17.7.2015

Put simply, this is a great camera for popping into a bag or pocket and taking with you wherever you go. It has a high quality Zeiss lens, built in wifi and NFC, an excellent movie shooting mode, a variety of camera modes to suit the beginner and those with a bit more experience alike, and probably the thing which impressed me most - a 30x zoom which keeps pictures clear and crisp when used.I've used the camera in a variety of situations now (my normal camera is a Nikon DSLR), and a variety of different lights, and I've been impressed with everything it has produced.I tried first in the "intelligent auto" and "superior auto" modes in which the camera does all the work for you.It detects what sort of thing or scene you're taking a picture of and adjusts the settings on the camera automatically. I found in these modes the camera was really accurate capturing what I was trying to take a picture of and all of the images were clear and had good exposure. So if it's a point and shoot camera you're looking for, you should look no further.Of course the camera allows you to override these auto modes and has the usual aperture priority, shutter priority, landscape, panorama, movie and manual modes - all of which work well, as you'd expect. These allow you to really get to grips with the pictures you're taking once you're familiar with how they work and what you can do with them (presuming you don't already of course).Battery life is always a concern with a digital camera but the WX500 is excellent on this front. The manual quotes around 400 shots per full charge and I've found that to be pretty accurate though I suspect use of the flash would reduce that longevity somewhat.When it came to getting pictures off the camera onto my PC this was a doddle and there was no need to download the Sony software for basic transfer of pictures, Windows did it for me, though the Sony software is good and offers more advanced options. I also found the wi-fi connectivity worked well; I was able to transfer photos directly from my camera to my iPad this way, thanks to the Sony app.As for things I don't like; a big one for me - I miss a proper viewfinder, especially in strong sunlight where I've found the LCD screen here can be a little challenging to see properly. It does tilt around to assist with selfies and the like, but I still found the sun to occasionally be a large issue when taking pictures, even when the brightness on the LCD was at full. For that reason I need to deduct a star from what otherwise is easily a 5 star review.There are a whole host of others things about this camera that I haven't even touched on in this review. For example there's a "beauty effect" mode which automatically does some of the work Photoshop and the like would do to a portrait picture (smooths skin, widen eyes, brighten teeth - that sort of thing) which seems to work well and keeps pictures looking quite natural. There is also a built in image stabiliser too which reduces blur from camera shake, especially useful when zooming or in low light.All in all then I think - issues with sunlight aside - this is an excellent camera that would suit everyone, from a point and click person to someone with more understanding of some of the other available modes. It is light enough to carry without noticing, has good battery life, a massive range of modes and on-camera tweaks, and overall takes really great pictures.

22.6.2015

Being a bit of a gadget fetishist I have owned way too many compact cameras in my time. Of all of them this is the best small compact camera that I have tried.The real selling point of this camera is it's size and weight. It is a truly compact camera and even for it's diminutive size it is very light. Packed into this small camera is a long zoom lens and a host of features. However, this would all count for nothing if it didn't deliver in terms of picture quality. Overall, considering the type of camera and it's price the image quality is very good indeed.This is primarily a great camera for outdoor use. Its size and weight make it incredibly portable and the image quality in bright light is very good.To top it off it is easy to use (the auto modes generally do very well) and fast in operation. The quality is good from wide angle to full telephoto and that zoom lens really does reach a long way. Battery life seems pretty good and I really liked that I could charge the bettery in the camera using a standard phone charger. This meant that I could charge it from a cigarette lighter in the car on days out.You do need to bear in mind the weak points of a camera such as this. Personally, I do not mark the camera down because of these issues as they are inherent in the type of camera. For a very small, long zoom camera I have not found anything better. Firstly, this camera has a small sensor (although typical or compacts) combined with a rather "slow" lens (again this is typical of compacts). Slow in this context refers to how much light it lets through not how fast it focusses. Essentially what this means is that the results you get will deteriorate rapidly as the available light levels fall. Indoor photos without the flash for example, will not look anywhere near as good as daytime outdoor shots. However, to put this into context, to get a camera with a larger sensor and faster lens that will do well for indoor lower light shots (like the Canon S120, Canon G7x or Sony RX100) you will have to spend considerably more for a heavier, larger camera and give up that long zoom range.Secondly, this camera is designed for the beginner and for automatic use. Because of it's small size it does not have much in terms of external controls such as exposure compensation. The result is that if you do know what you are doing and want to change something you will have to dive into the menus to change that setting. Again this is inherent in this type of camera. Note that although this camera does not provide any flash compensation (an annoying oversight) the flash seems to be much better than that for the previous generation, the WX300, which had a tendency to washout anything too close to the camera..The only specific issue with the camera for me is that it's screen is not very visible in bright light. (Not ideal for a camera that I really only use outdoors.) I solved this by buying a non-reflective phone screen protector and cutting it down to size for the camera. This only cost a couple of pounds.

6.7.2015

I'm an enthusiastic amateur, with a large collection lenses and other such paraphernalia. However, it is nice to just have something you can carry in a pocket without looking like a Sherpa traversing the north face of the Eiger.My current compact camera has a lower resolution than I would like, so when the opportunity came to try this I jumped at it.Firstly - it takes very nice photographs. The colours are good, with the primary colours having quite an impact. If anybody out there has ever used Velvia film, that's the kind of colour reproduction I have seen in sunny conditions. In bright conditions it does tend to be slightly darker than it should in some shadows, but I'm just being picky.And at 18 megapixels, I suspect the pictures could be printed at A3 size quite well. Certainly zooming in on a computer screen show a wealth of fine detail.For a compact it is a little weighty, but there is an awful lot in this little package. Some of it necessary, some of it frivolous. Will anybody really read the Shooting Tip List? It isn't anything you can't find in a basic photography magazine or on the Web.Having said that - that is an indicator of the market this camera is aimed at - the 'happy snapper' who just wants something to take good quality images without too much work. And it can do that in spades.It is possible to customise it to the nth degree, but left to most of the defaults it will perform as most people want it.A very good zoom lens, Good picture quality, good movie quality (the sound is OK, but it is a compact camera after all), easy to use.The NFC functionality can transfer pictures to an Android phone, with the correct software installed. There is no Windows Phone version of this software, so 'File Format Not Recognised' or suchlike with Windows phone. But plug this into a Windows PC and it is just another drive, so pictures can be moved and viewed with ease.The display can be tilted, to such an extent that it can be used for selfies, with 3-second countdown when you do it, to get your grubby hands away from the lens. The display can show an overwhelming amount of information and other useful things, such a grid to keep pictures level and show the 'rule of thirds' lines.The main issue I have with it is that there is no viewfinder with this model, and in bright conditions the lcd screen is utterly useless. The HX90 model is the one to get for that nice feature.A nice little built-in flash, Aperture/Shutter priority, a very nice panorama feature and a wealth of other functions. Continuous shooting can rattle of ten pictures a second as long as the memory card can keep up.I would recommend this to anybody who wants a camera that can just be used without having to mess about with it. But if you want to mess about, the options are many and varied.

20.3.2015

First, a bit of context. I am a Sony loyalist when it comes to point and shoots. My previous camera was the W530 14.1 MP Cybershot with a Carl Zeiss lense, and for the price I got it for, nothing came near it. My only reason for replacing it was that over the course of a few years the software on it had become glitchy, so it kept uncontrollably switching between focus modes. The photographs it could produce, especially in good light, were sensational for a camera of its time and class. So my next point and shoot had quite a job on its hands.The WX350 was acquired in the Black Friday deals, having already been cheaper than my old camera so that was a good start. It is quite fast on start up but not the quickest,taking around 2 seconds to get from off to photo-ready. The wheel for the shooting modes is nice and intuitive, and doesn't easily rotate on its own in the pocket. If you rotate it once the camera is active, you will be taken to a menu to fine tune your options. The menus are easy to navigate and comprehensive.The optical zoom is the most powerful I have come across for this camera type, and the resolution of daytime / well-lit images is superb. The biggest improvement on my old camera is the video mode; the HD resolution is a big step up, as is the sound capture. Other nice modes include handheld twighlight for shooting dim scenes without a tripod - it won't produce the highest quality images for print and display but it will capture memories and moments nicely and easily, and will be detected for use in the generally decent intelligent auto modes.Like all point and shoots, it isn't all plain sailing. The camera I have now is a replacement - the first one suffered after a few months of use probably as a result of me trying to do rapid snaps; turning the camera on and off too often too quickly. My advice would be to let the photo load after snapping and disappear before turning the camera off. The replacement has had no issues, and was organised efficiently by Amazon.The camera suffers from that old Sony fault of defaulting to macro in the auto mode for no apparent reason on rare occasions; this is corrected by aiming at backlighting, not difficult to address by not ideal. The back screen needs to be viewed from more or less dead on to get a good handle on the image captured - for me this is a very minor gripe. Far more problematic is the lack of shutter speed control; the camera does all the work. The camera generally does a good job but there are times when it would be handy to experiment.The truth is that no point and shoot is perfect. This camera however is very good for its class, and superb value at the price. I would not hesitate to buy it, and am happy to recommend it.

6.7.2015

Heavy/bulky camera designs make for shaky hands, which in turn means blurry pictures - taking simple snaps can be bloody hard, especially in tourist hotspots whilst on holiday or in a club etc, where crowds are jostling you. Luckily I've found that this was by far been the easiest camera to simply point and shoot I've used - substantial but not too heavy, and sleek but easy to grip.I've taken photos indoors and outdoors to take photos of people, animals, flowers, paintings, and sunrises/sunsets, using different levels of zoom, with flash, without flash and the results have been fantastic every-time; the colours have all been true to life - direct sunlight nor strong lighting have bleached the resulting photos in any way.

16.2.2016

I purchased this to replace a 9 year old Fuji S5700 after spending many hours looking at specs, reviews and looking on camera comparison websites.This had no impact on my choice, however it's an extremely small camera and looks very nice.First impression after taking a number of pictures were disappointing. I think that I've gotten used to seeing pictures on websites that are taken by professionals with very expensive equipment and without considering this was expecting to be able to take the same high quality photos. This is not the case, certainly not on the auto settings at least. Don't get me wrong, the difference between the photos that this camera takes and my old camera are immense and it's clearly a much more modern camera.

3.12.2018

I bought this camera to take along on hikes, so size/weight was important to me. I am taking photos frequently, but I did not get familiarized yet with all the capabilities of this new camera. The specs were encouraging, even if it was not clear if it takes macro shots. The zoom is impressive, unlike with the cameras I use(d) recently (typically 5-6x), but I am not sure yet about how good the stabilization works especially at high zoom. I can take macro shots as well, but there is no dedicated setting/program for that, or I did not discover it yet. On some occasions 'auto' decided for 'backlit' and I wasn't pleased with what the software decided to focus on, and how it adjusted the levels,

11.7.2015

As a relative newcomer to the world of digital photography, this Sony WX500 Compact Camera provided my first steps.The first thing, I noticed is that everything is easy and user friendly, from the lightness of the camera itself, to the simple process of settingit up. All is explained in the helpful instruction manual. First off, you charge the battery, placing it inside the camera, and this took approximately ninety minutes. There is a mains lead supplied for this task, although you can do it attached to your computer if you wish.Once the camera is charged, you will need a memory card, (which is not supplied,) to place inside to record your photos. Again there is advice about which type to use.

13.6.2018

To start with; it has face recognition (it knows when a face is about to be photographed) and you can even improve this face after the pic has been taken by selecting "beauty effect" whilst in "playback" mode. The screen is twice the size of the one on my old camera; images are nice and clear when viewed on it (usually better than the actual photographs) both indoors, and outdoors when viewed in a wooded area; in fact (get this) the image in the viewfinder is still easily visible when out in the sun though, quite naturally, not as clear. Even so, this is something my previous 2004 Canon model could never do when in such conditions. As virtually all the photography I do is outdoors,

30.11.2017

I've had this camera for almost two years now (got for Christmas 2015) and I absolutely love it. I'm no professional photographer so this camera is great for beginners and amateurs. I videoed pretty much my whole 3 weeks in Florida last year and the battery life was amazing! even in hot weather, and the video quality is just great, along with the image quality. This is my go-to camera.However, there are some cons (but some of these may be due to me being a photography noob):1. In dim/ dark lighting, this camera cannot take good photos. My iphone is better in the dark than this camera :'). With the flash on it's okay, but I dislike using the flash because its just too bright and makes the colours unnatural.2.

20.4.2016

Wonderful cameraMy Canon SX 60HX with 130x zoom is fantastic and this little Sony is a super companion and competitor for when I'm out walking and don't want the weight of the Canon, which is more for the car and the balcony. The Sony performs incredibly at night time. It will take time to become expert with it. The capability is far beyond many I suspect (including me) to be able to properly use all its features. Manual focus is excellent and its autofocus variations are great. As I said. You will be entertained. I bought it because I had purchased four denim shirts with deep strong breast pockets. But you can drop it in a trouser pocket with a safety cord to your belt.

22.12.2015

I wanted a pocketable compact camera with a long zoom lens, and after much deliberation, and searching of the internet, ordered a Sony Cybershot WX500. My new camera arrived about four days ago, and having tried it out in a variety of conditions, I am very pleased with its performance. I am well aware of the limitations of small cameras with tiny sensors, so did not have unrealistic expectations. Sure enough, it struggles to give good results with the zoom lens extended, if conditions are less than bright. However, when there is plenty of light it responds very well indeed. With the lens un-zoomed the camera copes as well as any other comparable compact in all conditions,

11.2.2020

Most bad reviews on here are not for the Sony WX500, but for W800 and others, so best to look closely at what others are reviewing as somehow Amazon have overlapped completely different cameras.To the WX500, I bought the white one about 18 months ago and it's typical Sony, style and functionality. If I'm going on a shoot I will use a DSLR, but this little camera is a real gem. It has PASM, so for those who want a little extra control and to improve their photography. At the time I bought it, I'm not sure if it's still true, but this was the smallest 30x zoom. It does have a small sensor so that has to be taken into consideration, but if not pixel peeping most images are good.Many people will use this has vlogging camera for YT and the like,

17.5.2019

I was after a decent AND BUDGET FRIENDLY compact cam to take about in my pocket, so not needing to lug about my DSLR.So far I love it, found it easy to use, but I do have basic knowledge of its functions which did help. If you're new to photography this cam can be used in its auto functions to produce some good pics..but if you've a bit of knowledge behind you, you can get more creative with it.Budget Friendly: I got it "manufacturer refurbished" which brought the price within my budget - buying new it was well out of my price range. So far so good, I generally don't buy new these days unless i have too - tbh it looks and works seemingly as good as new as far as I can tell.SONY brand is a personal preference,

3.12.2019

My new Panasonic Lumix camera died quicker than you can say Panasonic Lumix - well not QUITE as quick but either way it died far too quickly for me to review it. I went back to Sony because I've had two compacts in the past which are remarkably still in use but really old now. This camera is simple to use, unfussy in layout, and whilst image settings will need some tweaking and adjustment to be somewhere near realistic it does what a camera is meant to do - take pictures of scenes presented to it. I tend to shoot everything auto because I am lazy (yep - say it as it is) and whilst I understand settings and modes I'm more immersed in the experience of being in the present than I am taking pictures of that experience.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX500 - Reviews

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