Sony HX99 Performance

Very good performance for its class, but buffer clearing can be slow.

Startup to first shot time was good for a compact long-zoom camera. Play to Record switching was reasonably fast.

The Sony HX99's full autofocus shutter lag when shooting the same target multiple times was pretty fast for a compact camera. The HX99's full AF shutter lag clocked in at about 0.25 second at wide angle using center AF-S mode. Full AF shutter lag was even faster at full telephoto, at about 0.15 second. Enabling the flash raised shutter lag quite a bit to about 0.5 second, though, to account for the metering preflash. Manual focus shutter lag was quite fast at 29 milliseconds, and prefocused shutter lag was even faster at only 18 milliseconds.

Shot-to-shot cycle times were good in single-shot mode, at about 0.7 second for Large/Extra Fine JPEGs or RAW + Large/Extra Fine JPEG files. We no longer test just RAW file cycle time in single-shot mode, as it's usually somewhere in between JPEG and RAW + JPEG.

The Sony HX99's Speed Priority continuous shooting mode burst rate was quite good when shooting just JPEGs, averaging exactly 10 frames per second in our tests. When shooting RAW files, the HX99's top burst speed slowed to 7.3 frames per second, but that's still pretty quick. Do note that Speed Priority continuous mode locks autofocus, exposure and white balance at the first frame of a burst, though. In Standard continuous mode, the HX99 managed 3.8 fps for best quality JPEGs and 3.2 fps for RAW and RAW + JPEG files.

Buffer depths were excellent at about 103 Extra Fine JPEGs, 163 Fine JPEGs, 50 RAW or 50 RAW + LEF JPEG files in Speed Priority mode. In the slower Standard continuous mode, there didn't appear to be a buffer limit during our testing. Buffer clearing was sluggish, though, taking between 23 and 41 seconds to clear after max-length bursts depending on the file type with our fast Lexar 1000x MicroSDXC card, though the HX99 does let you change settings and view just-shot images while the buffer is clearing.

The built-in flash took an average of 5.9 seconds to recharge after a full-power discharge, which is on the slow side.

Bottom line, the Sony HX99's performance in the lab was generally quite good for its class, with relatively quick startup, fast AF, low shutter lag and a speedy 10 fps full-res burst speed when shooting JPEGs. The camera does slow down to 7.3 fps when shooting RAW files, but that's still pretty fast. Buffer clearing was however quite sluggish, taking up to 41 seconds after a max-length burst of RAW + Extra Fine JPEGs with a fast card.

Battery Life
Good battery life for its size.

The Sony HX99 uses a custom NP-BX1 rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and the battery is charged in-camera via the USB port. CIPA-rated battery life is good for its class at 370 shots per charge when using the LCD monitor or 300 shots when using the electronic viewfinder. Still, we recommend you pick up a spare battery for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))