Sony's latest camera may be foolproof

Published on Thursday 18 June 2009 12:24

How long will it be until we see the world's first digital camera that will take the photos for you? No longer will you need to worry about framing the shot, getting everyone smiling or pressing the shutter release, the supercomputer built into your camera will do it all for you. The Sony Cyber-shot HX1 Digital Camera is one small step en route to this dream.

We're getting used to futuristic features such as face detection. The HX1 takes such things to the next level. It includes face motion detection, face memory functions, even an "enhanced smile shutter" which automatically takes a photo when your subject smiles. If you're looking for a perfect Hollywood smile rather than a tentative smirk, you can even fiddle with the "adjustable smile threshold".

The HX1's 9.1 megapixels are backed up by a 28mm wide angle Premium G Lens with a 20x optical zoom. With its EXMOR CMOS sensor, BIONZ processor and other features that sound more like superheroes from a Marvel comic book it seems like the HX1 is more determined than an SAS sniper to make the shot count.

This extends to the HX1's "sweep panorama" mode – just press the shutter button and sweep the camera from left to right across the magnificent vista in front of you. The HX1 fires off a burst of shots and then automatically stitches them together into an impressive panoramic masterpiece.

What takes the HX1 to the next level is that it also includes 1080p high definition video recording at 30 frames per second.

Whereas on most digital cameras video recording is a fun but reasonably useless extra, the HD recording capability on the HX1 means that you can seriously consider leaving your camcorder at home.

With this many features, the greatest challenge is actually trying to take a bad photo.

n The Sony Cyber-shot HX1 is available for 499. Visit www.sony.co.uk for more details.