Sony DSC-T500/B Black

My wife does a lot of photography for her scrapbooking projects. This camera gives you the best of both worlds, still photo's and amp; video's.

Too good and I like to camera the day I saw it on the net.

I have only used this for a few weeks and I use it on auto so it may perform better under advanced features. There are basically two glitches...the battery life is poor at best, and when you zoom in to take pictures at night they are very blurry. The zoom in the daytime seems to be fine. Also, I didn't think no viewfinder would be a big deal but it turns out to be a problem for me.

The thing that drove me to this camera was the HD resolution for videos. If it wasn't for this, I would have looked at others that were slightly smaller. I had a Canon SD800 that I was replacing which was thicker but smaller. I also have a Sony FX1 video camera too. After using it about a month, I have these observations. Having the HD resolution on a camera this small is nothing short of amazing. I never want to go back to 320x240 or even 640x480 res vids. Although it would NEVER compare even at the slightest to a dedicated HD camcorder or a my FX1, It's great to have the capability in your pocket. I carry the T500 with me everywhere and it's better to have the shot than not having at all - no one wants to lug a camcorder everywhere around. Compared to other subcompacts (I've owned over 15 the past 8 years or so), the low light capability is the best out of all of them. There is some graininess in very low light but with my canon, you wouldn't be able to even get a picture in comparison. I personally prefer real button controls. The touch screen is initially nice but to get to the submenus takes a while to get used to and there are frequent repressing the icons to get something to come up. The touchscreen is sometimes finicky - or perhaps a lag. The extra large LCD is very nice - but be sure to buy a screen protector BEFORE buying the camera. I put a permanent smudge in the screen within 1 hr of receiving it. I thought I was careful but now I can't get the smudge off. The battery life is horrendous. Whereas the canon can probably last me 2-3 weeks of occasional use, I have to charge this every couple of days. 450 photos/videos in one month and I believe I have had to charge this at least 8 times. This is with mixed photo taking and video viewing - similar to what I did with the canon. Be sure to have a couple of extra batteries when traveling. I bought a SanDisk Extreme III 8gb HG Duo stick and it was definitely well worth it. Previously, I was using an Extreme II with the canon and the significant transfer speed upgrade is welcomed when transferring the really large videos from the T500. I don't have specifics but it feels almost twice as fast. Being able to use the zoom (optically) while shooting video is a big plus. With the canon, my vids gets distorted. I have a full 5x zoom which is excellent for a camera of this size. Also, because the lens position is fixed (sony has their optics inside the camera), it is much smaller. Don't have to worry about the lens popping in and out. The optical stabilizer works but on a limited scale. I feel the Canon has better stabilizing as my videos are still a little bit shaky. Overall, the photo quality is pretty good. I like the canon picture quality in good light but with a mix of both low and good light, the Sony is much better. I have no regrets about buying this over a new Canon. On a side note, I also bought a Sony T77 with this camera (I'm a camera hog). The T77 has the same quality but no HD. However, it is significantly smaller and a little bit lighter than the T500.