HX400V Compact Digital Camera with 50x Optical Zoom, Black

Coming from the perspective of a novice who had almost always used simple point and shoot cameras, the Sony HX400V/B is an excellent first step up to a better quality camera. I had an HX300 prior to this (stolen, may the thief and recipient find no peace) and I was a little disappointed that the HX400 didn't offer all of the HX300's features--especially the 3-D options, which I had a lot of fun with. But the HX400 more than makes up for it with a superior zoom, better quality low-light pictures at full zoom and more forgiving automatic exposure settings. It has the features you'd expect; such as video, panorama, picture effects, burst shooting, preset modes, and the ability to adjust the shutter, aperture, and ISO settings. You do still get some noise at low light levels using the full zoom, but the degree is greatly reduced when compared to the HX300. In bright light the pictures are sharp and clean. While I do like to experiment with manual settings, I find the preset options work pretty well for most of my needs.Some of the negatives I list may be user inexperience. They include a lack of quick access to a macro setting, (I got used to that little flower icon on the options dial which doesn't appear on this camera--but the camera does have a macro setting), loopy auto-focus when the battery starts to weaken, lousy view finder image quality and somewhat confusing methods for using the manual settings. The manual focus switch is on side of the lens and not easy to adjust on the fly. It also can be bumped into the wrong mode while storing the camera. While battery consumption is not really a problem, they do drop down pretty quickly when they start to weaken and weak batteries affect how the camera responds, so keep an extra charged battery handy. I also get frustrated when the automatic focus seems to lock in on everything except the subject I am trying to shoot despite having my subject squarely in the focus brackets. This is not consistent and probably user error, but I haven't figured it out yet. Autofocus is also a problem in rain or snow as the camera tends to focus on the foreground precipitation rather than the subject.Overall I think a novice photographer will be more than happy with the new horizons this camera opens compared to cameras designed for general picture taking.

Well, my journey with Sony started a few years back in 2010 with a Cybershot camera. One of the coolest gadgets I owned as a young man. However, I lost track of it as I moved around. I didn't 'need' a camera for a while.Then, I got settled where I am now and I purchased a used WX-100. Quite a step up from my 2010 Cybershot. It had plenty of processing functions and auto shoot modes. It lasted about a year, under heavy use. That camera's zoom gear's initiating gear had been worn out. I needed a replacement for my established hobby.I began looking for a new camera with better specifications, but with the same basic functions I loved in the WX-100. Obviously, I began my search with Sony's Cybershot cameras. Then, I discovered the Big Zoom Bridge Cameras. I loved them. I went to Best Buy to get a feel for them before I bought. I was so impressed with the ease of use that I decided to invest in the newest release in the line of Big Zoom Bridge Cameras.The HX-400V.Power.First thing with this camera, out of the box.. you have to charge it with a USB cable. Yeah, it's a ball buster.But if you're like me or thousands of other photographers, amateur or professional, you'll buy a battery charger that plugs into the wall. And possibly extra batteries. Extra batteries will come in handy if you are like me, or other people, and carry your camera in a camera bag EVERYWHERE.You won't be on top of charging your one single battery every night. So it's easy to see that it's dying, and pop in a new one. I've had this happen. It's great to have the backups.Storage.There seems to be some misunderstanding about which kind of card this camera, or any Sony camera, will accept. This camera will accept Memory Stick Pro Duo AND SD cards; just not at the same time. You need to work out orientation for putting each type of card in the card slot(s).Pins up for Pro Duo, and pins down for SD card. It's a really cool system, I think.Zoom.As the specifications will state, this camera has 50x zoom with a 20MP sensor; pretty powerful. There is also another 50x digital zoom. Depending on distance and subject, this can come in real handy. I use it for taking photographing the moon; if you try this, you might try using manual focus and setting it to ∞.Shooting Features.Like I mentioned before, there are plenty of ways to shot with this camera. Auto selection, auto with noise correction, creative styles, long exposure, picture effects, 1080p video quality, manual shutter, aperture control, many many more.There is a built in flash, the button to flip up is on the left hand side of the camera in the frontal area.To wrap it up, this is a really great camera. A little pricey, but I don't miss the money. Not at all.

There are a lot of reviews online about this camera saying that the image quality isn’t good. Ignore those reviews. This is an excellent bridge camera. A lot of people are expecting the image quality from this camera to be comparable to the quality you get from a DSLR, but that cannot be. The sensor in this camera is substantially smaller than the one found in a DSLR (crop-sensor or full-frame). Because the sensor is smaller, the dynamic range and overall image quality cannot be equal to the dynamic range and image quality of a DSLR. But if you know what you’re doing, you can use this camera to get some great images.I’ve had this camera for a few months now, and used it mainly to photograph birds, and I am extremely satisfied with it. The zoom range is fantastic, and the autofocus is pretty good. You can achieve pretty good bokeh (the quality of the out of focus areas in a photograph) and nice, shallow depth of field once you zoom in and isolate your subject. Colors are pretty true, and the camera can yield very sharp images provided your technique is good. I recommend that you use a tripod with this camera and any camera if you’re going to be using it in telephoto mode a lot, as I do.Being a bridge camera (a fixed-lens camera that is between a point and shoot and a DSLR), you’re able to use this camera in Aperture Priority Mode, Shutter Priority, and Manual Mode. There are some automatic modes, but I never use modes like those on any of the cameras I own because they limit your creative flexibility when taking photographs. You’re able to take HD video as well, but since I’m not too much into video I haven’t tested the video capabilities of this camera yet. But I have shot some simple, short clips of birds flying around, and those videos came out great.This is an excellent bridge camera, and I recommend it to anyone. Even if you shoot predominantly with DSLRs (like I do), this is still a great camera to have for those days you don’t feel like lugging around a bag full of lenses or a really heavy DSLR body.I've attached some photos I took using this camera so you can get a taste of the camera's performance. All of the pictures were taken in an aspect ratio of 16:9, and all of the photos were taken with the camera being handheld.

Before you read this, you need to understand that my frame of reference is as a birder, so the zoom and image quality are my most important concerns. The GOOD is not really good, it is GREAT and that is the ImageClear zoom at 100X. This is a digital zoom on steroids and you have a much better resolution than with a digital zoom. I shot the camera at 50X which is without imageclear and then at 65 same object with image clear. Could see just a little loss in sharpness.The BAD is the camera has a 2 second delay between shots ( the screen turns black). Spoke with Sony and they said this is normal for this camera. Two seconds might not seem like much but I do loose shots since some birds may only be present for 2 or 3 seconds while others will just sit there. The UGLY is the continuous shooting mode which I use for birds in flight which is an important feature to help identify birds since you can see the coloration of the underside. It is a respectable 10 frames per second but after 10 shots ( or if you only take 2 shots) you have a 5 second refractory period and will not see the object and can not shoot while it dumps the images to your card even using the fastest card available. Even worse is that you have to change modes to do continuous shooting, unlike my previous canon sx540 where you get continuous by just pressing and holding down the shutter button. So I have to plan to do continuous prior to approaching my subject and if I make a mistake and start shooting too early ( Birds frequently poop prior to taking off) will loose the real flight.All things considered, the great zoom and high quality resolution ( shoot at 350 DPI, my Canon did 180, can see the difference when blow up pictures to 8X10) I love this camera! The zoom is incredible and makes up for all of its shortcomings. If you want to spend $1,200 you can move up to a Nikon with an optical zoom of 125, but that was a little steep for me. If zoom is important to you, avoid the Panasonic line. They have some high zooms, but the reviews of the lens quality is poor. The camera also has a bunch of other neat features. You can use the auto focus then sharpen it using manual focus. I find this helpful when there are wires or twigs in front of an image, since the camera may focus on these instead of the bird. The only time I use the 100% manual focus is using a polaroid filter, since autofocus will not word with it. The image stabilization is excellent. There is a special feature that I use for sunsets, which will automatically take 3 pictures in low light, and combine the best features into one shot. The panoramic view is nice. Like my canon there are tons of adjustments you can make like presetting shutter speed but still having auto for focus, ISO, and aperture; spot focus, saturation and sharpness adjustment, etc. The electronic view finder helps when the light is shining on the lcd screen and also has better resolution than the lcd and I also use to find small birds that are hard to find on the lcd. If zoom is not important to you there are a bunch of other less expensive cameras with good resolution out there. However if you are like me and need the high zoom you are going to LOVE this camera in spite of its shortcomings.

This is a phenomenal camera for the price.I bought this as a second camera for my wife to use while on safari. She's kryptonite to anything technology if it can break or stop working she will find a way to make it happen. With this camera however, she ended up taking some amazing photos on our trip of fast moving animals at distances I couldn't believe. The videos turned out even better.Reasons to buy:-This a great does-it-all camera: Enough megapixels to take photos for large print, good enough glass to make them clear and more-The 50x (1600mm equivalent) zoom takes great photos at long distances with the right lighting - my wife got photos of monkeys at 500 yards that my 200mm/F2.8 would never be able to. The clarity was phenomenal and some will be on our wall, you'd swear we were closer-The video quality is outstanding and the slow zoom makes for great landscape shots that zoom in on objects far away-GPS- We were deep in the African bush and when I synced our photos all of them were geotagged, pretty cool-Wifi - Using the playmemories app on Android or iPhone, you can control the camera and take photos or send your best ones to your phone from the camera for sharing online-If you are already bought into Sony's camera line: this takes the same batteries and has the same menus as many others-Viewfinder is good enough, it gets the job done. For better long distance shots, this is a must and is why the cheaper long zoom cameras without an EVF are just about useless-Build quality is really good. The camera is also super lightReasons not to:-The RX10 is slightly more and is easily the best all in one for those not looking for a full frame or compact system.-The Lumix FZ200 and FZ1000 are great alternatives: I'd still have bought this camera for the price howeverr

I couldn't care less about a few silly, post-capture, in-camera picture effects. The purpose of a good camera is to take pictures out in the field, not play around with them afterward. There's plenty of time for that, after you get home.The image quality and the quick, effective functions of this model, put it far ahead of the deficient HX300 of last year. I sent that one back after 5 days, but this one is a keeper. Even at full-size, most of its photos look presentable and at normal full-screen viewing sizes, they are sparkling good. I didn't think anyone could put 21 Megapixels on a tiny sensor like this and get good results, but Sony has proved me wrong.The photo and video quality clear out to the end of the 1,200mm lens is sharp. The HX300 lost resolution at full zoom. With video, you can engage the Active Stabilization Mode and get 1.41X, or a 1,692mm equivalent in focal-length and there's no loss of quality. There are several other superzoom brands on sale now, that seem to match the HX400V in some specifications, but their overall performance for all purposes falls behind this one.I recommend getting the Sony ECM-XYST1M stereo hotshoe mike, to put on this camera. It picks up distant sounds well and mostly eliminates wind noise using a furnished furry wind sock. Breathing sounds from the operator are not recorded, which is a problem if the built-in mikes are used. The two elements can be swiveled out wide or pointed ahead for varied pickup patterns. I also bought two sets of Wasabi NP-BX1 batteries and chargers here on Amazon. You don't get an external charger with the camera and having 5 batteries and two chargers gives me plenty of backup power and charging capability. This brand of battery seems to have the best reputation for an after-market source.The autofocus for both photos and video is quick and solid. There is no better camera for shooting flying birds or aircraft. The low-light abilities of it are amazing and the unique multiple-exposure modes make it possible to get good photos in very dim light.There's a KiwiFotos lens adaptor tube here on Amazon that is built to fit the HX300. Although it is claimed that the lens is the same size as that of the HX400V, it is not. The HX400V outer lens housing is 1mm larger in diameter and this adaptor will not fit. Perhaps KiwiFotos will build a new one later that matches the HX400V.Although this camera is listed here and at other dealers in the USA as the HX400 (B), it is in fact the HX400V (B) they are selling. This model has GPS and the HX400 that is sold in some other countries, does not have GPS.

I've always had the hi-end Sony camera, going back to my 3.5" disc FD-91. I do concerts and am an average photo guy, but when YouTube started in 05, I began posting videos - first from my DSC-707, which had pretty krappy sound and then from my H2 and then the H9, which got decent sound and great video. So I was pissed when my HX-1 came with a microphone that couldn't handle even the quietest bands. I'm now pairing this HX400 with the ECM-XYST stereo mic and it's AMAZING. Not only that, the camera is a dream to operate; the zoom modulates the speed for how hard you push it, and the initial movement occurs without need to overcome a lot of spring-load inertia. The increased resolution is NOT proportional to the increase in file size, I think Sony's got better compression algorithms, and 55mm thread mount allowed me to go into the cupboard and pull out a bunch of filters, sun hoods, lens covers and other stuff from my Canon A-1 (circa 1970). I purchase theWasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Charger and two batteries get me through a 11-hr day of 60-90 min of video, a hundred or so pictures and turning it off/on at least 50 times. See videos from all my SONY cameras on my YouTube page at RD350C - here's one I shot on Sunday that really shows of the lens quality, the mic sound and the AMAZING zoom function. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=752248661505662&l=2936919897960225452UPDATE 8-25 - I'm up to about 60 concert videos with this camera on my youtube page (Anything shot after August 8). https://www.youtube.com/user/rd350c I do a pan at the 3:00 min mark on this vid and it shows how the camera adjusts to low light, stage light etc. http://youtu.be/O2RNSRqtva0I'm especially please with how easy the camera is to operate, the auto-viewfinder (when I put my face against the eyepiece, it automatically switches), the screen leveling display, the ability to change batterys&memory WHILE attached to the monopod, and the battery life. and the price has gone down another $10 since I bought mine!!

If I could give this a 1/2 star, that would be more accurate. Sony HX400 has all the specs you could want. It was easy to use and navigate through and learn. But fell down on image quality. I do not know if Nikon is still using Sony sensors, but somewhere in the algorithm, they messed up with extreme jpg artifacts. I had this camera about 3 weeks, really tried to like it and "trick" myself into liking it somehow because of all the good specs. but most every image was well - less than optimal. Also, this camera requires a lot of light. If there isn't a lot of light, it will hunt for focus until you or your subject gets tired of waiting! Ok, what I mean is you missed the shot. Live Photography depends on quick reflexes. You need to be ready to hit the shutter button and the shutter button needs to respond. You will need to look at another camera for that. Now if all you need is a camera to post things on the internet, and those things don't move, and you can control the light, then maybe, but most cell phones do that way better and chances are, you already have one. I bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 and for a bridge camera (a camera that is more than a point and shoot, but not a full fledged DSLR) (some say they must be a fixed lens camera to be considered a bridge). It lacks some of the manual controls that I enjoy with my full size DSLR, and is a bit slow, but all in all, I think it is the best bridge our their right now (2015-early 2016).But this review is not about the Lumix, it is about the Sony HX400. My advise - look elsewhere! sorry Sony, you missed it.I write reviews because I want to help other people make decisions. I do not write reviews of items that I have not personally used.Please note: A review is only a review - a report of a personal experience of an item. A sharing of what a person likes or dislikes about at item. The buttons below are not Agree or Disagree Buttons. They are help/didn’t help buttons.If this helped you make a decision, or the information contained was informative, PLEASE click on the YES button below "was this review helpful". Thank you. <><

Excelente câmara! Superou minhas expectativas tanto na qualidade do conjunto ótico quanto na do sensor e processador.

Great camera

Expect to have fun with this camera!

very satisfied

Gostei do zoom, da facilidade de fotografar, do preço, do peso não muito grande, tudo ótimo.