For some reason this was available in New Zealand, via Asia, before the US/UK release. I've had it for about a week now. So, it is as spec'ed in the preview comments about it so far from the various websites.

It starts fast, focuses quickly, does not have shutter lag and is easy to handle and has tons of functions. It handles well for its size and does not feel heavy. Having the zoom on the side of the lens is great - makes it more stable to hold the camera. I've taken some pretty amazing shots with it - the zoom allows good creativity and the low light capability produces detailed and pleasing shots. How much different this camera is to the previous model I'm not really sure in terms of the additional megapixels via the new sensor. My previous camera was a Olympus E620 DSLR - in comparison there is less detail with the Sony, although not hugely noticeable on a 23" LCD computer monitor. The camera is a lot of fun to use and it just begs you to be more creative when... Read more

Wanted a superzoom with Panorama mode so the choices are fairly limited. This week both the Sony HX200V and Nikon P510 came out so bought them both to compare. The first review by "techguy" gives some nice details about the camera so I won't repeat his comments. I've played with them now for a couple of days and do not claim to be an expert by any means so take these comments with a grain of salt. These are just initial impressions.

I found overall the Sony took nicer pictures than the Nikon which tended to give a slight yellow hue on grass. And when enlarging the pictures the detail was better. The Sony produced slightly clearer pics both indoors and out and skins tones were a little warmer and more natural. The Sony also allows you to adjust the color and vividness to personal taste, don't believe the Nikon allowed for this.

I did like the size and feel of the Nikon better, the menu was a little more user friendly I thought and so was the layout of... Read more

Most likely you have already read professional reviews of this item, so I will not repeat the list of features. Here are bits of info that I didn't find in reviews when I was shopping, and had hoped someone would post, along with a few surprises I found:
1- Once you turn off the annoying start up tone, it takes less than a second to be ready, a big plus
2- There is a zoom/focus ring. It is electronic, I would have preferred a mechanical one but it works well. Zoom or focus selectable by a switch
3- The sweep panorama mode works well with the exception of the fact that it has a fixed width. If you don't sweep far enough within the allotted time, e.g. because you don't want too wide a panorama, the rest of the image will be filled with a grey filler. I hope a firmware update will fix this as it looks hideous.
4- Macro photos are not the greatest.
5- Ability to select the mode automatically works well.
6- When powered on, the extending lens struggles if lens... Read more