Sony Bloggie Sport (MHSTS22/B) Waterproof Video Camera with 4x Digital Zoom and 2.7-Inch Touchscreen LCD (Black) (New Model)

Given the price, I wasn't expecting too much from this camera. It's a good thing, because this thing did not deliver. They may need to slice another $100 off the price for this device to be worth the cost. The good feature of this camera is that it's easy to carry around. The highest quality still photos appear overly compressed, with all sorts of artifacts and funky edges. Forget about trying to shoot in high contrast, bright or low-light settings. The dynamic range can't cover even mid-to-shadow scenes without seeing a bunch of noise or halos. I've shot about 300 stills with this and found that a scene has to be perfectly lit, with no more that about 4 zones of tonality, for the image to come out acceptable. I'm trying to think of any good things to say about the video. Nope, I can't think of any. Once again, the video image has a weird, overly-compressed look. The auto focus freaks out with any movement, especially in the water. This might be an okay camera to carry somewhere if you're afraid that your phone will get wet, but it struggles to stay in focus in or around water. Zooming while shooting video is also an adventure in focus and distortion. No need to zoom though because even at it's widest setting, you're good to fit one person in the frame at a comfortable distance. Sound? If you buy this camera, plan on recording sound with your phone and syncing it up with the video later. I think the microphone that appears to collect sound from the sky might be aimed inside the camera housing. From six feet away, a recording of a friend with a big voice could barely be heard when played back. I now have a great collection of percussion and special effects sounds that were picked up from me handling the camera. Money would be better spent on a high-end waterproof case for a phone.

Good value and great Amazon service. My son has used it at the skate park and put several You Tube videos up with it. He loves it and if he can't kill it, it must be well made. The best camera for a teen you can get, IMHO. The telephoto could be better, but action shots are clear out to around 30 feet or so. He also used it in the local swimming pool and it remained water tight. He has had no problems hooking it to the computer (an older XP Pro, dual processor). The colors are true and image is clear. He likes it better than a couple of his friends' Flips. He takes about 1 to 3 minute videos and has no trouble with it lasting a couple hours of actual video use. He says it is also easy to edit from.

I purchased a Flip Slide about a year ago but I returned it after (1) it developed a problem with its HDMI jack and (2) I learned that Cisco had dropped the product and will terminate support next year. Chose the new Bloggie Sport as the replacement and received it a few days ago. Based on my experience with it thus far, I have both good and bad things to say. First the good: (1) With the option of shooting in full-HD (1080) resolution, the Sony trumps the Flip, which went no higher than 720. I watched my Bloggie videos on a 46" screen and the quality was superb. I took some underwater videos of my 6-year-old in the pool (she's an amazing little swimmer) and again was delighted with the results (as was she!). The Bloggie has a very cool underwater mode that color-corrects based on depth. The results were impressive. (The camera is supposed to be waterproof down to 15 feet. I didn't go even half that distance, but there was no evidence of any leakage. I had to use an Aquapac case -- basically a clear vinyl pouch -- to shoot underwater with the Flip; this was a lot less cumbersome.) (2) There have been some complaints about button placement on the Bloggie; yes, they take a few moments to get used to, but I actually found the placement to be more intuitive than they were on the Flip -- notably the still photo shutter button. (3) The Bloggie is as much of a "flip" as the Flip was; i.e., its USB connector flips out of the case and can be plugged into your computer directly. If that's made difficult becase of the location of your USB jack, the short USB extension cord that's included in the package will solve the problem. (4) The Bloggie features a selectable "HD Sports" mode that shoots 720p at 60 fps. That means you get less blur in fast-moving sequences, and also that you can "grab" some amazingly sharp stills later on. (The demo video on the camera highlights this feature more than any other.) Shooting at 60 fps means that playback at the standard 30 fps would be HD slow motion. Thus far, however, I haven't found a way to do that. (5) The Bloggie saves videos as MP4 files, meaning that they can be transferred directly to iTunes and then to all your Apple gadgets. Not so with my Sony Handcam, whose videos need to be converted before they are Apple-ready. Now the gripes: (1) I find the LCD screen to be insufficiently bright for shooting outdoors on a sunny day. It was a real struggle at the beach, for example, to know whether I was framing my shots accurately. The main thing I saw was my own reflection. As I recall, I was able to tweak the brightness of the screen on my Flip; Sony should have included that function as well. (2) The delay between pressing the still photo shutter button and the digital "click" is nearly a second, making it all but impossible to catch that special moment, expecially with young kids. Not a problem for posed photos, but if you're counting to three, be sure to press the shutter on "two." (You always have the option, of course, of shooting in video mode and then finding that perfect frame through the software; that's what I'll probably do with this camera.) (3) While I found the button locations unobjectionable, the proximity of the lens very near the left edge of the camera meant that, in the beginning at least, I saw a lot of finger in my shots. Again, it's not hard to train yourself to hold the camera "just so"; but it's still annoying. (4) Like one other reviewer, I'm experiencing some difficulty downloading Sony's organizing and editing software. (5) As others have noticed, the location of the mic tends to pick up camera-handling noises unless you hold the camera firmly without any surface movement. I didn't find this quite as much of a problem as others have. Bottom line: This is a capable camera that, for its size and convenience, produces superb videos. Its ruggedness and waterproofing are real advantages. With a brighter screen, a faster shutter button, a more suitably located mic, and less problematic software, Sony would have a hands-down winner.

I bought this camera for my 4 year old and so far it works great for taking pictures and video. There are three physical buttons: video, photos and power. This makes it really simple for a kid to use. It's also shockproof and waterproof which allows children to take the camera wherever they want. The touchscreen is not very sensitive and it is a pain trying to scroll through pictures on the camera itself. This is not a deal breaker but it could work better. The lcd screen is very blurry and not very accurate. Overall the camera works as advertised. 3 Stars for the touchscreen and lcd screen.