Sony DSC HX-5V - The OSM Mappers Camera? #2
Its definitly not the mappers Camera. After using it for a week i'll say - save the money for a decent GPS Receiver like the GPSMap 60Csx or similar. The Sony has the problem of non deterministic GPS Reception. Although it tells you it has good Satellite reception doesnt mean it'll write the current position to your images. Under real life conditions the accuracy of the GPS signal is bad and barely usable for OSM purposes. I am used to see which side of the road i was standing at (on my GPSMap 60Csx tracks). With the Sony you'll be happy to be able to identify the correct street. But this is only a random factor. Sometimes you'll get best accuracy - middle of the street, and sometimes you'll have something 100-200m off. Comparing with the GPSMap running under the same circumstances there is no real reason.
The Compass has other problems. It is very sensitive to acceleration and other technical gear. It takes some seconds to get a good bearing so there is no way to use it in the car, while cycling or something. You need to stand still, point at the direction you'd like to photograph and wait for 1-2 seconds.
The only good thing about the camera is the low shutter-delay and the Clocks accuracy. As the clock seems to be synchronized with GPS there is no need to take a photo of the GPS Receiver before. They'll have the same time. Photo v. GPS time offset is always 0. For that little "feature" i wont spent 350€.