Introduction

Ease of Use

Looking at the Sony Cyber-shot WX100 is a bit like looking at one of those Hot Rods that were all rusty and beaten up on the outside, but when they set off, they made your teeth chatter. That's not to say that the outside is all beaten up. The analogy simply describes that the unassuming exterior gives no indication to the apparent power that lies beneath.

The WX100 is a basic box design of a camera. The corners are only mildly curved off and the lens barrel pokes out of the front slightly to house the large 10x optical zoom. The lens system is composed of Sony G elements which are of a higher standard than you'd find on most other digital compacts. This technology has been migrated over from Konica Minolta G lenses who Sony took over imaging operations from in 2006.

Once the image has transferred through the lens, it lands on the sensor. In the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 is an 18 megapixel Exmor R sensor. Exmor R is the name for Sony's back-illuminated sensors. A typical sensor has circuitry that surrounds each pixel and can block some of the light from getting onto it. On this sensor, that circuitry has been moved to the back of the sensor. This allows more light to land on each pixel. The term “back illuminated sensor” comes from looking at an Exmor R when it's fitted in the camera as it looks as though it's been fitted backwards. This extra light supposedly makes the sensor more responsive in low light and therefore produces lower noise.

Front	Rear

On the top of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 is a power button that sits flush with the body and a raised shutter release button which also has the zoom rocker wrapped around it. The reason for the raised button is to enable you to distinguish between the power button and shutter release so you don't press the wrong one. The shutter release isn't exactly round; it cuts in at the front and is squared off. This would make twisting the zoom action impossible, so to get round this problem and still have a pretty button, the shutter release also twists.

On the back there's a small switch with three options for normal shooting, Sweep Panorama or Video mode. You can press the direct video button to the right of this switch and video will record regardless of the mode you're in though. In Panorama mode, there's more than one option. The iSweep option is the standard panoramic shooting mode. Because the WX100 is set-up for 3D television, there's two 3D modes as well. One allows you to only view on a 3D compatible viewer such as a tv while the other (which shoots at 2 megapixel resolution) allows you to preview on the camera. The latter also takes a lot more information, so you don't get to do much sweeping. We managed maybe a 30-40º arc whereas the standard mode allows a 90º arc. T

here's been some references to “sweeping” and if you're not entirely sure what it means, it describes how you take the panoramic picture. Typically, you have to take a picture, move the camera over, take another, move the camera over and continue this until the shot is done. Then the camera will either stitch the image or you have to do it on software at home. Sweep Panorama is better. You stand in one place, point the camera at the start position, hold the button down and swing round in one continuous movement. A guide on the screen indicates how much space you have left and the camera will stop recording if you move too fast and get blurry pictures. It's a much more convenient way of getting a panoramic picture and works very well.

Front	Top

In addition to the 3D panorama modes, there's also an underwater panorama. Don't get excited, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 isn't waterproof. It does have a waterproof case (MPK-WH) but that costs roughly the same as the camera so will be out of reach or interest for many users.

In the middle of the button section on the back is a jog wheel. Moving this wheel in Panorama mode will switch between the panoramic options. In Shooting mode, it scrolls through the modes you can take pictures in such as Intelligent auto, Superior auto, Program, 3D, Scenes, Picture Effects and Background Defocus which has been given a dedicated slot instead of being in the Picture Effects area. The wheel doubles up it's tasks and you can also press it up, down, left and right to access different areas such as continuous shooting, flash options, self-timer and display options. At the bottom are the main menu button, delete/Help guide button and the playback button to review pictures you've already taken.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 doesn't feel a badly made model at all. It's firm to the touch and has buttons in the right places. The scrolling wheel can be a bit temperamental with it's sensitivity but once it's going, it flies through the options. The screen is bright and clear though we did have some trouble in bright sunshine. The areas we're unsure about are the battery compartment door and the lens. While the door has a small strip of metal to strengthen it, it can still be moved from side to side as though it doesn't fit the join to the camera. The lens also has some wobble (which we'd expect when manipulated) but this lens will wobble just by shaking the camera slightly.

Sony have changed the way the menu is laid out a few times in recent history. On the WX100, pressing the menu button will open up a display similar to the Function menu on other cameras. It shows the most frequently used modes on the left and these can be scrolled through using the wheel as a pad to go up and down or using the wheel to move left and right. Access to the main menu is through the toolbox icon right at the bottom of the screen. This menu is black with white writing and an orange highlight strip. It's split into four tabs for shooting, main, memory card and demo mode. By pressing left, you can flick through these header tabs or normal scrolling will move through the options one tab at a time.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

Start up times from cold (switched off) is very good. We managed to power up the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100, focus and take a picture in 1.8 seconds. An average time is 2.5 seconds. Pressing left on the command wheel allows you to switch on the burst mode. It's a burst mode and not continuous mode because of the speed it takes pictures. It takes ten pictures in a second but then needs up to 13 seconds in total to download the pictures. A continuous mode plods along at a slower rate but can go for longer as it downloads while it shoots.

Playback mode has a lot of stuff to do. Pressing the button brings up the most recently taken picture and some basic information about it such as the time and date it was taken, the resolution and aspect ratio as well as the file number. Pressing the display button opens three options: Basic info (default), no info and detailed info. The latter shows the flash status, white-balance, ISO, exposure compensation and a histogram of the shot. This box gives a visual display of whether the picture is exposed properly. It shows a graph-like image. The aim is to get the peak in the centre of the frame for a balanced exposure.

The menu changes in playback mode bringing up more relevant options such as delete, retouch, Picture Effect, 3D viewing and other viewing modes. You can also protect your pictures, rotate them and open up a camera guide. Aside from that it's a standard playback menu with everything where it should be. The retouch options are basic but the Picture Effects idea is a good one to avoid a lot of forehead slapping with regret of not using one at the time.

In the box accompanying the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100, you can expect a USB cable that attaches to the main charger unit with a separate figure 8 (kettle) lead to the mains. There's a lithium ion battery and a wrist strap. As is usually the case these days, the full manual comes on the CD which sounds awkward but is much better for the environment.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 18 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb.

While taking the pictures through the test, we were a little unsure about whether they would come out ok. This was because the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100's screen wasn't all that precise at relaying what the sensor was recording.

In reality when we looked back on the pictures, they look much better. Blues and greens are realistic while complicated colours such as purple and subtle hues are dealt with nicely.  Bright colours are punchy without being over saturated. The part that surprised us was how narrow the dynamic range is on the sensor. After all, this is Sony and - in our opinion - their DSLR sensors have a great dynamic range. While the sensor on the WX100 isn't the same as a DSLR, there should be the same technology filtering down to add benefit.

Metering can be tricky, the camera obviously favours darker areas which gives burnt out highlights. Usually, metering from the horizon or the edge of the dark area and light area can give a relatively balanced result but not with the WX100. We found that we either got a slightly over or under exposed dark area than what we're used to seeing.

Noise

Low ISO images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 look great but if you drill down to 100% magnification, you can see a small amount of noise reduction software working which makes us think that the sensor isn't all that good. Still, edges are sharp and if you view them from a normal distance, you can't possibly see the issue we mentioned. As we climb through the settings, the problem gets worse. Decay in image quality can be seen at every setting which is unusual at the low stages. ISO 400 shows a break down of edge sharpness although colour invasion isn't apparent by now.

Small amounts of colour appear at ISO 800 but the major changes don't happen until ISO 1600. At this point there's a considerable drop in quality while noise reduction does it's best to stem the tide. But noise comes washing in and there's little the camera can do to stop it. As we reach the pinnacle of the sensitivity settings, there's little similarity between the image we saw at the start. In fact, we'd go so far as to say that Sony put too high a setting on the camera. ISO 6400 is by no means perfect but it's a legible option if you need it. ISO 12800 just looks wrong.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Although we're happy with how sharp the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100's lens is, we found that adding a standard sharpening to the images in Adobe Photoshop added a little extra to them.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

We barely found chromatic aberrations in the pictures we looked at. It is present but it's in weird places and there seems to be no logical continuity to it.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)

Macro

Flicking the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 into macro mode allows you to get in closer to the action when taking pictures. The macro mode on the WX100 is sufficient for everyday use but it's nothing special. The lens is sharper in the centre of the frame which is nothing new and image quality does drop off substantially to the edges of the frame.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

There's a degree of vignetting  on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 without the use of flash and this is maintained through to full zoom. Adding flash doesn't eradicate it, it simply brightens the centre area. We didn't pick up any red-eye in the portrait test although there's what looks like chroma around the catch light.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (25mm)	Forced Flash - Wide Angle (25mm)
Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (250mm)	Forced Flash - Telephoto (250mm)

And here are some portrait shots.

Forced Flash	Forced Flash (100% Crop)
Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night Shot

Taking a night shot in auto mode gives a darker response than the night scene mode because of the shorter shutter speeds that the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 allows in this mode. However, ISO can be controlled so if you can get a decent exposure, it's best to use the auto setting. However, in our night scene test, the results aren't all that bad. Noise control is working overtime and the picture does have that oil painting effect caused by smudging the image to remove speckles, but an amount of detail has been retained.

Night Auto	Night Auto (100% Crop)
Night Scene	Night Scene (100% Crop)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 camera, which were all taken using the 18 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Shooting Mode Menu

Top of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

Using the Sony Cyber-shot WX100 was easy enough once the controls were understood. Not that they're unclear, but Sony have changed their menu systems a few times so it can be difficult to keep track. It looks nice and feels good when holding it. Despite its size, it's not too difficult to hold on to and the buttons seem to fall to the fingertips. There are some good features on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 to attract potential owners such as FullHD, 3D shooting options and for the more tech savvy, the G lens and Exmor R sensor will impress. The quality of the glass shows through in the sharpness although we don't like the substantial drop-off noticeable on the macro shot.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 responds well to commands and it's fast enough at what it does. In fact we were surprised by how fast it was during start up and focusing. Image quality is good too. We're impressed with the colour rendition of the pictures and although noise can be an issue, the noise reduction software does a decent enough job. In fact, the noise being present at low ISOs is really the only drawback of the camera. Image quality would be top notch for a camera at this price point if it wasn't for that.

For the price, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 is a great little unit. There are some previously mentioned issues with the build such as the lens and battery door. But for under £200, it's ideal for taking out on nights out and going on holiday. It may not look the nicest, but it's a wolf in sheep's clothing when it comes to performance. While not perfect, it's the sort of thing we'd expect from a camera at a higher price point.

If you're in the market for a sub-£200 camera that has a good lens, good noise reduction and a host of features, then the Sony Cyber-shot WX100 is a worthy camera of your attention.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4
Value for money	4.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100 from around the web.

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