Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX150 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Silver) (2012 Model)

I went for the WX-150 after trying a Panasonic ZS-20 (which I also reviewed) and have to say that I am much happier with the WX-150. It is definitely slightly pricy for the features offered, but I think you're paying for the premium lens and processor/sensor package. The photo quality definitely justifies the price. It's the same Exmor-R sensor offered in the Sony HX200V which goes for over $400. The photos are the best I've seen in a point and shoot in this price neighborhood and I spent hours upon hours researching cameras, reviews and comparison photos (thanks digitalcamerainfo). Considering I paid $200 for my Kodak C875 five years ago I would say this camera is very fairly priced.Okay, so I'll cut to the chase. All of the features mentioned on the Amazon item description for this camera are great and exceeded my expectations. So, I'll skip re-describing them here (as much as possible) and mention the things I would have liked to know before buying this camera. I'll start out saying it is tiny. Like almost spy-camera tiny. At first that seemed very strange to me, but it's like anything else, once you get used to it it seems normal. The WX-150 was weird to hold at first and I was afraid it would easily slip out of my fingers. That's what the provided wrist-strap is for, I suppose. Now picking up my old camera makes me feel like I'm picking up a clunky plastic brick.The next thing to mention is that the camera seems a little slow. Taking burst pictures takes about 3-5 seconds to record after doing the burst and that is a lifetime if you jumped the gun on trying to capture that perfect action shot you were trying to catch. However, it is amazing when you do capture a cottontail rabbit in mid-hop or a bird taking off into the air with wings outstretched. The burst photos aren't perfect but about half of your ten-shot series will be beautiful. The burst mode shuts off the flash so you better have good lighting (preferably outside) if you want to capture action. I have to agree with the reviewer who said they wished Sony would have offered a 2-per second burst mode for up to 50 shots like Panasonic. That would almost guarantee capturing any action shot you were trying to catch. I guess that's what video is for, though.Taking regular photos is also a bit slow - especially if you have the flash on. The camera waits until the capacitor is recharged for the flash before it will let you take another photo with flash on. My conspiratorial side thinks that Sony detuned this camera's speed so it would take less business from their more expensive models. The speed definitely isn't a deal-breaker - this camera is like greased lightning compared to my old camera, but it does seem a bit slower than the ZS-20 I tried for a week.Now the zoom, while the zoom is only 10x I found cropping (or using the digital zoom at 20x) provided better quality photos than the Panasonic at 20x optical zoom. Sony has a beautiful thing going when it comes to picture quality. For a non-DSLR this camera takes great photos and that's the most important feature for a camera to have.The user interface takes a little learning, but you should have it down pat after the first 200-300 photos. There is an onboard user manual which is very nice and answers most of your questions. It even describes what all the little icons mean for the current configuration you have the camera set to - so it's pretty easy to know what is going on. The buttons on the back are tiny and I have bumped the spin-dial a couple of times while taking photos which can screw up your shot because the spin dial changes the camera mode and the camera will take the photo in the accidentally selected mode. The on/off button takes only a touch to turn the camera on so that may cause the camera to accidentally turn on in your pocket. Hopefully Sony was smart enough to put some sort of limiter on the lens so if it does turn on in your pocket it won't try to force the lens to come out and cause damage. I'd test it to find out, but I'd rather not break it two weeks after getting it.The camera has onboard red-eye correction software that will do a good job of removing red-eye after the photo is taken if you go through the steps. I've needed to do that a few times. It also offers "smile-detection" software which works okay. I've noticed that the kids need to really be smiling big and for more than a second or two to make it work. Kids who don't smile very big or very long won't work very well with this feature.The camera does not allow aperture or shutter control so don't buy it thinking you'll be able to get that cool nighttime freeway shot where the car lights are streaking down the road - or capture a bolt of lightning during an electrical storm, unless you're extremely lucky. The camera does provide what 99% of camera buyers want - a camera you can turn on, take a great picture, and move on with enjoying what you're doing.The pictures turn out very nicely in "intelligent auto". It does a great job of taking any thought out of taking a great picture and makes pointing and shooting easy-breezy. I've noticed, however you need to have the flash on with motion/action photos even with moderate light or you end up with blurry pictures. That goes for all modes, not just "intelligent auto". Also, the intelligent auto changes scene modes automatically - though not always completely accurately. Oddly, when running in "intelligent auto" mode I did have "infant" come up while taking a photo of my one-year old so the camera can do it, but it isn't an option if you try to select it manually by switching to scene mode. A lot of times the intelligent auto mode sets to "flower" mode when taking pictures of the kids.The scene modes seem a little limited in options. There is no infant or kid mode (though they do offer "pet" and "food"). The camera has artistic modes that do things like cut out all but red, green, blue, or yellow and makes everything else back and white. That makes for some cool pictures especially if you're at a flower garden. It also has a cartoon feature that makes whatever you take a picture of look like a cartoon drawing. It's kind of neat and fun to play with.A couple of last minor things. The cord attaches to the bottom of the camera so you can't have it sitting upright while charging or hooked to your computer. I suppose it doesn't matter because it's so skinny that it would be susceptible to tipping over anyway. Also, it would have been nice if they had provided a rubber grip on the front to aid in one-handed holding of the camera. It's so light that it isn't a big issue, but a rubber grip would have been appreciated. It wouldn't have had to be much - just a small protrusion of rubber sticking out no farther than the lens.So, to summarize, the camera is very nice for people who want to take great pictures without a lot of hassle all while being able to put the camera in your pocket without it being very noticeable to you or anyone else. The photos are great for a non-DSLR and the features are plentiful enough to keep you from wishing too much that you'd spent another $100 for only a few more features. Definitely a camera for point-and-shooters who want a few more features like panorama, HD video, and burst shooting and a lot better photo quality.

If you are a photo-purist, you will not like this camera. It does not take RAW images; there are no manual exposure controls (other than the ISO setting); and it lacks both a manual focus ring and the ability to switch-out $1,500 lenses. Add to this the fact that the camera applies a degree of in-camera processing to every shot taken and you pixel-peeping people will be outraged at the result when your images are blown-up to the football-field proportions that 18.2 megapixels affords. Maybe a D3 is the camera you need after all? Similarly, you geeky folks that wax lyrical of bells and whistles will be disappointed to learn that this camera does not do wi-fi, does not contain a GPS and, so far, I have not discovered any way to use it for sending text messages.If, on the other hand, like me, you accept up-front that the WX150 purports to be nothing more than a darn good 'point and shoot' camera, you will not be disappointed. The stats are there for all to see and, in the two weeks I have owned and used this camera, I have been more than happy with the performance. What is not there to see so obviously on amazon.com is that this camera feels sturdy and well-built, yet is small enough to fit into a cigarette packet. Battery life is excellent (250+ photos per charge, even with the $5.00 look-alike batteries); there is no (yes zero!) noticeable shutter-lag when not using the flash; and it is blazingly fast (getting from switch-on to 'ready' probably takes less than 2 seconds and when zooming/focusing it is almost instantaneous, rivaling DSLR's).Having switched off the battery-saving 'eco' option (which, in the default mode, annoyingly shuts-down the camera after one minute if no settings are changed) I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the WX150 at this stage. I will be back to update this review if I am subsequently disappointed by some as-yet-undiscovered weakness.July 25, 2012 - UpdateLooking at all the other reviews here, it seems I was wise to wait (as I did) several months for this camera to become available in the USA. I have now been using the WX150 for a further eight weeks and its performance as a truly 'pocket-sized' point and shoot continues to be hugely impressive. It could never compete with a mid/high-end DSLR, but I defy any DSLR user to find a better 'pocket alternative' at present.In addition to the 'core' camera features, I have recently been enjoying some new perspectives using the (pretty much 1-click) artistic settings. Initially, I thought I would have no use for these 'novelty' features, but the Watercolor and Line Drawing in-camera processing effects are producing some interesting and worthwhile shots. Neither did I anticipate using the video recording option, but I discovered that, (even at the lo-res MP4 setting), this camera takes high quality video indoors in ambient lighting conditions. The hi-res video consumes a lot of memory (of course), but the quality of both picture and audio are absolutely remarkable for a camera of this size ... now you'll have to buy a 55 inch TV from Amazon.com, just to see what I mean ;-)I would advise buyers to also get an external battery charger and an additional battery. The USB charging connection can be very convenient, but so too is being able to swap-out a battery and carry on shooting while the original recharges. The Wasabi batteries are working just fine for me. Wasabi Power Battery and Charger Kit for Sony NP-BN1 and Cyber-shot DSC-T99, DSC-T110, DSC-TX5, DSC-TX7, DSC-TX9, DSC-TX10, DSC-TX20, DSC-TX55, DSC-TX66, DSC-TX100V, DSC-TX200V, DSC-W310, DSC-W320, DSC-W330, DSC-W350, DSC-W360, DSC-W380, DSC-W390, DSC-W...I would also strongly recommend installing a 16GB/32GB Class 10 SDHC, or better, memory card (to get the high-end performance from this camera, you cannot shackle it with a low-end memory card).We can expect broken battery/utility doors, damaged connectors and the occasional 'lemon' failure on miniature cameras such as this - only time will tell us whether these and other reliability features are any better or worse for this camera than they are for its peers. So far, so good, it seems.A photographer friend asked me the other day, "What would be the one thing you would like to improve on the WX150". He forced me to answer. After a few moments thought I replied that the one thing that I would personally like would be for the camera to provide a menu option to capture a RAW image in addition to the processed image. Don't get me wrong ... the image processor in this camera is astonishingly intelligent, but on the odd shot (less than one percent of the total) I would like to try my luck with some manual post-processing. This, despite what I said above - I guess there's still some geek in me after all :-)Mostly though, I am just loving the convenience of my WX150. You can pull this little camera out and be clicking away confidently in a couple of seconds. It is a joy to use and the resulting photographs can be posted, printed (to at least 8x10), or displayed anywhere SOOC (straight out of the camera).November 20, 2012 - UpdateA couple of quick notes to add my latest experiences ... Some may find this useful.On the negative side - despite keeping my WX150 protected at all times when not in use, a fleck of dust somehow became apparent on one of my lens elements, causing a slight shadow in the corner of photos taken at the mid-zoom range. On the positive side (and quite different to my lens problem experiences with Canon and Olympus in recent years) - Sony respected the warranty. The repair center cleaned and returned my camera within two weeks without charge. We all hope we do not have to return stuff under warranty, but when we do we expect to be treated like a valued customer, so this was a BIG plus for me.Also, I've changed my mind about what I would wish for (If I could have Sony improve one thing on this camera). I would ask for a more scratch-resistant display screen. Because it stands slightly proud of the casing, protective adhesive covers are pretty much useless (they quickly peel at the corners), consequently the surface of my display is now covered with small scratches (from general use and from carrying a spare battery around). Although still fine in use, this degrades the appearance of the camera. I fail to understand why it should be so delicate - the 3 year-old screen on my Blackberry has received severe abuse (it's even been kicked, spinning across a concrete station platform), but it has barely a mark on it. Alright, the phone sucks, but the screen is robust. Come on Sony - you can do better - this weakness is causing me to question whether I might invest in a more expensive camera from Sony.

Am I the only one who is not impressed with the low-light pictures? The flash on this camera is so bright that the main subject looks pale and washed out. After reading all the positive reviews, I am very disappointed with this. Yes, you can manually turn down the flash, but this takes time and the camera seems to re-set itself the next time it is used. Additionally, I don't feel I should HAVE to always turn down the flash level on an automatic camera. The daylight pictures are fine; however, I think some of the example pictures were placed on Amazon by Sony employees, because I find them rather incredible, especially the light-house zoom picture. If anyone has any advice for me, I'd be happy to receive it. I was very excited about this purchase and this is such a disappointment; considering returning it.Update: I finally had enough with this camera, so I contacted Sony to see what could be done. The flash continued to be problematic, causing subjects to be very washed-out and pale looking. The colors on all pictures are not true, either. Sony stated it was too late to replace the camera, but stated I could send it in for repair. I did so, and included examples of pictures I printed out that were taken with the Sony and also comparison pictures from my i-phone (which really should NOT be better pictures). Sony's findings? They sent the camera back to me stating "no problems found." At this point, I wrote a scathing email to Sony and I will never purchase another Sony product. The camera is listed for sale and I will be purchasing a Canon, which I should have done in the first place. I don't know what is wrong with all you people that rave about this camera; perhaps you have lower standards than me. The camera sucks.