Sony DSC-TX30/B 18 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.3-Inch OLED (Black)

Before i bought this camera i was a little concerned about a lot of the reviews that said it had issues with leaking when used underwater, and that Sony's support was terrible. Well i took this camera on a trip to Puerto Rico for a week right after i received it. I didn't buy any special accessories, i just used it as-is. I can say that this guy functioned wonderfully both in and out of the water. I used it every single day on the beach, in the rainforest, and out at night. I would say on average i was taking somewhere in the neighborhood of about 100 or so pictures and 3 or 4 videos per day. At that rate i ran out of juice only one time and that was at about 11PM after being out all day since about 9AM. So I would have to say the battery life was pretty good. Also i used this in the water ALOT! I took both pics and videos and it was great to use some of the more artistic settings such as sketch mode underwater; it really allowed me to document my trip in a much more detailed way since i could take it literally everywhere i went without having to worry about ruining it. I never once had any water get into the case, after a couple of particularly long sessions in the water it did prompt me with a warning on startup about making sure the battery cover was closed properly, but that was the extent of it. The picture quality was also damn good for the size of the camera and definitely much better than my iPhone 5 i was carrying. Overall, an excellent camera for the price. And if you are looking for something you can literally throw in your pocket and take with you everywhere, this is it. Just don't expect DSLR quality pics.

I just took this camera on a 1-week camping & rafting trip down the Grand Canyon...and I have tons of amazing photos because of it! Design: The camera is very attractive; I got it in pink, which is very eyecatching...and that's exactly what I wanted, so I wouldn't lose it! It's very petite, looks to be about the size of a credit card, and is very light. That means it was very easy for me to carry around EVERYWHERE - while hanging on to a raft, while body-surfing down a river, while hiking up a canyon cliff. It comes with a no-frills wrist band - just a loop. I have small wrists and was able to double-loop it around my wrist, which kept it taught and safe. But I imagine someone with a bigger wrist would rather have a clip on it to tighten the loop around their wrist, which this doesn't have. The slide cover, which switches the camera on, was also something I loved. While there is a separate on/off button, sliding the cover was a super-fast way to snap some pictures really quickly, then turn it off. I liked not having to mess with a lens cover that I'd need two hands to fasten. I could do EVERYTHING with this camera with just 1 hand - especially great if you need your other hand to hang on to a raft or a rock! The touch screen was one thing I was iffy about. The default AUTO mode is really great, and basically all you need.....that and the panorama mode. Just beware that panorama really drains the battery, so if you aren't able to charge your camera during your trip, be wary about panorama. The extra "filters" you can process your photos with on the camera are nothing special, and personally I find them gaudy. Auto mode is great (this is coming from a pro DSLR user). I'm going through my Canyon photos in Lightroom right now and they're pretty well exposed. So...while you can't use the touchscreen while underwater, like other reviewers have said, I don't think it really matters. Just stick with Auto mode and you'll be fine. I got some underwater videos and photos as well, while swimming in a creek and walking through a waterfall, and this camera is amazing. I have so many shots that I otherwise couldn't have, and the price wasn't bad at all. Battery life: Like their site says, it dies after about 250 shots. I found this to be perfectly fine - do you really want to sort through 500pics/day of your vacation?? Remember when film cameras only let you have 20-something shots per roll? Anyway, I found myself shooting around 100 a day, and that was more than enough. Beware, however, that panorama mode and the other filter modes will drain the battery FAST, so I recommend just sticking to auto. Even with capturing a few vidoes, you'll be fine this way. If you're going to travel where you can't charge overnight, I highly recommend getting an external battery charger (like an Anker battery), since this camera can charge via mini-USB. Another option is, get a spare camera battery to change on the fly, and also get the Anker battery to charge those batteries over night. Durability: It's shockproof claim is pretty good. Like I said, I was rafting & hiking with this thing. I was hitting rocks while swinging my arms to climb, banging it against the raft whenever we hit a rapid....it was great. There are some superficial scratches on the touchscreen, but none of it interferes with functionality or ability to view anything. The one thing that DID put a deep little scratch on my screen is when it got knocked in to a metal carbiner. So...do NOT rub your camera screen against the edge of a carbiner, metal is stronger than this glass. At least it's just a small scratch and still doesn't mess with functionality or viewability at all - it's cosmetic. But your true enemy is SAND!!!! Understand, first, that sand is a huge problem for everyone, even pro users, and it's not entirely rational to believe your camera can defeat sand without you giving it some help. Which I didn't REALLY give to this camera. There was a lot of sand, and for the most part, the Cybershot DID do pretty well with it. But sand really does get everywhere, and the worst is the REALLY fine, tiny sand granules. None of it got past the O-ring that seals the microSD/battery, thank God, but some sand did get in to the zoom button up top. It wouldn't zoom out for 1-2 days, but by the 3rd day, the sand had worked its way out of my camera, and my zoom abilities returned. On the front of the camera, right by the lens, there is some text - "Carl Zeiss" and other lens info. This scratched off completely when some sand got under my camera lid as well. I also have some vertical scratching on the pain under the lens lid, where the sand scraped everything, but again this is all cosmetic. The lens is perfectly fine and still takes great pictures. The lens cover still slides perfectly well. Conclusion: All in all, this was a great purchase, especially for the price (less than two-hundred dollars). I got shots with it that I never would have gotten with my DSLR, thanks to its ruggedness, its tiny size and portability, and how easy it is to use with 1 hand. This thing is definitely coming with me on future water-related trips.

I bought the tx30 to replace my tx5 which I loved. I am annoyed that the reviews of the tx30 did not warn that the video files in the tx30 are in a different format and stored in a different place. This caused me several days of struggle, but I have pretty much solved the difficulties. The tx30 files are format .mst . When the tx30 is connected to your computer with the supplied usb cable the video files appear in the folder path Private\AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM and appear as .MTS files. In the tx5 the videos appear in MP_ROOT\100ANVO1 as .mp4 files In both cameras the still photos appear in folder DCIM\100MSDCF as .JPG files. Added Note: have found out that the tx30 can shoot in mp4 mode. Just press the Menu button of this camera, go to Settings, go to Shooting Settings and select Movie format. Then select MP4 making it the video file type. The .mp4 files will appear in MP_ROOT\100ANVO1 when camera is connected by usb cable to your computer. Once I had found the video files and copied them to my computer, I still faced the problem that none of my existing software like Quicktime and Windows Media Player would play the AVCHD .mts videos. Sony recommends installing "Play Memories Home" but after downloading I found it would not install on Windows XP computers. I installed it on my husband's Windows 7 laptop, but it ran very slowly and crashed his computer. So I would not recommend it unless you have a pretty new computer with 2 G RAM or more. The good news is that I discovered that my Cyberlink Power Director 9.0.0.2930 could recognize, play, and operate on these .MST video files. The currently available Cyberlink Power Director 12 Ultra can surely do this, too. This was good for me because I already know the Power Director program. Even though "Play Memories Home" is free, I didn't find it very easy to use. I deleted it from my husband's laptop because it seemed to be slowing it down and causing crashes. I still give the camera 5 stars because it does so many things well, it's small and light and feels great in your hand, it goes underwater, it takes continuous sweep panoramas, all the things I loved about my tx5. I didn't need the extra pixels (the ts5 is 10 megapixels), but you can set the tx30 lower if you don't want such big files. I didn't want higher definition video, but again you can select the lowest and reduce even more when you convert the file format. My problem is that the tx30 is ahead of the ability of my computers. My computers can't play really HD video very well. A word about my tx5. I've had it for 4 years, taken it on many trips. It's been great. The screen is unscratched. It's gone snorkeling with me and performed well underwater. Nice pictures of various fish and coral. Nice panoramas and video. What happened was I dropped it (short, about 3 ft). Everything still worked except the zoom button. I have sent it back to Sony. It is out of warranty, but on the phone they said they could fix this kind of problem and predicted the cost would be the standard repair cost of $111. Probably silly to both repair the tx5 and buy the tx30, but it's a backup. I originally paid $299 for the tx5 and now the price for a new tx5 is $390. I paid $195 for the tx30 and it's now $189.82 on Amazon Prime.

This little baby is my "Swiss army knife" everyday camera. Outstanding "quickdraw" camera for runners! I don’t go on runs without it. I use the Sony LCS-CST soft carrying case attached to my waist fanny pack. I do go through a lot of the carrying cases because the silver metal parts that secure the case to my fanny pack rust out. I keep 2 or 3 extras on hand. I started using the DSC-TX-10 circa 2010 and have continued with the TX20 and TX30 series. I have yet to find a better camera for my daily runs, as well as marathons and ultra marathons. I shoot on the run and get perfect pictures in all kinds of weather. And, yes it takes a beating and keeps on clicking. Drop it, pick it up, wipe it off, holster it and ready for the next shot. I carry the TX-20 or the TX-30 with me everywhere I go so I never miss a shot. It can’t be beat for its photo quality and one hand ease of use on the run. I can't say enough good about this camera for this price range. Battery life has never been an issue and it’s been through 24-hour runs in rain and not once did it fail to meet the challenge. Sony camera engineering is simply superb! The colors in the photos are brilliant. In the past year I have switched to Sony for all of my photography needs, not just for running (purchased the Sony DSCRX1R and Sony RX1000M). I hope Sony continues making this little rock-solid camera. For my needs Sony technology is the best on the market now. I definitely recommend this camera for running and everyday use. Thanks for reading!

I purchased this camera for a camping trip and it's performed beautifully. The area I stayed in had only freshwater so I cannot comment on the performance in salwater or sand but for my purposes, it did exactly what I needed it to do. I was taking pictures in the water, under water, would point the camera to shore, take pictures there... and they all came out great. The touch-screen functions started working right away once I picked the camera out of the water and it dried off pretty quickly after being submerged. Film quality was good and the different settings worked well. I've owned many small Sony cameras and also own a Sony Alpha. Their cameras usually perform extremely well and this one's no exception. Of course the picture quality cannot hold up to the same standards of an SLR camera but I definitely think this is one of the best quality images you can find in a point and shoot. My only gripe: The touch screen already has a big fat scratch on it. It seems extremely sensitive and I definitely think they could use some sort of tempered glass for an application that will see this much action. However, the touch function doesn't seem to suffer from the scrape so I'm not too bummed about it. The good news is: It's so tiny that even if I buy a cover for it, it'll still easily slide into my purse. Would definitely recommend this camera to any of my friends.

I bought this camera expecting the quality of Sony that I have become accustomed to through other products such as their TVs, Surround Sound Systems, Receivers, and Portable Stereo Devices. The Sony Cyber-Shot Digital Camera TX30 seemed to be the perfect camera for me and my life style. It is advertised as “certified waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, and freezeproof”. It is NOT! Although the camera took wonderful pictures and video it is/was not waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, or anything proof. I used the camera exactly how it was advertised and when the camera became corroded after the third snorkeling trip; I sent it into the Sony customer service for its warranty coverage and received the below evaluation not once but twice. First, from the in-store customer service representative who warned me that it may have “suffered physical damage”, prior to any examination of the camera; and secondly, in an e-mail from the Sony Service Center, apparently after the examination. “We have completed the evaluation necessary to repair your unit. During this evaluation, it has been determined that your unit has suffered physical damage. As a result of this damage, the repair costs make it uneconomical and inefficient to repair the unit.” I have been a loyal customer for many years and have spent thousands of dollars on Sony products with great enjoyment; however now that I have had a piece of equipment stop working I have seen a different side of Sony. I am very disappointed with Sony and this will absolutely make me think twice before purchasing another Sony product. (This same complaint has surfaced many times in other reviews)

A perfect point and shoot for in and out of the water. No you will not get DSLR quality, duh. But for a camera the size of a pack of cards you get superior results, great battery life, impressive underwater quality, and an easy to use interface. I have had this camera for 2 years now and have taken it on 2 week long Caribbean vacations snorkeling or in the water every day of the trips, and numerous trips to pools and local NJ beaches. So I can say the waterproof ability of this camera has been flawless, I do make sure to rinse the saltwater off as soon as I get out of the water. I usually just pour some bottles water on it and open and close the slider. I do recommend picking up a Foam Float Strap to attach to the camera, in case you drop it while swimming, I did and it was a lifesaver, well actually a camerasaver lol I will point out, to help those who complain about the photo quality- as with any camera that has autofocus, if you do not let it focus the image will be blurry. The Autofocus on this camera is rather quick and unobtrusive to using the camera. The digital zoom is not the best, but if you stay in the range of optical you will still have a nice looking photo. Bottom Line I felt it was a great camera for the money, I would but it again with out hesitation.

I'm surprised at the quality of the photos I've taken with this camera! I'm so glad that the battery is charged by just plugging the camera in, and not with a separate battery charger. The battery will die very quickly in exceptionally cold weather-- I was in the north of Sweden in January and I was having to charge it at least once a day, but the camera otherwise did great in the subzero temperatures. The fact that it's waterproof has saved this camera so many times from melting snow, rain, etc. The touchscreen can be very frustrating if it's cold and you need gloves. I learned how to operate the touchscreen by using my nose, and it looks very silly but it works just fine. The touchscreen WILL NOT work underwater though, so be aware of that. You can still take pictures, but you won't be able to change any settings if the camera is submerged. It's very compact and fits great in a jacket pocket. It's a good camera to keep on hand when you're not sure if you'll need a camera or not. I'm very happy with this purchase. It takes pretty good pictures in dim lighting. One issue is that it's very prone to lens flares if you're not careful, but that can be fixed by choosing a better angle to take your picture.