Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera (Black)

• 18.2 megapixels "Exmor R" CMOS sensor for superior low-light performance
• 30X optical zoom
• 3.0-inch LCD
• GPS and Compass record shot location & direction
• Optical SteadyShot image stabilization with 3-way Active Mode

For some reason this was available in New Zealand, via Asia, before the US/UK release. I've had it for about a week now. So, it is as spec'ed in the preview comments about it so far from the various websites.

It starts fast, focuses quickly, does not have shutter lag and is easy to handle and has tons of functions. It handles well for its size and does not feel heavy. Having the zoom on the side of the lens is great makes it more stable to hold the camera. I've taken some pretty amazing shots with it the zoom allows good creativity and the low light capability produces detailed and pleasing shots. How much different this camera is to the previous model I'm not really sure in terms of the additional megapixels via the new sensor. My previous camera was a Olympus E620 DSLR in comparison there is less detail with the Sony, although not hugely noticeable on a 23" LCD computer monitor. The camera is a lot of fun to use and it just begs you to be more creative when shooting. The partial colour shots are great. The LCD screen is very good, nice and bright. Nice touch to use the optical viewfinder and have the screen turn off. The built in user manual is great to look up what a function does without having to refer to the manual. Also when you find what you want it provides the option to go to that function right away so for example I wanted to look at the ND filter function, once I've read what it does I can then select to open the function from the help screen rather than exiting help and then trying to find it through the menu system.

It provides good flash coverage and the slow-sync function is great to prevent those deer in the headlights shots as this flash can put out a lot of light.

The superior auto mode is good for the stability/less blur in long range shots as it takes multiple photos and apparently works out which is the best photo to save. This is great as at maximum zoom the camera shake from your hands can be a problem if you've ever experienced using a megazoom before. Personally without that image stabilisation and multi-shot taking having a megazoom is a bit pointless as you'd never take good photos at long range without frustration.

Shooting movies and the ability to shoot a good sized still at the same time is very impressive probably one of the best features as I've always wanted to be able to take a high MP shot during a video shoot because that's when you typically need it and on other cameras it was always one or the other but not both at the same time. The video quality is very good. No issues there and the zoom works well when videoing. The microphone does pick up background noise around the camera (ie from people talking nearby) and without a zoom mic option is somewhat limiting. That said the audio capture is good.

Other good things HDR similar function to my iPhone 4S produces good highlighting without overcooking the photo. When it is taking multiple photos with HDR and other functions it takes a few seconds time to process and save these but I guess thats normal. The menu system is good particularly given how many functions this camera has.

I use it with a Sandisk 32GB Extreme 32GB SDHC Flash Memory Card (Class 10). Seems fine to use saves quickly. It is probably better to get higher spec cards like this one if shooting HD video.

On the downside... the lens cap can get stuck if you don't remove it before turning the power on. Flash there's no button to pop it up as per usual cameras you need to use the jog dial and select flash to get it to pop-up. Once set it then pops up the flash when needed. The LCD screen doesn't fully articulate but that is not a major for me.

In summary it will never please the pro's out there the image quality is very good but not perfect. Good enough for most people wanting the "best for me" rather than "best in the world" class of camera its affordable, has huge capabilities, more than acceptable image quality and fun. A family orientated camera for sure that everyone can pick up and use and get pleasing results (and compliments).

There is a link to a few photos in the comments section (all handheld shots, no photo editing). Have added some more photos very pleased with the colour accuracy.

A bit more on zooming in photo or video mode and focusing speed which is typically an issue with superzooms. To me the Sony seems quick to focus at maximum zoom in photo or video mode. We're certainly not talking more than a half a second to a second say from one subject to another at the far end of the zoom. It's quick and smooth with no hunting zoom noises. Would be nice if someone else reviewed this camera to concur!

Buy Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera (Black) Now

Wanted a superzoom with Panorama mode so the choices are fairly limited. This week both the Sony HX200V and Nikon P510 came out so bought them both to compare. The first review by "techguy" gives some nice details about the camera so I won't repeat his comments. I've played with them now for a couple of days and do not claim to be an expert by any means so take these comments with a grain of salt. These are just initial impressions.

I found overall the Sony took nicer pictures than the Nikon which tended to give a slight yellow hue on grass. And when enlarging the pictures the detail was better. The Sony produced slightly clearer pics both indoors and out and skins tones were a little warmer and more natural. The Sony also allows you to adjust the color and vividness to personal taste, don't believe the Nikon allowed for this.

I did like the size and feel of the Nikon better, the menu was a little more user friendly I thought and so was the layout of buttons. Start up time was about equal, although be aware with the Nikon if you choose to have it display the "Coolpix" icon it delays this by a couple of seconds.

One feature I found very useful is the Sony tells you how much time remains in minutes, not just a bar graph, I hate running out of power unexpectedly. Biggest gripe so far with the Sony is the power cord/charger. It's nearly as big as my laptop charger. Wish they would do it like Nikon or Panasonic. I travel on a motorcycle and space is very limited so this is a pain.

Sony puts the Panorama mode on the top dial while Nikon buries it with the Scene mode and the view finder turns on automatically if you put your eye to it, both thoughtful touches. I really wanted to like the Nikon more, mainly due to the better charger layout but in the end, good pictures is what it all about so the Nikon will be going back.

Read Best Reviews of Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera (Black) Here

I found myself wanting to up grade my super-zoom point and shoot camera. I had a Samsung HZ50W and was

very happy with it, but I felt it was time for change.

I read reviews from everywhere I could, from camera experts to everyday people, I decided on looking at five

cameras, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V, Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR, Nikon COOLPIX P510,

Panasonic DMC-FZ150K, and Canon SX40 HS.

I decided if I was spending $400 to $500 on a camera I was going to try them out in stores first. I like to buy things

online, but I don't like returning items, so off to the local shops.

First I'll have to say that I drove about 90 miles to look at cameras. Unfortunately I couldn't find 2 cameras, the

Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR or the Panasonic DMC-FZ150K no one carried either one.

I played around with the other 3 cameras quite a bit, all were very nice and I don't think I would have gone

wrong with any of them. It was little things that made me pick the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V. The Canon

had I smaller screen and auto focus seem to struggle at times, plus 2 different sales people told me if you buy

a Canon get the extended warranty, although I don't see any issues like that in any reviews. The Nikon was nice but

it seemed to miss a good shot more often, whether taking to long to focus or a little blurry.

The Sony seemed to focus fast and get the shot way more often and the 3 inch screen was nice.. I have now

owned this camera for a week and can't stop taking pictures and video. I have tried to put this camera in every

situation possible and it has worked every time. So far I've taken pictures at my son's tennis meet, other son's

band concert, portraits, the dogs, flowers, landscape, low light, no light, bright light, very close, full zoom, burst modes

and couldn't be happier. The video is great , I still can't believe how smooth and detailed the video, I took of my sons

band concert, holding the camera by hand no tripod and at half to full zoom.

I am an amateur photographer that takes about 100 to 1000 pictures a week and have for 15 to 20 years,

we have had more cameras than I can count, including SLR DSLR, point and shoot, and video cameras.

As with every camera there are a few cons, The viewfinder is not very good, but I love that the camera switches

to it automatically when you go to look through it. Also no Raw image, my last camera had it and I was just starting

to learn how it use it in editing. 29 minute video length limit? I don't know if that will ever be an issue, but why the limit.

And I've never seen this on a point and shoot camera, but why can't we turn off the picture preview and have a live

view all the time, it would be much easier to follow the action whether in burst or single shot mode.

I am very happy with this camera, and I can live with the few cons I found, Thanks for reading, hope this helps.

Want Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera (Black) Discount?

Most likely you have already read professional reviews of this item, so I will not repeat the list of features. Here are bits of info that I didn't find in reviews when I was shopping, and had hoped someone would post, along with a few surprises I found:

1Once you turn off the annoying start up tone, it takes less than a second to be ready, a big plus

2There is a zoom/focus ring. It is electronic, I would have preferred a mechanical one but it works well. Zoom or focus selectable by a switch

3The sweep panorama mode works well with the exception of the fact that it has a fixed width. If you don't sweep far enough within the allotted time, e.g. because you don't want too wide a panorama, the rest of the image will be filled with a grey filler. I hope a firmware update will fix this as it looks hideous.

4Macro photos are not the greatest.

5Ability to select the mode automatically works well.

6When powered on, the extending lens struggles if lens cover is still on. Would have been nice if it were removed automatically (too spoiled, I know)

7The included charger is an in-camera charger. It can power the camera for use and also while connected to a PC. To charge an extra battery, you'll need to buy a separate standalone charger. While connected to a PC, the camera charges the battery through the USB port.

8Great camera. Amazon and Beach Camera are outstanding.

9The bundle from Beach Camera is great (Make sure to get the one with the 16GB card)

I like the camera and will definitely keep it for years to come.

There are three cameras that one should consider the Canon Powershot SX40 the Panasonic DMC FX150 and then this one the Sony HX200V.

Researching these three is interesting because you will find sites listing each of the three as the very best over the other two. I think the bottom line is that any of the three will give good photos and satisfy the user.

I purchased this camera because of two features that are largely ignored by the professional reviewers but to me they give this camera the edge over the others. First is Sony's proprietary optical steady shot stabilization. A good stabilization system is extremely important because no matter what the camera if you don't have good stabilization or a tripod then you have fuzzy pictures. Here is what Techradar had to say in their review of the HX200V; "We got sharp results at maximum zoom from shot to subsequent shot when it was used handheld. That's almost unheard of on rival models. On most superzoom rivals we've needed to take two or three shots of the same subject to arrive at one that wasn't soft." The reader should go to the Techradar site review and then go to SAMPLE IMAGES. The first photo is taken at wide angle and shows a long tree lined path ending at a distant white building. The next photo was taken handheld at the same spot but now at full telephoto and WOW. You now clearly see a fence that you did not see before and the paint is rusted in spots and there is an emblem on the fence that you can read. Also go to SENSITIVITY AND NOISE. Here you can see how the level of noise at different ISO settings effects the photos. Which brings me to another subject. Some professional reviewers point out that higher megapixels do not necessarily mean better photos because noise can increase depending on the CMOS sensor which is true but then they are completely baffled at why the Sony engineers increased the megapixels on this new camera. Well I'm not sure either however I am sure they didn't make the camera worse than the competition but rather better.

My second reason for selecting this camera is the Superior Auto Mode. This mode shoots multiple shots of the same scene in rapid sequence and then creates the best single picture as a composite Here is what Squidoo says in their review; "Get cleaner, more dynamic pictures and fewer missed shots. The DSC-HX200V automatically recognizes the correct scene mode, then quickly shoots and combines up to six shots to produce images with greater clarity, optimum dynamic range using backlight correction HDR technology and lower image noise using 6 shots layering technology. Superior Auto intelligently detects 33 scenes for still images and movies, making it easy to get the best shot." If you Google tumblr HX200v you will see sample photos of the Superior Auto Mode which are impressive.

So did the camera meet my expectations, yes it did. The stabilization worked as advertised however the lens does have limitations. It works best in bright light. The alternative would be stepping up to a more expensive and larger Digital SLR camera along with lens. For example Canon has a 800mm lens to fit the more the expensive cameras but it is 18 inches long weights 10 pounds and costs $13,499.00.

The Superior Auto Mode also met my expectations. It does not improve all photos but it does make astonishing improvements in photos that would benefit from this mode such as back light etc.