A professional photographer friend of mine recommended this device after asking me extensively about using it as a podcast. Since I needed a better camera than my phone and a better battery, I need to take photos and videos. I was working in photo mode over the weekend and the shutter speed is terrible. From the moment I press the button there is a 2 second delay before the photo is actually taken. Impossible to capture people unless they're looking for something else until then or they have some decent snaps. Out of about 20 photos, 3 were too blurry to even be published. There were also almost no instructions. I connected the device to my computer hoping for a digital guide to appear, but instead I received a SONY app that needs my credit card details to charge me for an account that I don't want. The information makes it sound like it's that easy to share images and files, but it's not at all. I didn't even want to provide my credit card information for a certain amount of "free" storage, so I couldn't verify the download. Just trying to create an album with this software was cumbersome, and then changing the name on one of the built-in contact lists stopped me from continuing; I changed the name of the "My Best Friend" mailing list, what's next? Didn't have to enter email address, mobile number to send picture, nothing. It's a clumsy tool. I also couldn't find a way to face the camera forward, which would be particularly useful for people who want the best version of what cell phones offer these days. Overall, I had high hopes for this thing. It's compact, making it easy for me to use, but its features and ease of use are seriously lacking in a SONY product.