Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1 9.1MP Digital Camera with 20x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization and 3.0 Inch LCD: Customer Reviews & Product Details

Excellant point and shoot.As good as some DSLR cameras.The HD movie mode and Sweep/panning mode work very well.An awesome little point and shoot.The 20x zoom is amazing.Get an extra battery and an 8 GB card.You'll need it for video.

I was looking for a camera as an upgrade from my Canon S3 IS. I did quite a bit of research (read lots of review and looked at photos from the reviewers/users). This camera wasn't even on my radar until I read a review/top 5 list on [...]. After reading their review, I came to amazon's customer reviews and read them all, then looked at all the customer photos. Afterwards I went to my local Best Buy to get a hands-on "feel". The camera felt sturdy in my hands and the grip was deep enough for my long fingers. I then tested out the zoom and macro - 2 features I use extensively...I was pleased with both.

3 days after I got the camera I used it for a 3-day camping trip. I was impressed with the zoom and macro capabilities. There were only a few occasions when I couldn't get the lens to focus on a subject: once was a flower that was blowing in the breeze (have the same problem with the S3 IS) another time, while staying on the trail, the zoom was too much to focus where I wanted and the brush kept me from being able to go over and shoot macro.

With that being said, the 10-shots per second is fun to use, but those 10-20 sec. (when writing to the disc) does feel like an eternity...especially when you want to keep shooting a wildlife subject. Indoor shots (outside of automatic setting) take forever, though I did get a really cool low light photo of the inside of our RV with just the rope lights on (had my elbows resting on the table).

Putting the camera in Intelligent Auto Adjustment mode helps. I was standing in the kitchen at home and pointed the camera down a dark hallway and got a phenomenal shot, I also used that setting in my niece's hospital room as it always looks like twilight time in there (my brother-in-law was impressed with the photos I was able to take).

As for battery life, I always use the viewfinder (except for some macro shots) so that does help give more time. I love seeing how much time is left on the battery - I tried it with the LCD first, made a mental note of remaining time, then switched to viewfinder and gained about 10 min.

If you're looking for a new digital camera, do your homework online and get a list together, then I highly recommend going to a store and trying out the different cameras you're looking at first. Check out how the camera feels in your hand, try out the zoom/macro modes and take some test shots. Then you can go back online and order your camera (if you can wait that long :)).

** 9/29/09 Update to battery info - I charged up the battery last night and put back in camera this morning. Turned it on (LCD view) battery showed 228 min. In less than 1 minute it showed 227 minutes...I switched to viewfinder and it showed I had 301 minutes left.

Excellent camera. Good features. Indoor photography at it best. Came out with natural color. Flash gives best results. 10fps is ok, but still not so impressive. Anyway we are not professionals to use this feature in its way. Panorama feature is mind blowing. Video quality is commendable. If you have a extra lighting indoor shooting will be interesting. Focusing time is very very short. Sony kept its word. Almost all features worked well. I am still experimenting on it. As of now after using the camera for 3 weeks and taking more than 800 photos I am really impressed with it. I just switched over from Panasonic Lumix FZ8. I am not at all disappointed.

I've been using this camera for the last 15 days, and it's almost perfect for an amateur, as I am. I can't talk about the auto settings, because I always shoot in Manual setting.
The image quality is very good, also in very law light conditions, easy to use, light weight, feels good in hand.
Of course there're always things that the brand could improve: minimum ISO is 125, in Manual setting there's only one button to set ISO, speed and f., you have to go to the menu to set in telefoto, and little other things that are to improve.
In summary, a very very good camera for amateurs. I heartily recommend it.

The product is excellent! Within a very short period of time I was able to function in the primary areas that I will operate in. The Cybershot makes it easy to switch from normal picture taking, to an awesome panoramic capturing capability, into an HD movie. Maybe I'm an easy mark, but everyone that I've shown the camera to is in awe. I'm excited and looking forward to becoming more proficient with this versitile piece of equipment!