Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I wanted to like this camera, but it's been a complete disappointment. First and foremost, the automatic focusing is terrible. The image is often out of focus, and there's no way to tell the camera to try focusing again. (Why not add this and handle it like the iphone does? Just touch on the subject you want in focus.) Most portable video cameras like this (e.g. flip and kodak) have fixed focus, and I was looking forward to the Sony's ability to focus, since it helps get better macro shots. Instead, the camera is just constantly hunting for focus and often not getting it. The ergonomics are also a problem. I often want to hold the camera vertically, because it's more comfortable, but still take the usual landscape wide angle footage (again, like my flip and kodak cameras handle it). Instead, the Sony switches to verticle orientation when you hold it vertically. So, you've got to hold it sideways all the time, which isn't wildly comfortable for any length of time. Adding insult to injury, none of the useful tools for sharing footage online work with the mac (though it will import into imovie). The touch screen is nice and responsive and the video quality is good when it's in focus (though with the Sony's typical slightly colder color/white balance). But the camera's downsides--particularly the terrible constant focus hunting & missing--far outweigh its pluses.