Sony says it is the smallest compact camera x30 optical zoom. But it seems to me that this is the only compact with that quality. Other devices with the same performance or superior performance fall into the category of "hybrid".
Of course with such optical zoom compact camera that is not ultra-thin. But its size is equivalent to that of my old Canon compact and is quite acceptable.
Besides increasing the number of pixels of the sensor, without increasing the size of the latter would not have been alone might convince me, since this increase can not be done at the expense of quality, due the decrease of the surface assigned to each pixel. In fact this trend seems more a marketing ploy than a real progress.
After several days of handling and use I impressed by the performance of this device and the picture quality it provides.
-The Grip.
I first consulted the printed booklet that is pretty disappointing as it does not give details on the various ways to use the device. But in fact the real detailed user guide is provided by the device itself by pressing the button "? "And not on the" Menu "key. This guide is shipped to me a good surprise because it is well designed and more convenient than manual paper.
-The Use.
I particularly appreciated the quality of autofocus (AF) and the effectiveness of stabilization that is essential when using the telephoto.
Operating parameters (settings) being many it is planned to store them by the RM + button and recalled by the MR key.
Personally I mostly used the "higher self setting" that is selected by the golden symbol on the mode dial. I found that generally provides better results than the settings that I used to use. Thus the interest of the shot is usually at the center in general I choose the P mode with exposure and auto focus on the center point, but here for the same subject, the top auto adjust mode gives most of the time better better contrast and colors, with a focus flawless.
In summary this device seems to work performance can be used by both amateur and expert users who want good pictures without "taking the lead". But you still have to make the minimum effort to read the embedded guide.
However I am not sure that the unit is fully capable of satisfying everyone.
In particular the amateur expert may not appreciate the lack of RAW recording opportunity that can catch on the computer, a lot of flaws.
As for me I regretted that the screen is not adjustable because these sunny days, the sun kept me correctly see certain photos I was taking. Another solution to this problem would be to procure an adaptable electronic viewfinder on the shoe of the camera, but the price of this accessory, yet useful, exceeds that of the device itself!
Finally the device offers a number of options whose usefulness does not convince me. For example you can send pictures (or movies) Wifi at his computer while direct transmission cable or the memory card is definitely faster.
As against the possibility of transmitting direct to his Smartphone Wifi seems useful, particularly immediately transmit pictures. But I have not managed to implement or on a Windows phone or a smartphone Bada. Yet I took the precaution to verify that the connection was being performed on the Smartphone and choose a bit heavy VGA picture. Smile Timer rather gadget seems to me still a good idea, but after several tries I do not feel that it works. Another slight disappointment is the relatively limited capacity of the battery.
