Sony Cyber-shot Digital Camera DSC-WX200 review

Sony Cyber-shot Digital Camera DSC-WX200 review

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX200 only room for a 2.7in screen, but the limited space beside it has been used well, with a wheel, a small scattering of buttons and a mode switch. The wheel acts as a mode dial too, which is a little odd but works reasonably well. The camera had a minor seizure each time we presented it with a blank memory card, complaining of a database error and a low battery until we waded through the Setup options and reformatted the card.

Elsewhere, performance was excellent, taking two seconds to switch on and one second between shots. Tricky lighting conditions sometimes increased image processing times, but even then it could still take a shot every 1.6 seconds. Continuous mode ran at either 10fps or 2fps, and lasted for 10 frames.

The PlayMemories app for Android and iOS can control the camera remotely and handle wireless transfers. It worked perfectly on a third-generation iPad, and we're delighted to see remote shooting for videos as well as photos. There's not much control over settings, though – we don't need extensive control but an option to set the autofocus point would have been handy. Wireless transfers were handled elegantly, with selections made either on the camera or in the app.

The Android app worked fine on a Samsung Galaxy S3, with the same set of functions as the iOS app. Our tests with an HTC One V were much less successful, though, with frequent lost connections and a stuttering live preview that made it almost impossible to compose shots.

The camera also supports PC transfers across a home network, configured using the PlayMemories Home software, which must be downloaded from the web. The camera doesn't offer direct uploads to social media sites over a home network – no great loss from our point of view.

Videos are recorded in AVCHD or MPEG-4 format, and picture quality was excellent. The zoom and autofocus motors were responsive and virtually silent, but optical stabilisation wasn't as effective as on the Panasonic DMC-SZ9. It can take up to ten 13-megapixel photos while recording, but details in these photos were poor. We suspect that the camera is simply enlarging the 1080p (2-megapixel) video frames to 13 megapixels rather than capturing simultaneous 1080p video and full-resolution photos.

Normal photos were much better. We're not too enamoured with the huge 18-megapixel resolution but we must admit that, in this instance, it does deliver an impressive amount of detail. Darker colours were a little noisy at ISO 100, but unlike the Panasonic SZ9, the WX200 also maintained a reasonable amount of fine detail in subtle textures such as skin and hair. The lens performed superbly right into the corners of frames – a stunning achievement considering its 10x zoom and tiny design.

Low-light shots surpassed our expectations too. Subtle details were eroded by noise reduction but indoor shots looked presentable when resized to fit a 1080p screen. Even the top ISO 3200 setting produced photos that were just about worth keeping.

The Canon Ixus 230 HS beats it for image quality but the WX200 wins hands down for features. We're looking forward to testing the Canon Ixus 255 HS, which might have the best of both worlds. However, for now at least, the WX200 is our new Best Buy ultra-compact camera.