Sony Cyber-shot HX60V - An advanced travel compact with 30x zoom

Introduction

With prosumer/ premium digital compact cameras getting all the attention, there’s actually another compact camera category that’s still doing well despite the onslaught from ever-improving smartphones - the superzoom compact.

If you want a digital compact that lets you shoot both far and wide, the Sony Cyber-shot HX60V might be the camera for you. But with minimal changes compared to last year’s Cyber-shot HX50V, can the Cyber-shot HX60V be able to hold its own against the competition, especially Panasonic’s impressive Lumix DMC-TZ60? In fact, apart from NFC and a new Function button, the only major change is the inclusion of a new Sony Bionz X imaging processor. For those who've not been initiated with this series of cameras, we'll run you through what the the Cyber-shot HX60V offers in full before assessing its shooting performance.

Design and Handling

The Cyber-shot HX60V looks exactly like its predecessor, with the same generous handgrip on the front and a small thumb rest on the rear. While the hand grip does help with handling the camera, the thumb rest on the rear is too small and smooth to be of much help. It’s still a reasonably compact camera considering the fact that it’s 38.3mm thick and is capable of 30x optical zoom, with a focal length of 24mm to 720mm (35mm equivalent). However, Panasonic and Canon have also stepped up their game with Lumix TZ60, which is 34mm think, and the PowerShot SX700 HS, which is 35mm thick - both cameras also boast 30x optical zoom.

The same 3-inch, 921,600-dot LCD dominates the rear of the camera, and it’s pretty sharp. Unfortunately visibility suffers in sunlight, so we often had to bump up the screen brightness to the maximum when shooting outdoors in the day. The display on the Cyber-shot HX60V isn’t a touchscreen, though Panasonic has also dropped the touchscreen found on the Lumix TZ40 in favor of an electronic viewfinder on its latest model, the TZ60.

Next to the display is the NFC logo, which indicates that you can tap an NFC-enabled smartphone or tablet in that area to connect it with the camera. As with all current digital compacts, the Cyber-shot HX60V also comes with built-in Wi-Fi as well, so don’t worry if your smartphone does not have NFC functionality.

Unlike the other superzoom compacts, the Cyber-shot HX60V comes with a dedicated exposure compensation dial. It sits beside the mode dial and serves as a quick way of setting exposure without having to access the camera’s menu system. There’s a risk of forgetting to set the exposure compensation back to zero before you start shooting your next round, so you might have to develop the habit of always checking the exposure compensation dial.

The Cyber-shot HX60V also comes with a hot shoe, so you can mount accessories like external flashes or electronic viewfinders.  

Besides the mode dial and hot shoe, there’s also the zoom lever. Zooming in and out with the Cyber-shot HX60V is a smooth affair, which is an important quality to consider in a superzoom compact. The controls on the rear are all pretty standard for a digital compact, though Sony has added a new Function button, which we will touch on later. One thing we noticed though, was that the control ring/ D-pad was not only small, but also too sensitive, which is a drawback when you need to rely on it heavily to set aperture or shutter speed in the manual shooting modes.

User Interface and Image Quality

Sony has made a crucial addition to the HX60V’s usability, and that’s the Function button, which the HX50V lacked. With the Function button, you can access commonly-used settings, depending on the mode used to shoot. This definitely helps to speed things along, instead of having to access the menu system whenever you want to change a setting. It’s also good that you can change the autofocus point, as well as change the size of the autofocus point.

The Cyber-shot HX60V’s Wi-Fi implementation is still pretty rudimentary; besides sending images to your smartphone, you can also use your smartphone as a remote viewfinder. But there’s no option to set the aperture or shutter speed, and you only get to control the exposure compensation, the zoom and the shutter release.

Predictably, the HX60V gets the same imaging resolution score as its predecessor, with 2000 LPH (vertical and horizontal). This is because most of the aspects including the lens system and CMOS sensor are identical to the HX50V; the big change is in the imaging processor that's powering the new camera. Noise is well-controlled, though things get blur once you hit ISO400. However things go downhill fast once you hit ISO800. Images are a little soft out of the camera, so you might need to sharpen things up a bit during post-processing.

Below are more sample photographs shot with the Sony Cyber-Shot HX60V. The photos have not been post-processed and are copyright to SPH Magazines. They are provided for your reference only and we ask that you do not reproduce them elsewhere. Click for the full-resolution images.

Conclusion

The Cyber-shot HX60V is a good option to consider if you’re looking for a travel camera with a high degree of zoom and good image stabilization at the far end, while still being able to fit it in a jacket pocket or small bag. Performance wise, it's decent and noise levels are low until you hit ISO400. Also with aperture and shutter priority shooting modes as well as a separate exposure compensation dial, you can get more creative with your shots.

A year ago, the Sony Cyber-shot HX50V was one of the top superzoom compacts when you needed a compact camera with a good amount of zoom. This year, the competition too have caught up and offer 30x optical zoom at a slightly lighter and smaller profile than Sony. The Sony HX60V still performs reasonably well thanks to its slightly better imaging resolution capability than the competition, but when compared to its predecessor, the HX50V, there's hardly much improved. We definitely appreciate the new function button to quickly access key settings, but we haven't noticed any other improvements with the newer imaging processor found on the HX60V.

Despite the lackluster newcomer to replace the HX50V, the HX60V still brings forth a few strong points from its predecessor that make it unique against the competition. It is one of the few in its class to feature a hot shot to accept external accessories, has a dedicated exposure compensation dial and it has the highest rated battery life to shoot up to 380 images or 190 minutes of video recording. No wonder Sony has a slightly chunkier profile.

All things considered, if you foresee the need to take a high stamina pocket-able camera for your break overseas with the above mentioned strong suits, the Sony HX60V is a good option. If you don't see yourself needing these aspects, Canon's PowerShot SX700 HS offers better detail retention and Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ60 offers better shooting controls and offers an EVF while maintaining better portability. Ultimately, you need to understand what's your preferences and choose a camera that best nails most of your needs.

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