Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V 16.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Still Camera with 16x Optical Zoom G Lens, 3D Sweep Panorama and Full HD 1080/60p Video

I received this camera as a Christmas present. I've been looking for a nice new camera to replace my 5, or 6 year old 8mp Sony Cybershot. While it served me well and still works great, I've been wanting a new camera that is able to take high definition video. What I loved most about my old camera was how fast I could snap pictures. While it had a tendency to sometimes produce out of focus pictures when I took rapid shots, I often was able to take two, or three shots before most others got off one and at least one picture, usually more, came out nice and sharp.The HX9V is equally impressive at taking quick snap shots on full auto. I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination, but because I like to attend Renaissance Faires, I end up taking thousands of pictures every year. Most of the time, I need to take them quickly, with little prep time. I've found little problem with the start up to ready time of this camera, or how quickly I can take pictures in rapid succession. It's a fast camera!As I mentioned earlier, I wanted a camera that was able to take good high definition video. I originally considered purchasing a larger camera type, like the Sony HX100v (or the Nikon P500), or even a DSLR camera, like the Cannon Rebel T3i. The problem I had, was that I really didn't want something that big. When I attend Ren. Faires, I do so in full period garb. I am very conscious of what I'm wearing and try hard not to let anything non-period show. Large DSLR cameras, and even the HX100v are very hard to hide, while wearing my outfits. The HX9v is the perfect solution! It's small enough to fit in a pouch, yet powerful enough to produce excellent quality pictures and video.I've already taken hundreds of pictures and dozens of videos since getting it and I've rarely been disappointed! Under good lighting conditions, this camera can produce awesome pictures! Night shots, or low light images aren't always the best, and produce some noise, but I never expected perfection from such a small camera and most of the time, the pictures look great, even in less then perfect lighting. The video quality and stabilization abilities of this camera are also top notch! Finally, I've had a lot fun, and some success, exploring the camera's HDR, Panoramic and background defocus settings. I still have some learning to do before I master these, but they are great little extras that I will use quite often in the future. I don't have a 3D TV, so I can't really comment on how well the 3D features work. It's nice to know that they are there though, if I should ever get a 3D TV.If you are looking for a small, point and shoot camera that produces excellent pictures, overall, and even better video, I doubt you'll be disappointed with this camera! I highly recommend it!!!

See the update comments below: aug 4, 2011I have this camera for one week now and last night I got a chance to use this at a Cultural night where I use the video mode exclusively for recording my kids. First, to note that I am using MP4 recording at 1080p 25fps rather than AVCHD 1080 60p mode. I just feel that the file size is something I an handle easier and movie editing is easier using this mode. So while the movie recording video looks great, the ONE thing that I am very disappointed with is the way the camera records the date (Date Modified and Date Created). Three things I dislike and I believe #3 is a bug.1. The Date Created is the time stamp in which the movie was taken. But the Date Modified is the time in which the movie ended. This means if you recorded a 10 minutes video, the Date Modified actually shows 10 minutes later than the created date. I don't think this was the case with other camera, certainly not my Panasonic DMC-ZS3. This means you can not sort by Date Modified. Especially important when you have more than one camera of different brands and wanting to compile into one folder. As in, other parents's camera at the same event.2. The video is kept in a different directory than the JPGs. At the very least the MP4 video should be in the same directory as the JPGs and should use the same naming convention so that we can follow the sequence. here the photo uses the DSCxxxxx.JPG, but the MP4 video uses MAHxxxxx.MP4 WTH? Panasonic DMC-ZS3 uses the same name and I like the way it's implemented there. When the names are the same with only the extension different, it makes it easier to sort photos and video to get the sequence of event. I think many of us like to record things this way. But the worse part is.....3. The timestamp of the MP4 video is semi-randomized. So if you sort by name, you will notice that the Date Created time stamp is not in an ascending order. Or if you then sort by Date Created, the file name is now not in order. See below, the file is sorted by name but the timestamp is not in chronological order. They bounce between 7:xx PM and 8:xx PM. This is definitely a bug.peter-mac:08. Classical Night peter$ ls -ltotal 14888440-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 529959551 Jun 25 19:30 MAH00126.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 128930055 Jun 25 19:34 MAH00127.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 9935703 Jun 25 19:36 MAH00128.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 705061241 Jun 25 19:49 MAH00129.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 508726324 Jun 25 19:59 MAH00130.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 507986224 Jun 25 20:09 MAH00131.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 502657431 Jun 25 19:20 MAH00133.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 430715019 Jun 25 19:28 MAH00134.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 533634531 Jun 25 19:38 MAH00135.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 763440512 Jun 25 19:48 MAH00136.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 625426940 Jun 25 19:57 MAH00137.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 58505167 Jun 25 20:02 MAH00138.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 504153510 Jun 25 20:08 MAH00139.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 209376585 Jun 25 20:16 MAH00146.MP4-rwxrwxrwx 1 peter staff 649771166 Jun 25 21:05 MAH00152.MP4I love the camera but this is making me wanting to return it. :-(Sony PLEASE send a fix ASAP.Update as of Aug 4th' 2011.Some how the date timestamp issue disappeared. It could be because I hard reset, (pull battery out over night) or did a factory reset and format the card. The timestamp for both the videos as the photos are correct now. As one of the user mentioned, why can't the file name be prefixed with DSC rather than MAH? At least the number increments correctly and it's just a matter of having a software to help rename (text replace) to DSC so I can place both photos and video in the same directory.The battery life is not as good but good enough so far for half day trip. I do have my GPS on all the time but as others have noticed, the satellite acquisition is a bit slow. I would suggest getting a 2nd or 3rd battery if you plan to walk around all day with it on most of the time.I am giving it a 5 star. The best all in one camera I have ever used. For the record I have had Sony DSC-F828, Casio Exilim EX-Z850, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 and now this. I also have Nikon D300 but that's a different league.

I got this as a gift for my wife, upgrading her old 5 MP Kodak. Her first comment was "why do I need a new camera"? After using the Sony, she then said "I LOVE this camera"! The 16x optical zoom is probably the best feature on it; combined w/ the 16 MP imaging, you can get incredible detail on digital stills, even after zooming in on the actual picture. The best thing about it, as far as I'm concerned, is it's ease of use. My wife is far from a techie; in fact her first response when confronted with any technology is "I don't know how to do that." Not with this thing!There are a couple of things that keep it from a 5-star rating, IMO. First, the flash pops out of the left-top corner of the camera, which is where one would normally have a finger holding the camera in position when taking a picture. It requires a bit of "retraining" to not miss your picture when a flash is required. Also, it's a bit disappointing that an hdmi cable is not included w/ the camera, nor is a dedicated battery charger (you must plug the camera into the wall w/ the included charging cable). Obviously, this is meant to keep the retail price down, but these are pretty standard "add ons", IMO. Finally, the 3D imaging is still a work in progress. I would not recommend this camera solely for the 3D stills or 3D panorama pics it produces, although I'm sure part of our results are due to the types of pics we have attempted so far (3D photography is a different animal in and of itself). But, the (non-3D) panorama pics it takes are awesome! We have not tried the motion video feature yet, so I can't comment on that (waiting for Santa to bring a 16 GB memory card to bump up the storage on the camera).I would still rate this camera "best in class".