2011-07-02

Sony HX9V vs HX5 photo and video comparison


After all the comparisons let´s not forget the star from 2010 the Sony HX5
How much does the Sony HX9V improve - or not.

Kodachrome 21 blog checks out the HX9V and compares with the HX5.




check out the Sony HX9V vs HX5V at least in 720p (better in 1080p)

Top is the HX9V, bottom is the HX5.
You are the judge.
In some images you might need to swivel your screen a bit to see the full detail.

check the scales from the dragon and the area under the roof




check the clarity of the writing and the detail in the bright part of the stones




check out the detail in the shadow area






compare the detail underneath and on the right side of the picture


check out the diagonal lines





check out the detail in the roof paneling and the detail in the sky lights









check out the detail in the stones from the wall below the Food Court sign






The more advanced image processing of the HX9V brings out more details, smooth out "imperfections", has a higher dynamic range and brings out more details in dark areas like the church scene where I would have expected the HX5 would be better.

But you can get a lot more out of the HX5 images via post processing than you are able get out of the HX9V since Sony already did most of the post processing for you.
With the in camera processed images of the HX9V Sony walks a thin line of keeping the noise in check without loosing too much detail and sharpening only selected areas and not the whole image.
I would love to see how this kind of advanced image processing looks with a NEX camera.
at

18 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 17, 2011 at 8:47 AM

    Overall no improvement to see. The pictures from the HX5V can be adjusted easily via a photoshop programm like "FIXFOTO" and will look like HX9V pictures (more saturation and sharpness). Anyway I will buy the new one HX9V - the blog here was a good decision maker for me.

    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  2. JoeApril 17, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    Jo, I added some hints where I notice visible differences in the photos and you are right in your post processing observation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 17, 2011 at 1:16 PM

    Ups - not read yet.

    But the worse thing is: What should I do now ;)? it seems it´s the same camera only adjusted by some software processings and more Megapixels and better video functions. Yes I will still buy the HX9V cam - but funny to see that there is no real improvement in picture quality.

    Anyway - I think we are all complaining on a high level - if you look on your picture on your flatscreen you won´t see any of these datails we were talking about, right?

    Another question: Did you already write an article about the software called "FIXFOTO"?

    English
    http://www.arcadiasoftware.com/photoperfect-introduction.html

    German:
    http://www.j-k-s.com/

    A very very good software to adjust your pictures by on click via separate filter.

    Regards
    jo

    ReplyDelete
  4. JoeApril 18, 2011 at 12:46 AM

    jo, I only cover free software briefly and there will be not much improvement since we left the 4MP for P&S sensors see my info about the Airy Disk and sensor size

    ReplyDelete
  5. BDApril 22, 2011 at 7:53 AM

    Joe, i developed pictures from the Tx100v (which has the very same sensor as Hx9v) the way you suggest (FastStoneImage Viever: setting sharpening to 10, contrast to 6 and saturation to 10 and 50% resizing) and the pictures looks so good. I tried to get the same results with lightroom and it is a nightmare to tweak each picture the same way the fastStoneImage Viewer does in batch.

    Thanks for sharing this information.

    You wrote in another post, that you dont tweak pictures which are taken in bright situations.

    Can you write more (maybe a new post) about your workflow? How do you handle a bunch of pictures (lets say 1000) which are taken on a long holiday?

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 22, 2011 at 11:18 AM

    BD,

    I prefer FixFoto 3.x to tweak pictures. Beside to all the usual functions this programm has two very good one-click filters called "perfectly clear" and "XE847" and "I²E". You can do standard adjustments to these filters and save it. Then you can do a batch - but I work each photo hand by hand because it depends on the photo which filter to take. But the nice thing is that you can compare the change direct to the original picture and then you need only a few seconds for one picture.

    Reg
    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  7. JoeApril 22, 2011 at 12:16 PM

    BD since the new Faststone version what uses also USM sharpening the slider is mostly up to 18 and I love getting the detail out of the shadow with Adjust Lighting and the Shadows slider up to 50 or in extremes up to 100.
    I don´t do batch processing since I archive most pictures just the way they are. If I have a special one I start to optimize. For my way of watching the pictures (on a 120") full HD projected screen they all look fine even zoomed in. - But then, my eye sight is far from perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  8. BDApril 22, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    Ah OK,

    let me ask a last question:

    i will be on a short vacation. Unfortunately my preordered Hx9v will not make the way to me until the beginning of my vacation. I am considering to buy either Hx5 or Hx7 from Amazon warehouse which i will consider to send back after trying it (or the cam convinces me to stay with me).

    I will get the Hx5 for 170 € and Hx7 for 270 €. For which should i go for in your opinion? I will mainly use it for videoing and low light because i will carry a TZ10 with me anyway.

    As far as i know the Hx7 can not cope with Hx9 cause it delivers onle 1080i - but the frame rate is some more as the Hx5 - right?

    On the other hand i can use the superior automatic mode of the Hx7v. Iam pretty unsure which to go for.

    ReplyDelete
  9. JoeApril 23, 2011 at 11:54 AM

    the superior just includes the 3 multi frame modes. video i liked best in 720p with the hx5 (see my blog why). i would go with the hx5 and the 10mp sensor

    ReplyDelete
  10. BerndApril 24, 2011 at 3:48 PM

    Joe,

    can you tell me more about settings of Hx5 (still images) you used in different situations? There is a huge setting thread in a german forum for Panas TZ10 - i love that thread because you get best quality ooc.

    In a german forum one worte, that he gets best result with Hx5 (and he took a lot of images) with following settings:
    16:9, 7MP, P-Mode, ISO=Auto, Flash always off, EV=-0,7 to -1,0

    EV for videoing always -1,0.

    What do you think?

    IMO,one has to have an eye on ISO: When cam chooses ISO=800 its time to to set up the HHT-Mode.

    Furthermore i have read about your HDR post: you were not satisfied with results....

    ReplyDelete
  11. JoeApril 24, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    Bernd, no I did not care much for the HX5 HDR mode (see my hx5 blog post). I prefer to measure the brightest area (I do the same with the panorama mode) then holding the shutter half pressed reframe and shoot. In PP I get the detail out of the shadows (see my Faststone info).
    I shoot most with ISO set to 125 since my shooting conditions are mostly sunny. Flash is off to save on battery but I often use a forced fill in flash outside and nearly always when shooting super macro. The focus is mostly set to center. I have the histogram constantly visible so EV is adjusted when needed. My HX5 handles video very well so I never bothered with any adjusting there.

    You are welcome to share links here (no problem with the German).

    ReplyDelete
  12. BerndApril 24, 2011 at 6:08 PM

    Joe,

    thanks for sharing this information. I stated here all what the user from the german forum posted. I dont want to bother you with that conversation. I will follow the thread and when there is something interesting i will post it here.

    At the moment iam trying to find out, if the sound quality of Hx7 is as poor as Hx5. I will get back if i found some information about it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. JoeApril 25, 2011 at 1:23 AM

    Bernd, I am always happy to see something I did not know before, so if you mention a forum, a link is appreciated. The quality is better, already mentioned here on the blog in the comparison.

    ReplyDelete
  14. PabloMay 16, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    Hi. Great blog!

    I have an HX5V and I'm planning to buy a HX9V, I wanna know if the HX5V battery charger is compatible with the HX9V's battery.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  15. MarkJune 7, 2011 at 8:19 PM

    Are these photos zoomed or cropped or something? Cuz they pretty much suck! I've been thinking about getting an HX9V but after seeing these samples I don't know... yeah HX9V is better than its predecessor but my 4-year-old $150 Canon P&S takes far better pics than either of the Sonys!

    ReplyDelete
  16. JoeJune 9, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Mark, as I always state they are 100% lossless crops from the original photo. Blogger recompresses them again a bit but if you click on them you get the original pixel size crop.

    ReplyDelete
  17. JoeJune 9, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    Pablo, yes the battery and charger from the HX5 is compatible

    ReplyDelete
  18. JayAugust 6, 2012 at 8:32 PM

    Too bad there is no RAW mode on the HX9V.
    Otherwise it would have been the ultimate P&S camera!

    ReplyDelete

If you want to talk to me, use the comments box at the end of the post. No need to register or log in. If possible choose a name for easy answering.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)