This camera has everything a person needs to take both close up macrophotography and telephoto shots. The value and pricing points are solid. I took it on a short vacation to Costa Rica and had not even taken practice shots until we arrived in country.
The camera is very light. I included some of the 100 or so shots I took in the sample gallery and they turned out excellent in terms of resolution and color balance. I mainly used it as a point and shoot and really did not have much time to play with all the creative options.
I cannot help but think that if a person had more time and creativity, they could come up with some great award winning shots.
I was especially impressed with the following camera features:
- The intelligent sensing option is very, very good, it recognized exactly what I wanted in terms of exposure.
- I used the panorama feature more than I expected. The people I showed the pictures to were amazed that a camera could even do this. Although not quiet as detailed as HD shots, most people will not even see the difference.
- The night architectural interior and exterior shots were done with very little setup or time, and yet the photos look like they were deliberate and careful.
- The battery was great and lasted the entire trip.
On the negative side, I think Sony could work on a protection cover for the main LCD screen, a person definately needs to apply a clear film protector to guard against damage. I think more detail to extreme weather and dust protection would put this in a class all by itself.
In closing Sony designers did a very beautiful job of putting together a camera that challenges Canon and Nikon $2,000 and $3,000 cameras and a fraction of the cost. I challenge you to go one step further and dust, water, sand, and drop proof this camera to put the icing on the cake of this well engineered and revolutionary camera.