I recently purchased a Sony HX-1 and love it....It shoots instant "sweep" panoramics up to 200+ degrees both vertical and horizontal. It also shoots great still photos and full 1080 HD video. Another unique mode is "twilight" mode which when set on that setting the camera fires 6 quick shots then blends them all together to achieve a very nicely lit and non blurry photo...all done in very lowlight conditions while hand holding the camera.
It shoots at 28mm wide but I am going to shoe goo a step up ring on it so that I can attach a .75x wide angle on it. Retails for $419 at BH photo(price on their site is $499 but when added to basket it is $419)
The big news though is the Canon EOS 7D DSLR Camera/HD Video which is on my list to get next month it simply is an amazing device. Here is some of the retail unit video footage out from it http://www.engadget.com/tag/7d This camera should be widely available by 1st of Oct.
Mark Passerby, Cavediggers.com