Rating

This is a really nice camera. It does a very excellent job of “point & shoot”, but also has some more advanced features.

Rating

Brilliant Zoom, fantastic image quality, fantastic features (panoramic pictures brilliant) , I’m pleased with my new camera, simple of use is incredible. five stars, and all accesories are very useful.

Rating

I recently bought the Sony HX1 to replace an ancient Olympus 10x zoom point & shoot we’ve had for 7 years. I did a ton of research, read all the reviews out there, and went to the stores to play with all the cameras. We were considering going with the smaller pocket size cameras this time but were not impressed with any of their recovery times between pics and their ability to take multiple shots in rapid succession. This camera is ridiculously quick in burst mode (I reckon the only quicker cameras are DSLR’s# and can capture up to 10 pics in a row in no time flat #I reckon the fps is equivalent to 10 or 14#. This is really, really #did I stress really!) helpful when trying to get some excellent pictures of your small 11 month ancient who doesn’t like to sit still long enough for other cameras to let you get more than one or two tries at a pic before he moves. On high burst mode, you can snap off 10 pics in a split second and catch that elusive smile with open eyes while looking at you. We’ve gotten some fantastic shots and we’ve only had the camera a few weeks.

The menus and control buttons/wheels on the camera are pretty simple to use and we caught on to nearly all of them without even opening the owner’s manual. I would give Sony high marks for the ease of use of their menu and buttons.

The camera feels very comfortable in your hand and is pretty balanced as well. For it’s size, it feels remarkably light. I reckon the li-ion battery that Sony gives you helps with the camera weight as well.

Another pretty cool function on the camera is the anti-blur setting on the main wheel. It allows you to take pics without the flash in lower light conditions and helps you to reduce any blur while taking the pics. To do this, the camera essentially takes multiple pictures in immediate succession that are in slightly different exposures and then overlays them on each other to get a picture that is lit pretty well without being blurred due to a slower exposure.

Also pretty impressive is the video taking abilities of this camera. It takes video in high def, stereo sound, and you can zoom while you’re shooting video. The video quality is pretty excellent too. I have a digital video camera already but it’s not high def and I’ll have to admit it’s pretty convenient having the ability to take still and video with one device. Get yourself at least the 8 gig card for a couple extra bucks though so video doesn’t eat up your card.

If you ever take panorama pics and would like a camera to take all the hassle of stitching the pics together, this is also the camera for you. This thing could not be more simple to use in its panorama setting (again accessible from the main wheel). You just hold down the shutter and sweep the camera to the right and when you release the shutter button the camera instantly stitches the pictures together for you and displays one panoramic image. I don’t really take panoram pics (or at least not yet) so this is just more of a “my camera can do this” to me right now.

In summary, this camera is well worth its price (which appears to be dropping some at least during the holidays) and its features, zoom, appearance, feeling, are top notch. It may not please the right camera buffs who want to fiddle with every manual option available for but for the average camera user (me), this thing couldn’t be better. Oh yeah, the screen is also phenomenal and the tilt up/down feature is pretty cool too (excellent for shooting above crowds or holding camera low while viewing what you’re shooting). For the average camera user, there is absolutely no need to bother with a DSLR with a camera like this around. And when you place the HX1 up against Canon’s, Nikon’s, Olympus’, Panasonic’s, etc. comparable offerings, this thing runs circles around them! If you are looking for a excellent, well appointed, Quick!, point and shoot with a long zoom and common sense menus/buttons, that will make you look like you know what you’re doing, this camera is for you.

Rating

This is a fantastic camera if you want to point and shoot. Quality is excellent. Like the ability to shoot in low light without a tripod.

Also makes a small HI DEF video.

Replaced an older sony camera that was stolen. Cost $300 less, and does pretty much the same thing as the older camera, and a few things the older one did not.

If you a camera geek, you won’t like it, but if you just want to get the job done, or want really excellent home photos, it is a very excellent camera.

This particular package has a nice memory stick, a worthless bag, an extra battery, and a honestly excellent tripod.