I bought the Sony DSC-H300 at Best Buy while on vacation in Washington D.C. I don't have a smart phone (just a little flip phone for emergencies), so I wanted to get something. I'm still getting used to the settings and such, but my initial impression, after 200+ photos, is that it's a huge step up from my previous camera (Sony DSC-P72), or any other camera I've ever had. I went from 3.2 to 20.1 megapixels and the difference is astounding. So is going from 3x optical zoom to 35x! Photos are clear, image stabilization (not available on my old camera) is an extremely nice feature to have, and this new camera is almost as easy to use as my old one. I haven't tried the video recording feature yet, but I didn't buy it for that anyway. I bought it because I wanted something that could take very good photos, have more zoom that I had before, and didn't cost more than $250. I was looking for something with at least 10x zoom, then I saw this one with its 35x zoom. Needless to say, it caught my attention. I read the reviews posted here and elsewhere before buying. There are good and bad reviews on just about everything out there, and I've learned to look at the overall picture (no pun intended) rather than place too much importance on bad reviews, though that's not so say I ignore them completely. Quite the contrary. It's not perfect, of course, but for the price I paid I think it's a great bargain and has everything I want in a camera. It came with a set of four AA batteries, and those batteries lasted through all 200 photos and the time it took to download them to my computer. By comparison, my old camera ate batteries for breakfast. I'm a happy camper with this camera. As an example, I've attached one of the photos I took with the camera. Due to the file limitations on this review, I did crop the photo and reduce the colors to reduce the file size, but the full-size photo look the same to me, and I have good eyes. The photo was taken from the Washington Monument, which is about 0.57 miles away line of sight. It was not taken at full zoom either. Downloading photos is a breeze with the included USB cable. There's no WiFi, but that doesn't matter to me. I might try getting some rechargable batteries for it, but I haven't had much luck with rechargables in the past. Maybe they're better now? I'm looking forward to taking more trips now, since I now have a camera that can take much better photos than I was able to before. I don't normally give five stars on anything, but four seems a bit low too. I'd rate this camera at 4.5 stars. Did I mention I'm a happy camper? :)

Respectfully disagree with the negativity of the previous reviewers. Purchased this product having thoroughly researched and thought about what features were of top importance. The combination of such a high megapixels number and zoom ability is currently rare for this product's price topped everything. Before and after purchase, used every feature this product has to offer the user to make sure it worked properly and meet or exceed needs. If it didn't, was prepared to return it but that was not an issue or necessary. Quite the opposite. Very satisfied. There is even an Easy mode / setting built into the camera that you can set it to and just aim, adjust the framing of the shot and click the shutter. If you don't want to use this setting, just turn it off and take the time to at least learn to totally use the camera. As with any product, you may have to learn by experimenting with the features. If you want to immediately use it on a vacation, such as a previous user mentioned they did, of course things may not go perfectly because there might be a slight learning curve until being able to operate it exactly as you wish. To blame the camera for not doing something, like focusing, without being totally familiar with the inner workings and subtleties and precisely to properly adjust the settings seems unfair for this model. You must realize the level of features, including advanced, you have here. It's like if someone drives a regular every day street car but has never driven a more advanced car. It may be possible to operate some of the features but not others. People should not be so quick to criticize this product. You have to know, as a consumer, what you are committing to purchase before do so. Educate yourself as to what is important before purchasing. Even spend some time in the store touching it and hands on using every feature. It might be beneficial. For what it has to offer the user, the price is great! Totally happy with it!

I bought this camera shortly after it was released from Sony, and couldn't be happier with the results it gives me. I'm not a professional photographer, but I've won many contests and awards with my photos. This camera can take awesome pics in macro - or with the incredible zoom. The focusing is quick, the LCD screen can be moved to different positions to make it easier to see in bright light, and it has a viewfinder for those of us "old school" photographers! Easy to use in any mode! I've taken many Ribbon Winning photos with this camera! The few issues I have with it is not with it's performance. The lens cap is useless, and is easy to fall off and get lost. It doesn't come with a printed manual. I'm not one to run to the computer every time I need to know something about the camera - so that is probably my biggest beef. And altho I don't take many flash pictures as I feel it gives things a "fake" look, I have to say I don't like this flash at all. It almost always makes people look way over exposed. But this camera is so awesome in low light, you won't have to use flash very often. You can take a photo in such low light with unbelievable results - you'll be blown away! This is my 2nd Sony, and I'm sold! I have many film SLR's and a Canon DSLR, but this HX300 is my "go to" camera! I wouldn't be without it!

I have owned Sony camera's for many years. In my opinion they continue to improve on their camera's and at the same time keep them affordable. I bought a similar camera from another brand with the same features for $150.00 more. It was shabby in comparison and I promptly sent it back. I consider myself an amateur photographer who just enjoys capturing those special memories of our family and grandchildren. Not to mention that I live in the mountains and have wildlife galore. This camera is amazing. It takes wonderful pictures , the zoom is quick and I haven't missed a moment or lost a shot yet. I'm having the best time learning and playing with my new camera. I only wish that it had a rechargeable lithium battery instead of 4 AA's. I did buy rechargeable AA's and a charger. But a regular digital camera battery would have been allot nicer. Other than that I truly cannot find one thing that I am disappointed it. Way to go Sony....you knocked it out of the park again !!

Recently got this camera in store. I will admit that I was a little skeptical about buying it based on some of the other reviewers comments, but I decided to purchase it anyway and I am very glad that I did. I love it! This is actually my first camera that I've ever bought, and I found it very easy to use right out of the box. I wanted to make the switch to a camera after importing my phone's pictures onto my laptop and realizing how grainy they looked. After doing the same with this camera, I can safely say that it takes wonderful clear photos! It has many different settings and options to choose from, and all are very easy to navigate through. Other reviewers have complained about the "slow" auto focus and shutter speeds, but I find the speeds to be normal and it works great for me. If it was a more high end type of camera, then maybe I would understand the complaints but for the price of this camera, I think it was a very good deal. As a beginner camera, I highly recommend this camera to anyone who is interested!

I bought this camera as my first ever "real camera", not just a cell phone camera. I was full of excitement, anticipating the great photos I would take. Well, I was heavily disappointed by everything about this camera. Its like a junky play toy, dressed up as a real camera. I can testify that any cell phone camera I've ever had takes better pictures than this thing. Every time I took a picture, a bright orange light came on and could not be turned off. Also the flash is blindingly bright and can't be turned off. I searched the options numerous times and read online tech articles. No dice. Every one of my subjects would refuse to participate in the photo and complained of their eyes seeing spots. Then when I looked at the photos, everything had an orange tint, and looking towards a light made blue streaks like sun rays. Awful awful awful! It made everything I photographed look very unattractive. Meanwhile, I consider myself to be a passionate amateur digital photographer, and I love playing with this medium, creating art, collages and zines. This camera does not even have the option of black and white or sepia. I swear, it sucks in every way. Please save your money and get a nice cell phone camera. Mine is an LG Stylo 2, and the front camera is 15 megapixels, the rear is 8 megapixels. This camera says 20 megapixels, but it takes very low quality photos.

My first review was in March as a 4 star right after purchase before I began using. I am now waiting on repair of SECOND camera because first one ad same issues and was within 15 days. Recurring problem with error msg "turn off and then back on" happening at anytime. Camera won't function til after this "reboot" several times even in the middle of using. Camera malfunctioned at daughter's graduation this past Tues. Also drains batteries EXCESSIVELY and problems focusing. Exact same problems with first one, and after further research of reviews of other Sony Point and Shoot cameras, same issues. I should get camera back in two weeks or $$ back if they scrap it. Bottom line, Sony has a problem obviously somewhere in chipset or something and not fixing it At this time I CANNOT RECOMMEND SONY POINT AND SHOOT CAMERAS. BUMMER. seemed like nice camera with nice features and perfect for daughter's events, but OBVIOUSLY NOT!

I bought this camera to take on vacations because I didn't always want to use my phone. I figured that if I lost the camera it wasn't a huge deal, but if I lost my phone that would be a major issue. The zoom is very good although you have to be quite steady to get a good picture, but the auto stable function helps a lot. There are a lot of settings to learn but mostly I use the automatic mode. My girlfriend is surprised at how good of a picture it takes and she's an amateur photographer. There are two things that I don't like a lot, one is I would prefer a manual focus option as this auto focus is slow or acts confused at times. The other thing is it takes four AA batteries, and it can chew through them if you are using it a lot so bring spares.