The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 is an affordable super-zoom camera, offering a 63x, 24.5-1550mm zoom lens, 20.1 megapixel Super HAD CCD sensor, 720p HD video recording with stereo sound, and Sweep Panoramas. Other key features of the Sony H400 include a 3 inch LCD screen, electronic viewfinder, ISO range of 80-6400, Optical SteadyShot with Active Mode which cuts camera-shake while you're shooting handheld HD video, Intelligent Auto, Program and full Manual shooting modes, a range of Picture Effects, support for both Memory Stick PRO Duo and Secure Digital cards, and a lithium-ion battery. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 is available in black for £250 / $299.

Sony's new Cyber-shot DSC-H400 is styled very much like an entry-level DSLR camera, complete with a viewfinder and mock-pentaprism housing on top. It's definitely a camera to be worn around the neck, slung over a shoulder - with a strap provided for both purposes - or tucked away in a suitable bag. The generous rubberized handgrip is large enough to squeeze three fingers comfortably around and usefully has indentations for your top two fingers, and when loaded with the supplied lithium-ion battery and an SD or Memory Stick Pro Duo card, it weighs 655g, which although on the heavy side for a modern bridge camera helps to provide a steadier hold when shooting towards the telephoto end of the zoom. To further help prevent blurred shots in such circumstances and in low light, Sony has also provided optical 'SteadyShot' image stabilization.

The build and finish is of good quality, with the all-black matt finish to the body and various DSLR-like dials and controls on initial inspection lending it an impression of being a 'serious' enthusiasts' model. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400's relatively compact size also means that locating the right control is never a stretch for forefinger or thumb. Most of the features you want to access are literally at your fingertip, which of course makes for speedier overall operation. Overall dimensions are 129.6mm x 95.0mm x 122.3mm, not bad for a camera with a 63x zoom!

The front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 is dominated by that huge Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens, here boasting a maximum aperture of f/3.4 and a focal range the equivalent of an ultra-wide angle 24.5mm to a super-telephoto 1550mm in 35mm film terms, providing more than enough reach for those paparazzi style candid portraits at full zoom, as well as landscapes and group portraits at the wider end. It does seem that zoom length has replaced the number of megapixels in the race to be the "best", at least for bridge cameras, although in our view trying to keep the camera steady enough to take a sharp picture at such long focal lengths is almost impossible when hand-holding the camera, and tricky even when mounting it ona tripod. We also get an AF assist/self time lamp porthole top left of the lens when viewing the camera front on.

The top plate of the camera extends the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400's sophisticated look and feel, with a chunky stereo microphone sitting just behind the otherwise hidden pop-up flash. To the right of this, when looking down at the camera as you grip it in both hands, is the narrow lozenge shaped on/off button, with an embedded lamp that glows green when the camera is switched on, or orange if the battery is low and the unit is being recharged. Incidentally we don't get a separate mains charger here. Instead there's a mains lead, adapter and plug, meaning that the lithium ion pack is charged in-camera. When your battery is down, so therefore is the camera, so it's a good idea to invest in at least one spare battery.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 takes just over one second to power up, the lens extending a little beyond its protective housing to arrive at maximum 24.5mm wideangle setting while the image on the rear LCD pops into life. While a little slower than an actual DSLR, that's very respectable for this class of bridge camera.

The DSC-H400 is commendably swift to determine focus and exposure at the wider focal lengths, with the AF point/s highlighted in green on screen almost the instant your finger presses down on the shutter release button and finds the half-way point. It's a different story at full telephoto, however, where it takes at least a few seconds for the camera to lock focus, so don't expect to be able to track fast-moving animals or the like. Press down fully to take the shot and a full resolution 20 megapixel JPEG is committed to removable media card in just over three seconds.

Keep a forefinger on the zoom lever that encircles the shutter release button and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 powers through its 63x optical zoom range from wide angle to telephoto in about eight seconds. Continue holding down the lever and it will continue zooming digitally to a 126x equivalent setting (if Digital Zoom is enabled and set to Precision in the menu). If this option is taken the camera deploys the fantastically named Pixel Super Resolution technology that automatically enhances imagery to avoid the usual blocky appearance of conventional digital zooms.

Next to the power button is a raised, ridged-edged shooting mode button with an action that is isn't quite stiff enough to prevent the user accidentally slipping from one setting to the next in the thick of it. There are 8 options on this dial. We get the creative options of program, aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual mode settings, plus Sony's now ubiquitous Sweep Panorama function, whereby the user pans through an arc as directed by the on-screen arrows - the resulting elongated shot automatically stitched together in camera. It's both very effective and very easy to use.

Also on the dial is a dedicated High Definition video mode for up to 720p 1280x720 pixel clips at 30fps (Fine or Standard quality), but no 1080p/i mode. There's a dedicated video record button on the rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400, or you can choose the Video mode on the shooting mode dial and then press the shutter button to begin recording. A press of menu when in video mode summons up a variety of options for adjusting the video resolution and frame rate, and also switch from intelligent auto video recording to applying picture effects, as we more usually can with stills photography. There's also the ability to set exposure compensation and white balance. Another bonus is that full use of the optical zoom is provided in movie mode, as is automatic focus adjustment if you alter framing or swap subjects mid-sequence.

Scene modes are up next and there are 11 user selectable options on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400, covering everything from the usual portraits to shooting landscapes by night and even handheld; pet, beach, snow and fireworks mode round out the more usual suspects. Rounding off the shooting mode options is the scene and subject recognizing and thereby automatically adjusting Intelligent Auto mode.

With the shutter release button and the zoom lever that encircles it comfortably sloping forward at the top of the handgrip, the last control on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400's minimalist top plate is the Finder/Monitor button for switching between the EVF and the rear LCD screen. The EVF is unfortunately tiny and of low-resolution - it's so poor that we only used it at the very long focal lengths as a neccessary means of trying to steady the camera, or in very bright sunlight when we struggled to see the rear LCD screen. There is also a very stiff and imprecise dioptre control for glasses wearers.

The rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 is dominated by the 3-inch, 460k dot resolution LCD screen. In terms of controls the back of the camera looks slightly sparse mainly due to the small dimensions of the actual buttons, though in fact most of the essentials are here. A dedicated movie record button sits to the top- right of the LCD screen, alongside the textured and generously-sized thumb-grip.

Beneath is the Menu button, a press of which summons a toolbar. This appears ranged to the left hand side of the screen. It's here that we have access to most of the camera's shooting and setup options - surprisingly missing a function reset button but otherwise offering all the regulars - and the in-camera help guide for beginners.

A familiar four-way control pad at the bottom right of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400's backplate features options for controlling the rear display, flash settings (with red eye reduction turned on or off via the menu screens), exposure compensation, and the self timer (two or 10 seconds). Completing the rear of the DSC-H400 are the self-explanatory Playback and Delete buttons.

On either flank of the camera is a metal lug for attaching the provided shoulder strap, while on the left hand flank there is a flip-open door protecting the camera's AV Out / USB port. Incidentally battery life of the lithium-ion cell inserted in the base of the handgrip is around 300 shots. Finally a metal screw thread is located dead centre of the camera's base plate.

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 20 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 produced images of fairly good quality during the review period. It didn't handle noise that well, becoming all too obvious at ISO 400, and then becoming progressively worse at the faster settings of ISO 800 and 1600, and finally the unusable ISO 3200 setting.

Chromatic aberrations were in evidence but were well-controlled, with some limited purple fringing effects appearing in high contrast situations. The 20 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can increase the in-camera sharpening level.

Macro performance is excellent only allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure. The maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds allows the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.

The DRO feature dramatically increases the detail in the shadow and highlight areas, there's a handful of creative Picture Effects on offer, while the Sweep Panorama mode makes it simple to take wide-vista shots.

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400's 63x zoom lens offers an incredibly versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:

24.5mm

1550mm

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are just a little soft and ideally benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively you can change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 handled chromatic aberrations fairly well during the review, with some purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 allows you to focus on a subject that is 1cm away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

The flash settings on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 are Auto, Forced Flash, Slow Syncro, No Flash, with a Red-eye Reduction option in the Main menu. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (24.5mm)

Forced Flash - Wide Angle (24.5mm)

Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (1550mm)

Forced Flash - Telephoto (1550mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Forced Flash setting or the Red-Eye Correction option caused any amount of red-eye.

Forced Flash

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 80.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

DRO is Sony's solution for improving shadow and highlight detail in photos taken in contrasty light, significantly increasing the image's dynamic range. The examples below show the effect of turning this feature on.

Off

Standard

Plus

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 offers a limited range of 4 creative Picture Effects.

Off

Toy Camera

Pop Color

Partial Color

Soft High-Key

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 allows you to take panoramic images very easily, by 'sweeping' with the camera while keeping the shutter release depressed. The camera does all the processing and stitching and even successfully compensates for moving subjects.

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 camera, which were all taken using the 20.1 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

1/640s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/160s · f/5 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/60s · f/6.1 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/80s · f/6.1 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/200s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/5.8 · ISO 320 Download Original

1/400s · f/4.1 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/250s · f/4.9 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/4.9 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/6.2 · ISO 160 Download Original

1/500s · f/5.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/5.8 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/30s · f/3.4 · ISO 200 Download Original

1/30s · f/4.7 · ISO 160 Download Original

1/20s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/25s · f/3.4 · ISO 100 Download Original

1/50s · f/3.4 · ISO 200 Download Original

1/100s · f/3.4 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/200s · f/3.4 · ISO 800 Download Original

1/500s · f/3.4 · ISO 1600 Download Original

1/800s · f/3.4 · ISO 3200 Download Original

1/25s · f/4.7 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/100s · f/5.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/30s · f/4.3 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/320s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/320s · f/4.1 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/320s · f/4.6 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/100s · f/5.1 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/60s · f/6.4 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/50s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/40s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/400s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/100s · f/4.7 · ISO 400 Download Original

1/250s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/1250s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/800s · f/4.3 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/5 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/5 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/640s · f/4.3 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/160s · f/5.8 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/5.5 · ISO 100 Download Original

1/1500s · f/4.1 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/640s · f/5.5 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/200s · f/4.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/200s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/4.7 · ISO 320 Download Original

1/1250s · f/4.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/2000s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/1250s · f/4.5 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/1000s · f/5.3 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/4.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/5.5 · ISO 100 Download Original

1/1000s · f/4.1 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/250s · f/5.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/200s · f/5.5 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/160s · f/5.5 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/400s · f/5.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/6.1 · ISO 100 Download Original

1/125s · f/6.1 · ISO 100 Download Original

1/400s · f/6.1 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/200s · f/4.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/200s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/100s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/1000s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/500s · f/4.7 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/250s · f/3.6 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/5.2 · ISO 100 Download Original

1/500s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/1250s · f/3.4 · ISO 80 Download Original

1/125s · f/5.2 · ISO 100 Download Original

1/125s · f/6 · ISO 80 Download Original

This is a sample video from the Sony CyberShot DSC-HX200V camera at the highest quality setting of 1280x720 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 21 second movie is 23.4Mb in size.

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Front of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 / Pop-up Flash

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Side of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 / Turned On

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 is a rather unexciting super-zoom camera with one stand-out feature, at least in marketing terms - its mammoth 63x, 24.5-1550mm lens. Whilst this sounds incredible on paper and is sure to gain the DSC-H400 more attention than it perhaps deserves, the reality of trying to take a sharp photo at such extreme focal lengths is a frustrating one, thanks to the DSC-H400's glacially slow autofocus, terrible electronic viewfinder and noisy images at ISO 400 and above. We can't help feeling that many would-be buyers of the otherwise beginner-friendly Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 will ultimately be disappointed by the camera's image quality, especially when they naturally take advantage of that huge zoom.

In bright daylight we were just about able to achieve satisfactorily sharp results shooting handheld with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400, but once the light levels fall, it's tricky to keep the subject in focus, unless you use a high ISO speed and accept that your images will be very noisy and lack any fine detail. This is most definitely not a camera for low-light shooting, something that's accentuated further when using the extreme reaches of the focal range. Video quality is also disappointingly still limited to 720p, rather than full 1080 HD as most cameras seem to offer these days.

Build quality is surprisingly good considering the modest asking price, with a very nice handgrip, but as you'd expect the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 doesn't have too many bells and whistles in terms of features - you'd need to spend a lot more on the company's HX-series super-zooms to get the latest technologies. For some users, this might actually be a plus point, as the H400 is at least refreshingly simple to use for beginners, but the poor EVF, so-so LCD screen and only 720p video look out-of-place on a 2014 super-zoom camera.

In summary, specifying such a long zoom lens on such a cheap camera seems more like a marketing exercise than anything else, with the zoom range seemingly replacing megapixels as the latest must-have feature. Ultimately, the rest of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400's specification simply can't match up to its lens, which will ultimately alienate the beginner target audience, rather than impress them.

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400.

The Canon PowerShot SX510 HS is a small super-zoom camera with a 30x zoom lens. The Canon SX510 also offers 12 megapixels, a 3-inch LCD screen, wi-fi and GPS connectivity, full manual controls and 1080p HD movies. Read our in-depth Canon PowerShot SX510 HS review now...

The Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 is a brand new super-zoom camera sporting a massive 50x zoom lens. The SL1000 also features a 16 megapixel sensor, tilting 3-inch LCD screen, electronic viewfinder, 1080i movies, 10fps burst shooting, full range of manual shooting modes and RAW format support. Read the World's first Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 review now...

The new Kodak PixPro AZ521 super-zoom camera features a massive 52x zoom lens with a focal range of 24-1248mm. Other highlights of the affordable Kodak AZ521 include a 3 inch LCD screen, full 1080p HD movies, and a 16 megapixel CMOS sensor. Read our in-depth Kodak PixPro AZ521 review now...

The Nikon Coolpix P600 is a new super-zoom bridge camera with an incredible 60x zoom lens. The Nikon P600 also has a back illuminated 16 megapixel CMOS sensor, 3-inch 921K-dot vari-angle LCD screen, full 1080p high-definition movies with stereo sound, built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, an electronic viewfinder and 7fps burst shooting. Read our Nikon Coolpix P600 review to find out just what a 60x zoom lens is capable of...

The Olympus SP-820UZ is a bridge compact camera that boasts a 40x zoom lens with an incredible focal range of 22.4-896mm. The 14 megapixel Olympus SP-820UZ also offers a 3 inch LCD screen, 1080p movie recording and a Backlight HDR mode. Read our in-depth Olympus SP-820UZ review to find out if this super-zoom is worth the £280 / $330 asking price...

The brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72 super-zoom camera (also known as the DMC-FZ70) features a massive 60x zoom lens with a focal range of 20-1200mm, the biggest of any camera on the market. Other highlights of the FZ72 / FZ70 include a 3 inch LCD screen, full 1080i HD movies, 9fps burst shooting, P/A/S/M modes, RAW support, a flash hotshoe and a 16.1 megapixel MOS sensor. Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72 review now...

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