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.
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I hate tech companies that change cable ends !!! Sony DSCWX350
I am so cross right now that I'm going to have to start this review - even though my camera is still on charge and hasn't been used yet. More to follow. Brace yourself...I've had a Sony DSC-W350 14.1 mp camera since 2011 and was delighted with it - up until Sept 2017 when, on a family reunion holiday, the video started playing up. It would keep flashing up Auto / Panoramic messages and stop recording. Having tried the "factory settings reset" and other things (suggested by Sony support) I decided that, for our next holiday (an even bigger reunion) I'd better buy another camera - a DSC-WX350. Because, from what they'd said, a repair to my old one would have potentially cost more than a new camera. My thinking was to take both of them with me and use my old one for stills and new one (with a bigger memory card) for video. Especially as, last time, other family members were picking up my camera and using it.Before the last holiday I'd had to buy new charging and transfer cables as they were both very bulky (see image for external charger - which is good, but had a very heavy, rubber plug).So, my camera came yesterday, batteries today and memory card is yet to arrive. I opened up the box today and first of all was well ticked off to find a battery inside, seeing as I'd bought 2. WHERE on that list of "box contains" does it say battery???? (See image - uploaded just in case they change it)Then we get to the charging method (other image) and have you ever seen anything so convoluted?? Yes, you can use that cable to connect to your PC / Laptop and, yes, I might be able to use my Kindle plug. But what is annoying me more is that the battery shape has changed so I can't even use my old external charger. I wanted to have one charging while using the other...no chance of that now (and I thought I'd checked the FAQs and the online manual enough to have foreseen all these issues - clearly not).It just drives me nuts that, even when I buy the same brand, cables and batteries are incompatible. There's no wonder that there is so much electronic waste in the world. Note how the picture of my "old" external charger has a pink label on the cable? I have soooooooooooo many cables now (some of which only work as data transfers and some as rechargers) that look similar...but are not, that I've had to label them all.Instructions are larger than I've found when I've bought other devices - but VERY lacking. Versions online are better.I'll shut up now. Hopefully things will improve when the memory card comes and I can test it out. Still ticked off about the cables and battery though.13/4/18 update. Memory card arrived...needed a degree in engineering (and long finger nails) to get it out of the blister pack. If you've never had a camera before you might struggle to follow the very sparse instructions of how to insert it. Couldn't figure out how to attach the wrist strap and booklet / PDF don't tell you. Finally found a single image online that gave a hint.Recorded a video walking around the house, without changing any settings. LOT of background hissing on the recording. Will have to search around for some help and test some more. Pictures work fine. As others have mentioned - I hate the shutter button being kept from the edge by the function wheel being in the way. Who designed that?Update 14/4/18. Yesterday I could download photos – today I can’t. Just keep getting “check the connected device”. Tried various things suggested online - changing USB settings, changing USB port, removing and replacing battery, rebooting. All of which were seriously annoying as the cable is only 55cm long and my USB 2.0 ports are on the back of my PC. And you can’t access menu settings while connected, so have to keep pulling the cable out...which I couldn’t do as a proper eject as, while that message was on, my PC wasn’t showing the camera as connected.Found Sony only provide support Mon-Fri (big company like that doesn’t provide Saturday support???) and so, in desperation, tried my Kindle cable – worked first time. Raised a support ticket. NOT a happy bunny.Update 13/5/18: have just been to visit my dad at his home in Spain for 2 weeks, for a big family get together (the impending departure date was stressing me out, when I was having the issues mentioned above). The camera performed well and it was nice to be able to trigger a video at a single button push. Still annoying that the button to take a picture is the 2nd one in from the side and had to constantly tell people when they picked my camera up to snap someone.Quality is good though (of pictures and video) and I've been using a card reader to get the files off.
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 June 2015
Colour Name: BlackSize Name: WX350Style Name: CameraVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2017
The zoom range is incredible, it's pocketable, the selfie screen is totally usable and useful and it produces sharp results. It's a great carry anywhere /travel camera. I have the big heavy DSLR's, but for just walking around this is great.
Unfortunately I have a defective copy. On about 1 in 5 photos there is a horizontal streaking. It actually looks like old fashioned film scratching. It spoils the photos because it's right across the middle of the image.
It didn't happen every time, so the shots that don't have the problem are great. Disappointed that I got a bad copy, but I have to say the camera itself produces some fantastic results. I've attached a few so you can see the kind of sharpness you can get.
I'll be ordering this again since it's practical, high quality and just great fun to use. Small enough for a pocket, it really is the take anywhere camera.
The samples I've shown demonstrate just how good this camera is (at least in good light - haven't used it in low light so don't know).
Really a shame about the marks on them. I'm sure that's just from a defective copy of the camera. I don't believe it's a general problem. Zooming in on the two birds I was able to keep a comfortable working distance, so I didn't scare them away. You can see the sharpness is pretty good despite zooming to max. and standing in a pretty windy spot!
I've looked at various alternatives to this camera and none seems to have all the features I would like. For that reason alone I'll have to get another one of these. The overall combination of size, features, sharpness, zoom range and flip-out screen make this a great buy at the price.
Colour Name: BlackSize Name: WX500Style Name: CameraVerified Purchase
Magnificent camera - I say that despite having to send it back.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2017
Despite the fact I've returned this (read on for why), I actually love this camera.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2017
The zoom range is incredible, it's pocketable, the selfie screen is totally usable and useful and it produces sharp results. It's a great carry anywhere /travel camera. I have the big heavy DSLR's, but for just walking around this is great.
Unfortunately I have a defective copy. On about 1 in 5 photos there is a horizontal streaking. It actually looks like old fashioned film scratching. It spoils the photos because it's right across the middle of the image.
It didn't happen every time, so the shots that don't have the problem are great. Disappointed that I got a bad copy, but I have to say the camera itself produces some fantastic results. I've attached a few so you can see the kind of sharpness you can get.
I'll be ordering this again since it's practical, high quality and just great fun to use. Small enough for a pocket, it really is the take anywhere camera.
The samples I've shown demonstrate just how good this camera is (at least in good light - haven't used it in low light so don't know).
Really a shame about the marks on them. I'm sure that's just from a defective copy of the camera. I don't believe it's a general problem. Zooming in on the two birds I was able to keep a comfortable working distance, so I didn't scare them away. You can see the sharpness is pretty good despite zooming to max. and standing in a pretty windy spot!
I've looked at various alternatives to this camera and none seems to have all the features I would like. For that reason alone I'll have to get another one of these. The overall combination of size, features, sharpness, zoom range and flip-out screen make this a great buy at the price.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2020
After getting used to the camera, familiarised myself with the functions, I've discovered it to be a splendid little camera ! For the price, I strongly recommend it .
Colour Name: BlackSize Name: WX350Style Name: CameraVerified Purchase
Average performer , although does excel in certain areas.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2020
Not a bad compact camera. Nice and small, fits in pocket or mini rucksack. Photos are at their best if taken in very good lighting conditions. Has lists of settings, I prefer standard auto mode (program auto) . Has a handy scene selection. The zoom function is amazing for such a tiny camera . ISO is a bit iffy in auto mode, manual ISO is similar. Auto tends to take photos at 80 ISO , although does occasionally select another ISO sometimes not appropriate for the lighting conditions . I've taken manual ISO shots (experimented to help form a baseline USO- test the cameras capabilities) of the same scene , ISO ranging from 80-3200, pics taken don't look remarkably different from each other ? Obviously I'm no expert .Generally the pictures are pretty good , pictures of animals and birds are great, even on zoom. Struggles taking pictures of woodland scenes , details look smudgey and a bit abstract ( my mobile phone outclasses it in this area). Colour accuracy is a bit off , although pleasant. WiFi was initially a bit of a struggle to set up for transfer to my phone . However, after a bit of tinkering transfer works like a dream now . Good for somebody showing an interest in photography, performs well under right lighting conditions and right subject matter - point of interest (s) plus zoom is pretty nifty, producing good results.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2020
After getting used to the camera, familiarised myself with the functions, I've discovered it to be a splendid little camera ! For the price, I strongly recommend it .
Images in this review
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