Sony DSCHX80/B High Zoom Point & Shoot Camera (Black)

I've been using this camera for a couple of weeks and here's a list of what I've shot so far:Grass sproutsLandscapesSelfiesOther peopleFoodStuff in the daytimeStuff at nightA video of me making coffeeTaking pictures:It's pretty easy and straight forward. It has two modes where the camera does pretty much everything for you. Superior Auto shoots a burst of photos and creates a composite of the images captured. It's pretty great if you're willing to hold the camera still for about two whole seconds for it to capture the scene. And I'm told it's best to use this mode in darker places to reduce noise, but I haven't tried that yet. I personally prefer the other mode, Intelligent Auto. This mode adjusts the settings according to the shooting conditions. It's quicker to get a picture in this mode while still automating a lot of the process in taking the picture.Other photo modes include:Scene Selection: Lets you pick one of the many preset for certain conditions so that things can be more predictable when you shoot. Gives you a little more control than the previous two modes.Memory Recall: Lets you create some presets that you can recall.Manual Exposure: Adjust aperture and shutter speed manually. I think this mode is meant to be used for long exposure photos.Shutter Priority: Adjust only the shutter speed manually.Aperture Priority:Adjust only the aperture manually.Program Auto: Sets both aperture and shutter speed automatically, while the other settings can be set manually.iSweep Panorama: Shoot a panorama picture. You can set the direction you want to sweep, so you can shoot horizontally or vertically.Taking videos:Videos are a whole other story with this camera. The first thing to talk about is the video quality when filming. It can capture in 1080p and 60 frames per second in three formats. The first format is MP4, which is the preferred format for YouTube. If you intend to shoot a video that will be uploaded directly up to YouTube, this is the video format to use. I shot a little YouTube video using the "AVCHD 60p 28M(PS)", which was the maximum setting for that video format. It looks good, but when I went to edit it, I can only export into MP4 or some other formats, so next time I'll just use MP4. I couldn't tell the difference anyway when I compared two videos in both formats. There's also the "XAVC S HD" video format, which is said to be suited for shooting movies, but apparently my SD card isn't good enough for it, so I have to wait for my new SDXC card to arrive. I probably won't need it.Another thing to keep in mind when filming with this camera is the 5-axis stabilization feature. Basically, it's a feature where the sensor in the camera is being mechanically stabilized, giving you no compromise in quality when shooting stabilized video. Most cameras handle this digitally by cropping the actual video and outputting an upscaled version of the cropped video. Depending on how much you shake, you can notice a huge drop in video quality if you use digital stabilization. This camera does not have that issue. An interesting this to keep in mind is that when the feature is on, you can notice the camera adjusting the sensor when you set the camera down, which creates this feeling like you're on a boat or something even though it's sitting on the counter or s sturdy surface.When it comes to audio, the stereo speakers are located on top of the camera. They're located in a way that makes it pretty impossible to stick fluff to, which is something I see a lot of people do to mitigate wind noises when shooting videos. It does have a feature `There's also no way, that I know of, to connect an external microphone, so that internal microphone is all you have. So far, I don't have any problems with it, but I also don't shoot videos where I talk and I haven't been to any concerts since I bought this.Other Features:The flash is hidden away inside of the camera until you hit a switch to pop it up. This means if you want to use the flash, you have to pop it up every time and also remember to push it back down when you're done with it. It sounds like a chore, but it could be a good thing. When you don't need it, you have the assurance that it won't go off when you shoot, because it's tucked away. The flash is located directly above the sensor, so the lighting it provides is pretty centered on the subject.Auto-focusing was kind of a pain to deal with. The only explanation I've found on how it works is that it auto-focuses on the nearest subject in the center of view. I can see it's pretty quick at auto-focusing, but I can't seem to figure out how to make it focus on what I want it to focus on. I guess I just need to do a lot more research on this.Transferring photos and videos off this camera is SUPER easy! I connected my phone (Sony Xperia XZ) via NFC and the QR code it provides and both of them work super quickly and the transfer starts right away. Usually takes about 3 seconds for an 18mp photo, which is about 4 MB. You do need to download the PlayMemories app on your phone.There's an OLED viewfinder that pops up and down. By default, it turns on the camera when it pops up and turns it off when you push it back down. You can turn that off in the setting. It has a proximity sensor that automatically turns on the screen in the viewfinder when you bring it close to your eye. I personally don't use this feature, because I have to get really close to it to set the sensor off and my nose ends up touching the screen below, which is gross in the Summer when I'm sweaty and the sweat gets on the screen.The flip up screen is amazing! It would automatically flip the image and the HUD. By default, when you flip up the screen and press the shutter button, it has a 3 second timer before taking the picture. You can turn that off in the settings. Also the camera has Smile-Shutter where it detects smiles would take a picture automatically.Another feature I find to be extremely useful, but haven't gotten around to using, is the facial registration. You can program the camera to recognize up to 8 faces and it uses these faces to prioritize autofocusing and the smile shutter.The feature I use the most, however, is the built-in level. This will help you keep your camera level in both landscape and portrait mode. It's very useful for panorama pictures and capturing video.Finally, there's a button in the bottom right corner of the camera with a question mark on it. This button gives you hints and explanations on pretty much every feature on the camera. Just go to any option or setting and press the button for help. It's been pretty helpful for me in troubleshooting and learning how to better utilize the many features.What I don't like:In order to record a video, you have to press the dedicated video button, which is the circular button on the top right corner with the label MOVIE above it. Even if you're in Movie mode, you have to press that button. This is an issue when you shoot a video of yourself, since you have to feel around and find that button to start and stop the video and it's VERY annoying.You can also use the PlayMemories app to remotely control your camera, but I don't like it. It kinda lags and there's almost no point in using it. You're better off buying a camera remote from Sony.Final thoughts:Even though I had issues with some of the things about the camera, most of those issues can pretty much be resolved with a little research and further experimentation. I'm not a professional photographer or a vlogger and my Xperia XZ can take better pictures and videos than this can, but it is a reliable camera with greater zoom capability (30x) and a lot of features to explore. It doesn't excel in any field, but it's also far from the worst in every field, so you end up with what can only be described as decent. I do plan to continue using this camera a lot more. I'd say if you're not a professional photographer or a vlogger, this is the best camera you can get for around $300. This is the camera you would buy if you want to step up your Instagram pictures and videos or just need to use something that's more natural to hold and use than your phone. I've done just that with a lot of my recent Instagram posts and I'd say this camera is doing a phenomenal job at that. I'd even go so far to say that this is the perfect small camera on the market in this price range.

This is my fourth Sony product after my purchase of Sony a7s, RX100, and RX100III (wife's cam). I currently also have the Lumix GH4 as I like to take videos as much as photos. I bought the HX80 as a gift for my niece. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't quite need the prosumer 1" sensor point and shoot or who wants the extra zoom capabilities that the larger sensors can't pack in such a small form. I will work backwards and start with the cons then the pros.Cons:* Smaller 1/2.3 sensor as opposed to 1" sensor (then again price is reflective of smaller sensor and the 1/2.3 sensor on the HX80 is back illuminated which makes it much nicer than other comparable sensors)* No 4k video* No manual zoom* No touchscreenPros:* Pop up viewfinder* Flash that's semi-tiltable* Quick menu with 12 customizable functions* Full PASM modes for manual and semi-manual controls plus full auto modes if that's the preference* Monitor that tilts 180 degrees for selfies* 30X zoom fantastic for travelers* High quality XAVC S video format up to 50mbps at 24p, 30p, and 60p (requires SDXC memory cards)* PASM modes all available for video* Video manual mode has auto-iso option (not all cameras allow video auto-iso in manual; i.e. the much more expensive RX100 doesn't have this option)* 5-AXIS image stabilizer works great* WIFI/NFC included plus downloadable appsThere are many more features that I could go on about this neat little point and shoot, just check out the spec sheets. At this price level, especially for those that like to shoot both photos and videos, the Sony HX80 in my opinion is one of the best 1/2.3 sensor pocket cameras. I hope you find this review helpful!