Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX1

Sony throws all its auto technology at this latest compact

The WX1 from Sony was released alongside the WX1 back in August. Both offered similar specs and new technologies at a similar price band. What separates them is mainly in looks and handling. The TX1 uses a sliding front panel and a touchscreen. The WX1, however, looks much more like a traditional compact and uses a standard navigation method.

We had the black model, and on first impressions we thought that it was a neat design. Picking it up, it feels a little cheap and plasticky, but the benefit is in how light it is – it’s practically weightless in use, which is great if you’re carrying it around all day. Whether it would be up to being handled by the children or taken on a night out remains to be seen. On the design front, it’s the buttons that cause the most cause for concern. They are very small; the average thumb completely covers the entire D-pad or zoom lever, so it’s easy to hit the wrong button. The Mode dial is tiny too, and there’s not enough of it exposed to make selection simple. It’s also dead square all the way around; cameras with curves are much more comfortable to hold.

It takes a few seconds for the camera to power up, extending the zoom lens from the casing and firing up the 2.7-inch LCD screen. You have a full range of automated shooting modes to choose from, from Easy (just point and shoot), through Intelligent Auto and on to Programmed Auto. There are no manual controls, but there are scene modes (though not the ones that you would expect – Portrait and Sports are absent).

There are a couple of other stops on the Mode dial that show off some of the powerful technologies in this compact. For example, the Sweep Panorama is simply one of the best auto technologies that we have come across in ages. Gone are the days of taking a shot, then lining up the next shot carefully, before stitching them together. Now, you take your first shot and pan the camera across a scene with the camera continuously shooting and then merging shots into one seamless panorama. It’s simply fantastic. This is essentially using the camera’s ability to shoot high speed, which also enables up to ten frames per second. This model can shoot a 256-degree panorama in any direction (up, down, left or right).

The other key feature of this camera is in its low-light performance. The camera boasts an Exmor R CMOS sensor, which is back illuminated to give up to twice the sensitivity of other compacts. There is a special Hand-held Twilight mode that makes the most of this new sensor as well as the camera’s BIONZ processor to give steady shots in low light. This camera holds an impressive lens inside its tiny body: a wide-angle 24-120mm 5x optical zoom Sony G lens, which is also optimised for low-light shooting.

The image quality from this camera is good for its price and in comparison to its contemporaries. It really does perform well in low-light conditions, with less noise and blur than we’re used to. It’s not a one-trick pony by any means, but the rest of the shooting modes produce fair rather than outstanding results. The Intelligent Auto mode selects the right scene mode accurately, but it does take a little while to get there, which isn’t great if you’re trying to capture shots fast. In those situations, switch to Program mode instead. This camera can shoot HD video too, which is becoming a standard in compacts now and it’s a great addition – sometimes a video is better than a still photo – with good results.

There are various options in playback, such as cropping, rotating, trimming, red-eye correction, unsharp masking and slideshow playback (with or without music), which means that you could forgo a post-production routine.

Overall, there is plenty to like about this camera, but we feel that the new technologies have been better implemented in the TX1 and that the design of this camera needs a bit more bulk, especially when it comes to the size of the buttons to make it more comfortable in use. It just doesn’t feel like a professional compact, even if it’s performance is pretty good.

Final Verdict The technology here is great and the same as in the TX1, but packaged in a more conventional manner, which depends on your personal taste. It would benefit from more bulk on the buttons OVERALL

Julie has a reputation for always having a camera to hand for those opportune moments and candid snaps, therefore she has a preference for compacts that pack a punch yet still offer creative, manual controls. She’s been reviewing cameras for around four years, putting all manner of compacts, ultrazooms and bridge models through their paces.