Hi,
I just bought one of these and at the moment I'm feeling sorry that I did!
I don't know if it's just me not knowing how to use the camera properly or whether it's the camera itself but after paying $700 for it at the moment I'm feeling pretty ripped off!

The main problem being that when the steady shot thing is ON when you film it turns out as though the footage is "swimming"....like...sliding around, even with the slightest of panning or hand movement.
I've tried turning it OFF and it's just unwatchable....it's almost as if the slightest of hand shake is magnified a thousand times.
This is NOT the experience I had with my old panasonic camera.
If you try to zoom...even a tiny bit with the Sony the shaking is TERRIBLE.
Not only that the images - both with the photos and video is really "soft"... Like the images are slightly blurred. There's no clarity at all!

I just want to use it mainly for filming us on our camping trips so of course you don't always have the chance to stop and set up a tripod to film an unexpected bit of wildlife crossing the road etc, but it seems ( at the moment) that that's all this camera is good for....filming with a tripod!
However saying THAT I did film my kids doing a music video clip and when they were dancing even though the camera was on the tripod it did this weird thing where it LOOKED as though I was holding the camera and following their up and down jumping movements....the footage kind of "bulged" as they moved is the best way I can describe it.
NOT what I wanted anyway!

I'm almost ready to ring the shop up where I bought this camera and tell them it's a piece of POO and I want my money back PLEASE....but I thought I'd post here and see if anyone has one and to hear of THEIR experiences are anything like mine.

Well for anyone reading this, for your information or hopefully help...
I returned the Sony and went for the Panasonic 3 CCD TAPE camera. An NV- GS330 if that helps any.
MUCH better picture quality...much sharper and SO much better when hand held for filming...the steady cam thing on this one really DOES work without that swimming effect or blurring when you pan.
Of course it takes SO much longer to get the stuff onto the PC but I would rather that than put up with a really lousy picture.
It's a heavier camera WITH a viewfinder instead of just the LCD screen.... I like the option of using either when filming.
I've also decided I really don't like touch screens on LCD screens. Too fiddly.
The simpler the better.