I've had this camera for about a week now and have been loving it ever since. I've used another "flip" camcorder and the Bloggie Touch puts it to shame.
Pros:
1. Love the quick on and record. Great for spontaneous videos of the little one.
2. The touch screen interface makes it both useful and fun to use the big screen.
3. The still pictures come out brilliant, when the lighting and focus is good.
4. The battery charges up super fast and stays with you for a whole day of shooting.
5. The image stabilization is good. You can take decent video while walking around and panning too. Note that it is not optical, but electronic SteadyShot stabilization.
6. The lens is very good quality and the pictures are crisp.
7. Really like the "snap picture while recording" feature. I find myself using that feature the most. The video doesn't stall while the picture (full 12M resolution) is being taken and since the focus and exposure are usually locked well while you're in the middle of the video, the pictures come out great.
Cons:
1. In low lighting, there is quite a bit of graininess and using the digital zoom makes it much worse.
2. While the lens is good quality, the auto-focus mechanism is really very slow. If you move around the camera too much before focus has locked on, the auto-focus will almost never lock.
3. What I really miss with this camera is a flash. Even a tiny one would help with low light pictures.
4. Minor annoyance: to preview a picture right after you take it, you have to go through at least two clicks. Sony could have designed it so that it always goes to the last picture taken by default, instead of the thumbnail list of all pictures/video on the device.
I decided to purchase this camera over a still camera that can do video because:
1. This one is dead simple. One button to turn on, one to take video and one to take stills. This makes it both easy and quick to use.
2. This one can do 1080p video and 720p at 60fps.
3. Its under $200 and is smaller than your phone.
4. Its got internal flash and USB connector - no more SD cards or cables. 8GB is enough to get you through the day before you can come back to your laptop to dump the pictures.
I decided to purchase this camera over other ones in the same category because:
1. Its got a big display and the touch screen is fun to use.
2. Its got a better lens system than the others.
3. Its got (some) image stabilization. Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) - 8 GB, 4 Hours NEWEST MODEL (Black)
I wanted to like this camera, but it's been a complete disappointment. First and foremost, the automatic focusing is terrible. The image is often out of focus, and there's no way to tell the camera to try focusing again. (Why not add this and handle it like the iphone does? Just touch on the subject you want in focus.) Most portable video cameras like this (e.g. flip and kodak) have fixed focus, and I was looking forward to the Sony's ability to focus, since it helps get better macro shots. Instead, the camera is just constantly hunting for focus and often not getting it.
The ergonomics are also a problem. I often want to hold the camera vertically, because it's more comfortable, but still take the usual landscape wide angle footage (again, like my flip and kodak cameras handle it). Instead, the Sony switches to verticle orientation when you hold it vertically. So, you've got to hold it sideways all the time, which isn't wildly comfortable for any length of time.
Adding insult to injury, none of the useful tools for sharing footage online work with the mac (though it will import into imovie).
The touch screen is nice and responsive and the video quality is good when it's in focus (though with the Sony's typical slightly colder color/white balance). But the camera's downsides--particularly the terrible constant focus hunting & missing--far outweigh its pluses.
I purchased this camera a few days ago and I absolutely love it. I wanted to get a pocket sized HD video camera for under $200 and I was considering this item to the Flip Mino and Flip Ultra. I settled on this item over those two Flip cameras for the following reasons:
1. Can record in 1080p.
2. 3" screen over 2" screen.
3. Can take still photos with Bloggie. Cannot do this with Flip.
4. Can record in 16:9 or 4:3.
5. Bloggie has 4x digital zoom compared to 2x digital zoom for Flip.
The biggest selling point for me is being able to record in 1080p. It makes a difference if you are going to output to a TV (via HDMI) that can support 1080p.
Now, I will say that the accessories for the Flip are much cooler but I wasn't shopping for accessories.
Also, some people complain of the video quality in low-lighting. Duh! The Flip, Bloggie, Zi8 type cameras are not really designed for low light settings. If you want a HD video recorder/camera that fits in your pocket, easy to use, has a nice wide screen, and takes great video for under $200 I strongly suggest the Bloggie. If you want a HD video recorder/camera that is perfect for all situations in all sorts of lighting for under $200 you're not going to find it.
Edit on 12/29/2010: I just learned today that while I can have over four hours of recording when using the 720p 30fps setting I cannot record continuously for over 30 minutes. I'm still very pleased with the bloggie but the 30 minute time limit is a big disappointment. If for example you do some kind of martial arts class and you want to set it on a stand and record the entire hour long class you will not be able to.
Consider this to be a rebuttal of the reviews of the Sony Bloggie Touch which were badly written by non-photographers, whiners, people who don't read camera manuals, people who don't understand that a camera needs, YES!, light ... Like flash? Get one of the thousands of cameras that feature automatic, built-in flash. Do you understand that a camera, even one with anti-shake features, must be held as motion-free as possible for best results, particularly in poor light? Video cameras don't use flash. Sorry, incorporating a video light on this camera would at least quadruple it's really handy size. Don't like the touch interface? Are you a Luddite? This is the most fantastic camera interface I have ever used. A touch interface like this is the main feature that makes the iPhone, Touch, and iPad so popular with tens of millions of people worldwide.
The focusing is quite satisfactory - do you want a ring around the lens so you can focus yourself like twenty years ago? Do you think a very, very small form factor 1080p video/still camera which costs less than $160 with the touch interface making it the most easy-to-use camera of its type must do everything perfectly seeing that no camera is perfect regardless of price or class? I think the ergonomics are superb just as the iPod ergonomics are superb.
I like my iPod Nano for the same reasons I admire the Sony Bloggie Touch design: small, elegant, easy interface, excellent performance within the design constraints imposed by current technology. Attach the wrist loop, hold the Bloggie as instructed in the PDF user manual (did you read that?), practice for 30 seconds and Voilà! Success. If you have a tripod so cheap it doesn't have a vertical flip capability, you have no right speak about tripod use.
My use so far has shown the Bloggie Touch to be everything I hoped it would be in video and stills. I have numerous cameras including Nikon SLRs, Leicas, Fuji, and Canon from the days of film up to the present. Some photos I've posted online have gotten tens of thousands of views. I have been a press photographer. I love cameras and am inclined to say there are no bad cameras, only bad photographers. Having a camera with oneself and knowing how to use it with style and making use of its features, whatever they may be, is the mark of a photographer. You want quicker focus, get a Leica M9 and focus by hand. Get a Nikon D3 and a few thousands of dollars worth of lenses and other accessories to get the features you think the Bloggie Touch should have but doesn't.'
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