Sony HX300

Sony HX300 is Sony's Small Sensor Superzoom digital camera initially introduced on February of 2013. It uses a 20 MegaPixel, BSI-CMOS 1/2.3" size sensor with a peak resolution of 5184 x 3888.

Sony released this model in an effort to upgrade the older Sony HX200V (Read Full Comparison) and afterwards introduced the newer Sony HX400V (Read Full Comparison) in order to upgrade this model.

The HX300 stands at #43 out of 244 in Small Sensor Superzoom cameras and all-around #493 out of 1465 for cameras in our database. You can use our Smart camera finder to find camera rankings based on your customized criteria.

Below is a diagram of specific criteria used in the scoring system.

The Sony HX300 comes with a history of related cameras. Listed below, you can take a look at all past and current models as well as important specifications.

You can view the HX300 from different angles in the gallery underneath.

Here is a collection of good and bad points of the Sony HX300 based on factors which are normally seen as essential in a digital camera.

The spec of the sensor in the Sony HX300 is 6.16mm x 4.62mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor has the ability to resolve 5184 x 3888 pixels . The camera boasts Image Stabilization (Optical). Optical stabilization is superior than digital stabilization as the latter may produce cropping.

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The BSI-CMOS sensor boasts 20 megapixels and supports a standard ISO range of 80 - 12800. Unfortunately, RAW photos are not supported which means that you have less room to maneuver in post.

The image underneath shows the HX300's sensor size in comparison to other popular sizes. The HX300 sensor comes with a crop factor of 5.8 and is shown in green.

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To get an understanding of different aspect ratios, you should refer to the graphic below.

Sony HX300 weighs 1.37 lb (623 grams / 21.98 ounces) and features exterior size of 130mm x 103mm x 93mm (5.1" x 4.1" x 3.7"). The weight of general Small Sensor Superzoom camera is 387 grams so the Sony HX300 is weightier compared to its rivals.

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Underneath is a image of the Sony HX300 alongside a softdrink to help you have a feel for its size.

The top view under will show you the button design on the HX300.

The HX300 features a fixed lens giving a focal range of 24-1200mm giving it a 50.0 x zoom which is amazing and could allow you to zoom all the way in.

At it's widest 24mm, the lens will have an aperture of f2.8 which will be fairly sluggish and not ideal in low light circumstances and you may struggle to capture good bokeh. You might also have to increase your ISO setting producing noisy photos. Towards the long end, 1200mm is brilliant zoom and comes with f6.3 making it fairly sluggish and you will have to use slower shutter speeds.

The HX300 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• HDMI Yes

Cameras that contain NFC and Bluetooth compatibility are able to be used wirelessly by smartphones. You will be able to transfer files and sometimes adjust camera settings without the hassle of connecting directly with the camera.

Several apps also give a Liveview and press the shutter in case you aren't close to the camera. If the camera includes a HDMI out, it can easily be attached to an external display. A lot of cameras enable you to charge the battery with the USB port.

The highest video resolution in the Sony HX300 is 1920 x 1080 and it can save in file format. 1080p resolution can provide a good balance in video quality vs file size but FULL HD will not give you much room to downsample. The body doesn't include a mic and headphone socket which means you have got zero control over your audio. It is probably best to buy a different model in case you need good audio in your videos.

There is no weather proofing for the Sony HX300 so you have to be cautious in wet or dusty situations.

The Sony HX300 houses a 3 inch tilting display screen with a resolution of 921 thousand dots.

Please note that the display offers no touch support.

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The View Finder specifications regarding Sony HX300 are the following:

• ViewFinder Electronic

Viewfinders can be rather helpful in sunny outdoor situations which can make the camera screen washed out and hard to view.

Sony HX300 continuous shooting rate is 10.0 frames/s. The highest shutter speed is 1/4000s.

Sony HX300 boasts just built-in flash without external flash ability.

Sony HX300 boasts only Contrast Detect AF and does not have Phase Detect AF. Phase Detection autofocusing is a lot more snappier & exact compared to Contrast Detect autofocusing.

It boasts 9 focus points to choose from. It also features Tracking AF for things on the move. Sony HX300 has got manual focus when needed in low light occasions or you require more accurate control on focus.

The typical Small Sensor Superzoom camera battery life is 316. Fujifilm HS35EXR offers the highest (600) battery life in this group of cameras.

Listed below is a collection of Small Sensor Superzoom cameras having the best battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm HS35EXR
HX300 vs Fujifilm HS35EXR600 yesnono

Nikon B500
HX300 vs B500600 nonoyes

Photography Glossary

Nikon L840
HX300 vs L840590 noyesno

Panasonic FZ200
HX300 vs FZ200540 yesnono

Leica V-Lux 4
HX300 vs V-Lux 4540 yesnono

The following chart presents a overview of the Sony HX300 for varying categories of photography. To find out more, go to the specific paragraph underneath.

The Sony HX300 gets a rating of 42 which is really bad, meaning that it is not very good to use for portraits. Taking portraits favors heavily to sensor dimensions, support for RAW files together with the ability to work with external lighting.

Having a modest score of 50, the Sony HX300 is reasonably suited to buy for street photography. A very good street photography camera provides a fine balance of image quality and portability.

A reasonable sports photography points total of 55 indicates the Sony HX300 is somewhat suitable for photographing sports. A camera really should have fantastic focusing plus fast continuous shooting for sports photography.

Portability is super important in buying a camera for travel. In general, the Sony HX300 gets a decent 54 for a travel camera which makes it reasonably suited to buy for your journeys.

For anyone who is looking to purchase a digital camera for landscape photography, the most significant factor will be image quality. The Sony HX300 with it's decent rating of 48 for a landscape camera is reasonably acceptable among it's competitors.

A vlogging camera should offer a articulating screen, microphone input and preferably IBIS. Considering every thing, the Sony HX300 is not very good for vlogging as it gets a really bad score of 25.

If you are looking for alternatives to the HX300, below is a collection of the top ranked cameras that fall in to the family of Small Sensor Superzoom.

The line graph here provides you an overview of the HX300 compared to it's top ranked competitors shown previously.

These are various other cameras you may look into as alternate options. To look at a thorough comparison, just click on the "compare" link.