The pocketable point-and-shoot camera is a dying breed, but not one that's met extinction.
Smartphones have all but taken over as the take-anywhere cameras of today.
But even multi-lens models lack real zoom power, and when Sony announced it was brining a new 30x pocketable model to market, we had high hopes.
Sony has led the way in premium, large sensor point-and-shoots, which typically deliver best-in-class image and video quality.
Its latest superzoom, the Cyber-shot DSC-HX99 ($449.99), is a misfire, with a lens that is prone to show flare, underwhelming low-light imaging, and shaky handheld video.
Big Zoom, Small Camera
The HX99 follows Sony's well-established Cyber-shot design paradigm to a tee.
The pocket-friendly superzoom is housed in a metal body, measures 2.3 by 4.0 by 1.4 inches (HWD), and weighs about 8.5 ounces.
The camera doesn't have any sort of weather protection, but does include a pop-up electronic viewfinder (EVF).
The lens is the marquee feature.
It's a 24-720mm (full-frame equivalent) zoom with an f/3.5-6.4 aperture range.
It's backed by a 1/2.3-inch image sensor, the same size you find in most smartphones.
The HX99 promises big zoom power—and delivers—but it comes at a cost.
If you have a recent Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or Google Pixel phone, you'll find that its bright, wide-angle lens does a better job capturing indoor snapshots than the HX99.
If you're looking at the HX99 as an upgrade over your smartphone, understand where the Sony will deliver better results and where your phone will.
There are better cameras out there if you're looking for something that will improve upon your phone in more situations, but you'll sacrifice zoom power to get there.
Cameras like the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III are more usable in dim light.
If you want long zoom and stronger image quality in dim light, think about the Panasonic FZ1000 or the more recent FZ1000 Mark II, both of which sport a 1-inch class sensor and 25-400mm zoom range, but aren't at all pocketable.
The HX99's slim body features a handgrip on its face.
It's a bit bigger than the modest bumps we're used to seeing on pocketable cameras, but doesn't extend past the lens, even when it's retracted.
Sony includes a programmable control ring around the lens itself, which you can set to adjust the ISO, shutter speed, zoom, or the like.
The On/Off button, zoom rocker, shutter release, and Mode dial are all located on the top, bunched together on the right side.
The pop-up flash occupies the middle, along with a switch to pop it up, and the retractable EVF is all the way on the left.
You'll almost certainly want to use the flash for photos captured in dim light, but be aware its output can be a little harsh.
Its power is adjustable, via a Flash Exposure Compensation function, and I'd recommend knocking it down by two-thirds or one full stop for the best results.
Rear controls are squeezed into the area not occupied by the LCD, which dominates the backside.
The Movie button is at the top, just to the right of the textured thumb rest, and there are Fn, Menu, Play, and C/Delete buttons below it.
At their center is a rear control wheel, supplementing the one around the lens, which features four directional presses (Display, Flash, EV, Drive) and the unmarked OK/Enter button in the middle.
There are two ways to frame and review images—the 3-inch, 921k-dot LCD and the small OLED EVF.
I find the LCD to be much more useful—it's bright enough for outdoor use on a winter afternoon, sensitive to touch, and tilts up for low-angle and selfie shots.
The EVF is a nice addition, if a little too small.
It hides in the body when not in use, popping up via a release switch at its left side.
You'll need to pull the eyecup toward you and lock it in place before using the EVF.
If you don't, the picture will appear blurry.
(If it's still blurry once locked, you can adjust the diopter to match your vision.)
My only real complaint with the EVF is the size.
Its 0.5x magnification is noticeably smaller than the 0.59x OLED EVF included with Sony's premium RX100 VI and the 0.53x LCD used by the Panasonic ZS200.
Power and Connectivity
The HX99 can wirelessly transfer photos to your smartphone.
It has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which means connection is easier than with older cameras that only had Wi-Fi, and works with both Android and iOS handsets.
You'll need to download the free Sony PlayMemories Mobile app to make it work, but once it's set up you can transfer files and use your phone as a remote control.
Power is provided by a removable NP-BX1 battery.
Spares cost about $40, though third-party options can be had for half of that.
You may not need to buy one—CIPA rates the battery for 370 images in standard mode or 460 shots with power-saving features turned on.
Using the EVF will cut into battery life—the HX99 is rated for 300 shots with it turned on.
In the past, we've recommended vacationers invest in an extra battery.
That's a little less necessary thanks to the ready availability of USB power banks.
The HX99 has a standard micro USB port for data transfer and charging, so you can top off the battery with a USB battery just as you would your mobile phone.
There is also a micro HDMI port, located on the bottom, in the event you want to connect the HX99 to your TV.
The battery compartment is also on the bottom, and it houses the memory card slot.
It supports a variety of formats, including microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC, and Sony's own Memory Stick Micro.
You shouldn't use Sony's weird memory card format—the HX99 is limited to the outdated AVCHD video format.
To get the most out of the camera, you'll need a U3 microSDHC or microSDXC card—the type with a second row of data contacts.
It's needed to recorded 100Mbps video.
If you have a more common Class 10 microSDHC/XC card you'll still be able to record in 4K, but only at 60Mbps.
Responsive Autofocus
The HX99 is an overall quick performer.
It starts, focuses, and fires in about 2.3 seconds—pretty standard for this style camera, as the lens has to extend from the body before it can snap a shot.
Autofocus itself is speedy—the HX99 locks on almost instantly at its widest angle and notches a respectable 0.1-second focus lock at its maximum zoom setting.
Low light will hamper speed—expect an average 0.3-second delay in dim light.
Burst shooting is an option as well.
The HX99 can fire off Raw or Raw+JPG images at 7.3fps, and its speed increases to 10fps if you use JPG format only.
The duration is limited—you get about 54 Raw+JPG, 59 Raw, or 136 JPGs before the buffer fills up.
It takes a long time for all of those images to write to memory—about a minute for Raw+JPG, 30 seconds for Raw, and 45 seconds with JPG images.
During that duration the HX99 is partially unresponsive; you can take more photos, but you can't change menu settings or start a video until all images are written to the card.
You can keep write times under control by carefully capturing shorter bursts of images.
Or you can opt to switch the camera to its slower drive mode, about 2.5fps, where the buffer doesn't fill up nearly as quickly.
A Lens With Lots of Flare
Small cameras with big zooms are nothing new.
We've seen plenty of 30x lenses, like the 24-720mm zoom used by the HX99, in pocket-friendly form factors.
The lenses typically have one big drawback—a narrow f-stop that makes them less appealing for use in dim light.
The HX99 isn't immune.
It's rated at f/3.5 at the wide end, but quickly loses light as it zooms in.
It's an f/6.3 through most of its zoom range—everything beyond 250mm—which limits its use, from a practical perspective, to brightly lit outdoor scenes.
I checked lens sharpness with Imatest software.
It's not a game changer, notching an average 1,883 lines across the 18MP frame.
That's a good result for an 18MP sensor—just a little bit better than the 1,800 lines we want to see in an image from this type of sensor.
Image quality drops as you move away from the center of the frame.
The central area bridges on excellent quality (2,400 lines), but as you move toward the mid parts the average drops to about 1,678 lines—just a little soft—and the edges of photos are very soft (1,144 lines).
With interchangeable lenses, photographers are taught to narrow the f-stop to improve sharpness.
Compacts don't always work that way, as the small, pixel-dense sensors are prone to showing the effects of diffraction.
Light entering through a very small iris scatters, blurring details.
Because of this, the HX99's images suffer at f-stops smaller than f/4.
That's a problem with the HX99 as its f-stop is smaller than f/4 through most of its zoom range.
At about the 4x setting (100mm) the lens has already dropped to f/5 and the average has dropped to 1,655 lines.
At 225mm the f-stop is close to its smallest, and at f/6.3 the lens shows just 1,364 lines.
If questionable resolution at maximum zoom was the HX99's only problem it would be in very good company with most of its competition.
Other cameras with 30x zoom lenses and pocketable designs are not immune.
But the lens has a bad problem with backlit subjects.
It shows an excessive amount of flare when there's a strong source of lighting coming into the lens.
It's an ugly type of flare, with big blobs of purplish light showing up in images—not the aesthetically pleasing type that some vintage lenses produce.
Bright Light Required
We've touched on the HX99's struggles in dim light.
Its sensor is an Exmor R design, which is Sony's branding for images with backside illuminated (BSI) designs.
It can be set as low as ISO 80 and ranges up through ISO 6400 in either JPG or Raw format.
If you work with JPGs you'll enjoy the best quality photos at ISO 200 and below.
Images at ISO 400 show a very slight loss of detail, and while the ISO 800 output is definitely softer than lower settings, it's not quite what I'd call blurry.
The blur sets in at ISO 1600 and gets worse as the sensitivity to light ranges higher.
It can be hard to keep the ISO low though.
I took the camera out for some backyard bird photography on a gray winter day and found it was regularly pushing to ISO 800 when photographing subjects at a short shutter speed (1/250-second).
Photographers serious enough to think about Raw capture have the option.
The HX99's images hold up a bit better at high ISO when working in Raw format.
The advantages aren't apparent at lower ISO, but you can eke a little bit more detail out of shots at ISO 800 through 3200.
Photos shot at ISO 6400 show heavy grain and we'd recommend avoiding it.
Shaky Video
The HX99 records MP4 video with XAVC compression at 1080p or 4K quality—as long as you have a speedy microSDXC U3 card.
Otherwise, you're limited to AVCHD recording at 1080p.
I tried out the 4K video at 24fps—you can also shoot at 25 or 30fps, and 1080p goes as high as 60fps.
But the stabilization system is disappointing.
Handheld video shot at the wide 24mm angle is noticeably shaky, and the jittery look just gets worse when you zoom in.
Not Worth the Price
I was excited to see what Sony, which has established itself as an industry leader in imaging, would bring to the table with the HX99.
It's been a few years since we looked at a model of this type—the last being the HX90V, which we liked at the time, but was held back by a lack of Raw capture support.
The HX90V is still on sale, for just a few dollars less than the HX99, and remains a solid alternative if you don't mind missing out on Raw capture.
It's also sold as the HX80, which is the same camera as the HX90V, minus a built-in GPS, and sells for about $370.
Our most recent Editors' Choice for a camera of this type is an older model, the Panasonic ZS50, but still on sale for around $280.
It uses a 12MP sensor, which is slightly less prone to showing the effects of diffraction.
It's from 2015, though, and while it remains a stronger overall performer, I wouldn't rate it quite as highly in today's market as I did a few years ago.
There are better ways to spend $450 than the HX99.
If you're absolutely sold on a pocketable camera with a 30x lens, I'd push you toward the ZS50 or HX80; the former offers Raw capture.
If you're not so married to the idea of a long lens, consider getting a pocket camera with a brighter, shorter zoom and 1-inch image sensor.
The Canon G7 X Mark II ($629.00 at Amazon) is a more expensive prospect, but a more useful photographic tool in more situations.
If you want the type of telephoto reach required for songbirds, raptors, deer, bears, soccer, baseball, and other subjects you tend to capture from a great distance, but don't want to deal with interchangable lenses, consider a bridge camera instead.
It won't fit into your pocket, but larger lenses and sensors make for better quality photos.
The best deal out there at press time is the Panasonic FZ1000 ($797.00 at Amazon) , which gets you a sensor with four times the surface area as the HX99 and an ample 25-400mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens, all for $500.
Pros
Pop-up EVF.
30x zoom range.
Flip-up, touch LCD.
Speedy autofocus.
EVF and flash.
Raw support.
4K video.
View More
Cons
Unattractive flare.
Dim f-stop limits low-light photography.
Shaky handheld video.
Cramped EVF.
Unresponsive when writing images to memory.
Requires microSDXC for full video experience.
View More
The Bottom Line
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX99 puts a long zoom into a pocket-friendly body, but shows ugly flare and struggles in dim light.
The pocketable point-and-shoot camera is a dying breed, but not one that's met extinction.
Smartphones have all but taken over as the take-anywhere cameras of today.
But even multi-lens models lack real zoom power, and when Sony announced it was brining a new 30x pocketable model to market, we had high hopes.
Sony has led the way in premium, large sensor point-and-shoots, which typically deliver best-in-class image and video quality.
Its latest superzoom, the Cyber-shot DSC-HX99 ($449.99), is a misfire, with a lens that is prone to show flare, underwhelming low-light imaging, and shaky handheld video.
Big Zoom, Small Camera
The HX99 follows Sony's well-established Cyber-shot design paradigm to a tee.
The pocket-friendly superzoom is housed in a metal body, measures 2.3 by 4.0 by 1.4 inches (HWD), and weighs about 8.5 ounces.
The camera doesn't have any sort of weather protection, but does include a pop-up electronic viewfinder (EVF).
The lens is the marquee feature.
It's a 24-720mm (full-frame equivalent) zoom with an f/3.5-6.4 aperture range.
It's backed by a 1/2.3-inch image sensor, the same size you find in most smartphones.
The HX99 promises big zoom power—and delivers—but it comes at a cost.
If you have a recent Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or Google Pixel phone, you'll find that its bright, wide-angle lens does a better job capturing indoor snapshots than the HX99.
If you're looking at the HX99 as an upgrade over your smartphone, understand where the Sony will deliver better results and where your phone will.
There are better cameras out there if you're looking for something that will improve upon your phone in more situations, but you'll sacrifice zoom power to get there.
Cameras like the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III are more usable in dim light.
If you want long zoom and stronger image quality in dim light, think about the Panasonic FZ1000 or the more recent FZ1000 Mark II, both of which sport a 1-inch class sensor and 25-400mm zoom range, but aren't at all pocketable.
The HX99's slim body features a handgrip on its face.
It's a bit bigger than the modest bumps we're used to seeing on pocketable cameras, but doesn't extend past the lens, even when it's retracted.
Sony includes a programmable control ring around the lens itself, which you can set to adjust the ISO, shutter speed, zoom, or the like.
The On/Off button, zoom rocker, shutter release, and Mode dial are all located on the top, bunched together on the right side.
The pop-up flash occupies the middle, along with a switch to pop it up, and the retractable EVF is all the way on the left.
You'll almost certainly want to use the flash for photos captured in dim light, but be aware its output can be a little harsh.
Its power is adjustable, via a Flash Exposure Compensation function, and I'd recommend knocking it down by two-thirds or one full stop for the best results.
Rear controls are squeezed into the area not occupied by the LCD, which dominates the backside.
The Movie button is at the top, just to the right of the textured thumb rest, and there are Fn, Menu, Play, and C/Delete buttons below it.
At their center is a rear control wheel, supplementing the one around the lens, which features four directional presses (Display, Flash, EV, Drive) and the unmarked OK/Enter button in the middle.
There are two ways to frame and review images—the 3-inch, 921k-dot LCD and the small OLED EVF.
I find the LCD to be much more useful—it's bright enough for outdoor use on a winter afternoon, sensitive to touch, and tilts up for low-angle and selfie shots.
The EVF is a nice addition, if a little too small.
It hides in the body when not in use, popping up via a release switch at its left side.
You'll need to pull the eyecup toward you and lock it in place before using the EVF.
If you don't, the picture will appear blurry.
(If it's still blurry once locked, you can adjust the diopter to match your vision.)
My only real complaint with the EVF is the size.
Its 0.5x magnification is noticeably smaller than the 0.59x OLED EVF included with Sony's premium RX100 VI and the 0.53x LCD used by the Panasonic ZS200.
Power and Connectivity
The HX99 can wirelessly transfer photos to your smartphone.
It has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which means connection is easier than with older cameras that only had Wi-Fi, and works with both Android and iOS handsets.
You'll need to download the free Sony PlayMemories Mobile app to make it work, but once it's set up you can transfer files and use your phone as a remote control.
Power is provided by a removable NP-BX1 battery.
Spares cost about $40, though third-party options can be had for half of that.
You may not need to buy one—CIPA rates the battery for 370 images in standard mode or 460 shots with power-saving features turned on.
Using the EVF will cut into battery life—the HX99 is rated for 300 shots with it turned on.
In the past, we've recommended vacationers invest in an extra battery.
That's a little less necessary thanks to the ready availability of USB power banks.
The HX99 has a standard micro USB port for data transfer and charging, so you can top off the battery with a USB battery just as you would your mobile phone.
There is also a micro HDMI port, located on the bottom, in the event you want to connect the HX99 to your TV.
The battery compartment is also on the bottom, and it houses the memory card slot.
It supports a variety of formats, including microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC, and Sony's own Memory Stick Micro.
You shouldn't use Sony's weird memory card format—the HX99 is limited to the outdated AVCHD video format.
To get the most out of the camera, you'll need a U3 microSDHC or microSDXC card—the type with a second row of data contacts.
It's needed to recorded 100Mbps video.
If you have a more common Class 10 microSDHC/XC card you'll still be able to record in 4K, but only at 60Mbps.
Responsive Autofocus
The HX99 is an overall quick performer.
It starts, focuses, and fires in about 2.3 seconds—pretty standard for this style camera, as the lens has to extend from the body before it can snap a shot.
Autofocus itself is speedy—the HX99 locks on almost instantly at its widest angle and notches a respectable 0.1-second focus lock at its maximum zoom setting.
Low light will hamper speed—expect an average 0.3-second delay in dim light.
Burst shooting is an option as well.
The HX99 can fire off Raw or Raw+JPG images at 7.3fps, and its speed increases to 10fps if you use JPG format only.
The duration is limited—you get about 54 Raw+JPG, 59 Raw, or 136 JPGs before the buffer fills up.
It takes a long time for all of those images to write to memory—about a minute for Raw+JPG, 30 seconds for Raw, and 45 seconds with JPG images.
During that duration the HX99 is partially unresponsive; you can take more photos, but you can't change menu settings or start a video until all images are written to the card.
You can keep write times under control by carefully capturing shorter bursts of images.
Or you can opt to switch the camera to its slower drive mode, about 2.5fps, where the buffer doesn't fill up nearly as quickly.
A Lens With Lots of Flare
Small cameras with big zooms are nothing new.
We've seen plenty of 30x lenses, like the 24-720mm zoom used by the HX99, in pocket-friendly form factors.
The lenses typically have one big drawback—a narrow f-stop that makes them less appealing for use in dim light.
The HX99 isn't immune.
It's rated at f/3.5 at the wide end, but quickly loses light as it zooms in.
It's an f/6.3 through most of its zoom range—everything beyond 250mm—which limits its use, from a practical perspective, to brightly lit outdoor scenes.
I checked lens sharpness with Imatest software.
It's not a game changer, notching an average 1,883 lines across the 18MP frame.
That's a good result for an 18MP sensor—just a little bit better than the 1,800 lines we want to see in an image from this type of sensor.
Image quality drops as you move away from the center of the frame.
The central area bridges on excellent quality (2,400 lines), but as you move toward the mid parts the average drops to about 1,678 lines—just a little soft—and the edges of photos are very soft (1,144 lines).
With interchangeable lenses, photographers are taught to narrow the f-stop to improve sharpness.
Compacts don't always work that way, as the small, pixel-dense sensors are prone to showing the effects of diffraction.
Light entering through a very small iris scatters, blurring details.
Because of this, the HX99's images suffer at f-stops smaller than f/4.
That's a problem with the HX99 as its f-stop is smaller than f/4 through most of its zoom range.
At about the 4x setting (100mm) the lens has already dropped to f/5 and the average has dropped to 1,655 lines.
At 225mm the f-stop is close to its smallest, and at f/6.3 the lens shows just 1,364 lines.
If questionable resolution at maximum zoom was the HX99's only problem it would be in very good company with most of its competition.
Other cameras with 30x zoom lenses and pocketable designs are not immune.
But the lens has a bad problem with backlit subjects.
It shows an excessive amount of flare when there's a strong source of lighting coming into the lens.
It's an ugly type of flare, with big blobs of purplish light showing up in images—not the aesthetically pleasing type that some vintage lenses produce.
Bright Light Required
We've touched on the HX99's struggles in dim light.
Its sensor is an Exmor R design, which is Sony's branding for images with backside illuminated (BSI) designs.
It can be set as low as ISO 80 and ranges up through ISO 6400 in either JPG or Raw format.
If you work with JPGs you'll enjoy the best quality photos at ISO 200 and below.
Images at ISO 400 show a very slight loss of detail, and while the ISO 800 output is definitely softer than lower settings, it's not quite what I'd call blurry.
The blur sets in at ISO 1600 and gets worse as the sensitivity to light ranges higher.
It can be hard to keep the ISO low though.
I took the camera out for some backyard bird photography on a gray winter day and found it was regularly pushing to ISO 800 when photographing subjects at a short shutter speed (1/250-second).
Photographers serious enough to think about Raw capture have the option.
The HX99's images hold up a bit better at high ISO when working in Raw format.
The advantages aren't apparent at lower ISO, but you can eke a little bit more detail out of shots at ISO 800 through 3200.
Photos shot at ISO 6400 show heavy grain and we'd recommend avoiding it.
Shaky Video
The HX99 records MP4 video with XAVC compression at 1080p or 4K quality—as long as you have a speedy microSDXC U3 card.
Otherwise, you're limited to AVCHD recording at 1080p.
I tried out the 4K video at 24fps—you can also shoot at 25 or 30fps, and 1080p goes as high as 60fps.
But the stabilization system is disappointing.
Handheld video shot at the wide 24mm angle is noticeably shaky, and the jittery look just gets worse when you zoom in.
Not Worth the Price
I was excited to see what Sony, which has established itself as an industry leader in imaging, would bring to the table with the HX99.
It's been a few years since we looked at a model of this type—the last being the HX90V, which we liked at the time, but was held back by a lack of Raw capture support.
The HX90V is still on sale, for just a few dollars less than the HX99, and remains a solid alternative if you don't mind missing out on Raw capture.
It's also sold as the HX80, which is the same camera as the HX90V, minus a built-in GPS, and sells for about $370.
Our most recent Editors' Choice for a camera of this type is an older model, the Panasonic ZS50, but still on sale for around $280.
It uses a 12MP sensor, which is slightly less prone to showing the effects of diffraction.
It's from 2015, though, and while it remains a stronger overall performer, I wouldn't rate it quite as highly in today's market as I did a few years ago.
There are better ways to spend $450 than the HX99.
If you're absolutely sold on a pocketable camera with a 30x lens, I'd push you toward the ZS50 or HX80; the former offers Raw capture.
If you're not so married to the idea of a long lens, consider getting a pocket camera with a brighter, shorter zoom and 1-inch image sensor.
The Canon G7 X Mark II ($629.00 at Amazon) is a more expensive prospect, but a more useful photographic tool in more situations.
If you want the type of telephoto reach required for songbirds, raptors, deer, bears, soccer, baseball, and other subjects you tend to capture from a great distance, but don't want to deal with interchangable lenses, consider a bridge camera instead.
It won't fit into your pocket, but larger lenses and sensors make for better quality photos.
The best deal out there at press time is the Panasonic FZ1000 ($797.00 at Amazon) , which gets you a sensor with four times the surface area as the HX99 and an ample 25-400mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens, all for $500.
Pros
Pop-up EVF.
30x zoom range.
Flip-up, touch LCD.
Speedy autofocus.
EVF and flash.
Raw support.
4K video.
View More
Cons
Unattractive flare.
Dim f-stop limits low-light photography.
Shaky handheld video.
Cramped EVF.
Unresponsive when writing images to memory.
Requires microSDXC for full video experience.
View More
The Bottom Line
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX99 puts a long zoom into a pocket-friendly body, but shows ugly flare and struggles in dim light.
