Hello nilshv - Welcome to the Sony Forums

By 'corny', do you mean that the picture is getting pixelated when you go to the highest level of zoom? If so, this may be because the camera is reverting from the optical zoom (the work is being done by the lens) to digital zoom (where the camera processor takes over) and when it passes this mark, this is where pixelation can occur.

To turn the digital zoom off, take a look at this section of the user guide:

http://esupport.sony.com/docs/dvimag/DSCHX200_HX200V_guide/en/contents/06/02/05/05.html?search=digital%20zoom

You may find this version easier to navigate than the manual! Turning it off will prevent the zoom going beyond the capabilities of the optical zoom lens. If this doesn't improve your images, let me know and I will take a look at the attached images in the forum (they won't open for me at the moment but that may be more of an issue at my end than yours).

Thanks,

Simon

I agree with cmosse, the images you posted up look ok to me. The flowers look odd because they're out of focus. You should check that the camera hasn't locked-on to the table or wall behind, as seems to be the case here, before you take the shot.

I wouldn't say you're being picky at all, in fact I admit to being a little surprised myself, the first time I saw an HX-series image at 100%. Indeed, the 'corny' look you refer to has had a lot of people disconcerted, but I believe the issue is more down to the way experienced users have come to expect a digital shot to look at 100%.

The short explanation is that these cameras are designed to work like this: intended for advanced amateur use, they look their best at reasonable reproduction sizes. Poster-sized prints, large-screen displays etc should be quite possible and should look perfectly 'normal' at normal viewing distances, but the expectation is that HX-series users will rarely, if ever, display anything more than A4-sized versions of their shots. At that size they can and often do look stunning...

The smoothing and de-noising algorithms used in the HX-series do produce an odd-looking, mottled appearance at 100%, but they are sharpened and tonally-adjusted, as well as smoothed, in order to be print-ready straight out of the camera. That's why they look so good when displayed smaller, as you don't see the processing artifacts (corny stuff) this tends to produce.

My suggestion to users who want to fix their own noise, check the image at pixel level and correct tone and sharpness from RAW files, is to move up to an alpha-series, such as a NEX-5.

Cheers

Mick