Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V - $230.99 at Best Buy (YMMV)

Yeah auto-white balance and a dim room are not going to give you "accurate" colors. This isn't a sensor issue , it is a amount of available light issue and the camera guessed wrong as to how red the scene looks.

Try the camera outside in daylight shooting grass or something not containing red. If it is a bad sensor the colors will still be all red or way off normal

Indoor lighting is actually very "red" in terms of the spectra of light most bulbs put out and the way camera sensors see that versus how it looks to the eye can be way different unless the camera has enough light to meter properly or you tell it what color is neutral in the scene.

And for rak007, here is a link to a comparison between the 2 and a few others:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q...grouptest/

can you set it to real colors in the intelligent mode though? i only see that in the manual control settings

Quote from rak007 : I am also debating on whether to get the HX9V or the Canon SX230 HS. The canon is like 199$ + shipping on amazon. Is the SX230 HS better than the HX9V ??

I found these two articles, don't know if it will help. One gives it to the Canon, the other to Sony

Canon winner
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q...ouptest/17

Sony winner
http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon...-Sony-HX9v

I went to my local BB, and they still had the floor model there. I played around with it, and it does not have the same red issues on the default settings. It is definately my camera that has a bad sensor... I compared them back to back. They actually helped me out and ordered me one shipped to store at the same price, so I can pick up the new one and return the old one.

I also compared them side by side with the Canon sx260 (they didn't have the 230 any more)... and they look pretty comparable. The Sony feels a bit more solidly built, and it is heavier. The Canon is sleeker feeling and a bit more pocket-able. I liked the position of the controls on the Sony a little bit better, but I would say from my limited testing, they are both very nice cameras for the price.

If you go to a local BB that has the Sony on sale for 198, they should be able to order it for you shipped to store for the clearance price if you find the right sales rep. Mine should be in on the 4th-7th.

Just took my first set of photos with the hx9v. Wow, it's like I'm making watercolor paintings. Unacceptable image quality for a camera in this segment/price range.

From reading around it doesn't look like Sony will offer any firmware upgrades either to change the jpg compression or noise reduction/suppression settings either.

Picked mine up from Best Buy today. I posted earlier that they were out of stock in store, but still had the clearance price up and the store clerk ordered me one from their warehouse at the $198 price. The camera is really heavy and bulky compared to my Panasonic Lumix. I bought it for the 1080P video. Hopefully, it's not so bulky that I won't want to put it in my pocket to take it with me.

Another negative, the battery has to be in the camera to charge. I purchased a spare battery to have as a backup, but its a bummer that one battery can't be charging while the other is in use. Somehow I missed the charger type in all the reviews. It's basically a USB cable with a wall charger.

You can get a 3rd party wall charger for ~$5 off ebay or amazon.

I purchased this bundle [amazon.com] and it seems to be working fine so far.

Quote from slohasley : Picked mine up from Best Buy today. I posted earlier that they were out of stock in store, but still had the clearance price up and the store clerk ordered me one from their warehouse at the $198 price. The camera is really heavy and bulky compared to my Panasonic Lumix. I bought it for the 1080P video. Hopefully, it's not so bulky that I won't want to put it in my pocket to take it with me. Another negative, the battery has to be in the camera to charge. I purchased a spare battery to have as a backup, but its a bummer that one battery can't be charging while the other is in use. Somehow I missed the charger type in all the reviews. It's basically a USB cable with a wall charger.

Was it new or open box? I woulda complained either way. It's supposed to come with a charger...

the hx9v doesn't come with a external charger, just a usb cable and a wall adapter.

Quote from dcpoor : Just took my first set of photos with the hx9v. Wow, it's like I'm making watercolor paintings. Unacceptable image quality for a camera in this segment/price range. From reading around it doesn't look like Sony will offer any firmware upgrades either to change the jpg compression or noise reduction/suppression settings either.

You will get the watercolor type issue when using the auto settings on the camera sometimes. I usually shoot in P mode and adjust the ISO, EV, flash strength if I am using the flash, manual white balance based on something white in the room I am shooting, and sometimes I even mess with the contrast and color saturation, but I usually leave those two alone and just mess with the picture using photoshop if I don't like how it came out, but typically if you have any knowledge on just how to set those few settings you will come out with very good quality pictures for a camera in this price range. It seems that their jpeg compressing and post processing firmware is a little off sometimes which is why I use M or P mode in most cases.

If you are looking to just point and shoot based on their auto-intelligence etc... modes you might be disappointed a bit and may want to go with something like the Canon SX230 instead.

It really is all about figuring out how the camera takes pictures and what are the best settings for the particular environment. There are three settings save options so you can quickly go from one set of settings to another with out having to manually change them all again.

Quote from kevinh : Was it new or open box? I woulda complained either way. It's supposed to come with a charger...

Brand new. Sony tape still in tact over the box opening.

Quote from dcpoor : the hx9v doesn't come with a external charger, just a usb cable and a wall adapter.

Rofl, crap you guys are right. Just dug mine up now that I'm home from work. Never bothered to examine it but it IS a wall adapter. Aint that'a ...

Quote from slickdaddy96 : You will get the watercolor type issue when using the auto settings on the camera sometimes. I usually shoot in P mode and adjust the ISO, EV, flash strength if I am using the flash, manual white balance based on something white in the room I am shooting, and sometimes I even mess with the contrast and color saturation, but I usually leave those two alone and just mess with the picture using photoshop if I don't like how it came out, but typically if you have any knowledge on just how to set those few settings you will come out with very good quality pictures for a camera in this price range. It seems that their jpeg compressing and post processing firmware is a little off sometimes which is why I use M or P mode in most cases. If you are looking to just point and shoot based on their auto-intelligence etc... modes you might be disappointed a bit and may want to go with something like the Canon SX230 instead. It really is all about figuring out how the camera takes pictures and what are the best settings for the particular environment. There are three settings save options so you can quickly go from one set of settings to another with out having to manually change them all again.

I understand and bought the hx9v for it's video recording capabilities and for times I needed the zoom, but it's still disappointing that it's auto setting is unable to provide acceptable results, I read reviews and didn't think it would be this bad. There are times when I want to snap a picture quickly without having need to play with different settings/presets.

I was very happy with hx5v, but have not been very impressed by the improvement of hx9v, even at this discounted price. Maybe I'm wrong. Debating whether to return hx9v or not.