Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A year ago I purchased the predecessor to this camera, the WX300. I had mixed feelings about it since I loved the long optical zoom, size and Wifi capabilities; however due to the extreme over-processing of the JPEG images from the tiny 1/2.3" sensor I wasn't pleased with the overly smoothed "painted" look, over noise corrected images (particularly when viewed at 100% on my monitor), so I returned it to my local BB. Now, when this current edition WX350 came out and I was able to see it and handle it a bit at the local store I was skeptical that it wouldn't be appreciably different than its predecessor. But, since the images tried in the store looked good I took a chance and bought it at a very good price (comparable to Amazon's). I've been taking some test shots over the course of the last week, and also decided to take it to a kids' soccer game this weekend and shot it alongside my Nikon D7000 DSLR with 18-200mm lens. Looking at the results, side-by-side in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4, I was highly impressed! Not only did this little P&S nail the focus in a fast moving sports activity at least 95% of the time, but the look of the JPEG files at 100% was much better than I had expected. At auto ISO captures between 80~800 there was minimal over sharpening and noise reduction, colors were bright and saturated (a tad bit more than my taste), and all were worthy of either larger size web presentation or printing up to 8x10 (maybe even 11x14) right out of the camera. The few videos I took also exhibited great focus tracking on the fly and the HD quality and sound were very nice. I'm still playing with settings and seem to prefer the regular auto over the "Intelligent Auto" feature. I don't use the scene setting much since the basic auto setting actually selects these "automagically." In the end, I had more off-focus images from the Nikon DSLR (set at auto focus point select and auto tracking) than on this minuscule Sony P&S! I was shooting JPEGS (the only option) out of the WX350, and RAW images (later tweaked in Lightroom) out of the D7000. Needless to say, as a former professional photographer (now just having fun as a hobby), I feel that Sony has really delivered on this camera at an amazing price point with a quality build, to boot! I also don't really see the need for most users to go to Sony's flagship point and shoot cameras like the RX100 or RX100 MKII. Those do have the 1" class sensor for less high ISO noise, but the new BIONZ X image processing (same as used in Sony's new full frame a7 full frame series cameras) makes the significant improvement in the WX350 over the WX300. Since most of the other specs in this camera didn't change over the WX300 I'm guessing that the improved image processing has to be the result of the upgrade in image processing engine. You will find this camera hard to beat at the mid-two hundred dollar price range, and it should drop even further over the next 6 months. For the casual shooter, amateur, or pro the WX350 is an excellent primary P&S or pocket back-up. Very quick into action with fast zoom, great video and fast focus it is now with me most of the time and is far faster to get into action than my cell phone camera. Speaking of that, having an Android phone with NFC, it's really cool to be able to pull up an image on the WX350 and tap it to my phone to copy the shot. Controlling the camera from my phone works great, too, although I don't know how often I would personally use this feature - perhaps for candids of kids or wildlife, or such. Oh yes, the battery life also is great, as well (good thing since you will need to charge the battery in the camera, tying it up (one downside, but you pay less for the absence of a dedicated charger). Finally, I have to say that I would buy the Sony DSC-WX350 again with no hesitation for a "carry it everywhere, all the time" camera that you can have confidence will provide the shots you need when you need them for much enjoyment....