Expectations of a camera are different from one person to another. A camera that perfectly suits someone’s taste might be a total disaster for another. Thus I began my search for a good pocket camera since the beginning of this year.
I own Sony DSC-TX5 pocket camera since January 2011 and really really happy with it. The camera is still running strong until today. I was looking for another pocket camera because my wife and I agreed we need another one for our vacations. She often said she wanted to take few great shots but the camera was in my hand and the moment was gone by the time she got the camera. Then I started my research to find out the best pocket camera I can get for under $400.
Naturally, a pocket camera must be small enough to fit my pocket. Must be easy to use for simple point-and-shoot. Must produce reasonable photo quality, including indoor and night-shot.
One of the limitations of my DSC-TX5 is the 4x optical zoom. In some past experiences, I needed more than that. Back in 2011, there was not much choices for a pocket camera with great optical zoom. Technology seem to improve quite a bit in 2014 as there are few pocket models available with amazing optical zoom.
To my amazement, I soon learned that a lot of camera has built-in WiFi capability now. I’m used to take out my memory card from DSC-TX5 every-time I need to transfer my photos, so I thought having a WiFi connection might be cool. So, built-in WiFi became my new requirements.
Next, I also found some cameras with built-in GPS. According to some advertisements, having photos with geo-tags will allow some software to display my photos on a map display. It was something new and suddenly I got excited by this feature. Another requirements for the new camera.
My first candidate was Sony HX50V. It packs 30x optical zoom, which is quite massive for a pocket camera. It has build-in WiFi and GPS. Everything I need according to my feature wish list. But when I went to a store to test a demo unit, I was disappointed. The unit is rather bulky and heavy. It’s still (barely) pocketable. But I don’t think it’s going to be comfortable to carry it all day long in my pocket.
Since my first choice turned out to be less than desirable, I went back to online research and read a lot of specs and reviews about other choices (including some models from Canon, Sony, Panasonic and Nikon). I was considering the Sony DSC-WX300, but decided to ignore it due to the lack of GPS. Then my choice went to Canon SX280 HS. It packs 20x optical zoom, built-in WiFi and GPS. It still rather heavy in my pocket, but not as bad as DSC-HX50V. A limited-time discount (just a little bit over $200) gave me the final push to give this camera a try.
I wrote my first impression about Canon SX280 HS in a separate post. As I already wrote in that post, this camera has issues on battery indicator. I also wrote about lower JPG compression. When I compared photos produced by DSC-TX5 and SX280 HS, I find significant difference in pixel details. When I saw the photos in fit-to-screen zoom, SX280 HS seems to produce good photos. But when I saw the photos in 100% zoom (actual pixels), it is very clear that SX280 HS produces blurry photos while DSC-TX5 produces better detail at this zoom.
At first, I thought the battery issue was only about the indicator (and the firmware update should fix that). After using it for few months, it was clear that the actual problem is the camera design itself. Using the camera for modest usage with occasional WiFi transfer drains the battery a LOT faster than DSC-TX5 with similar usage. I can understand if the mechanical movement to use the superzoom needs more power, but even without using any zoom at all, SX280 HS is not even close to the battery usage of DSC-TX5.
The GPS feature that I was excited about turns out very underwhelming. Yes, the GPS worked. But it needs few minutes before it can detect location. So I need to turn camera for few minutes first before I can take photos with geo-tag. I ended up turning off the feature completely.
Another issue I find very annoying is the placement of auto-popup flash on the upper left side of the camera. That’s the exact location I always put my left hand to hold the camera steady. Thus occasionally I blocked the flash popup. I also find the buttons placement a bit uncomfortable on the right side. Canon loves to put the mode selection wheel on the position of my thumb. I know that most people use the wheel to hold on the camera. I personally don’t find it comfortable. Probably just a matter of personal taste.
The WiFi connection with my iPhone were often unstable. Sometimes I need to “forget” the WiFi connection and reconnect again before it finally can work. Not a big issue as it always connected in the end, but can be very time consuming, and rather frustrating when we were in a hurry.
After carrying SX280 HS to few occasions, I began to realize that its weight is also another major problem with this camera. It is indeed lighter than DSC-HX50V and I thought I can deal with that. Turned out, I ended up treating SX280 HS as a burden rather than as useful gadget. For few months, I was mainly forgiving a lot of its weaknesses because of the good price I got.
Last month I finally gave up, and decided to get another pocket camera. Since now I have learned my lesson that built-in GPS is not really useful due to the long waiting time to obtain location, I went back to Sony DSC-WX300 because I removed this model from my candidate list due to the lack of GPS. Then I discovered that Sony has newer model: DSC-WX350 with minor improvements.
Sony DSC-WX350 is noticeably lighter. It only weigh 141 gr without battery and 165 gr with battery. For comparison, SX280 HS weighs 211gr without battery and 231gr with battery. It is still heavier than my old DSC-TX5 (137gr without battery and 162gr with battery), but this time I finally feel the weight difference is tolerable.
So far I like WX350. The button placement fits better for my taste. The upper left side of the camera is free from popup flash so I can rest my finger there to hold the camera steady. My right-hand thumb has more space to hold the camera without mode-selector wheel. There is a movie button there, but I can disable that button when the chosen mode is not movie.
Connection to iPhone works better than Canon. However, there is a major drawback in the WiFi connection to send photos to my Mac. The “Wireless Auto Import” app automatically changes the creation date of each photo into the date of transfer. So my photos don’t keep the original creation date if I transfer it using WiFi. Since creation date is important for me to put those photos into albums, I end up using the old way of removing the memory card from my camera and use a card reader in computer. A bit of waste for the WiFi connection? Perhaps. But at least I still find the WiFi connection to my iPhone more usable than using Canon SX280 HS.
One thing I love from WX350 is the ability to use iPhone as a remote with real-time view. When traveling alone or using tripod, this remote is really useful.
Battery life of DSC-EX350 is a LOT better than SX280 HS. With 1 extra battery (plus one battery inside the camera), I can safely survive an active day taking a lot of photos. If I use the superzoom or WiFi remote frequently, sometimes I need to charge the battery on-the-go, that’s made easy thanks to the Sony travel battery charger BC-DCX.
Sony DSC-WX350 is not ideal. But so far it’s still my primary choice for pocket camera with WiFi and superzoom. Its WiFi works well with iPhone, but the WiFi transfer to Mac has serious flaw. Since this is a software issue, I strongly hope Sony will fix this in the near future.
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