Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20

Pros: Knows when to use flash to overcome backlighting! You can use "Defocus" to put the background out of focus. At 63 I just don't have steady hands anymore, but you'd never know it from the pictures I've taken with this camera.

Cons: Impossible to see "range finder" in bright sun. Next time I'11 bring my umbrella to block the sun. I still haven't figured out how to use the macro feature all the time. The hard copy manual is pathetic & online manuals leaves a lot to be desired.

Summary: I generally don't do impulse buys for an item this expensive, but I wanted something for my camping trip. I like the images that I'm getting, but the camera has its frustrations too.

I could never figure out when I needed a flash to overcome backlighting so I was delighted when the flash went off without any prompting from me. And I no longer need to carry a flash, different lenses, filters and a light meter. What a relief! Plus, for a while I would have the aperture vs. shutter speed rules down, but then forget them when I used a camera say a month later. So not only is there less gear to carry but there is also less thinking envolved. I am sucessful more often with less effort.

The Defocus feature can work nicely but is pretty limited because it only works under certain conditions and other features aren't available when using "Defocus".

I've taken off one star because 1) it is very frustrating that I can't see the "range finder" when the sun is bright and 2) Sony's hard copy manual only explains the barest of features and leaves the rest of them out. There is also a pdf, but it still leaves out a lot. I only figured out that it really can do macro at 1 cm from the CNET UK article discussing the V20/V30. Just typing the word "macro" does not work in the find feature in the 2 different electronic manuals. I'm still not sure what I need to do to consistently make Macro happen, but I'll keep looking around until I figure it out.