Sony's 2012 flagship bridge superzoom — 18.2MP BSI-CMOS, 30x 27-810mm Zeiss zoom, 1080/60p, GPS
The Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V, announced in February 2012, was Sony's flagship small-sensor superzoom bridge camera, succeeding the DSC-HX100V and sold alongside a GPS-free DSC-HX200 in some markets. It faced Canon's SX40 HS and Panasonic's FZ150 at the top of the bridge class.
It combined an 18.2-megapixel 1/2.3-inch Exmor R BSI-CMOS sensor with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 30x zoom covering 27-810mm equivalent at f/2.8-5.6. Full HD 1080/60p video, 10fps burst shooting, built-in GPS, a tilting 3.0-inch LCD and an electronic viewfinder featured, with power from an NP-FH50 battery and storage on SD/SDHC/SDXC or Memory Stick Duo cards.
It remains a practical one-camera travel and wildlife kit: the long end reaches a very long way, stabilisation is effective and full manual exposure control is available. Fine detail at base ISO is processed aggressively, as with most 18MP small-sensor Sonys of the period.
Check the zoom rocker and manual control ring for smooth operation, the tilt mechanism of the LCD, and clarity of the electronic viewfinder. NP-FH50 batteries are still obtainable and SD card support removes media worries; verify GPS acquires a fix outdoors if that feature matters.