Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX7V 16.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Still Camera with 10x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom G Lens, 3D Sweep Panorama, and Full 1080/60i HD Video (Black)

I always liked most Sony digital cameras, but could never really afford them too much unless they were on sale. So I got this older very good condition "used" Sony DSC-HX7V compact digital camera to replace another Sony compact digital camera that had a much smaller zoom and really did not take very good photos. Now, this Sony digital camera really is a nice one. I took some quick indoor and outdoor photos and photo qualities so far in good lighting conditions outdoors is outstanding! Video qualities are good too....and in stereo sound as well. The Menu System is pretty thorough and nice. You can change the background colors of your menu pages with 3 different colors....nice! PROS: >>Nice 10X optical zoom lens >>Nice menu layout >>Excellent outdoor photo qualities with no flash during daylight hours >>Great video qualities >>Uses common SD, SDHC or SDXC cards >>Only minor shutter lag >>Nice sized LCD rear view finder >>You can shoot manual mode photos here >>Strong built-in flash >>Has GPS built in for those that use it [I don't use GPS for photography at all] CONS: >>Fair to middlin outdoor low light photos >>No EVF, just the rear LCD viewfinder >>Burst shooting mode takes up to 10 photos, but there is about a 20 second delay while those photos are "processing" before you can resume taking photos. It's not a burst shooting mode seen like on my Canon or Panasonic Lumix digital cameras, but a Sony thing only. Overall, this compact Sony digital camera will completely fill the bill for any trips I may have coming up soon as it's the perfect digital camera for me to take on trips....good enough to take family photos, relative photos, outdoor photos and for those critters outdoors a bit further away, the zoom will zoom it in a bit for me to get an even better photo of it. I got a few extra batteries, NP-BG1 and one extra charger to make sure I always have at least a couple of fresh batteries ready to use during trips or local events. I overall will rate this Sony compact digital camera 5 of 5 with really as of now and so far......no major issues.....and this was a "very good conditioned used camera" I am using and rating as I got it here on Amazon used.

Just had it a few days, but some initital thoughts: Photos are great. 10x zoon is terrific. Burst photo is good for getting the right moment of a smile. That is, tell someone to smile, and using the burst feature, you raise the chances of capturing the smile at its peak. Many programming options, but one I don't see is setting the time a photo remains on the display. It's always gone by the time you turn it around to show someone the picture. The very high HD resolution is a blessing and a curse. These are the highest resolutions ever available to consumers, however, chances are your laptop/PC won't be capable of playing, let alone editing, these videos. Only the most recent, powerful, processers will be able to play these videos, and accompanying audio. Otherwise, playback is a black screen, or at best, choppy and full of dropouts. So you may have to choose between capturing at a high resolution for the future (when we all have more powerful processors), or capturing at the lower resultion for use now. I bought used at Amazon Warehouse Deals. I saved an appreciable amount of money, and am convinced the camera was never used (see wrist strap comment below). I was concerned when the camera had not shipped after about five days. When I contacted Amazon Warehouse to ask why it hadn't shipped, they said it had to do with using free Super Saver shipping (although I doubt they would have made their estimated delivery window). They offered to upgrade me to overnight shipping, and the camera arrived the next day. Good customer service response. A small but frustrating element of the design is the hole for the wrist band. It is too small!! I was only able to thread it through after many attempts, and using a bent paper clip to push it through, and a saftey pin to pull it the rest of the way.

First of all I'm not a photographer...I just love to document all the fun stuff I do and the places I go and take pictures or videos of my friends being silly. I've owned quite a few different point and shoot digital cameras over the years...the last one was a Canon 780 something and it was decent...but not super intuitive to use and the controls were really hard to see as I got the black model (black on black in a darkish room or outside at night and I may as well be blind.) It was also so small I was always afraid i was going to lose it, and that's exactly what happened. My roommate has a sony cybershot touch-screen model and she always gets really great shots, even in low light. And that's been my problem with all of my previous digital cameras - I can't get a clear shot in low light without using the flash, and with the flash everyone looks ghostly white and washed out. And it's impossible to capture anything with cool outdoor lighting (like pics at night at Burning Man.) So I decided to go with the Sony this time around, and I chose this model after reading a bunch of reviews that said it was a really good camera for someone like me who doesn't need a lot of manual control (although this does have that too) and just wants to be able to take great shots all the time without trying too hard. It really does work! What I see is what I get - I've never had a camera that took the photo exactly as I was seeing the scene with my eyes, even in low light. Video is great quality too! I don't know if it's just because the technology has finally progressed to a point where this is possible or if it really is a superior product, but I don't care...I love the camera! The only thing that is slightly annoying is the way it uploads from my memory card...i formatted it in the camera and the pics and especially videos are buried beneath several layers of folders containing seemingly nonsensical files. Not sure what that's about, but I'm getting used to it and I can live with that. Battery life isn't as long as my previous cameras but I just ordered an extra battery to solve that problem.