# Inexpensive small but capable camera worth considering...



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

My first digital camera was a Canon point and shoot with a 35-350mm zoom lens (that's in terms of a full-size camera). That was a big deal for the day, but is nothing now. And I am still fascinated by these cameras with huge zoom capability, even if they do not match the picture quality and control of a full-sized camera. The other day I read about the WX-300, a Sony camera with a 25-500mm zoom range that is the size of a pack of cards when turned off! At the time, they were available on an Amazon Warehouse deal for $218, so I ordered one. Thanks to Prime, I received it today, and played with it for an hour or two while the sun was still up after work. I'm both impressed and frustrated, but consider it worth the money, and worth consideration (though I see that the price has raised from $218 to $235 now). It really is the size of a deck of cards when turned off, the lens extends when powered up, and goes out further if you zoom out to 500mm equivalent. To shoot at 500mm, you're going to need to be very steady in bright light, or more likely support the camera on a fencepost or something while you shoot, but that's true of any camera.

The image quality is okay for an inexpensive camera, but it won't compare to an SLR or even my Sony NEX. But it should be plenty good enough for eight by eleven or similar size prints, which is the largest most of us will want anyway. Another "missing" feature compared to more expensive cameras is that there is little shooting control. No way to shoot in aperture or shutter priority, the camera just makes its choice. It seems to do pretty well at that on the "Intelligent Auto" setting, or you can choose a "scene mode" as in most other pocket cameras nowadays and tell it you are shooting a landscape, night portrait, or whatever. But the only things you can directly control are exposure compensation and ISO, both reached through menus so they aren't something you're likely to do on the fly. Weirdly, it is very fast if you set it for continuous shooting, Sony claims ten frames per second (the reviews I checked said it is more like 7-8 fps, but it is very fast and I haven't attempted to check it. It has lots of ways to edit photos in camera, a built-in flash, and wifi capability that lets you control the camera with a smart phone! It does work, I tried it, though you are mostly limited to zooming the lens, taking pictures, and sending a smaller version of the photo from camera to phone wirelessly.

It is available in different colors, and the price varies by color<!>. New cameras seem to be about $285 right now, Warehouse Deals (such as I got) are $40-$50 cheaper. Supposedly the price will go up $30 after Saturday (so Amazon says). My warehouse deal was about $65 cheaper, if you check the different colors you might find the price has dropped down, but you don't have much time assuming the price goes up as Amazon says.

I like the little camera, and think I am going to keep it even though I will only occasionally actually want to carry the thing. I thought I'd mention it here for anyone who is interested. Here's a KB link to the white version, which is a few bucks cheaper (I got a red one, which was about $20 cheaper than the other colors when I ordered).


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Great review, Mike.  Have you taken a look at the Canon G1 X as a smaller alternative to your 5D?  I love mine so much that it's my primary travel camera now, with a Panasonic ZS6 as my high-zoom backup.


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