Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX9

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX9 Overview

Posted: 01/05/2011
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX9 digital camera is based around a 1/2.3"-type 16.2 effective megapixel backside illuminated Sony Exmor R CMOS image sensor with RGB color filter array, coupled to a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar branded 5x optical zoom lens. For 4:3 aspect ratio still images, the Sony WX9's lens offers a 35mm-equivalent range from a useful 25mm wide angle to a moderate 125mm telephoto. When shooting 16:9 aspect stills, there's a greater sensor crop, yielding a 28 - 140mm equivalent range. Movies have an even greater crop, for a 29 - 145mm range in 16:9 aspect, and a 35 - 175mm range in 4:3 aspect. The two-step aperture with an ND filter offers a choice of F2.6 or F8.0 at wide angle; at telephoto the maximum aperture is a rather dim F6.3, and the minimum aperture isn't stated. Autofocusing is possible to just five centimeters at wide angle, or 100 centimeters at telephoto. The camera can capture 4:3 aspect ratio images at up to 4,608 x 3,456 pixel resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio images at up to 4,608 x 2,592 pixels, or 60 fields-per-second video at 1080i (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) resolution or below with Dolby Digital stereo audio, using AVC HD compression.
On the rear panel of the Sony Cyber-shot WX9 is a 3.0-inch, XtraFine TFT LCD panel with a resolution of 921,600 dots. This display serves as the only method of framing and reviewing images, given that the Sony WX9 doesn't feature an optical viewfinder. The Sony DSC-WX9 has a 9-point autofocus system, and includes a face detection system, capable of detecting up to eight faces in a scene and differentiating between children and adults. The face detection function is used to provide a Smile Shutter function that automatically triggers the shutter when your subject is smiling, as well as a blink detection feature.
The WX9 offers three methods for determining exposures - multi-pattern, center-weighted or spot metering. Shutter speeds from 2 to 1/1,600 second are possible under automatic control, and sensitivities ranging from ISO 100 to 3,200 equivalents are on offer. 2.0EV of exposure compensation is available, in 1/3 EV steps. The DSC-WX9 also offers Sony's Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, useful for combatting blur caused by camera shake. Nine white balance settings are available, including auto and seven presets, plus a manual white balance setting. As well as Intelligent Auto and Program modes, the WX9 offers a selection of 14 scene modes -- High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, Gourmet, Pet, Soft Skin, Handheld Twilight, Anti Motion Blur, and Backlight Correction HDR -- which together offer a modicum of control over the look of images.
The WX9's Intelligent Sweep Panorama function works similarly to the older Sweep Panorama, in that a series of photographs are captured and stitched automatically by sweeping the lens across the scene, but analyzes frame content when capturing and stitching images, avoiding chopping up larger moving subjects. The function allows automatic creation of 222-, 164-, 153-, or 114-degree panoramas in-camera. In addition, the WX9 also includes Sony's latest 3D Sweep Panorama function, which uses some clever mathematics to recreate a 3D image from a single lens, saving the result as a multi-picture object file that contains two separate JPEG images, one for each eye. The result can be viewed on the latest 3D-capable Sony Bravia displays. 3D Sweep panoramas can cover the same field of view as Intelligent Sweep panoramas, as well as an additional 60-degree option. The Sweep Multi Angle function is only available at 16:9 size, and allows viewing the image with a 3D effect on the camera's 2D LCD display, by changing the display perspective as the camera is rocked from side to side. (The same clever user interface trick is used to cycle backwards or forwards through a group of high-speed burst images).
The Backlight Correction HDR mode is something we've seen in certain of Sony's previous Alpha digital SLRs and Cyber-shot compacts. The camera captures several images with varying exposure, and then automatically combines them into a single image with increased dynamic range. There's also a Background Defocus function, which works by shooting two images with varied focus, the second shot being intentionally somewhat defocused. The two images are compared, and a depth map created by considering areas of significantly differing sharpness in the two frames to be the main subject. This map is then used to blur the background areas, to create an image with a shallow depth-of-field effect reminiscent of those from DSLRs.
The Sony WX9 includes a four-mode flash strobe with red-eye reduction capability. Flash range is stated as 0.05 to 5.3 meters at wide angle, or 1.0 to 2.2 meters at telephoto, when using automatic ISO sensitivity. A two- or ten-second self timer allows the photographer to get in the picture themselves, or to avoid camera shake caused by pressing the shutter button when shooting on a tripod. Images and movies can be recorded on Secure Digital, SDHC, and the latest SDXC card types. The WX9 is also compatible with Sony's own proprietary Memory Stick PRO Duo cards. The Sony WX9 includes composite standard definition and HDMI high definition video output connectivity, as well as USB data connectivity. Power comes courtesy of a proprietary NP-BN1 Infolithium battery pack, rated as good for 210 shots on a charge.
The Sony WX9 digital camera ships in the US market from March 2011, priced at around US$220. Available body colors include black, silver, and red.