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 spent many hours reading reviews of both DSLR and point and shoot cameras. It really came down to one thing. The best camera is one you have with you. I have taken over 1000 (yes 1000) pictures with my phone this past year or so. Having a young daughter I never miss a chance to document our family adventures. All my friends who have DSLRs never seem to have their bag (camera lenses etc.) with them at key moments. I decided on a point and shoot. My professional photographer friend said not to cheap out and look at $300 and above cameras. I originally was considering a Canon s100, but they were out of stock everywhere. I am so glad I found the Sony. This camera is the best "all around" performer of all the point and shoots cameras I looked at (and I looked at many). As with any item you can find detractors. Many of the people who rate this camera low are comparing it to larger DSLR cameras. You must know your needs. I needed quality photographs, great video and sound, along with being easily pocketed. This camera has it all. The panoramic mode is just amazing. I never thought I would get use out of it. The video is unbelievable for such a small package. It plays full HD on my 42" TV. I just plug the HDMI cable from the camera into the TV and view the pictures and video. (The cord is optional and the amazon version is $7.95, well worth the few bucks). The video is absolutely flawless. The low light performance is amazing. I used the flash one time to test it out. Other than that I have not needed it at all. As far as speed, it is very fast. Some people have made negative comments on this and I have to question the settings they are using. I use the intelligent auto mode as my default setting. The camera takes continuous shots with no issues. Maybe these detractors need to get a class 10 card. I have been told that a slow SD card can slow down the processing after you take a photograph because it takes longer to write the data to the card. I recommend a class 10. My final choices included the Nikon 9100 and the Canon s100. The Nikon just had too many negative reviews (both on Amazon and other sites). The s100 had RAW, but lacked the zoom and video features of the Sony. I decided to go with the Sony. This camera has all the features I could ever need. Again, the best camera is one you have with you. On that basis this is the best current choice out there.

WOW! Great camera. I had previously purchased a Nikon S4100 compact digital camera. It was a good camera with one exception; the picture quality was very poor. After six months or so the lens stopped moving in and out and I returned it on my optional warranty and was given a refund. I hope that the camera was just defective from the start, but at any rate I was very disappointed with it. Before deciding on a replacement I spent a good bit of time doing the research, checking reviews, ratings, etc. of cameras and finally decided on the Sony DSC-HX9V. I have owned other Sony cameras in the past and have been very pleased with them. After the Nikon disappointment I was a little nervous about how the new DSC-HX9V would perform. Again, WOW. The HX9V is a very nice looking camera that you can put in your pocket or hang on your belt in a small case. The picture quality is excellent. In low light the quality is a little reduced but still very good. The movie quality is also excellent. The menus are very easy to understand. There are tons of options so it does take a bit of time to familiarize yourself with everything if you wish to utilize the many options available. For most photos you can simply set the camera to one of the auto programs, on the program dial, and shoot great pictures. You have the option of going full manual or using one of 3 auto programs. 4 if you count the "EASY" option. The Auto programs give you varying degrees of options in the menus that you can, if you wish, tweak the auto settings with. I am not a professional photographer, but so far it seems to have everything I could want and more. On the program dial there 10 options including Intelligent Auto, Superior Auto, Program Auto (my favorite), Manual Exposure Shooting, Memory Recall Mode, iSweep Panorama, Movie Mode, 3D Shooting, Scene Selection, and Background Defocus. Each of these programs has various options available by pressing the Menu Button. The Zoom is amazing and the pictures taken with full zoom (optical & digital is about 68 power) are actually stabilized and quite decent. I cannot begin to describe all of the features that are available; actually I will probably never need to use most of them. If you wish to know more, there are numerous reviews available online. Check out the movies on YouTube that show the HX9V zooming in on the moon. Chuckle. The bottom line is that if you want a camera that you can just set to auto and take great photos and great movies, you will love this camera. If on the other hand you want a camera that you can tweak to your hearts content, then again you will love this camera. I know that I couldn't be more pleased. I normally don't do reviews but I am so pleased with this camera that I am making an exception here. Hope it is helpful.

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!!!

I've used this camera for about a month now and I'm very happy with it. I previously had a Canon Rebel XSi and it was overkill. I wanted something that was much easier to carry, took great photos, and didn't require me to study the manual whenever I wanted to take photos. The DSC-HX9V has filled all those requirements. I'm no camera nut. I can't get into the specifics of all the technical details. I just know that I'm very happy with the results. Photo's taken with the camera almost always look good. Video's are awesome. At the highest setting, the videos are crystal clear. Having only used the camera for a month so far, I can't get into the nitty gritty details of some of the more in-depth features. The panorama mode seems to work well, though panorama photos seem mostly a gimmick to me. I have no need/desire to use the 3D features. As a point and click it works great. My only complaint is the burst mode and time between regular photos. I miss with the Rebel XSi the ability to hold the button and take back-to-back photo's. The DSC-HX9V does this, but at a maximum of 10 photos and the quality could be better. It does offer a cool "playback" mode of these burst photos where you can tilt the camera back and forth and it will scroll through the photo's, similar to an animated GIF. Also, the time it takes between taking a photo and the camera being ready to take a second photo sometimes seems too long. You take a photo, it pops up the review and then takes a couple of seconds to get back to the point where you can take another picture. Maybe there is some way to adjust this time, but if so I haven't found it in the manual or within the settings yet. Overall I'm very happy with the camera. I wish I had made the switch from the DLSR to this point and click years ago. Quality of the photos is perfect and its portability over a DLSR makes it much more useful to me.

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".

Ok; after long research for a mega zoom pocket camera, it all came down to two options: Nikon Coolpix 9100, and Sony DSC-HX9V. On the Amazon customer reviews, Nikon got pretty bad grades in terms of the mechanical of the zoom, and although it was cheaper than Sony's, I had to go for a safer functioning camera. Now, bear in mind that I have had the camera for a couple of days, but last night I had my daughters year end ballet act: AWESOME! I'm a regular P&S person, and did a very good job yesterday, to the point that my friend using his sophisticated DSLR asked for my pics; on top of that, I also filmed the show, and it was AWESOME (did I said it before?); I just saw the end product last night and was very impressed. Granted I had a first generation tapeless Handycam which is crap compared to what you get from the DSC-HX9V. Anyway, all of what everybody said in this forum is true: Very good picture quality in low light conditions, fast output, superb video, great panorama function, small enough to fit in your pocket, great to use either hand held or with a tripod. Yes, flash position could be better, but in a few clicks I've gotten used to its position, and manage the camera well enough. As for my fellow Mac users, you will require additional software to import your movies to iMovie (at least 1080p/60 ones). The way to go is Clipwrap [...]; it is truly fast, that's is because there is no re-encoding, and proper .mov archive outputs from this software; it preserves the video quality, and then is so easy to use iMovie, that you will look professional. I'm very satisfied with this camera, that doubles as a great P&S camera, and a great video camera (I'm selling my old Sony videocam!)

I’m sure this is a great camera taking great pictures, but the placement of the auto flash is horrible. It’s where you have fingers while holding camera. So when you take a photo that camera seems needs a flash it pops up on its own, but your finger is there and the motor breaks.

I beat my brains out for the past month, trying to decide on a P&S camera to replace my Pentax DSLR. I've decided, rather late in life, to go with a small pocket camera to replace my bulky SLR and several lenses, including the huge camera bag I carried them around in. So I've been reading every review and scanning every consumer review site (such as Amazon's) searching for the perfect P&S camera. I even bought (and returned) two cameras that ultimately did not work for me. I agonized over the HX9V for a couple weeks before finally biting the bullet and ordering it. I'm extremely happy I did! From the moment I opened the box I knew the HX9V was going to be a winner. Unlike the two cameras I returned, the size and handling of the HX9V was about perfect for me. The two I returned were simply too small to handle efficiently, even in my relatively small hands, but this one was ideal (for me) with a great grip and controls that seemed to fall right under my fingers. The build quality is excellent and I can find no flaw in fit and finish. I decided I wanted a mode dial on top, like my SLRs always had (the two I returned used the wheel on the back of the camera), and the HX9V has one, although it's a little difficult gripping it. So, in short, the HX9V first impression is supurb! This camera does not come with an accessory battery charger (an omission I find rather annoying) so I ordered one, along with a couple spare batteries (the two batteries and the charger cost only $14.00, shipped). I charged the Sony battery in the camera, using the provided power adapter (again, a ridiculous system, since it ties up the camera during charging) and charged the two spares in the tiny little accessory charger. Everything was charged in a couple of hours and I was ready to put this little gem through it's paces. Operationally, the camera exceeds all of my expectations. First, I've never owned such a long zoom and this thing is terrific, although I doubt I'll use the long end very often. Having used large SLR zooms most of my photographic life, where zooming was done manually, I found this zoom rather slow, a bit gravelly-feeling and hard to control precisely. It requires some getting used to, at least for me anyway, but I believe it will be fine. Focusing is instantaneous and I experience no lag-time, unless shooting in modes that shoot and blend multiple images together. On those you get the obligatory "Processing" message and, frankly, I see no reason to consider that a negative. The camera is doing some truly sophisticated image blending. Shoot in a single image mode and it's operation is lightning fast. Oh, and did I mention the ability to shoot ten images a second? What a great feature when shooting my dog, Sammy, or a sports event (and yes, you will get the "Processing" message after firing off ten shots). The Panorama feature is great, producing beautiful wide panoramic images. I've found it really difficult to get less than stellar panos. In other words, it's real hard to mess up! Video is an area I've never explored before but, after seeing some of my random efforts on my HD TV, I'm completely dazzled by this camera's abilities. This is an area I intend to pursue further. There are many more special features that I wont go into here but they're all great and very useful. As for the 3-D thing, I have no interest in that but many others will. I can't comment because I don't care about it. Image quality! You read about it. You scan full-size images on dozens of websites. You pixel-peep endlessly, comparing images from Canon, Nikon, and Sony, until your head feels like it's going to explode. If you're an intelligent, sensible person you conclude that much of the hype you read around the internet is just that - hype! Every P&S camera out there has shortcomings in one area or another and none produce results like a good DSLR! After I came to that conclusion I felt more confortable ordering the Sony. I'm glad I did. I have no intention of blowing any of these images up to poster size. Most will never be printed and those that are will likely be "normal" print sizes. This camera produces excellent images! I have a relatively discerning eye after over fifty years of photography and I'll say again; the Sony HX9V produces excellent images! The bottom-line is, this camera is chock full of cutting edge technology, with features that put it far out front of most other P&S cameras. It takes great images and the videos are extraordinary. Mine is a keeper! It's going to be around for many years to come. In fact, it might outlast me, since I'm 73. Update: April, 2012 Everything I said in the above review stands, in spades, after all these months. That said, I finally taught my wife how to use this camera a couple weeks ago and she took it to one of her DAR conventions. She returned two days later and downloaded several hundred images to her computer. Later, when I watched over her shoulder while she scanned them individually I realized they were all, I mean all, extremely soft, unlike my own results. She seemed happy with them but I knew otherwise so I asked her to go out in the yard with me and take a few shots. We did and I immediately saw her problem. She repeatedly composed the picture on the LCD screen and immediately snapped the shutter, without waiting for the camerea to complete focus. She had forgotten that she should depress the button halfway to allow the autofocus system to work properly. Well, long story longer, she did as I demonstrated and we reviewed the pictures on her computer.Voila! The shots were now sharp and clean. Funny thing was: she then looked at her efforts at the convention and said, "Oh! These are awful!" After this episode I'm convinced that many of the complaints about soft images is a result of "Operator Error." No offence but ain't that always the way. By the way, there are several comments attached to this post, one by a fellow who doesn't own the camera and who obviously has an agenda. His first negative post even implied, in a smarmy, underhanded way, that my review is worthless because I once used Pentax cameras, ignoring the fact that Pentax has earned, over the years, an excellent reputation. He has gone on to point out certain professional reviews that are unfavorable to the camera, ignoring those that heap accolades on it. I frankly, could not care less about his opinions but I will bet that I've been shooting images for more years than he's been alive. Anyway, as I said in the review, it's my opinion, and can be ignored completely if one chooses to do so. If you own this fine camera, enjoy! arkiedan