Sony WX-500 – World’s Smallest Hyper Zoom Compact
Photo: Editor AL with the New Sony WX-500.
23rd July 2015, Singapore – When Sony sent me the WX-500 right after I returned the Sony a7 MarkII, I was (a little) amused. This little camera came in a little box and that got me really curious what kind of a compact camera that Sony had sent me this time. When I unboxed the cam, I almost thought I saw a Sony RX Series camera. I scrutinize the camera carefully and I am so sure that there are obvious hints from the design styling that this little compact is a hybrid from the RX Series.
Photo: Parliament House, Singapore. Shot by the New Sony WX-500.
The Sony WX-500 is so light (209 g) and small (101.6w x 58.1h x 35.5d mm) that I can easily slot it into my pocket. Sony claimed that the WX-500 is currently the world’s smallest camera with a hyper zoom (30x optical zoom) that is really impressive for a camera this size. The overall styling of the WX-500 – apart from looking like a RX Hybrid – is sleek, neat and practical. While I was familiarizing myself with the camera menu, I have to keep reminding myself that the WX-500 is not a RX. (lol)
Photos: Below is a series of photos from wide to telephoto end.
What caught my attention next is the 180 degree tilt-table LCD screen. My first thought was to use it for selfies as with the trend today. I will credit this as a very useful feature for those who do family shots or group shots using a tripod and the camera timer. And the interesting part was, I was able to do selfie with the pop-up flash up and this means I can now do those dramatic backlight shots (or selfies) without having me turning into a dark shade of black silhouette. To ensure that the user gets sharp photos, the Sony WX-500 comes with the company’s proven Optical SteadyShot so hand -shakes will be reduced (especially if you do a lot of selfies, haha!) Not bad.
Photo: Selfie at Parliament House, Singapore. Shot by the New Sony WX-500.
(See behind the scene photo by Gary Chow at the bottom of article)
Photos: Below is another series of photos from wide to telephoto end.
Like most insane upmarket compacts out there today, the Sony WX-500 is not compromising on the optics department either. I noticed the lens assigned to this camera is a ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* that screams “premium” and it comes in a focal length of 24mm wide angle to a super tele-photo range of 720mm. The aperture is pretty standard ranging from F3.5 to F6.4 and very useable in most shooting conditions. On the ISO, the camera was given a range of ISO80 to ISO12,800. I am not a fan of high ISO but I did tried to push the WX-500 a little and you can see the image below.
Photos: A Day Photo shot at ISO 3200. Noise is visible.
The Sony WX-500 comes with Sony’s 18.2 megapixel (Back-illuminated) Exmor R CMOS sensor and the proven BIONZ X image processor which had further enhanced the overall package of the Sony WX-500. I was told by fellow photographers that the Sony WX-500 is capable of recording great videos but too bad, I am not into videography so I am not able to comment further on this.
Photo: The Sony WX-500 produces mild bokehs which is not bad at all.
Before I go on, and as usual, I would like to disclaim that if you had found your way here looking for technical information or specs of the Sony WX-500, then I will suggest you visit Sony website (insert link) here. Over at this site, we are more keen to find out how the camera perform, user experience and the type of images that we can get from the camera.
Photo: The Sony WX-500 is very useable in various shooting angles and conditions.
Photo: The Sony WX-500 focusing speed is good allowing me to just point-press-done.
Photo: The Sony WX-500 has an excellent distortion control. This was shot at 24mm wide and there are almost no distortion except to the far ends. If you think this is bad, try shooting at a true 24mm with other compact cameras.
Photo: The Sony WX-500 shooting at ISO 800 indoor without flash.
So, looking at the specs of the Sony WX-500, I had decided to review it like a street/ travel compact camera with pretty good standard features and functions and gotten all the images you see on this article. I headed out for a walk in town with the Sony WX-500 and the following day to one of the offshore island in Singapore. I love what I gotten from the WX-500, Check out all my photos on this article.
(All photos are posted based on actual size so just click on the photo to view at 100% at its true resolution.)
Photo: The Sony WX-500 is competent to be a really good travel compact.
As mentioned above, I took the Sony WX-500 to an island – Pulau Ubin or Ubin Island in Singapore. This island has lots of interesting things to shoot so I brought the Sony WX-500 there for a walk. The photos as below.
Photo: Check out the amazing details that was captured by the Sony WX-500. Click to view at 100%.
Photo: The Sony WX-500 is really good for selfies.
Photos: Below is another 2 series of photos from wide to telephoto end.
Photo: Chek Jawa or Jawa Bay. Shot by the Sony WX-500
Photo: Lots of Details. Shot by the Sony WX-500
In summary, the Sony WX-500 is worthy as a walkabout compact, a competent Travel compact. I particularly like the design which makes it a “RX Hydbrid”, and the camera is really easy to use. Light and compact, I will recommend this camera for anyone who needs something small and still able to perform. Image quality is good and all in all, it’s a nice little package.
Thank you Sony for the camera!
Thank you Gary Chow for the Behind-the-scenes photos.
Below: Behind-the-scenes photos by Gary Chow.
About Sony Electronics (Singapore) & Sony South East Asia
Sony Electronics (Singapore) was established on 1st October 1999 with business activities comprising engineering and manufacturing, sales and marketing, and logistics and information systems. As part of Sony Electronics (Singapore), Sony South East Asia is responsible for the marketing and sales of consumer products in Singapore, as well as for business and professional products in Singapore and other countries in the South East Asia region. It also handles export business for consumer products from Singapore to various parts of Asia. Since establishing our presence in Singapore in 1973, we have grown steadily over the years to become a leader in the consumer electronics market. For more information on Sony’s products and services in Singapore, please visit http://www.sony.com.sg/
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