It was probably a month or two ago that I saw some press releases on a new point and shoot Sony had coming out, the WX1, which intrigued me. Like a lot of photo enthusiasts, while a DSLR is the weapon of choice, the elusive holy grail seems to be a small point and shoot camera that can slip in your pocket so you can be packing at all times, yet would still take good looking photos that are not so riddled with noise (a problem almost always plaguing point and shoots because of their small sensors) that they look like your tv screen when the test pattern has gone off. As the old adage goes, the best camera is the one you have on you when you need it and a DSLR is a little tough to integrate into your daily accessories.

So in evaluating this camera, perspective is required. This is not the camera you would go to for your best work. It is not the same package of everything you have with your DSLR and collection of lenses shrunk down to something the size of a couple of packs of gum. It is a tiny point and shoot camera that easily slips into your pocket with room to spare that does way better than the average point and shoot. In other words, it's a top performer for the junior varsity but its not ready to hang with the varsity.

Here's the reasons I wanted one:

1. I wanted a small camera I could keep in my pocket for daily use. What a lot of photographers call a "street shooter", something you can pull out and use to grab shots of whatever you happen to run into during your day.

This camera is certainly small. I've seen a few people refer to it as "chunky" and they must consider Ellen Page to be fat. This is tiny. I was surprised at how small the box it came in was, and even more surprised when I found the camera in the small box. My first impression was it wasn't much bigger than one of those old minolta spy cameras. My previous point and shoot camera was the Sony W300, which most people considered slim and stylish, and this camera is smaller in all respects than that. Side by side the WX1 seems slight smaller than the W300, but looking at it alone it looks like a tiny toy camera. I gave the W300 to my wife, and when she caught a view of the WX1 her reaction was "But yours is so much smaller." She was thrilled when I gave her the W300 but now has taken to calling it a hand me down. I went from hero to goat. As they say, size matters.

2. Stealth factor - I wanted a camera that I could sneak into places that don't allow cameras.

You could drop this baby into the front pocket of your levis and still have room for a decent game of pocket pool. I can easily get it, a wallet and even a cell phone all in the front pocket of my jeans. Alone in the pocket, it scarcely makes even a bump that a security guard might notice.

3. Low light capabilities - I dislike using a flash and wanted something that could take good pictures in natural light, and could function well in dark places.

The low light capabilities of this camera are astonishing. The camera can basically see better in the dark then you can. Lots of the pictures I took in dark rooms look way more illuminated in the photos then they were in reality.

Because it seemed to be everything I had been searching for in a point and shoot, I went ahead and ordered this as soon as Amazon had them available. Because they were not yet widely available, there were no hands on reviews by the usual photography sites and blogs. While waiting to get the camera, I would check Amazon every day to see if anyone who had actually used the camera had put up any reviews yet. The initial few reviews were alarming. People who said they wanted to love the camera didn't. The gist of their complaints seemed to be that the camera took good pictures in low light (although a few didn't even agree with that) and crappy pictures in good light. Sample photos that people began posting on Flickr also didn't look too hot. Because of this I regretted ordering the camera so quickly and almost just sent it back to Amazon without even opening the box.

I decided to try it for myself before deciding whether to send it back, and found it to be much better than the initial reviews had painted it (and subsequent reviews on Amazon now seem to be swinging towards the positive).

I do have to agree that a lot of the shots I've taken outdoors in bright sunlight seem a little overexposed and dull, but I've also had this problem with my Canon DSLRs when set on automatic. In any case, I've found that with the WX1, all you have to do is open the photo in Photoshop and click "Auto Contrast" and the problem is instantly corrected. A reviewer on Amazon has also noted that you can get more vivid, warm outdoors photos from the WX1 by using the Program mode and moving the White Balance setting from Auto to Flash. I tried this, and with the White Balance set to Flash the pictures basically look the same out of the camera as they do after I've run them through Photoshop and hit Auto Contrast. Another user mentioned in some of his posts that turning off the DRO in the menu greatly improves outdoor photos.

The argument that most people just want nice looking snapshots right out of the camera and don't want to mess with Photoshop is valid, but those are probably not the people who are going to be interested in this camera anyway. The camera's not cheap and those people would be very happy with the snapshots they could get with an inexpensive entry level point and shoot.

In any event, after a couple of weeks with the camera, my recommendation for everyday daylight shots is not to use the Intelligent Auto mode, but rather put the camera in the "P" or program mode. This will allow you to fix the ISO at 160, which is fine 90% of the time. Decrease the EV setting by .07. Most shots will now come out great. If you want warmer colors put the white balance on Flash, or increase the saturation a little after the fact in Photoshop. As noted above, turning off the DRO also seems to help.

As for claims that the WX1 photos come out noisy, I don't agree. Even the low light pictures don't seem to have a noise problem. This is not to say they are DSLR quality, but they don't look bad at all for a point and shoot.

Other positives:

4. A nice 24mm wide angle lens, which lets you get very close to things and is also great for cramped indoor settings, buildings and landscapes. Speaking of getting close to things, the macro feature springs into gear automatically when you stick the camera within an inch or two of an object.

5. Fast on, little lag time between shots unless you're using the Burst, Panoramic, Anti-Blur or hand held Twilight modes which take a little time to process.

6. HD Video. I never really use this but nice to have in case I ever catch the You Tube bug.

7. Panoramic mode. In this mode simply press the shutter and sweep your arm and the camera creates a panorama all by itself. You don't have to take a bunch of single shots and try to stitch them together later with a photo program. The only drawback is that it sets the exposure for the area you start, which can make it difficult to get a good one in uneven lighting.

8. Battery life seems pretty good.

So what's not to like about this camera?

1. No manual controls.

The W300 had full manual controls, and I wonder why Sony couldn't have included them here and really made this a top of the line point and shoot. Many serious amateur photographers who would otherwise love this camera won't even consider it because it doesn't allow them the ability to manually control aperture, shutter speed, etc. This, along with the lack of RAW capabilities, will probably keep this camera from competing with the Panasonic LX3 and upcoming Canon S90.

As note above, there is a limited work around. Using the Program (as opposed to Automatic) Mode allows you to set the ISO between 160 and 3200, which will force the camera to use a slower or faster shutter speed. You should note that if the DRO is on, you can't use a ISO higher than 800. Turn it off if you want to go higher. You can also put the camera in High ISO mode, which allows for faster shutter speed.

Canon's soon to be released S90 seems to have become the great new hope for shutterbugs longing for a small point and shoot that takes great low light photos instead of the WX1, primarily because it not only also has a fast lens and improved sensor, but also manual controls and raw capabilities.

2. No viewfinder.

I read somewhere this morning that 25% - soon to be a third - of the population are aging baby boomers. If they're anything like me, they have a hard time reading a restaurant menu in dim light, or for that matter anything else a few feet from their face without reading glasses. Translated to small point and shoot cameras, it's almost impossible for an older pair of eyes to clearly see what's on a 2.7 or 3 inch LCD screen on the back of camera, even if bright sun isn't washing out the screen. Most of the time with the WX1 I really can't make out what's on the screen, because to me its all out of focus (the problem is my eyes, not the camera). I just have to sort of aim the camera in the direction I want and estimate the framing and have faith. The W300 had a viewfinder, which was why I bought it. Sure wish this one did too, even if they had to make the camera a little bigger.

3. Mediocre zoom.

The WX1 has a 5x zoom, which would seem to be better than the standard 3x zoom found on a typical point and shoot. In practice, because this camera has such a wide angle lens to start with, zooming out 5x doesn't seem to get you any closer than a 3x zoom on a point and shoot without a wide angle lens. In short, this camera won't get you close to far away objects, you'll have to use your feet. It also seems to me that when you max out the zoom at 5x the photos get a little soft.

4. Beware of moving objects.

The low light modes are great for stationary objects, but in some of the shots I took where people were walking they blurred.

With the camera set in Program mode I ran after the dogs and couldn't get a single shot that wasn't too blurred to be any good, except when I had it in burst mode. I would expect it would be the same for parents chasing their kids (mine are in their 20's and won't run from me anymore, so I can't test this).

The camera supposedly has Motion Detection, along with Face Motion Detection, which in Intelligent Auto mode supposedly adjusts ISO sensitivity and increases the shutter speed when movement is detected, reducing blur in moving subjects and faces. It also has a pet mode which is suppose to do the same thing for things that move on four legs. Maybe I wasn't doing it right but they didn't seem to help much.

The best bet for action and fast moving subjects with this camera seems to be the burst mode, which rips off 10 shots one after another when the shutter is pressed. I didn't get a chance to test this at a little league game or AYSO tournament, but I did finally get a couple of stop action shots of the dog with it. If you could control the shutter (which you can't) you might be able to get this camera to better stop action. On the other hand a recent review of the upcoming S90 indicated that even with a fast lens and manual controls (allowing you to set the shutter) it wasn't fast enough for action, sports and kids. I guess we have to face facts. At the current state of the art, no point and shoot camera is going to do a great job in this area.

All in all its a cool little camera which does things most point and shoots don't and also doesn't do things most point and shoots don't. In case you're wondering, it never went back to Amazon although I do wonder if I might regret not having waited for the Canon S90 when that arrives.

You can find some test shots I took here: [...]

The Exmor technology has been around since the introduction of the Sony Alpha 700. The WX1, along with the TX1 attempts to use the same technology with an additional "back illumination" to provide consumer with better picture quality at low light conditions. Unfortunately, with the reduction of the size of the sensor (since there is no way Sony can put a APS-C sensor into a compact camera), the signal-to-noise ratio of the Exmor sensor seems to reduce as well. Therefore, for those of you out there who's hoping to carry this camera in your pocket instead of lugging a full-sized DSLR across your shoulder, you'd be hugely dissapointed.

However, compared to cybershot cameras released just months ago, the reduction in picture noise is very obvious at higher ISO settings, given the size of the sensor is only about 7.59mm (smaller than your pinky). The picture does look cleaner even at high ISO settings (especially beyond ISO 800), although you will be able to observe evidence of noise reduction combined with the sensor's noise at those levels.

The new software that allows the sensor to optionally quickly capture 6 consecutive frames also helps alot in noise and blurring reduction, however this feature ties up your camera for awhile, i.e. you won't be able to shoot the next picture until the camera has superimposed all six images together. Also, since the 6 images are not taken at the same instant, you should not use this feature for moving objects. The end result is amazingly low noise and blur free images, even though the camera will have to choke up a bit to cough up those images for you.

The sweep panorama, although not new, is an interesting feature, but the quality of the images produced by this feature is generally not good enough for printing, due to misaligned edges caused by vertical hand movements. I have yet to try this feature with a tripod, but i believe the result may be better since the camera can make a true horizontal sweep. The resolution of the standard sweep is 4912x1080 and the resolution of the wide sweep is 7152x1080. It is quite obvious from the figures that the images are not particularly suitable for large prints, since the vertical resolution of the images is very low.

Also, when the DRO is set to DRO-plus (for increased gamma to reduce shadows in your shots), the maximum allowed ISO setting is only ISO 800. There is also some restriction on the ISO setting when you turn on the 10-frame high-speed burst, where the maximum allowed ISO is 800. Therefore, the high speed burst function is only suitable for places where there is enough light.

The camera is fantastically fast, except when it comes to processing images from the 10-frame burst mode (this camera does not perform continuous burst like older cybershots), even the process of superimposing six shots into a single frame is blazingly fast due to the bionz processor.

The video recording function is handy, encoding at MPEG4 at a maximum resolution of 1280x720 pixels, too bad the clips are restricted to about 2GB each (29 mins), making it impossible for you to shoot long continuous videos even if you had a whopping 16GB card. The camera allows optical zooming during recording.

DSLR users should take note that there is no Aperture Priority, Shuttle Priority and Manual Mode for this camera, as it is obvious that Sony has decided that this camera is going to be a pure point-and-shoot model. A pity considering that some of the older cybershot models did come with at least the Manual Mode where you can adjust the exposure time, aperture size and shuttle speed manually.

I haven't had the chance to fully test out the features of this camera yet, but given Sony's history with cybershots (beyond a high quality sensor and lens, they tend to take shortcuts here and there), potential buyers should really test this camera out at Walmart or Target and look for limitations and flaws which may end up as deal breakers before considering mail ordering from Amazon to avoid the hassle of returning it later. Also, the LCD screen is very shiny and a crazy fingerprint magnet, so you might want to get a screen protector to go with the camera.

Sample shots (including full zoom) of the camera have been uploaded at the customers' image section to show the noise reduction effect of the Exmor-R sensor in combination with the bionz processor from base ISO (ISO 160) all the way to ISO 3200.

UPDATE: I just found out today that a White Balance setting might be the key to this camera for outdoor shots. When setting on "P" mode I found out that switching the White Balance from "Auto" or "Daylight" to "Flash" in improves outdoor photos color, tone, exposure and warmness. I was so amazed in the difference!! See my photos above!

[...]

After 3 weeks of waiting for this camera to be released I now have it in my hands and taken over 500 pictures. Within those photos I have found out the best settings for the right scenes and conditions. With that, I will clear up problems previous owners have had.
First, I'm sure all of you want to know how good the new Exmor R sensor is. It's pretty good, WITH THE RIGHT SETTINGS. I will go into that later.

This camera really has some cool features, Like Sweep Panorama, Smile Shutter, Handheld Twilight and AntiMotion Blur Mode.

The key is setting the camera up for the right scenes, which means not keeping it set on Intelligent Scene Recognition (iSCN) Mode(AKA Auto everything). I find that iSNC mode and easy mode don't work well and as a result people are complaining about the the noise, the low light picture quality and outdoor picture quality.

I'm now going to go though the scenes and the right settings and modes to put the camera on for best results.

For Low Light shots(at widest zoom):
Again iSCN Doesn't work well at all in low light. You have to switch the camera to Handheld Twilight mode and adjust the Exposure Value(EV) from -0.3 to -1.7(this is a very important setting that needs to be set on order to remove the noisyness and grain from the photo, a setting people don't adjust and then complain about how bad the photo looks in low light). You might also want to try different White Balances,setting correctly results in really nice low light shots.

Outdoor shots:
This camera in iSCN mode seems to keep the lens all the way open(F2.4)and it adjusts the shutter speed(a big No No)resulting in washed out over exposed photos(yuck).
The solution: switch to "P" Mode which closes down the lens to around a nice F5.0 to F7.1(much better) and switch the White Balance to "Flash" . Also for better exposure you can again adjust the EV.

Panorama Shots: This one's tricky, from where you press the shutter to start the panorama it locks the exposure at that point. If you start in a dark scene and move across through a bright scene, It's going to be over exposed. Make sure you start in a modernity lit scene and if needed switch EV from -0.3 to -1.0.

Hopefully this information helps and clears up previous reviewers problems with this camera.
Other good things to add: This camera does quite nicely in bright sun light(see my test photos above, however amazon doesn't let you upload them in high quality but you'll get the idea). Takes really nice close up Marco photos. High Definition video is really nice and clear(just remember to adjust the EV in low light 1.0 to 2.0 to remove noise).

Over all a nice Sony camera great size, style and pictures.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
I should be adding more to this review soon.
[...]

I decided to purchase a new pocket camera to take on a trip to Disney World. I needed low light capabilities for indoor and nighttime pictures without a flash and a wide angle lens. I purchased two cameras and compared them for several days prior to the trip. The two cameras were the Sony WX1/B and the Canon S90. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The Sony is smaller, has better battery life, and does HD video. It has some unique and interesting modes including the rapid 10 shot and slick panoramic modes. The Canon has faster glass (f/2.0), full manual controls, a unique flexible control ring/dial, RAW capability, great build quality/feel and very low noise levels for a pocket camera. Its battery charger requires only two hours. The downsides of the Sony include a slow included battery charger (6 hours but you can buy a faster charger for $50), cheaper build quality/feel, and really poor auto white balance requiring constant manual tweaking. The contrast and exposure levels were also inconsistent and usually worse than the Canon, requiring tweaking in Photoshop. The Sony also had higher noise levels at all ISO values. Lastly, from the "what were they thinking??" category, the flash is placed in a position where the lens blocks the flash from illuminating the lower left corner of the image at the wide end of the lens. This is readily noticeable. The downsides of the Canon are its larger size (but still pocketable), the lack of HD video, worse battery life (buy a second battery) and its narrower zoom range (28-105 mm equivalent vs. the Sony's 25-120 mm). The bottom line was that I was getting a camera mainly for pictures and while I will miss the HD video and some of the Sony's special modes, the picture quality of the Canon was clearly superior to the Sony. Its low light capabilities were also greater with the faster lens, its own lower resolution high sensitivity mode, and lower noise levels. I sent the Sony back and kept the Canon. I took about 700 pictures and shot about 50 videos with the Canon on my trip and feel that I clearly made the right choice. While the Sony was good, the Canon was the clear winner here. Even in auto mode, the Canon took consistently good pictures, important when handing your camera to someone to shoot your picture. For me, it was all about picture quality.

This is a very very nice pocket camera. It's far smaller than the photos suggest. This replaces my Samsung NV24HD. I bought this camera because of its 24mm super wide lens and the promise of Sony's new Exmor R chip. But it's a mixed bag. While it does have more low-light sensitivity, noise is still just as bad as other cameras. Photos taken during "twilight" (or street lights) look dramatically better than a regular camera. But again, the amount of noise is just obnoxious at times.

I would say this cam is on the upper end of pocket cams: Lots of features, sturdy construction, fast performance, decent image quality. I always try to remember that pocket cameras are made for fun and convenience, not National Geographic cover photos. A grainy photo is better than no photo at all. There's only so much light & clarity a square centimeter of glass is going to allow.

So in a nutshell:

PROS
24mm super wide angle lens.
*Optical* Steady Shot. (not electronic)
Sweep Panorama is fun and fast.
Auto Macro -- never have to adjust settings to take extreme close-ups
Anti-Motion Blur Mode - takes 6 rapid fire photos and blends the exposures together.
Better looking low-light (twilight) photos. (but still crazy noisy)
P Mode allows Exposure Bracketing, White Balance, Shadow enhancement.
Smile Shutter with Blink detection.
Easy Mode for handing camera to friends or relatives. ;)
Comes with AC battery charger.
Red Eye Fix in-camera after photo is taken.

CONS
Exmor R isn't quite as amazing as promised.
Movie mode records in MPEG-4, not h.264 or AVCHD Lite. Very noisy and dark in low light.
Images noisy. Even in overcast outdoor photos.
No compression control. Only control over resolution.
Photos are inky looking. Shadows and dark areas get crushed.
Screen washes out in daylight. Almost impossible to see.
Proprietary USB/Composite video cable. (it's really ugly)
No USB Charging. No standard USB connection. No HDMI.
Expensive Memory Stick Duo. (No speed advantage with Ultra II or HX cards)
Mac software only includes music transfer software for in-camera slideshow mode. (So use iPhoto)

I'm somewhat puzzled after reading several of the poor reviews for this camera. I've had this camera since the beginning of October, and I've taken a number of shots under various conditions, day and night. In some cases the results, day and night, were outstanding. In other cases they were less so. In no case have I had the problems described by those who have given the camera one, two or even three stars.

Now I suppose that it could simply be the case that my standards are lower than those writing strongly negative reviews. However, while not a "pixel peeper", I do care about the quality of the image. My first camera was a Leica M2 that my grandfather gave to me. What a great camera. I spent a lot of happy days taking pictures with that camera. The prints that I developed were, imho, better than anything I've seen come out of a less than ultra high end DSLR. The Leica M2 was followed by a series of Nikon and Olympus SLR's. I was still shooting film when the digital age rolled around. Until the WX1 my only concession to the digital shift was a FujiPix F30. It's a fun camera, but I wanted something smaller for casual shooting. When I can afford it, I'll get a DSLR to replace the SLR's.

All of this is to say that I have some experience with photography, although I would not in any way consider myself a "serious" photographer. Measured in terms of that experience, the WX1 is a very good camera for its purposes. I bought it as a pocket camera that could take quality pictures, day or night. So far, that expectation has been satisfied. I also bought it for the HD video which I haven't tried out yet.

I've been wondering whether my relative lack of familiarity with recent model digital cameras may explain the difference between my experience with the WX1 and the experience of others. When my grandfather gave me his camera, he emphasized that among the things that I needed to know in order to take good pictures was how the camera worked. I spent a lot of time familiarizing myself with the workings of the Leica. This made a big difference in the quality of the pictures that I took. Accordingly, before using the WX1, I downloaded and read the manuals in their entirety, trying to familiarize myself with the camera's resources (of which there are quite a few and limits (of which there are also quite a few). I still haven't figured out how best to use the WX1, but I learned for, example, that turning the DRO on or off made a substantial difference in IQ, as did learning the idiosyncracies of the white balance and the various settings that were automatically set in the various camera modes. I would say, and this may be a mark against it for many people, that the WX1 is not a "point and shoot" camera unless one is familiar with its workings, but when I read the negative comments I wonder if some of the issues complained of could be addressed through a better understanding of the camera. I been following several threads on the WX1 at an online camera forum. The complaints were loud and long about the picture quality of the WX1 daytime shots. Photos were posted that looked really bad. Photos were posted that looked really good. Most were the work of apparently accomplished photographers. Finally someone complained that the camera wouldn't shoot over 800 in the handheld nighttime setting. Someone else said that they had no problem shooting at higher speeds in that setting. It turned out that the the problem was that in one case (the no greater than 800 case), the DRO was on. It also turned out that with the DRO turned off, many of the problems with the IQ of daytime shots were addressed. This doesn't mean that someone with all the knowledge in the world of the camera's capabilities and all the skill in the world at taking photographs might not conclude that they found shots taken with the WX1 were unacceptable. "De gustibus non est disputandum". It also may be the case that someone might feel that taking a lot of time to figure out the workings of a camera is a waste of time. Still, this camera seems to me to have a lot of functionality that makes it worth the time learning how to use it properly.

If I could, I would probably give the WX1 4 1/2 stars. It is excellent in low light. I took it to New England's largest fair. The night photos and videos of the amusement rides and parade came out very clear. The shots inside the exhibit buildings also had nice color and clarity (all without flash and set to "P"). I also took it to the Providence Jack O'Lantern Spectacular and Waterfire (all outdoor night shots). I used the "Hand-held Twilight" setting, and, again, the photos were sharp. Comparing it to the Canon SX200 and Panasonic ZS3, I found that their low-light images were inferior to the WX1 (very noisy).
My macro photos have excellent color and detail.
As other people have stated, the outdoor daylight landscape photos are more washed out than the pictures taken with other cameras I own (Canon S90, Sony HX1, Panasonic ZS3). They can be made somewhat better with adjustments, but I like to have good saturation without any adjustment.
Basically, I feel that the WX1 is an excellent camera to have when a person wants to carry something very light and small and will be taking mostly low-light and night photos. Also, it is for someone, like me, who dislikes using flash because of the unnatural and stark appearance that it causes. For this purpose, I would highly recommend the WX1.

I like this camera. I would buy it again.

I would ask SONY to change a few things:
1) The power and shutter buttons are too flush and difficult to feel in the dark. I would give then some texture as they are unusable with gloves.
2) The battery/memory stick panel opens too easily when pulling the camera out of a pocket or tight spot.
3) Most importantly for me, the shutter does not click fast enough. Being an SLR user, I am used to instant reaction speed between the moment I press the button and the moment the shutter clicks. So much movement occurs by the subject in the 1 to 4 seconds (depending on lighting) it takes the shutter to click on this Cybershot. I wonder if point and shoot cameras like this one could do better.
4) Reviewing photos after a shot ... is too slow. Surely, the last photo can be put into a memory buffer to immediately be shown when the review button is pressed. Instead it takes ... 3 to 5 seconds because you have to wait for the current photo to be processed and then wait wait wait to press the review button and if you press it twice ... oops, your still in picture-taking mode.
5) Come on SONY!! What is it about the ridiculous proprietary connections you put on your cameras. What can't a mini USB connection do? Furthermore, surely, SONY could ALSO enable battery charging from the USB.
6) Internal Memory. ha ha ha, Don't be fooled. It only stores ... 2 shots.

What I like:
1) The HD video is amazing as has the ability to zoom while filming.
2) The mode selection dial is easy to use.
3) In dark situations the camera will sometimes shoot without a flash and produce amazingly bright pictures avoiding the flash washout. It also results in the ability to keep shooting snapshots without disrupting the subject with a bright flash.
4) Handheld Twightlight mode is amazing and results in excellent difficult to capture nighttime shots by shooting multiple pictures and having the camera derive a motionless image.
5) Panorama mode is so much fun and results in excellent shots. We amuse ourselves with having the same person pose at the left of the picture and then run around and pose again on the right before we have panned over thus being in the shot twice. Hours of fun and terrific pictures. It pans from left, right, up and down.
7) Macro shots are clear and one can get awfully close.

This camera is the next step in point and shoot category cameras regarding the light sensitivity and other features I've mentioned.

I own cameras in this size range because they will fit easily enough in my pants, shirt or coat pocket. Depending on the circumstances, you might be able to take an image worth framing, and they are handy for recording still or video information in stores, etc.

Lately, I have been carrying a Canon PowerShot SD780IS, which is only slightly thinner than the WX1 but considerably less boxy. Also, I tried a Canon SD940IS. It has an apparent advantage of being 28mm/f2.8 at the wide end as opposed to 33mm/f3.2 for the SD780IS, but I concluded from my own testing that the image quality was worse, especially at ISO400 where the images were more washed out due to noise reduction.

On paper, the Sony WX1 looks like it should blow the two Canon's away with a newly designed "lower-noise" sensor, fewer megapixels, and 24mm/f2.4 at the wide end. In my own comparison (same scene, same lighting using a tripod), I found this not to be the case. At its lowest ISO setting of 160, the WX1 is considerably noisier than ISO80 on the SD780IS at comparable apertures. At ISO400 the noise levels are roughly equivalent, although the Sony tends to underexpose.

When reviewing photos, the screen could use a few higher zoom levels; panoramic shots including text or other fine details cannot be magnified enough for easy legibility.

On the plus side, 24mm-120mm is a very useful zoom range, the lens quality is pretty good, and the image stabilization appears superior to Canon's from my handheld comparisons indoors. I did not compare the movie modes, which have similar specifications.

[Appended clarification: This camera can be effective in low light situations provided you are able to frame your shots at full wide angle (24mm/f2.4), which will minimize exposure time and, hence, sensor noise. Also, the Handheld Twilight mode (See WX1 features) works effectively.]

I should note that, if you are willing to carry a somewhat larger portable, you can get substantially better image quality. My FinePix F200EXR produces cleaner images than any of the cameras mentioned above. Recently posted samples from the not yet available Canon PowerShot S90 appear better still.

I had really high hopes for this camera. Great size, low light capability, panorama, high speed burst, and HD video with optical zoom. Well, 2 out of 5 doesn't cut it compared to other cameras available today. The size and video are great. The low light capability was good, but not that much better than my Sony H20. The big disappointmet was the bright light image quality. It was NOT good at all. The images did not have good focus; they just weren't sharp and the color was not nearly as good as other point and shoot camera I have or am very familiar with. The Sony H20 and even my 4 year old Canon SD850IS were MUCH better. Also the panorama works as advertised except the image quality is terrible. HIgh speed burst did work well for speed but image quality again was lacking. Overall I am being nice giving it a 3.

I really wanted to love this camera, but no way. It went back after about 300 pictures of varying types.