I am replying 4 years later and that may be some kind of record. One has to be so careful with camera review sites like this that attract experts and enthusiasts who are in turn attracted to cameras with higher specs on paper and more expensive cameras. Me too.
By way of context I own a Nikon D5500 with a wide variety of lenses, I had a Sigma DP Quattro and explored that world for a while, I have a Sony RX100 and other cheaper camera models and a Sony HX60, that my wife tends to use. When we go somewhere interesting, we both take our cameras, the Nikon D5500 and the Sony HX60. Then when we get home we download and compare results on a large 4k monitor, actually a pair of 4k monitors, an IPS and a TN, side by side.
On paper the Nikon is in a different league to the RX60. (I do recognise that there are better DSLR and mirrorless cameras available than the Nikon D5500, however the Nikon is a decent mid range DSLR)
Ignoring the photo composition, which my wife sometimes gets better than I do, it is not possible to tell the images from these cameras apart. Sure I have a wide angle lens for the Nikon that obviously gives me an edge in some situations, however that is just a hardware edge and an advantage of an interchangeable lens camera. However the Sony HX60 has a 30x optical zoom, the equivalent of 720mm and it uses this almost without distortion retaining epic image quality. I have a 300mm lens for the Nikon D5500 that simply cannot compete in clarity or zoom. Actually I have two 300mm Nikon Nikkor lenses and neither can compete with the Sony at 300mm despite each costing a fair bit more that the whole Sony camera. And of course without remortgaging my house I cannot afford a decent 700mm DSLR lens.
Some people may think I am doing something wrong, however all I can say is that I have studied the images and sometimes the same images from both cameras along side each other, with my wife too, and they are indistinguishable. I am talking 10,000 images. Literally we cannot tell which image is which until we check the image info. We pick the best image and then are amused when we discover who took it.
So, all I can conclude is that the Sony HX 60 is a very compact, extremely versatile, very affordable camera, that takes excellent images. The main downsides are low light performance, lack of view finder and obviously 24mm is the max wide angle performance. Considering the cost and hassle of transporting a DSLR I often consider that I would be better with the Sony HX 60 and I could have bought about 7 of those for the cost of my Nikon kit.
In terms of phones, I have a Samsung S21 Ultra and my wife has a Apple iphone 12. These cameras are superior in low light conditions compared to either Nikon or the Sony cameras. With portrait photography the phones also do well in terms of general image impression. However the phones are still a long way shy of the cameras in terms of general photography and image quality. The S21 ultra has the best zoom functionality at 10x optical however neither phone can compete with the image quality of the Nikon or the Sony cameras and they cannot get anywhere near the 30 x optical zoom quality of the Sony HX60. I read one reviewer that said the HX60 gives a similar outcome to a modern mobile phone and this is completely incorrect in my experience. The Sony HX60 or Nikon D5500 is way better than a mobile phone in almost all regards except low light. Interesting that 2014 release camera can still beat a 2021 release phone.
Mind you the best images I have ever taken are on the Sigma DP Quattro. I sold that because out of 2,000 images taken, about 3 were completely brilliant, and the rest were pretty poor. I could not figure out where I was going wrong with the 1,997 poor images so gave up as the pain to brilliance ratio was too much, and we find the Nikon and Sony tend to produce a consistently good image.
I probably need to switch to mirrorless at some point and I would be interested to hear some real experiences of how mirrorless compares to DSLR (or compact zoom!). I would like real reviews where people do not claim some camera is in a different league when in practice they are simply not. Maybe someone who has taken 1,000s of images on a DSLR and a mirrorless and can truly describe the differences in objective and measured terms.
By way of completeness I remain of the view that the camera is only a part of the photographer experience and truly great images are often not those that you expect containing some random magic ingredient that is undefinable until you see it.
