Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX1

Opinion: A very nice super compact camera. Extremely small, I can easily take it in & out of my jeans pocket. I've only had the camera for a week, but its ease of use and lack of features are probably a good thing for me, since I'm a basic P&S user, but like my gadgets.

I found that if I tweaked some of the EV values in "P" mode that I can take some really nice pictures outdoors. I was just amazed how bright it makes some pictures with minimal light, yet provide decent photos.

I am not a fussy photographer, and just enjoy taking pictures of anything and everything. The panorama feature is extremely neat; the resulting image is not as sharp as one would like; but wow, getting the resulting panorama image in a matter of seconds is quite a technical achievement!

The burst mode works nicely - I've tested it with my daughter as a subject, and we were quite impressed that the WX1 can shoot such high-res pics in just a second within such a small camera!

The other reviewer that said that battery charging outside of the camera was a nuisance - that's a bit over the top - so many cameras these days have rechargeable batteries requiring a charger that it really is a moot point. I'd rather carry an extra battery or the charger on trips rather than a charger cradle any day.

The LCD is a decent size and offers a good sharp image.

Opinion: I was really surprised at how well this camera has performed. After reading the
professional reviews that were very good and then reading less than stellar amateur
reviews, I was very pleased that my experience was much closer to the pros. I
especially like the panorama and the Hand Held Twilight features.

Opinion: Tried this camera extensively as my backup for parties and have to say it's a mixed bag. It does take great night pictures and has a couple of noise/shake reduction modes. The sweep panorama gimmick and the twilight shot will awe anyone not acquainted with the camera. However, it overexposes many shots with flash off where there is more than enough light. Since there is no sports scene mode to force it to accept less light, you will struggle with this problem with the flash off.

Also, although I realize P&S cameras don't allow the user to define much, this one has even less options than the average camera. It has the following modes:
- "intelligent", where it choses the setting for you, out of three: "Macro", "twilight" and normal. You can still adjust EV but not white balance.
- "Easy", seems to be the same as "intelligent" but with a simplified menu system with virtually no options.
- "Anti Motion Blur", takes six shots in less than a second (no flash) and composites them in a single shot with less blur
- "Hand-held twilight", same as before, but at a slower speed to get more light in (1/30 instead of 1/200).
- "Program auto", you can adjust white balance (it has manual WB and presets), ISO (160-3200), EV compensation, burst mode, focus points and a few other settings, but no way to tweak with speed and aperture.
- "Scene" mode with a few presets, but none that sets the camera for high speed and/or aperture, like "sports". here are its presets: High sensitivity ((between 1/250 and 1/4 F2.4, no flash and very heavy on iso 1250-3200), soft background, Landscape (between 1/30 and 1/4 F2.4, flash optional), Twilight portrait( between 1/125 and 2", F2.4 with front curtain sync flash), twilight (same but without flash), Food (between 1/30 and 1/4 F2.4, flash optional), Pets (?? F2.4), Beach (between 1/30 and 1/4 F2.4, flash optional), Snow (between 1/30 and 1/4 F2.4, flash optional), flash optional), Fireworks (2" F7.1, no flash) and Underwater (between 1/80 and 1/4 F2.4, flash optional).
- Sweep Panorama, where you choose the direction and sweep the camera as a movie. It automatically stitches the panorama together after a few seconds of processing
- Movie mode, 720p with continuous focusing.

Also, it has a dedicated button for burst mode, playback and delete pictures, an easy to use menu system and a four way button for slash control, screen display settingsself-timer and smile detection on/off.

Here are a couple of samples:

Overexposed shot in intelligent auto without flash: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrkeked/4229240249/

Sweep panorama: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrkeked/4229240243/

Contact me for more accurate and specific samples if you wish.

Opinion: Have just had the camera for two days now, but one problem I have encountered till now:

Opinion: Super little beast of a camera and great for low light indoor shooting.

Opinion: Unbelievably small and solidly built.
Outstanding performance in the dark.
Still very decent results in daylight, if you care for compensating exposure (EV-) according to each situation (and turn DRO off!).
Amazing fast performance for a compact (switching on and shot to shot), including 10 fps feature.
Very interesting zoom range (from excellent wide-angle - 24 mm equivalent - to decent 5 times telephoto).

Nice to have panorama feature and smile detection.
Good to have tripod mount (but then longer exposures should be allowed).

And, almost forgot: on top of all this, you also get an excellent camcorder with HD video and zoom allowed!

Opinion: Not the best outdoors in good light, but indoors/low light/social snaps with and without flash are excellent (for a compact).

This is largely due to the lovely wide angle and handheld twilight mode, good HD movie mode and very efficient face and smile detection.

I wouldn't recommend it as your one and only camera....as outdoor picture sharpness, contrast and colour can easily be bettered by other cameras.

However for those people looking for something small and pocketable that will give great low light/indoor shots, it rocks.

Opinion: i have been looking very long and hard for a very good
at low light camera with HD video. the best before the
z1085is by kodak because of the 1/1.63" sensor but
was just so bad of sound for the video. I picked this up
and absolutely love it. the low light pics are amazing
compared to any other point and shoot i have used
with hd video and i have used 6+ different models. the
outdoor shots are perfectly fine to me despite issues
posted by others. I can now finally have a small (and
this is def small! shirt pocket: no problem) that i never
really need to use the flash for. the twilight mode pics
up light that my own eyes cant even see, really
amazing. the video is very bright because of the f/2.4
in low light, although zooming will up the aperture
quickly but that is the same for any camera. the mic is
great, even being mono - is still better then the zs3
picking up more (probably because the zs3 stereo mics
are on top of the camera instead of in front like most
including the wx1). the price is a little high - but at the
same time, its the same as every other HD video
shooting, low light pocket cam so not complaining. plus
it will drop relatively soon as it was just released. if you
are looking for an ultimate pocket cam that can take
great video and fantastic no-flash, low light pics - this is
it. the tx1 is the other one with the same type of
technology, but with only a 4x zoom and a f/3.3
aperture - it won't be as good as low light. it is
supposed to have better outdoor pics daylight pics,
but like i said - i find no problem with the wx1 daylight
pics, and love the low light ability too much just to get
a thinner version. this camera is very small - theres no
need to get smaller! love it! the tx1 also has MUCH
lower battery life, the wx1 has great battery life! very
important for someone who plans to use it for a whole
day!

Opinion: I purchased this camera for its low light performance. Generally it was good, much better than a standard point and shoot. Noise was better, not perfect but much better. The images were a little low in contrast and saturation.