Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Black) (2012 Model)

I'm mostly a DSLR shooter using the Nikon D7000 for the past 2 years. The video on the camera is surprisingly good and got me thinking more about video in general. That D7000 video is lacking in one area: fps. Since it could only go up to 30 fps it meant that when I wanted to slow something down I had to depend on software. I could have traded in the Nikon and bought a better DSLR for video but I wanted some flexibility. I thought a dedicated video camera might be the way to go. However, they were more than I had wanted to spend and since I didn't know how serious I would be with the video it didn't seem like a good idea.I zeroed in on this Sony because it was highly rated and had the 60fps. I bought it last September and it has worked out very well. I created a video for a friend's Indiegogo campaign, and this camera allowed for some really interesting effects; I used it to swoop over a map, with the 60 fps it made seem more sweeping. Very cool.I also discovered that pictures it took were also very good. It has a manual mode that other camera's in this category do not; took some moon shots with it. The panoramic mode is fantastic. The size also was created because it allowed me to bring it a long to places I normally wouldn't have with my DSLR. It proved to be a great supplement to my D7000.So I had been using it pretty regularly up until a few months ago when the "piece of dust" showed up. Not sure how it got into the camera, but it was messing up all of my zoomed in pictures. I wasn't sure what too do about. I am a bit of tinkerer but the camera is sealed up pretty tight and didn't offer an easy way in. I never like the idea of sending something in for repairs (I feel they take to long), but I didn't know what else to do with this one. Luckily, this kind of thing is covered on the first year warranty. So I packed up and sent it off, not knowing how long it would take to get it back. I was amazed that it took less than two weeks.They cleaned out the dust and put in a new optic. Pictures look created and I am out taking video's again.Knowing that you their service is that good, I am much more likely to be getting more things from Sony in the future and have no problem recommending. This camera would also be great as a primary camera if you not that interested in getting into DSLR.

All in all, this is a great camera. If you're especially keen on taking great 1080 60p video without using a camcorder (and still preserve the ability to take great photos), and price is not an issue, strongly consider the HX20V.A little on terminology: 1080 means "1920x1080" and is the pixel resolution, and 60p means "60 progressive" and is the framerate or temporal resolution. 60p "60 progressive" essentially means 60 full frames per second, whereas 60i "60 interlaced" means 60 half-frames per second. 60i is not the same as 30p, but it's similar. That goes beyond the scope of this review.Anyway, I've been a Canon camera aficionado for many years and I hesitated to buy a Sony. The Canon PowerShot SX260 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Image Stabilized Zoom 25mm Wide-Angle Lens and 1080p Full-HD Video (Black) is a great looking camera and quite a bit cheaper than this camera as of December 2012. That's a consideration. The SX260 does not take 1080 video at 60 frames, but 1080 at only 24 frames. That was a deal-breaker for me. Some people may want the slower 24p movie-style framerate. If that's not a deal-breaker for you, then you'll save a good deal of money going with the Canon. If you want awesome 1080 60p video in a small size, this may be for you.It does have a some small idiosyncrasies, and since the instructions are woefully inadequate I'd like to discuss one. This involves photo and video numbering on the camera and behavior via Windows 7. I assume other versions of Windows act similarly, and I don't know about Mac.**Photo Importing**First of all, no matter how you import photos, they're numbered sequentially and NEVER reset in sequence unless you instruct the camera to do so. DSC00001.jpg, DSC00002.jpg, etc. You can import them through Windows or through proprietary Sony PlayMemories software (which is downloadable for free). BOTH work fine for importing photos. The "Date Taken" and EXIF metadata (the EXIF contains GPS data if you turn GPS on) is always there and correct no matter how you import.**Video Importing in Windows**(I've only used the 1080 60p, but I assume the other formats are the same.) If you import videos through Windows, or view them directly by file browsing the camera, you'll notice that they'll ALWAYS reset in sequence at 000000.mts after erased from the memory card or the memory card is changed. For example, if you import videos through Windows after recording 4 videos, you'll get 000000.mts, 000001.mts, 000002.mts, 000003.mts. Erase and record 4 more. Same exact names. You can just import them into different folders, but with the same file names it could get confusing. In addition, GPS data for videos won't be imported. On the positive side, the "Date" metadata will be correct under Windows. The moral of the story for me is to not import videos using the Windows importing feature!**Video Importing in PlayMemories**For the videos, when you import using the proprietary PlayMemories software, you will get two files for each video. One is the actual video, with the name itself labeled with the date and time you took it (20121130184709.mt2s would be 2012 November 30 and military time 18:47 and 09 seconds) and another file with the exact same name but with the extension ".modd" after it. As far as I can tell, the ".modd" file has all the metadata. That includes GPS, so don't delete it. I'm not sure if any software other than PlayMemories can directly read those ".modd" files, but you can view them as a text file for that metadata. On the negative side, the "Date" metadata and all related metadata ("Date Created" "Date Taken") in Windows will be the date you imported it, not the date you took it. (Remember, the photos--unlike videos--NEVER start over unless you instruct the camera to reset the sequence.)**Summary**I'd rather have a unique file name (and GPS data) than the correct Windows "Date" metadata, but it's still aggravating--especially considering the inconsistent behaviors between video and photo importing/naming. It's easier to import everything at once, so I import all through the PlayMemories software: videos and photos.I hope this review helps some of you figure out how to use this camera, because it's a great one. Don't let this review dissuade you. This camera has fantastic video, great photos, and it's nearly flawless. Final note: the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Black) (2012 Model) is essentially this camera with wi-fi. At the time of this writing, it's quite a bit more expensive. Unless you MUST have wi-fi transmission of photos (and I personally only use "old-school" moving of photos via SD cards) then I'd save your hard-earned money and go with the HX20V. But, if the cameras are very similarly priced, you might want to go with the HX30V for that wi-fi capability.