Recently I just bought the Sony HX9V compact camera to replace my broken Samsung and I have to say, for a compact, this thing is incredible. When searching for a replacement the one feature that seemed to set this camera apart was the HD video mode and believe me, the 1080p 60hz video from this Sony HX9V is mindblowing and probably the biggest differential in this price range.
I also grabbed a Patriot 32 gigabyte class 10 SD card from MSY for $44. It handles the 1080p AVC video just fine.
Now for a video sample from this camera, I edited the following in Sony Vegas 10 as a complete noob and the results came out surprisingly good. Silvan is not the most exciting place in the world though it gives you a good idea what the Sony HX9V is capable of:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUCl-QlYui0
The following pictures were taken shortly after buying (more noob shots) most at auto or superior auto and some with background defocus:
