Travellers and photo enthusiasts no longer need to pack both a camera and a camcorder, with very capable video shooting abilities being offered in modern cameras, the likes of Sony’s new Cyber-shot HX100V and HX9V.

 

Both models are able to record full HD AVCHD video (1920 x 1080 at 50p/60p) , simply by pressing the dedicated movie button. An enhanced GPS/Compass function is also offered on both models, which tracks your location as well as your shooting direction. A user will be able to view the results after shooting as an online map via their PC.

 

 

Sony’s Cyber-shot HX100V boasts a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens with T coating that Sony says can almost completely eliminate flare. It also sports a powerful 30x optical zoom range for highly detailed close-up shots of distant subjects.

 

The more compact HX9V features a high-performance G Lens with 16x zoom range and 24 mm wide angle, whilst both units can capture blur- and shake free photos. The latter is due to Sony’s Optical SteadyShot with Active Mode, which is an image stabilisation system with ‘3-way shake cancellation’.

 

 

Both models also feature 3D shooting options with 3D Sweep Panorama, 3D Still Image and Sweep Multi Angle. A first for the Japanese manufacturer’s Cyber-shot range is that the 16.2 effective megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor employed within both cameras, supports a brand-new Intelligent Sweep Panorama HR (High Resolution) mode. When a user presses the shutter button and sweeps the camera, it will shoot panoramic images at an impressive 10480 x 4096 resolution.

 

The HX100V and HX9V offer high-speed auto-focus that locks onto a subject in as little as 0.1 seconds, as well as Background Defocus mode. Within this mode both models can automatically combine two successive frames captured at different focus settings when the shutter is pressed. These two frames are combined to produce a professional-looking image with crisply-focused foreground subjects against a blurred background.

 

Superior Auto mode takes a number of shooting conditions into consideration and then automatically adjusts the camera’s settings and shoots a high-speed burst of multiple frames as required during low-light conditions. These are automatically combined within the camera to create beautifully-exposed, low-noise results with virtually any subject , even in challenging low light conditions without a flash.

 

On the Cyber-shot HX100V there is a manual control ring, to which different functionality can be assigned to such as adjusting the focus or zoom. This can come in handy within applications including macro photography, whereby focus can be precisely adjusted whilst viewing a magnified portion of the image.

 

 

Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V will sell for an estimated R4499 and become available locally during April, whilst the Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V that will also be available as of April, will carry a recommended pricetag of R3899.