Helping me choose the right digital camera for my needs

The Sony DSC HX1 takes the best pictures, is easy to hold, and fits into a smaller hand. It is nto a compact camera, and is bigger than many digitals, but not as big as the slrs at all.
it is just a great camera all around!
( i was disappointed in the performance of the Canon)

The kit lens or even a cheaper consumer lens would not come close for the needs that she is wanting it for. The DSLR would be great, but she'd also have to get a 70-200 F2.8 to do indoor sports, which that lens alone is much more than her whole budget.

PS.. it is FAST! you can snap away and still come out with good pics.. the zoom is fantastic! the colors are TRUE TRUE TRUE! and it fits nice into my hand.
anyhow, have fun

Thanks! That sounds good, but what about low light and up-close pictures? Oh, also night shots .... Does it have a "museum" setting?

The HX1 fails in low light, because of lots of noise and serious noise reduction which takes away a lot of detail. The HX1 is pretty much the same thing as the Canon SX1, with the same problems and benefits. The 10 frames per second actually works, but only works for one second and then you have to wait 17 seconds for the pictures to be written onto the card.

Here's the conclusion page from the most popular camera review site on the internet.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydschx1/page16.asp

I looked at the reviews on CNET & they said the picture quality wasn't there. Hmmm... It's nice to hear from someone who actually owns the camera & likes it! How long have you had your new camera? Have you taken pictures in low-light, outdoor scenery up close & from a distance, and moving subjects? If so, can you give me some feedback on how the pictures are turning out?

Thank you so much--- This is certainly one I will take a look at again

I'm very happy with my camera. I wanted a dslr but i didnt want the hassle of changing lenses. the pictures so far are great for me, closups and low light and night pictures.. I decided that i was going to get a mega zoom digital instead of a dslr because of the convenience, etc, and im still happy with my choice. I have zoom and it takes great pictures, day and night, low light and bright light, etc.
I know what the review says about the noise, etc, and that is why i first bought the canon sx20, but when i took it home, i was disappointed in the quality. I then took home the sony, and Im telling you, that takes better pics than the canon. In fact, I'm so happy with muy choice that i want to buy one for a family member as a gift, also.
The thing is this: until you buy a camera, try it out, hold it in your hand, play with the controls, you dont know if its a good "fit" for you.. you need to find that out becaue each camera will have something that isnt perfect.. so you have to decide what YOU like in a camera..
For instance.. sure slrs are great, but I dont want to lug around all that. I take pictures every day, and take my camera with me all the time, so it has to be convenient enough for me.
Also the lenses.. they are expensive for the slrs.
Now, if you want to spend less than 600, I still highly recommend the sony hx1. i think its better than the canon. but again, we each have to try it on for the "feel". what you might love, i might not, and vice versa. But it really does great work!
If i can figure out how to download pics onto this website, I will do that so you can see. (LOL Im new to this site, so I have to see how to do that

Thank you so much for all of your advice. You're right. You do have to take a camera home and try it to see if it's a good fit... As silly as it may sound to others, I loved my old Nikon Coolpix 4300! I keep thinking that if I loved it so much, I should be able to find a "little step up" now that I'm in the market for a new camera! I was a Realtor & used mine not only for work, but for all the grandchildren's activities, etc... It never blurred or gave me any problems ... I thought I took some pretty spectacular pictures. LOL! Now I'm reading all this stuff, I feel so frustrated! You have been very kind and helpful. I'd love to see some of your pictures if you can download them! Thank you for all of your help. I am now considering this camera, since I like you, don't want to "lug" everything with me... I was hoping the Coolpix P100 that just came out would have good reviews, but CNET didn't give them the best... Ahhh.... So I will look into the sony hx1 a little more ... Thanks again!

I wonder if anyone out there has tried the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ35? If so, I'd love some feedback on it... I've read the reviews & am considering it as well as the Sony Cyber-Shot HX1

Thanks Everyone!

that doesnt' sound silly at all! If I've learned anything at all in the past few months, I've learned this: no matter which camera we get, it won't be perfect. The thing is, which imperfections are ok with you and which ones can't you tolerate? Like the canon, the colors were not true at all.. and that is very important to me. And the speed on the canon is incredibly slow between pictures.. and that was the worst thing! The processor in that camera (and most digitals, even the megas) is a ccd processor which is just not able to go as fast as the slr's.. HOWEVER.. and this is WHY I picked the SONY in the first place:
SONY HAS the SAME PROCESSOR AS THE SLRS! IT HAS A CMOS SENSOR, which means that it will be a bit faster, and better quality. That was why I chose it, I kind of forgot about that! LOLOL Im so used to it already that I totally forgot about that key feature! So it shares that with the SLR's, and believe me it makes the camera faster.

You keep comparing the HX1 to the SX20, but the Canon counterpart is the SX1, which has a CMOS sensor, shoots slightly faster shot to shot in regular mode, in continuous mode it shoots at 4 FPS until the card fills up, and has pretty much all the positives and negatives that the HX1 has. The processor in in almost all of the Canon point and shoot cameras have the same processor as their DSLR counterparts, but that doesn't make it as good. The CMOS sensor in the HX1 or the SX1 is not even close to the quality of the much larger sensors in their respective DSLRs.

If I had to buy only one super zoom camera(which I wouldn't buy a superzoom), it wouldn't be the HX1 or the SX1. I'd probably look at the Sony HX5. It doesn't have the speed of some others(including the HX1 or SX1), but it does have the Sony Exmor-R sensor that makes it much better in high ISOs than any other super zoom.

oh, the reason I keep comparing the two of those is because those are the two that i have had actual experience with, in owning and using, so those are really the only ones i can honestly comment on.
it has a cmos processor and the exmorr sensor as well, (the sony hx1). the hx5 also has a smaller zoom.. it has 10 zoom. and I wanted a bigger one! thus, the 20 zoom in the hx1.

Again, it's all in what one likes, but i just am giving my slant and the reality of how it works in the field. The reviews are ok, but you really need to hear how the consumers experience them as well.

The older Exmor sensor is not near as good as the new Exmor-R back-lit sensor. This new sensor can shoot very good ISO 800 and 1600 shots, where the old Exmor(like in the HX1) have very grainy photos in ISO 400 and above. That makes it a much better indoor and lower light camera.

`That's encouraging about the Sony--- Wow, thank-you