ISO comparison

These are 100 percent crops from our test scene.

The photo quality from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V is very good to excellent, though it really depends on your needs and expectations. If you're considering buying this instead of a high-resolution digital SLR, you'd be disappointed. As with all of Sony's 2012 18-megapixel Cyber-shots, most pictures viewed at full size aren't impressive. However, there's plenty of usable resolution here, particularly if you're shooting with plenty of light. Below ISO 400, shots look good printed up to 10x13, which is more than most people need. Getting a very good 8x10 with some enlarging and cropping is certainly possible, too. And if you never print your shots, the HX200V's photos look great on a computer screen or HDTV.

As the camera goes above ISO 400, subjects do get noticeably softer, but shots are usable at small sizes up to ISO 1600. If you want better low-light shots of still subjects, Sony's Handheld Twilight mode still produces some of the best high-ISO photos I've seen from a point-and-shoot. However, I wouldn't bother using the two highest ISOs, as they look more like artist's renderings than photos and have off colors.

Again, the HX200V is not a dSLR (it can't even capture raw images), but for people looking for a long lens and some better control over results than the average point-and-shoot offers, it's a safe bet.

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