Sony DSCWX500/B Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)

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Product Specifications

30x Optical/60x Clear Image Zoom ZEISS (Trademarked) Vario-Sonnar T* Lens. Playback Functions: Beauty Effect, BRAVIA Sync(Control for HDMI), ⁹⁄₂₅-frame index view, Slideshow, Forward/Rewind (Movie), Delete, Protect, Motion Shot Video, TRILUMINOS Color*13, 4K image output.
18.2MP Exmor R (Trademarked) CMOS Sensor for superb low light images
Versatile video w/ high-quality XAVC S (Trademarked), AVCHD & MP4 formats
Simple connectivity to smartphones via Wi-Fi (Trademarked) w/ NFC
5-axis image stabilization greatly reduces camera shake blur

Product Description

Color:Black Get sharp detail up close with the world’s smallest 30x zoom camera. There’s even a large 3” LCD that tilts up 180 degrees for easy 18.2MP selfies. Stunning picture quality comes from the low light Exmor R (Trademarked) sensor and premium ZIESS lens with 5-axis image stabilization. Then share instantly with built-in Wi-Fi and NFC.

Product Reviews

Great camera with some pros and cons

I bought this camera at BestBuy a week ago, because the white one was not available on Amazon at that time.I really wanted to get more information about the camera before buying, but it hasn’t really been reviewed much.So I decided to summarize my first impressions.Camera owned before: Canon G12. Kind of photographer I am: with my G12 I have been learning a lot about the manual controls. I would use them occasionally. But to be honest, most of the time I would be shooting quick pics of my kids, city skyline while driving, buildings while walking, moving objects such as animals and bugs - so basically using auto settings a lot.Reason for finally buying Sony WX500 over other cameras:1. A good point-n-shoot camera with a lot of great features under $400: 30x zoom, good lens, build-in flash, well build, very small.2. When I travel I take a lot of selfies, so I desperately needed a FLIP-UP display (tilting 180 degrees). This was basically the only decent camera in that price range with such a feature. I can’t believe that manufacturers don’t recognize the trend of the new generation who want to be able to take selfies! … and I am not that young … just want to see myself on a picture :). Besides that, just consider the case when you want to take a family picture with everybody in it including yourself! You need to see what you are taking.Sony WX500 compared to Canon G12(and this is not an all-inclusive list, just some aspects I’ve noticed)PROS+ Sony has obviously much larger optical zoom range (30x compared to 5x).I understand that it effects the image quality. But I have noticed that I zoom in a lot trying to shoot details from far away. So I needed it.+ I personally prefer the flip-up display to the swivel one, where you have to look to a side to see yourself.+ smaller and lighter, looks better :)+ appears to be faster in zooming in and out (Canon always seemed to get stuck when zooming, it always took a while)+ provides Wifi feature, although I don’t think I will be using it much.+ Just like G12, Sony has several modes where you can manually change aperture, shutter and iso settings.+ overall the success rate of getting a non-blurry image appears to be higher than with G12.+ much better video quality+ image quality in day-light very comparable, nice colors, vivid and sharp.CONS- The very first thing that I didn’t like is the fact, that the display is much darker than with Canon - even with the brightness turned up all the way to +2. The images do turn out lighter, but the problem is that in darker conditions (low light, night, poorly-lit room) you can’t see much on the screen. I have noticed that Canon - even with much cheaper cameras - managed to get their displays to light up the shooting scene very well. In regard to image quality in low light, I would say Canon and Sony are very comparable. But the display shows a big difference, for some reason. I had the same issue with my older Sony DSC camera too.- Another thing that drives me nuts is a little difficult to explain. After you take a shot, you get to preview the image. You can adjust this setting to 10 sec, 5 sec, 2 sec. and off. I have it on 2 sec right now. With my Canon I was used to previewing the image and then right away zooming in or out for the next shot. With Sony it is a different story. I shoot, I preview the image, I turn the zoom and … it zooms in into the preview-image every single time. Drives me nuts! I have to click the preview button several times in order to get out of the preview mode. Either the preview was shorter with Canon (1 sec?) or the camera just went back to the shooting mode right away when you press the shutter. No idea, but I don’t like it. I lose time while missing some interesting fast-moving scenes.- When shooting in low-light the images can get very grainy, especially when zooming-in.- When zooming in more than 10x (especially in low-light), the camera often loses auto-focus and the images become blurry (well, Canon doesn’t even have that kind of zoom, so not really comparable). I am actually worried about the auto-focus, because it seems to be trying to focus on an object, but then failing… I wonder if I got a lemon and my camera has some kind of issue? I did read about this camera providing great image stabilization … but in my case it doesn’t work that well, definitely not when zooming in.- I don’t really like the pop-out flash. It is not easy to open up (the slider is very small and slippery), it looks like it will break in about a year, and it doesn’t open up automatically. I would rather have the flash build-in into the camera body like G12 does.- Buttons are extremely small - not for large hands, but works for me.- No choice of focus type in auto-mode (like - center, multiple etc. Canon has it and I like it).- Impossible to buy accessories at this time (I really wanted to buy a jacket case to protect the camera, but so far no luck, choices are very limited and very overpriced).I am sure I will discover more things over time - positive as well as negative, so I might have to write an update on my review later on.Overall: this camera takes great pictures, the price is right, love the flip-up screen, would prefer if focus worked better, if the pics were less grainy and the display would be much brighter.

Excellent compact travel zoom camera value

I saw this camera (WX500) and its sibling (HX90V) in Japan recently. They look almost identical even though the model names are completely different. I tried both of them and bought the HX90V, because the price difference between the two is just $70, instead of $100 in the States. The two differences between them is the addition of GPS and a pop-up electronic viewfinder in the HX90V. The electronic viewfinder is useful when you are shooting in the bright outdoors where the camera’s LCD screen becomes very difficult to see. And the GPS is used to tag your photos so that “where on Earth they were taken” can be recorded. I rarely use these two functions, but since each extra feature costs $35, I chose the HX90V.Other than the two extra features aforementioned, the two cameras are identical. The WX500 does not have a hand grip, whereas the HX90V does. Nonetheless, I deem both cameras easy to hold and operate. IMO, without the hand grip, the WX500 looks better aesthetically, like Sony’s RX100 series cameras.In Japan, the WX500 is available in three colors: black, white, and red. Amazon has black and white models. The black model has black lens barrel, whereas the white model has bright chrome lens barrel.The reason why Sony is able to cram in a 30X zoom lens in the WX500/HX90V cameras is that the image sensor size is small. It’s just ¹⁄₂.3 inch (0.4348 inch) diagonal, like most digital cameras on the market today. Sony’s RX100 III has a 1 inch diagonal sensor, and its zoom lens magnification range drops to a paltry 2.9X.A 1 inch sensor has an area more than 4 times greater than a ¹⁄₂.3 inch sensor. Given a fixed camera body size, there must be a trade-off between image sensor size and zoom lens magnification range. The RX100 cameras emphasize sensor size/image quality, whereas the WX500/HX90V cameras emphasize zoom lens versatility. It should also be noted that the RX100 III costs almost $800, while the WX500 can be bought for less than $330. If you don’t make large prints (>8X10), the difference in image quality is not that noticeable.The HX90V and WX500 cameras have hinged LCD screens so that they can be flipped up 180 degrees for selfies.The Sony WX500 camera is very responsive and takes excellent pictures (supports 4K stills) and videos (supports XAVC S Full HD 60p @50Mbps). Choose this camera and save $100 if you don’t need to use the pop-up electronic viewfinder or the GPS geo-tagging feature.

So far the pictures are sharp. I’m having to …

So far the pictures are sharp. I’m having to practice a lot to know what setting I need when the lighting and atmosphere changes, but I’m learning!

Sony DSCWX500

I bought this as a replacement for the WX350. Awesome camera & video! Well worth the money. Will get tons of use out of this!

Two Stars

Poor telephoto focusing

Worth the money

So far I love this camera. If I had to complain about something it would definitely be the low light images. But as far as I can tell, for the price you won’t get much better.

I love this camera

I love this camera. I am by no means an aficionado when it comes to photography, but I am an artist and so I like good quality in my pictures.

Disappointed

The camera generally makes a fine picture. The screen is too dark for many outside uses - another model has a viewfinder which is the one to go for.

Also the video quality is better as it stays focused better when zooming in on …

It’s definitely a step up from my previous DSCWX-300. The camera is a little heavier so it feels more solid.

Five Stars

love the amount of digital zoom. pix are very sharp!

May be better.

I bought this to replace my rx100, a its good but there are two things it must have: touchscreen and a higher ISO

Pictures are ok but the video is great! The zoom on this camera will blow your …

Pictures are ok but the video is great! The zoom on this camera will blow your mind!! The option for an external mic would put this little sony over the top.