compact. The metal tripod thread is positioned somewhat inactive-centre, towards the room access for the barrage compartment; you'll blocking this door with the camera mounted connected a tripod or bracket.

Ii flaps on the left hand side of the body house the ports. Behind a elfin flaps at the top is a Direct current input for the optional AC arranger, while underneath you'll ascertain a single larger copyrighted connector. Like many other Sony cameras, this port has multiple uses and the HX1 is provided with a cable which connects Here and terminates with both USB and standard TV outputs. The HX1 is also supplied with a dongle which adapts the connector into a accepted HDMI port. This is all very flexible, but the day you lose this cable or dongle is the day you're look paying for a branded replacement. We'd much Sooner the HX1 and other Sony cameras just employed standard USB, TV and HDMI ports which worked with bog-standard cables.

The optical range is course the headline feature article of any super-zoom camera, and the Cyber-shot HX1 features on the button the same range, both actual and equivalent, to the Canon SX1 IS. Both models (along with the Canon SX10 IS) have 5-100mm zooms which deliver an equivalent range of 28-560mm. This may sound like a huge range, only is actually comparatively modest in the 2009 fantastic-zoom wager, where Nikon's P90 and the Mount Olympus SP-590UZ bluster 26-624mm and 26-676mm respectively. Meanwhile Panasonic's FZ28 is looking comparatively short with its 27-486mm / 18x rove.

To comprise honest though, most of this is playing a numbers bet on. Totally the cameras listed here extradite large ranges with enormous integrative flexibility, and the difference between them is more subtle than it looks on newspaper publisher. You can see an example of the HX1's coverage under, and encourage examples of how you can use IT in our sample distribution images Gallery.

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 reporting

5-100mm at 5mm (28mm equivalent)		5-100mm at 100mm (560mm equivalent)

The focal ratio of f2.8-5.2 is roughly the same as rival crack-zooms, although a little brighter at the telephotograph end than the f5.7 of the Canon SX10 IS / SX1 IS. The closest focusing space of 1cm sounds impressive, but is actually par for the course of study with today's super-zooms: it matches the nighest focusing distance of the Panasonic FZ28 and Nikon P90, although Canyon's SX10 IS / SX1 IS can actually focus at zero cm with the subject touching the end of the lens barrel – obviously outflank used for backlit subjects. You can see an example of a macro shot taken with the HX1 in our Sample Images Heading.

Like Panasonic's FZ28 and the Nikon P90, the lens cap clips to the atmospheric static outer barrel of the lens housing, and as such will obstruct the lens A information technology extends during magnate-up. Unlike those models though, the HX1's lens chapiter is easily prodded-off during the annexe, but we'd still sooner have a crownwork which simply attached to the end of the actual extending lens section itself, like Canyon's SX1 IS / SX10 IS.

With the chapiter prodded-murder, the HX1 extends it crystalline lens gun barrel by 21mm and is in order for action in close to two seconds. Zooming to the maximum focal duration extends the barrel to 45mm, and there's two zooming speeds depending on how far you push the lever. We counted around 42 steps across the drift, with only minimal lurching as you zoomed-out.

Sony's equipped the Cyber-barb HX1 with SteadyShot facilities to counteract camera-agitate, and like Canyon and Panasonic's super-zooms, it's an optical system. There's leash options to choose from in a menu: Shooting (merely active when you half-imperativeness the shutter), Continuous Beaver State Off.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 SteadyShot off / on

100% crop, 5-100mm at 100mm, 1/40, 400 ISO, SS away		100% crop, 5-100mm at 100mm, 1/40, 400 ISO, S connected

Above are examples soft on and without SteadyShot with the Cyber-shot HX1 fully zoomed-into its maximum equivalent of 560mm. Handed-down picturing advice would recommend a shutter speed of at least 1/560 to eliminate camera shake, so aside achieving sharpness at 1/40 with stabilisation proves the arrangement is good for almost four stops of compensation – that's decent performance and a valuable deftness.

A dedicated focus push allows you to switch between Multi AF, Centre AF, a manually adjustable AF domain, preset focus space, or manual focus using a scale at the bottom of the screen and a temporarily magnified view. It's workable to manually focus moderately accurately.

Earlier Cyber-shot extremely-zooms like the H9 were faster than ordinary at auto-focusing, and we're pleased to describe the HX1 also excels in this regard. Under reasonable light, the HX1 snaps into focus in to a lesser degree a second at any focal distance, while continuous motorcar-focusing ensures it's always confined to delivering a carnassial image (if not there already) by the clip you press the shutter release. Don't get the States untimely, information technology's still atomic number 102 match for a DSLR with a nimble lense, merely in compact terms, information technology's nigh as fast as you can expect, and certainly allowed U.S. to take hold of a number of unprompted action shots.

Round the back you'll detect a 3in screen with 230k pixels – the unchanged resoluteness as its rivals, only slightly larger than most: the Panasonic FZ28 and Olympus SP-590UZ some take in 2.7in screens, while the Canyon SX10 IS has a 2.5in modeling. The Canon SX1 IS has a 2.7in screen, but with a 16:9 conformation, so native 4:3 images only occupy a 2.3in portion. Nikon's P90 matches the 3in size of the HX1, and again shares the same 230k resolution. In use we found the HX1's screen looked slightly less vibrant than rivals like the SX10 IS and FZ28, but contempt joint the same size and resolution, looked a little to a lesser extent coarse than the P90.

Wish the Nikon P90, the HX1's CRT screen is mounted on an changeful political program which allows vertical adjustments, although the Sony enjoys greater flexibility. Both cameras can rock their screens to face vertically upwards for easy composing at contrabass levels, simply while the Nikon bequeath only tilt backbone by 45 degrees, the Sony toilet tilt its sort to expression directly downwards, which for certain helps when holding the television camera high over-head.

This gives the HX1 greater compositional flexibility than cameras with fixed screens like the Panasonic FZ28 and Olympus SP-590UZ, and indeed the P90 which can't face directly downwardly. But the HX1 can't correspond the complete flexibility of Canon's screen on the SX10 IS / SX1 IS which can flip and wrestle to face directly up surgery down, not to mention facing the subject or back on itself for protection.

Like almost super-zoom cameras, the HX1 is also equipped with an electronic finder (EVF) as an alternative means of composition; a lone clitoris connected the upper left side of the body switches between the screen and EVF. The 0.2in / 201k dot specification matches that of the Panasonic FZ28, with both models delivering a smallish but fairly detailed and usable view.

Some are however dwarfed by the relatively large (but subsequently coarse-looking) views of the EVFs in Canon's SX10 IS and SX1 IS. The SX1 IS really has a 16:9 shaped EVF to rival its 16:9 formed screen, but even when composing in the 4:3 aspect ratio with black bars running perfect either English of the image, the opinion remains big than the Sony's EVF; switch the SX1 IS to 16:9 mode where the image fills its EVF and the size difference becomes even greater. But over again there's roughly the selfsame actual detail in the prototype, so it just depends whether you favor information technology blown up Beaver State not.

Pressing the DISP button on the HX1 cycles between quaternity options: Standard brightness, Increased brightness, Increased luminousness with a live histogram and full photo inside information, and finally, Hyperbolic brightness with token shooting details. You tin can also choose to enable a three-away-three alliance grid in the menus, which is shown on all display modes if enabled. It's overnice to bear a live histogram selection, but slightly odd information technology's only available with the screen luminousness also increased.

During playback the DISP button essentially offers the same options, including a view with a histogram and exposure details, but only with the screen brightness likewise inflated. The likes of earliest Sony cameras you canful sport music while screening slideshows, and upload your ain audio files to the camera if desired.

With no dedicated buttons for things like the ISO sensitivity, just about settings are orientated via a super-imposed menu system that wish be familiar to users of old Sony cameras. Press the Menu push overlays a vertically scrolling list of settings, which flesh out to the outside with the available options for for each one successively.

In Program mode, you can adapt the Image size up, Andrew D. White Balance, Metering, Bracketing (including exposure, flannel equilibrium and colour options), Smile detection sensibility, Face Detection fashion, Flash level, Red-eye mode, Dynamic Range Optimiser modal value (Off, DRO Standard or DRO Positive), Disturbance Simplification (plus, minus operating theater standard), Colour mode (five options), Colour filter out (from five choices), Intensity, Direct contrast, Sharpness (all with plus, minus or standard settings) and finally the threesome SteadyShot options described earlier.

Below this is an option to enter the main menu pages, although they don't really appear until about three seconds after you press the push which john exist infuriating if you impatiently need to deepen a setting. It's strangely slow considering other aspects of the camera are in no time.

The Cyber-shot offers shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 30 seconds and 10 aperture settings from f2.8 to f8 when zoomed-out. Comparable most superior-zooms, you have all over controller over both settings with the HX1's Manual, Aperture and Shutter Priority modes; Program shift is also available. In each mode, the thumb wheel is pushed in to highlight the desired alternative, before being turned to adjust IT.

If you'd prefer an easier spirit, the standard PASM modes are complimented by Sony's Intelligent Automobile Adjustment with scene detection, a dedicated SCN put off offer manual selection of ten presets happening-screen, or an EASY alternative which minimises the available settings. Unlike Canyon's SX1 IS which has a holy flic button on the rear, the Sony HX1 opts for a more traditional filmstrip position on the mode dial.

Tantrum Espial on the HX1 automatically switches between twilight, twilight portrait and twilight portrait using a tripod, backlight, backlight portrait, landscape, macro operating room normal portrait modes. In practice it does a complete job too, rarely being fooled in our tests. Additionally security is offered by the iSCN+ option which takes two shots with slightly diverse modes Beaver State settings, allowing you to subsequently prefer and keep up your favourite.

So far and then good, merely the Cyber-shot HX1 has three additional and unique settings connected its style dial some of which exploit its fast continuous shooting capabilities. First is the Anti Motion Blur musical mode, which grabs sextuplet frames in flying ecological succession and combines the sharpest elements of each into a single image. Second is the Handheld Nightfall mode which again grabs six frames in agile succession, but this prison term stacks them to reduce visible noise. In conclusion, in one of the HX1's headline modes, the Sweep Panorama grabs a serial publication of images as you pan the camera sideway or vertically, before and so automatically stitching them into a panoramic photograph.

In tests with the Anti Motion Smudge mode under very low light, the camera with success assembled six frames into one sharp image. The exposure was 1/4 of a bit, and resound levels were quite high callable to an equally high sensitiveness, but it's standing a William Christopher Handy facility if you're finding camera-shake to be a problem.

The stacking technique employed away the Handheld Twilight mode has a homogeneous foundation in specialist fields like astro-photography, and it adapts well to a consumer camera here. To couch it to the test we shot a handheld scene in twilight conditions, during which the HX1 selected a shutter speed of 1/60 and a sensitiveness of 400 ISO. We and so twinned these settings with a normal photograph for comparison and you can hear 100% crops from apiece figure below.

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 Handheld Twilight mode soured / on

100% crop, 5-100mm at 100mm, 1/60, 400 ISO, Twilight off		100% cultivate, 5-100mm at 100mm, 1/60, 400 ISO, Twilight on

The Hand-held Dusky mood truly has visibly reduced the amount of noise without yielding contingent with noise reduction, although interestingly presented the same exposure, information technology's really a trifle darker. As a handheld shot at the longest focal length, there would inevitably Be much motion between the shots captured in the sequence, even at high speed, but the HX1 has generated a single file with the synoptic pixel dimensions as normal, and Eastern Samoa seen in the crops, no fewer detail. It's an impressive option to induce at your disposal and sees Sony thinking carefully about the issues which face cameras with small sensors. Banknote to Sony's engineers: could we have an auto HDR option next time too?

The Sweep Panorama function sounds great in hypothesis but potentially fraught with problems; thankfully though that's not the case in practice. In our tests, the camera easy guided us through the framing and gaining control process, ahead successfully stitching a figure of panoramas despite panning the camera at variable speeds and wobbling it while doing indeed.

Unsurprisingly like all panoramas, close subjects can cause parallax errors, and some subject in motion could appear multiple times. Flatbottom subordinate ideal conditions thither arse lul be minor sewing errors, and before you get as well excited, the way doesn't employ the detector's full vertical resolution. The Standard and Wide Panorama options offer maximum taped sizes of 4912×1080 or 7152×1080 pixels when panned horizontally or 3424×1920 or 4912×1920 pixels when panned vertically. The presence of 1920 and 1080 in those dimensions implies the mode uses an extension of the HD movie mode.

We've enclosed an example at a lower place which only suffers from minor sewing issues, as shown in the middle and right crops. Finally of the three unique shooting modes, the Sweep Aspect is arguably the about successful, useful and fun to use. Auto panoramas and image stacking may initially smack of Sony's emblematic gadgetry, but at that place's several genuinely expedient functionality here, and the fellowship should be commended for continuing to think out-the-box.

Like the company's DSLRs, the Cyber-shot HX1 offers Changing Straddle Optimiser (DRO) capabilities to mechanically adjust the direct contrast of images to avoid lost particular in dark highlights or bright highlights. The HX1 offers DRO Standard and DRO Nonnegative settings, along with the option to switch it off altogether. Since DRO Basic is enabled by default, that's what you'll see in our HX1 sample images, although to equivalence what's occurrent, we shot our received indoor view with all three options.

Below are samples with DRO fit to Cancelled and Plus and the difference is fairly insidious on this particular scene. Bright highlights remain concentrated and you'd involve to look at the histograms to notice any difference in the shadows. The only concrete visible change is a boost in the mid-tones, which has lifted the scene a little, although again, it's fairly subtle happening this typography.

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Sony Cyber-shot HX1 Dynamic Range Optimiser (DRO): Off / Plus



DRO Off: 125 ISO, f2.8, 1/3 sec		DRO Advantageous : 125 ISO, f2.8, 1/3 second

One of the other headline features of the Cyber-shot HX1 is its HD movie mode, and Sony offers a variety of settings: 1080 Pure shoots at 1440×1080 at a little grade of 12Mbit/s, 1080 Standard uses the same frame just with higher compression at 7Mbit/s, 720 shoots at 1280×720 at 6Mbit/s, spell VGA shoots 640×480 at 3Mbit/s (these are all average routine rates).

Videos are encoded into MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compliant files with an MP4 extension in their own MP_ROOT brochure connected the card. The uttermost file size of it is limited to 2GB or a length of 29 proceedings, whichever happens first. 2GB should squeeze-in around 21, 35 or 41 minutes worth of footage in the 1080 Superfine, 1080 Classic or 720 modes severally. Thankfully you are healthy to operate the optical zoom while filming.

Picture enthusiasts will distinction the HX1's 1080 mode doesn't shoot square pixels at the common 1920×1080 frame, but a horizontally compressed version at 1440×1080 pixels which is automatically stretched indorse into a 16:9 widescreen frame during editing or playback. Interestingly this employs the indistinguishable technique as the HDV camcorder format to run through less bandwidth.

That said, Sony's video compression is already turned-up bad high here with its 1080 Fine and 720p modes operating at average rates of just 12 and 6Mbit/s respectively. Compare that to Panasonic's TZ7 / ZS3, which offers 720p modes at 9, 13 or 17Mbit/s, while Canon's 720p and 1080p HD modes typically operate at a much higher pace of just about 24Mbit/s and 40-50Mbit/s respectively. So comparing 720p alone, Panasonic offers a manner with almost three times the bit range, while Canon's is a whopping fourfold high. Admittedly Canyon is arguably using too commanding a bit plac, and on that point's no denying Sony manages to gouge much longer transcription times from its memory equally a termination, but does the quality tolerate a result?

Here's a snip taken with the HX1 in its 1080 Ok mode with the default settings and SteadyShot enabled; the clip starts with the camera fully zoomed-impossible and later demonstrates the wide optical range. Given the slight reduction in horizontal pixel count and the tight bit rate, the video quality looks pretty good. Compare IT to a cut back filmed moments later using the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS and you'll see they looking roughly twin, with the Canon only enjoying a small edge up fine detail. Registered members of Vimeo can download the original files for evaluation on their computers: Sony HX1 original / Canon SX1 IS original.

The biggest dispute between the two clips are their size. The Sony clip, with its high schoo compression and 1440 pixel figure measures just 66.8MB for 45 seconds worth of footage, compared to the Canon's 37 second clip which measures 193MB. Intelligibly Sony is victimization substantially higher compression, and while this will allow you to squeeze more recording time onto your notice, information technology will almost for sure come at the cost of undesirable artefacts with faster or more complex subjects. In those situations, the higher bit rate of the Canon will give it such more than respiration space. But considering the runty file size, the HX1's clip present is still impressive.

High Definition video recording is only united profit of the HX1's CMOS sensor: same Canon's PowerShot SX1 IS, it also allows it to crack quick continuous shot capabilities at the camera's full moon resoluteness. Where the Canon SX1 IS shoots at an already tidy 4fps though, the Sony HX1 boasts zipp to a lesser degree 10fps. This is right up there with topmost-of-the-grasp nonrecreational sports DSLRs and made possible by the cellular inclusion of a mechanistic shutter.

Unsurprisingly there are a number of caveats: most notably if you're shot at the top 10fps mode, the HX1 will only equal healthy to capture 10 frames after which information technology'll be fastened-up for around 18 seconds as it records them to the card. So you'd better get your timing right as it'll each be over in just one second and you'll have to wait a while before you can take any more (although you privy natural the transcription serve if you spot a better opportunity coming-up). Understandably the built-in scoot can't fire at this speed either, so you'll be relying on available light.

Patc these effectual like significant limitations, the HX1's continuous shooting is in reality quite a useable. Well-nig action sequences for which you'd want 10fps are generally over pretty rapidly, and if you take anymore, the HX1 also offers slower rates operational at 5 or 3fps – albeit still for only ten frames.

We verified each of the round-the-clock shooting speeds, but the big question of course is how good it works in use. To put this to the test we headed to the World-famous Shotover Green in Queenstown where the boats travel at up to 85kph and execute 360 degree spins.

As described earlier, the HX1 is a quick focuser, and managed to keep back the boat sharp at like central lengths between 200 and 560mm as it sped through the canyons. The sequence below showing one second's worth of a 360 degree spin at 10fps, was taken under bright conditions in Shutter Priority mode at 1/500 with a sensibility of 125 ISO and the aperture big open.

Viewed at 100%, the 1/500 shutter speed wasn't always sufficiently prompt to absolutely freeze out the fast carry through, but several of the frames were very salt – you can regard some 100% crops in our Gallery section. At that place's also the possibility of shooting at adequate 1/2000, although under the conditions of the Clarence Day, it would stimulate mandatory a boost in sensitivity to 400 ISO.

We retested the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS at the same sentence, and it too was a quick focuser, managing to path the boats, while grabbing decent sequences at 4fps. The benefit of the SX1 IS is that information technology can keep shooting at 4fps while storage corpse, whereas the HX1 is limited to x frames, operating theatre just one second's worth at its fastest speed. But the hind end line of merchandise is the Sony HX1 delivers very spectacular continuous shooting capabilities which are faster than anything we've seen in front on a camera of its class. The sequence supra proves it also works well in practice, leastways under bright conditions at any rate.

The sensing element causative the HX1's HD video recording and fast straight shot is a newly-designed Exmor CMOS chip, measuring 1/2.4in and sporting 9.1 Megapixels. This makes the HX1 only the secondly not-DSLR to employ a CMOS sensor, afterwards Canyon's PowerShot SX1 IS. Technically-speaking, the HX1's sensor is fractionally littler than the 1/2.3in model in the Canyon SX1 IS, although not enough to make a good deal remainder in real-lifespan – and remember the Canon squeezes an extra Megapixel into that space.

The HX1's sensor delivers images with a maximum solution of 3456×2592 pixels and offers three lower resolutions at the native 4:3 aspect ratio. There's also a cropped 3:2 mode operating at 8 megapixels, along with a pair of planted 16:9 modes at 6 and 2 Megapixels.

These are the merely pictur lineament settings, as thither's no option to adjust the JPEG contraction, and atomic number 3 such, unsurprisingly no RAW mode either. This is an expanse where the Canyon SX1 IS takes the lead with a variety show of compressing choices, along with a RAW option (for models running the latest firmware). Panasonic's FZ28 also offers a RAW mode.

Set to 9M mode, the HX1 generates files which rarely deviate more than a few hundred KB of 4MB. The camera includes a meagre 11MB of internal memory for photos which is lone good for a few best-timber images, so you'll obviously want to equip information technology with an memory card sooner rather than later. Eastern Samoa mentioned above, the HX1 uses Memory Stick Duo cards.

The sensitivity ranges from 125 to 3200 ISO at the full 9 Megapixel resolution. And there's the choice of three noise reduction settings. To regard how the quality of the Cyber-shot HX1 measures-up in drill, take a look at our real-life resolution and high ISO disturbance results pages, browse the sample distribution images gallery, or skip to the chase and head straight for our verdict.