San Diego – Sony introduced Monday a pair of advanced Cyber-shot
point-and-shoot digital cameras featuring 16.2 megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensors,
long zoom lenses and Optical SteadyShot image stabilization.
Both models are slated to street in April. The Sony Cyber-shot
HX9V features a 16x optical zoom G series lens starting at an equivalent 24mm
wide angle.
The HX100V steps up to a 30x Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens with T*
coating optical zoom lens starting at a 27mm equivalent wide angle field of
view. Both models include up to ISO 3200
light sensitivity and Full HD 1080p/60p video recording.
Both cameras also include 3-inch touchscreen displays with
921,000-dot resolution, 3D Sweep Panorama mode, GPS/Compass geotagging and
d-SLR-like high-speed autofocus systems.
D-SLR-like shooting capability is also realized through the use
of a Background Defocus mode. The HX100V and HX9V can automatically combine two
successive frames captured at different focus settings when the shutter is
pressed. These are combined to yield images with crisply-focused foreground
subjects against smoothly blurred backgrounds.
The Cyber-shot HX100V also features a manual control ring that
can be assigned as desired to adjust focus or zoom. It’s ideal for applications
like macro photography, where focus can be adjusted precisely while viewing a
magnified portion of the image.
Sony also announced the basic level W520 Cybershot with a 14.1
megapixel sensor, 5x zoom lens and 2.7-inch LCD. It is scheduled to ship in
March.
The DSC-HX100V and DSC-HX9V cameras will be available in black and will cost about $450 and $350, respectively.
