Customer reviews from sony.com
Sony - DSC-HX50V 20.4-Megapixel Digital Camera - Black
Average customer rating
3.9
(39 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 39 reviews
5 Stars
21
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
5
2 Stars
3
1 Star
4
79%of customers recommend this product.
(
22 out of
28)
Customer Reviews for Sony - DSC-HX50V 20.4-Megapixel Digital Camera - Black
Customer Rating
5
Great quality macro to zoom
on July 31, 2017
Posted by: 3iram
Gender:Female
VERY happy with this camera. Fits in my purse and take great shots anywhere I go for any occasion :)
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Packs a punch...
on August 20, 2013
Posted by: SonyKid
The good is the incredibly small pocket size camera with an excellent super zoom and good image stablization. Photo quality is good and on par with the other point and shots (I've had them all, but really like the size of this one!) Has nice array of artistic features. The lens and zoom are exellent throughout, and the Sony technology of the close up zoom over the optical is spectacular.
The not so good is the aperture is not fast enough, no RAW, no touch screen. More in-camera editing options would be nice. The one thing I really didn't like about the camera is that in bright sunshine, it is virtually impossible to see the LCD screen. Camera funtions superbly in sunshine and struggles in shadows and dark areas. Really a daylight camera.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars. a very noble attempt. it's as good as the Canon and Fuji point and shoots but stands out for its small size and packs a good photo punch.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
5
BEST CAMERA VALUE AND PERFORMANCE
on January 14, 2014
Posted by: FOUNTAINMAN
HAVE USED IT FOR TWO MONTH.PRESETS ONLY UP TO NOW GOOD PICTURE AND VIDEO QUALITY.LOVE THE BUILT IN GRIP,I DO NOT HAVE TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT DROPING IT.SUGEST THE DATA PLUG IS MOVED NEXT TO CHARGE PLUG TO PERMIT TO LEAVE CAMERA ON TRIPOD WHEN USING TV..CHANGE ALL BUTTONS TO BR.COLOUR FOR BETTER SIGHT UNDER DARK COND'S INCREASE HIGHT FOR BIG FINGERS.LCD HAS PLENTY BRIGHTNES.EVEN IN SNOW AND SUN.ZOOM IS GREAT.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
5
Great Upgrade!
on May 25, 2013
Posted by: Kapiko
This is great upgrade from DSC-HX30 I had .I was little afraid of the 30x zoom picture quality but I must say it is perfect!
I'm very happy with this camera. More happy than I was with RX100! Sure it does not have RAW and 1" sensor but it has the features I like more .
If you like to take beautiful pictures and videos that aren't always right front of you and share them instantly with friends and family this camera is definitely for you!!!
I'm very happy with this camera. More happy than I was with RX100! Sure it does not have RAW and 1" sensor but it has the features I like more .
If you like to take beautiful pictures and videos that aren't always right front of you and share them instantly with friends and family this camera is definitely for you!!!
What's great about it: Zoom,GPS,WI-FI,3D,Image stabilization and grip!
What's not so great: None
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
good travel size
on August 3, 2013
Posted by: ponder
I really like this size camera to tuck in a belt pouch and head to the forest, sports event or concert. The zoom lens gives you options from macro closeups to long sports shots. My current similar older Sony walk around camera does fine in Auto but has limited settings for A , S and M modes. I would like to see Sony put an APS-C sensor in this camera without a drastic increase in size, and give me more usable options for aperture and shutter speed. Also add an EVF. I would love an NEX6 with this type of lens.for an "always with me" camera.
What's great about it: size and lens
What's not so great: limited A & S mode settings, small sensor, no EVF
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
3
Change not always better
on June 24, 2013
Posted by: Traveln2C
I recently upgraded from the HX20, which is certainly a great camera, to the HX50. The plus to the HX50 is certainly the Hot Shoe and why I changed. While both cameras take excellent photos, both cameras also have no viewfinder and in bright light it is impossible to see what you are shooting on the display, you are guessing. While quite expensive (its about the same price as the camera), you can get a digital viewfinder that attaches to the HX50 with the Hot Shoe.
To me, the big downside is the flash & the WiFi. If you set the camera to either of the auto modes, the flash is not automatic as it is on the HX20. It is only automatic if you manually pop up the flash. To me this is not automatic. As for the WiFi, I cannot say that it is the quickest thing to use. Make a WiFi that is easy to connect in any WiFi area and that you can upload directly to Facebook or other social media sites and then you will have a decent WiFi. As it stands not, it is easier to just either connect the camera with a cable or insert the media card directly into your computer to upload pictures or take a picture with your phone.
If you are not or cannot go the price of the digital viewfinder and have a previous version of the camera, I would not recommend changing. If this is your first camera in this series, although it is not inexpensive, you might not be bothered by the lack of automatic flash and the lack of a viewfinder would be the same no matter what brand you purchase. As stated previously, this camera, like its predecessors takes excellent photos.
What's great about it: Hot shoe
What's not so great: Flash & WiFi
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Good but not perfect
on August 23, 2013
Posted by: Anonymous
Good but not perfect
Date:August 23, 2013
I was looking for reasonably small camera with large (over 18x) zoom and this camera seems to be the best compromise. Overall, I'm happy with it, but here is what I'm not happy about.
- LCD screen zoom: the main purpose of the LCD is to see if the picture you took is good enough (e.g., if it is sharp#. Since LCD is small, you can't figure that out without zooming into the image. The max zoom that HX50V has is not enough: it is several times lower than needed for pixel-by-pixel magnification. Somehow older models #HX20V?# had higher max zoom #8x vs. 4x in HX50V#.
- Useless 3D mode. It works very slightly #the difference between L and R eye pictures# and only for a certain compositions. When it works, the difference between eyes is very very small, thus having very slight 3D effect. On most of the pictures there is no difference, so 3D simply doesn’t work at all. What is interesting is that in previous models Sony had 3D panorama mode, and people were saying that this mode really worked well #since in panorama mode there are multiple shots from different angles, so it should be possible to generate proper 3D image from them#. Don’t know why Sony killed it.
- Panorama modes: all modes with 1080 vertical resolution produce pretty bad quality picture #it is not sharp to be viewed full screen on PC#. Vertical panorama modes #especially HD mode# are pretty good #they generate image with height higher than 1080 lines#.
- JPEG compression artifacts: visible #under magnification# even when there is enough light for the sensor not to be too noisy. No settings to adjust compression amount or shoot in RAW. All JPEG files have the same size for the given resolution, regardless of picture quality #amount of details in it#.
- Video modes: not that great at all. First, somehow video is much less sharp than stills scaled to the same resolution even under perfect light #and I doubt that this is due to not high enough recording bitrate#. Second, image stabilization is not adjusted to shooting video #it results in sudden jumps in video#, and there is no way to disable it. Also, it seems that camera uses rolling shutter, so if your camera is shaky #which is pretty much always unless you use a tripod or not using zoom at all# you’ll get “wobble” effect that cannot be fixed later by video stabilization processing of the recorded video.
- Minimum time between shots: the RX100 camera feels much faster than HX50. Don’t know why Sony couldn’t take faster electronics and better user interface and case from RX100 and use it with smaller sensor and larger zoom as in HX50.
- A very useful thing #that is not advertised enough in my opinion): GPS tracking. The camera has a mode where it would record GPS position every 15 seconds even when the camera is off (but has a battery in it#. Very useful to document your route when you are on a trip. You can even review later what speed you were travelling at and how many times you broke the speed limit. Bad thing: there is no way to get to know your current elevation from camera’s GPS without a PC, which is important for hiking or when travelling at high altitudes.
- Battery life: could easily use up a battery during one day. Ended up having to get 3 batteries.
- LCD screen under a sun: it is really a problem even after increasing the brightness #camera could also had a sensor to increase the brightness automatically like in cell phones).
Date:August 23, 2013
I was looking for reasonably small camera with large (over 18x) zoom and this camera seems to be the best compromise. Overall, I'm happy with it, but here is what I'm not happy about.
- LCD screen zoom: the main purpose of the LCD is to see if the picture you took is good enough (e.g., if it is sharp#. Since LCD is small, you can't figure that out without zooming into the image. The max zoom that HX50V has is not enough: it is several times lower than needed for pixel-by-pixel magnification. Somehow older models #HX20V?# had higher max zoom #8x vs. 4x in HX50V#.
- Useless 3D mode. It works very slightly #the difference between L and R eye pictures# and only for a certain compositions. When it works, the difference between eyes is very very small, thus having very slight 3D effect. On most of the pictures there is no difference, so 3D simply doesn’t work at all. What is interesting is that in previous models Sony had 3D panorama mode, and people were saying that this mode really worked well #since in panorama mode there are multiple shots from different angles, so it should be possible to generate proper 3D image from them#. Don’t know why Sony killed it.
- Panorama modes: all modes with 1080 vertical resolution produce pretty bad quality picture #it is not sharp to be viewed full screen on PC#. Vertical panorama modes #especially HD mode# are pretty good #they generate image with height higher than 1080 lines#.
- JPEG compression artifacts: visible #under magnification# even when there is enough light for the sensor not to be too noisy. No settings to adjust compression amount or shoot in RAW. All JPEG files have the same size for the given resolution, regardless of picture quality #amount of details in it#.
- Video modes: not that great at all. First, somehow video is much less sharp than stills scaled to the same resolution even under perfect light #and I doubt that this is due to not high enough recording bitrate#. Second, image stabilization is not adjusted to shooting video #it results in sudden jumps in video#, and there is no way to disable it. Also, it seems that camera uses rolling shutter, so if your camera is shaky #which is pretty much always unless you use a tripod or not using zoom at all# you’ll get “wobble” effect that cannot be fixed later by video stabilization processing of the recorded video.
- Minimum time between shots: the RX100 camera feels much faster than HX50. Don’t know why Sony couldn’t take faster electronics and better user interface and case from RX100 and use it with smaller sensor and larger zoom as in HX50.
- A very useful thing #that is not advertised enough in my opinion): GPS tracking. The camera has a mode where it would record GPS position every 15 seconds even when the camera is off (but has a battery in it#. Very useful to document your route when you are on a trip. You can even review later what speed you were travelling at and how many times you broke the speed limit. Bad thing: there is no way to get to know your current elevation from camera’s GPS without a PC, which is important for hiking or when travelling at high altitudes.
- Battery life: could easily use up a battery during one day. Ended up having to get 3 batteries.
- LCD screen under a sun: it is really a problem even after increasing the brightness #camera could also had a sensor to increase the brightness automatically like in cell phones).
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
2
Disappointing
on July 30, 2014
Posted by: colo
I have the previous model DSC-HX30V- the long zoom lens extension has allowed dust to get behind the lens rendering this nice camera unusable. The dust creates dark spots on the pictures and when using zoom lens they are a black spots that look like flies on all my pictures. So buyer beware. It takes great pictures until dust gets behind the lens. -I have been very disappointed with Sony overall trying to get a repair for the flat rate fee of $141. I was told to schedule repair online. When I was done it would not take information and told me to call a number which put me on hold for 20 min w/ 2 transfers. I finally had to hang up. Even submitting a review is difficult.
Response from sony.comBy Amanda, Sony Support, August 4, 2014
Hello. We would be more than happy to help setup a repair. Please email us at sonysupportusa@am.sony.com with contact info., model info and a brief description of the issue. Thanks!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com