Great quality camera that delivers
I wanted a replacement for my 7 year old Lumix. Got a Nikon L28. Cheap, but great sharp pictures 20MP. Wife said it was too small, so I traded for another Nikon L620. Great pictures and awesome full HD video until you zoomed in or out. Not only it was going out of focus, but it recorded the loud zoom motor. Took it back and started some research. Online reviews, youtube tests and hands on in the store. That's how I ended up with the HX300. It zoomed in fast and clear, good MP, lots of manual adjustments. Video quality is not superior to the Nikon's, but there is no zoom sound,and it stays focused. The huge zoom is also a plus. I took pictures of the Moon, and when I downloaded them on the laptop, wife first thought I got them off the net, no way you can get that with a camera. Well, once I showed her the image on the camera she was impressed. Having a viewfinder is also a huge plus. I had other cameras without, and on sunny days I could not see what I was filming, my face would reflect in the display, so I was only hoping I was zooming on the right thing. Love the fact that you can capture pictures while you're filming, also love the panoramic. A neighbor was taking pictures at night with his DSLR Nikon. High end camera. I looked at the end result, those ducks on the pond, and I wasn't impressed at all with those pictures no matter what adjustments he made. He said he'll photoshop some of them. I brought my HX300 a day later, put in in night mode and took way, way better and sharper pictures of those ducks, and my camera is at least five times cheaper than that Nikon. I am still learning it, I can't tell yet if I can shoot slow motion or fast video like I could with the Nikon. You can use it as an ordinary point and shoot, or you can manually adjust a lot of things, like the manual cameras I grew up with in the 70s. It is a matter of time before I lose the lens cap. I wish it was attached to the camera. If I am in a hurry to take a shot, I have to remove the cap, put it in a spot where I can find it later, then start the camera, and all this takes time and you can miss a shot with those precious seconds wasted. But that's not such a big deal, if I get mad, I'll drill a hole in it and attach it to the camera with fishing line... All things being said, even though I ended up paying almost four times more than the little Nikon, it was well worth it. I am looking forward to a lenghty relationship with this camera which does everything I need it to, and a lot more. Great for beginners, great for advanced photographers, great for those who want to learn and move up to professional photography. That's why they call it a bridge camera.Read full review
