Sony Cyber-shot HX200V Digital Camera Review

Sharpness

Sharpness is decent for a camera with such a long focal range. We measured upwards of 2000 MTF50s at the dead center of the frame at the wide-angle setting, which is frankly where most people are going to take most of their pictures. Sharpness drops off significantly at the edges and as the zoom range extends, falling to a mediocre 650 MTF50s in the middle of the focal range at the edge of the frame.

We did measure a bit of an improvement in sharpness compared to last year's HX100V; assuming that the lenses are basically similar, the uptick is in line with what we'd expect from the resolution increase—18.2 megapixels this year, up from 16.2 last year.

Some artificial edge sharpening is at work, but that's always the case with point-and-shoots (even DSLRs, really). You won't notice any haloing unless you're looking for it. Sharpness can also be dialed up or down a notch. More on how we test sharpness.