Sony HX30V

Sony HX30V is Sony's Small Sensor Superzoom camera initially released on February of 2012. The camera has got a 18MP, BSI-CMOS 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a peak resolution of 4896 x 3672.

Sony launched this camera in order to upgrade the earlier Sony HX20V (Read Full Comparison) & afterwards introduced the fresher Sony HX50V (Read Full Comparison) in order to upgrade this camera.

The HX30V is ranked #60 out of 244 in Small Sensor Superzoom cameras & all-around #531 out of 1465 for cameras in our collection. You can try our Smart camera finder to see camera listings based on your personal requirements.

Here is a diagram of different criteria used in the scoring system.

The Sony HX30V is part of a family of cameras. You can read the detailed range below.

You can see the HX30V from various angles in the gallery below.

Below is a collection of upsides and downsides of the Sony HX30V based on aspects that are generally seen as crucial in a camera.

The Sony HX30V is run by the BIONZ chip. The sensor spec in the Sony HX30V is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor has the capability to resolve 4896 x 3672 pixels at aspect ratios of 4:3 and 16:9. The camera comes with Image Stabilization (Optical). In body stabilization is more effective than digital stabilization as the latter can produce cropping.

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The BSI-CMOS sensor has 18 megapixels and provides a native ISO range of 100 - 12800. Sadly, RAW format is not saved therefore you have less margin for error.

The picture below shows the HX30V's sensor dimensions in comparison to other common sizes. The HX30V sensor has a crop factor of 5.8 and is pointed out in green.

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To get an idea of various aspect ratios, you can refer to the visual below.

Sony HX30V weighs about 0.56 pounds (254 grams or 8.96 oz) & has external dimensions of 107mm x 62mm x 35mm (4.2" x 2.4" x 1.4"). The weight of general Small Sensor Superzoom camera is 387 grams so the Sony HX30V is lighter compared with other rivals.

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Listed below is a visual of the Sony HX30V alongside a soda so you're able to get a feel for its scale.

The top view below will illustrate the button arrangement on the HX30V.

The HX30V includes a built in lens and a focal range of 25-500mm making it a 20.0 x zoom which is ideal and is going to let you zoom right in.

At the widest 25mm, the lens comes with an aperture of f3.2 which is rather slow and not the best for low light situations and you will struggle to get a shallow depth of field. You will likely also have to up the ISO setting giving you noisy files. At the tele end, 500mm is superb zoom and comes at f5.8 making it pretty sluggish and you might need to choose slow shutter speeds.

The HX30V has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• HDMI Yes
• GPS Yes

Cameras which include NFC and Bluetooth compatibility are able to be controlled wirelessly by smartphones. You will be able to copy photos and at times alter settings without connecting straight to the camera.

Many applications even enable a Liveview and press the shutter whenever you aren't close to the camera. If the camera includes a HDMI port, it can easily be connected to an external screen. Nearly all cameras will allow you to charge the battery through the USB socket.

The highest video quality in the Sony HX30V is 1920 x 1080 and you can capture in MPEG-4 and AVCHD format. 1080p quality gives a great balance in quality vs file sizes but FULL HD won't leave you with any room to crop. The camera doesn't include a microphone and headphone socket which means that you get no control over the sound. It is probably a better idea to find a different camera should you want good sound for your video clips.

There is no weather proofing on the Sony HX30V so you need to be cautious in rainy or dusty conditions.

The Sony HX30V has got a 3" fixed screen boasting a resolution of 922k dots.

Please note that the screen has no touch support.

Photography Glossary

The ViewFinder details for Sony HX30V are as follows:

• ViewFinder None

Viewfinders are quite useful in bright outdoor conditions which may make the camera display washed out and hard to see.

Sony HX30V has the capability to shoot continuously at 10.0 frames/s. The max shutter speed is 1/1600 sec.

Sony HX30V comes with only built in flash lacking external flash ability.

Sony HX30V comes with just Contrast Based Auto Focus & lacks Phase Detect Auto Focus. Phase Detection autofocusing is more faster and exact compared with Contrast Based autofocusing. The camera has got Face detect which can be valuable for portraits.

It has got 9 focus points to pick from. It also features Tracking Auto Focus for objects on the move. Sony HX30V includes manual focusing in case it is required in low light situations or you want to have more precise control on focusing.

The battery power (NP-BG1) on the Sony HX30V is fashioned to last for 320 photos based on the CIPA benchmarks which is on par with it's competition. The typical Small Sensor Superzoom camera battery life is 316. Fujifilm HS35EXR offers the highest (600) battery life in this kind of cameras.

Following is a number of Small Sensor Superzoom cameras that have the best battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm HS35EXR
HX30V vs Fujifilm HS35EXR600 yesnono

Nikon B500
HX30V vs B500600 nonoyes

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Nikon L840
HX30V vs L840590 noyesno

Panasonic FZ200
HX30V vs FZ200540 yesnono

Leica V-Lux 4
HX30V vs V-Lux 4540 yesnono

The following bar chart shows a summation of the Sony HX30V for different forms of photography. To read more, have a look at the specific section below.

The Sony HX30V receives a points total of 45 which is awful, and means the camera is just not acceptable for portrait photos. Photographing portraits leans greatly towards sensor specs, RAW support along with the option to work with off-camera flash.

Coming in at a above average score of 61, the Sony HX30V is a very decent choice for street photography. A very good street photography camera has a fine balance of image quality plus portability.

A reasonable sports photography points total of 49 means the Sony HX30V is fairly appropriate for photographing sports. A camera must have good focusing and fast continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is really crucial when picking a travel camera. Over-all, the Sony HX30V gets a nice 69 as a travelling camera which is a respectable fit to take with you on your holidays.

For anyone who is planning to pick a digital camera for landscape pictures, the most important factor will be image quality. The Sony HX30V with it's decent grade of 50 as a landscape camera is relatively suited among its rivals.

A vlogging camera preferably should have a articulating display, mic port and preferably IBIS. Taking everything into account, the Sony HX30V is just not acceptable as a vlog camera as it receives a awful score of 34.

If you are in the market for replacements to the HX30V, here is a selection of the top rated cameras which fall into the class of Small Sensor Superzoom.

The chart listed below will give you an overview of the HX30V compared to it's highest ranked competitors listed earlier.

There are a bunch of cameras you might see as alternatives. To browse through a full comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.