Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

"WOW".. that about sums this amazingly small - yet ultra powerful Video Recorder! I have only started to use this camera but I HAD to write about it. I WILL be adding more content and showing video samples to supplement this review. But let's do a "quickie" review: 10 things that Impressed me: 1) OK.. first off.. tiny! It's amazing how small these guys are .. even compared to 2 years back! 2) The battery is rated for *up to* 9 hours.. so far I charged it only once, been setting it up, and taking small videos for about 4 days now and it still has about 1/4" left. 3) Internal Memory is 16 Gig - that represents about an hour of High quality vid. and about 5 + hours at lower res. 4) It is SONY - so it readily connects with Newer Bravia TV's and the PS3 but of course you can pretty much connect with anything these days.. but what is wild it has a built in Projector that will project a 100" image! I have tried it (not to 100"), and it works pretty good.. actually VERY good! 5) I like the built in USB cord.. it is not long at all, but it is nice to have a cord ready to plug in to re-charge, or synch with etc... if you don't have your case with all your stuff with you. 6) 30x OPTICAL ZOOM! -OK for ME this is the main reason I wanted THIS model. (They have many models with more memory etc..) -I wanted the zoom because I take pictures and videos of nature, so it is not always easy to get close. Many people already know this, bu just in case... when you see "Zoom" you ALWAYS need to see what the "OPTICAL Zoom" is.. that is the true power of the lenses.. no software is involved. The term "digital" or "extended" uses the processor in the camera to "fill in" data, and it is never as crisp in my opinion. So.. for this camera it is 30X Optical , and 55X "Extended" which is.. whoa.. VERY strong! With that much zoom power you need.... 7) Optical "Steady Shot" -- This is a very good image stabilizer, it reminds me of my Canon - it takes the "jitters" out of zoom shots, and is supposed to even hold steady while walking. (I haven't tried it walking around..yet!) 8) Face detection & - SMILE detection - check this out..not only does he camera have face detection.. but when set up, when taking a video, if it detects a smile, it takes a picture! That's pretty cool.. you may get that "one in a lifetime" shot while shooting a video! 9) Built in GPS receiver - To be honest this is kinda funky and I am just learning it., But when on (it is on by default) when you take videos (outdoors naturally) it tracks WHERE you took them.. so later on you say for example: "Remember when we were in Time Square?" Instead of looking for a file number & date on the camera, (which you can) you simply touch the "map view", find Times Square and there you are.. it will show what you shot there! It is pretty neat :) 10)"Tracking Focus" - This IS cool.. lets say you are shooting a video of you kids.. or better yet your pets.. start shooting.. and from the screen you select your pet -- just by touching the screen -.. it will auto track them AND keep them in focus! THAT is pretty cool.. and it works REAL WELL. I focused in on a Cardinal, it tracked it as it went from branch to feeder to ground.. it was seamless - I was pretty shocked. Well that is 10 things that first impressed me with this camera.. again I WILL add to this and put some vids up. I am extremely impressed by this video camera. About the ONLY thing so far I can say against it.. and I am nit-picking, is that I like a viewfinder, I use a Rebel and I am always used to literally looking through the camera. There may be times in bright sun that there may be a glare or the screen may be washed out., but again, that is a small complaint and more of a personal preference and in no way a knock against this wonderful camera! ***** Jim