Although it produces good-quality photos and videos, they're not amazing; this camera doesn't take the sharpest pictures, and its price tag seems a bit high. But if you value genuine put-it-in-your-pocket portability as well as innovative in-camera extras, the WX10 is among the leaders of the ultracompact class.
The Cyber-shot DSC-WX10 boasts a 16-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor; like most recent Sony CMOS-sensored point-and-shoots, it does a good job in low-light situations. Its optically stabilized 7X-optical-zoom lens offers an ultrawide 24mm at the wide-angle end and 168mm at full telephoto (in 35mm film equivalent), with maximum apertures of F2.4 at the wide-angle end and F5.9 at full telephoto.
The WX10 provides decent but not outstanding performance in macro mode: You need to be about 2 inches away from your subject to capture a crisp shot. Even though most images taken with the WX10 look great on the camera itself and at smaller sizes, photos tend to appear soft once you offload them to a computer and view them at full size.
At 3.9 by 0.9 by 2.0 inches (width by depth by height), this is a very small camera. As such, the physical controls are small and slightly cramped--the major trade-off for its ultracompact size. The mode dial offers eight selections, but the dial rests flat on the back of the camera, making it hard to adjust correctly at times.
Likewise, the WX10's combination directional pad and scrollwheel, which you use to navigate menus and dial in manual settings, is somewhat small and tricky to operate. Four more buttons--a dedicated movie record button, a playback button, a menu button, and a delete button--reside on the back of the camera. The power button, shutter button, and zoom controls all sit on the top of the camera, and an HDMI-out port (covered by a plasticky door) is on the side.
Overall the camera's back-mounted controls feel a little finicky and cheap, even though the overall camera body construction is more solid. It has no handgrip, but you will find a slightly raised lip along the edge of the camera.
The eight options on the mode dial consist of Intelligent Auto mode, a Superior Auto mode that makes digital antiblur adjustments, program mode, a very limited manual mode that lets you adjust the shutter speed and aperture settings (but only two f-stops per focal length), Sweep Panorama mode, the scene-mode menu, movie mode, and a 3D menu that lets you select from three different 3D-shooting modes (more on that in the "Shooting Modes" section below).
The Cyber-shot DSC-WX10's battery charges inside the camera, which is a bit odd. What's more, charging and offloading images from the camera to a computer is handled via a proprietary-to-USB connector included with the camera. The WX10 accepts both SD/SDHC/SDXC and Memory Stick cards, and it's also compatible with TransferJet devices for wireless transfer of images and video clips.
Along with its longer-than-average zoom lens, the WX10's scene modes and special features are what elevate it from "just another ultracompact camera" to "significantly more interesting than most ultracompact cameras."
The fun extras start with a few modes that you can find in other Sony point-and-shoots: , , Background Defocus, and HDR Backlight Correction. In Sweep Panorama mode, you can take an instantly-stitched-together panorama just by pressing the shutter button and panning the camera from side to side. It's especially effective when you hold the camera vertically while using the mode: That results in a 16:9 image that fills up the screen when you view it on an HDTV, and you don't have to pan a full 220 degrees to complete your shot.
Handheld Twilight, Background Defocus, and HDR Backlight Correction modes all employ similar tactics to grab better-looking shots in tricky situations. They're bracketing modes at heart: Handheld Twilight fires up to six shots in rapid succession at different exposure levels, Background Defocus simulates a focus-bracketing mode to make foreground subjects crisp and background objects blurry, and HDR Backlight Correction enhances visibility of foreground subjects by overexposing them a bit while underexposing brighter backgrounds.
In addition to a 10-frames-per-second burst mode at full resolution, you get a handful of that are limited to still images only. Along with , which require panning the camera from side to side while taking a shot, the WX10 has a new 3D Still Image option, which allows you to snap 3D images as you would normal photos. The camera takes two shots in rapid succession, and then combines them into a single .mpo image that you can view on a 3D TV set if you connect the camera via HDMI. You need a 3D TV to view the output from the 3D Sweep Panorama and 3D Still Image modes correctly, but you can view Sweep Multi-Angle shots in a simulated three dimensions by tilting the camera back and forth during image playback.
The WX10 also records 1080i high-definition video at 60 fps, which is a faster frame rate than most cameras offer, ultracompact or otherwise. Even though its video looks a bit smoother than usual, we have seen better overall video quality from competing cameras. For the camera's size, however, the WX10 packs in an impressive arsenal of shooting modes.
In PCWorld Labs subjective tests for image and video quality, the Cyber-shot DSC-WX10 put up some good (but not great) numbers. While the camera scored well in most categories, image sharpness was a major shortcoming. We use 8-by-10-inch prints for our lab tests, and in my hands-on trials I also noticed quite a bit of softness when viewing the camera's images on a computer monitor after transferring them from the camera.
The WX10 received word scores of Good for exposure quality, color accuracy, and lack of distortion in our tests; we rated its sharpness as Fair. The camera's overall performance score is Good, but considering the disappointing sharpness rating, you're definitely paying more for automated in-camera versatility than overall image quality.
As for video, the WX10 captured some of the smoothest 1080i AVCHD video we've seen out of a pocket camera, but the video itself exhibited problems with white balance and autofocus.
Through the course of our , the WX10's autofocus appeared to "breathe" in and out while trying to lock on to moving objects within the frame, and the scene's white backdrop looked noticeably gray. That said, even though the AF system searched in and out a bit, the camera never lost focus, and the on-screen action remained crisp and smooth. In , the WX10 was less impressive, as it failed to brighten up the scene enough for us to see much of what was going on. In the end we gave the camera an overall video score of Good, and rated the audio it captured through its top-mounted stereo microphones as Very Good.
You can view the sample clips we shot for our video tests below; select 1080p from the drop-down menu in each player to see each clip at its highest resolution.
Battery performance earns a Good rating, as the WX10 is CIPA-rated for 360 shots per charge of its lithium ion battery. As noted before, the battery charges inside the camera, which may or may not rub you the wrong way.
As a truly pocketable camera, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX10 stands out for its 7X-optical-zoom lens and its unique modes for low-light shots, panorama images, and 3D stills. Shortcomings include its small buttons, lack of image sharpness, and very limited manual controls. As a day-to-day snapshot camera, it offers a lot more than most competitors do, including some of the smoothest 1080i video capture we've seen. Its price may be a bit high considering its trade-offs, but if pure portability is at the top of your wish list, it's hard to think of another ultracompact camera with this many creative shooting modes. It's tons of fun.