$368.00
Sony HX80 Sports Photography Score
Sony HX80 has a score of
32 for Sports Photography which makes it a
POOR candidate for this type of photography. If Sports Photography is important for you, we strongly recommend you to consider the Alternative cameras listed at the bottom of this page.
Read our detailed Sony HX80 Review
Sony HX80 Sports Photography Detailed Analysis
Fast Continuous Shooting: 10.0fps
In the world of sports photography, faster is always better.
Wireless Connection
It may not be used by everyone but pro sports photographers use Wi-fi to transfer files simultaneously without having to wait to change the memory card.
Manual Exposure Mode
Even though modern digital cameras features advanced algorithms to calculate the right exposure, they still may fail some difficult conditions. Manual exposure mode in these conditions helps a lot in order to achieve correct and consistent exposure.
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
During a sports shoot, using a viewfinder allows the photographer to stabilize the camera and reduce the camera shake since it is closer to the body. Besides, it comes handy where LCD screens are very hard to read under bright sunlight.
Image Stabilization
Image stabilization reduces the effects of camera shake at long focal lengths thus ensuring sharper photos during sports photography.
720 mm Tele Lens
720 mm reach lens will be adequate in most sports events.
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
Sony HX80's max shutter speed of 1/2000s is not the best in class but it will be enough to freeze the moment. A potential problem may be when you use a fast aperture at very strong light, your camera may overexpose because of slow max shutter speed
Environmental Sealings
Most outdoor sports games are held in all-weather, so your camera has to be ready for difficult conditions such as rain and snow. Exposure to dust and water splashes are also very common in sports.
Focus Points
In sports photography , you keep continuous autofocus (AFC) mode on for tracking the subject and more focus means better tracking.
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Sony HX80\s compact body is not very ideal for sports photography as it lacks the external dials and knobs to change the camera settings fast and the ergonomics doesn't help you to have the most stable shooting position.
No Manual Focus Mode
Compact cameras are not great at focusing moving objects especially at low light and your camera may not even fire bacause of not locking the focus, so manual focus mode is very useful at these times.
No External Flash Shoe
When shooting indoor sports or outdoor sports at low light, an external flash may become very helpful.
Slow Lens at Tele: f6.40
You will have hard time getting fast enough shutter speeds with a lens that is slow at tele.
No RAW shooting capability
RAW files contains much more color information compared to JPEGs, and gives you more room for post processing without significant quality loss. They provide wider dynamic range and option to recover shadow and highlight clipping to some degree.
You may also be interested in these reviews:
Sony HX80 for Portrait Photography Sony HX80 for Street Photography Sony HX80 for Carrying Everywhere Sony HX80 for Landscape Photography