Sony DSCHX90V/B Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)

Purchased this DSC-HX90V and the DSC-RX100 IV with the same seller and at the same time. The following review (after this one) is about the latter.That said, I am happy with the great zoom ability of 30X - about dectuple that of the 1" sensor model. It is of course a tradeoff (in a 'lower CyberShot league') with a small 1/2.3" size, but surprisingly, in spite of such differences, the quality of photography is near that of that other model. Noise reduction is appropriate and does really well on the 18 megapixels, something that all other compact 'super-zoom' cameras come nowhere close.Pros:+ Great for distance photography, such as wildlife on the lake, lunar shots - even at night.+ Decent video quality during the day, and zooming is very fast (default setting is normal).+ Unlike the DSC-HX60V model, the new 50 mbps codec is available, but you must have a supported card. (See cons.)+ Half the price of the DSC-RX100 IV (much better overall value).* Fits easily in even a shirt pocket.* Better battery life than on the DSC-RX100 IV (this is obviously due to processing requirements, so this con is acceptable given the laws of the camera's physics).* Excellent focusing ability and accuracy (still a problem on all RX100 models).* Oustanding photo quality found on the DSC-HX60V (even though that model is 20 megapixels).Cons:- Poor video performance in low-light because of the f3.5 aperture (again, a tradeoff with the extreme zoom and small sensor size).- Cannot record 4K (this is actually UHD - 4K is true on another camera, such as Panasonic GH4).- Cannot take still photos during movie-recording as on the DSC-RX100 IV (does not have the new DRAM chip; stacked sensor).- Flash barely tilts enough for even flash lighting as on DSC-RX100 IV.- Viewfinder needs pulled out after ejection-up unlike DSC-RX100 IV (the image size is far too tiny; you do not even need to do this on that other model).- Must choose high display quality to see WYSIWYG results in photos and videos (this is misleading because the concept is like preview quality over actual render quality in a video editor on a computer).- Very low aperture of f3.5 at wide angle at night (for example, clouds passing by, stargazing, and so forth).- No internal memory (even Panasonic no longer includes it in their upscale cameras) and no memory card; same with the other model.- No still capture during movie-recording.- Need specific card class to shoot in the new 50 mbps movie-record setting (this is not a requirement on Panasonic DMC-FZ1000, even though it caused a rare malfunction yesterday afternoon).- No UHD recording support, but a camera of this type would not be powerful enough anyway.I really like this camera and recommend it over the DSC-RX100 IV if you do not do much night videography, do not need advanced video capabilities, and need great photo quality. Distance shots are the strongest selling point for me on this camera (whether at a park, buildings across a lake, amusement park close-ups of roller coaster tracks, and so on). Even though it may be great for sports shots at a ballgame, it probably won't be ideal for clouds rolling on by at night because the aperture is too small. The price is very attractive too. Given the technical compromises for such a small body and retail value, I issue this a 5-star review. Great for what it can do, and what it cannot do I have no complaints. In most respects, I prefer it over the DSC-RX100 IV for most purposes, when best quality and wide-angle-only shots (during the day) are less necessary. Be sure to read my upcoming review on that model if you have not already done so. Thanks for reading, and good luck.- Matt Eye

My camera cam last night and so far it is very impressive.I'm wring this review to help people with downloading some of the features as it was a very frustrating process (Shame on Sony!) and I want to try to help. I also comment on the viewfinder as I wear bifocals and am questioning whether it was worth the extra $100.When you buy the camera give yourself 2 hours if you want to get apps downloaded and know that you're probably going to have to connect to a computer to do it. Apps that should have been included on the camera need to be downloaded and it isn't as easy as it should be in a plug and play world. Many people are going to want to do this because the sync to cell phone feature seems attractive for travel and so does the ability to take remote photos for group photos. To download the apps you first need to register with the Playstation network and download the Sony PlayMemories app to you telephone, tablet and/or computer, so you'll need a smartphone, tablet or computer, and patience as it wasn't the clearest process and involves verifying your e-mail. None of it worked as smoothly as other things I've registered for. Next, I tried to use my new account to download the software through the camera - BIG MISTAKE! You have to enter your e-mail address (not your user name) and password, and the connection to the network doesn't work, so each time you try you have to enter it again. This never worked for me after multiple tries! (I want the name and telephone number for the software engineer who set it up this way to give him/her an earful.) Thankfully I was able to connect the camera to the computer, download software to the computer and register online. Next, I tried to download the apps via Google Chrome, which did not work. Using Firefox I was able to download them slowly and one at a time. Instructions weren't very clear to me, possibly because of age, but any event it worked. Also the webiste was buggy and didn't let me go back easily to the page with the others apps to download, but I finally realized you have to go through path message to get back to the page with the other apps you may want to download. MY MESSAGE TO SONY - MAKE THIS AUTOMATIC ONCE A CAMERA OWNER CONNECTS TO A WIFI NETWORK OR COMPUTER!!! THE LITTLE BIT OF USER INFORMATION YOU ARE GETTING CAN BE OBTAINED THROUGH REGISTRATION AND WITHOUT FRUSTRATING THE BUYER!!!!!!Connecting the camera to an iphone works, but might not be intuitive to you. One place referred how to connect using my iphone as a network hotspot, a feature I don't use on my iphone. Luckily I found the instructions that tell you to USE THE CAMERA AS NETWORK ON YOUR WIFI setting on the iphone (SETTINGS, GENERAL, WIFI ...). When I first tried it, it wasn't there, but after a little while it popped up. You then need to enter the password the camera displays in the PlayMemories app, not the settings.Another thing I noticed is that the sync to telephone feature defaults to auto sync, which means when you turn off the camera it tries to connect to your telephone and sync the photos. If you are on a wifi network it won't work and the camera will keep looking for the connection burning through battery. The reason is that you need to go into settings and turn on the camera is the wifi network for this to work. (Obviously if you already had the camera as the wifi network this should work fine.) I turned the auto sync feature off.Everyone I talked to said get the viewfinder for sunny days. I listened. I wear bifocals and so far I have mixed impressions. I'll post on this once I use it more. I will say that I wish that the viewfinder was a little more rigid in place and that the diopter adjustment was easier. It works, but because the camera automatically switches back and forth between viewfinder and display, it is a pain. Also, I wasn't able to adjust it enough to use without glasses although that might be the solution for other people. I'm glad that the camera gives me some options about use, and I may just need to change settings. I also found the electrical viewfinder to be very different than the SLR and rangefinder cameras I've used in the past, as well as the older Olympus and Nikon digital cameras I used in the past. Once I use it for awhile, I may edit this and provide more info.The display and viewfinder do have an unbelievable amount of information available. I dimmed the display to save on battery life and it may have also dimmed the viewfinder - I can't tell yet.The pop up flash works and I understand the value of having it higher above the lens, but I still might prefer a flash I don't have to pop up.