Best Price Sony Digital Camera

Compact cameras with 30x optical zoom are becoming fairly commonplace, but the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX500 stands out from the crowd by being noticeably smaller than the competition. It’s a pity this comes at the expense of ergonomics though, as the camera could really benefit from better gripping points.
The only other significant shortcoming with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX500 is that you don’t get an electronic viewfinder.

The Sony A5100 is proof that appearances can be deceptive. Although it looks almost identical to the previous A500 model, the new A5100 is a much more capable camera, especially when it comes to focusing and recording video. It's also a much more compact alternative to its big brother, the A6000, especially as it offers a lot of the same features and even out-performs that model in a few areas.
One of the main reasons for considering the A5100 is the significantly improved Fast Hybrid AF system that's trickled down from the A6000.

A well-performing camera that has just a few small let-downs. A good range of features for the beginner photographer.

The Sony A5100 won't appeal to all as it's sometimes fussy to use given its lack of control dials. If that's what you're after then look to the Sony A6000 which caters for such needs, along with the addition of a viewfinder and hotshoe which the A5100 lacks. Whether you venture into buying additional E-mount lenses in the future or not almost doesn't matter with a camera such as this.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V has an incredible zoom range and an excellent EVF, but its images suffer when the light gets low.

We liked last year's HX60V, but with slightly underwhelming image quality and no EVF or lens barrel control ring like the competition from Panasonic, it couldn't quite compete. Sony has clearly listened though and the Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V addresses most of our concerns.
The move to an 18.2MP Exmor R sensor has given the HX90V a much-needed image quality boost, and although the results are no better than the class-leading Panasonic TZ70, they're certainly on a par, whether shooting in daylight or indoors.

With the HX90V/HX90, Sony presents a serious contender for the title of best 30x compact: it provides all-round performance, a plethora of features and is the only model to offer an electronic viewfinder, adjustable screen and customisable settings ring, all in one compact package. Indeed, despite having all these features, it's still the most compact camera of its kind. Unfortunately, this all makes for a relatively high RRP.

The new Sony A5000 is a rather modest refresh of last year's NEX-3N cameras, ditching the NEX branding, upgrading the image sensor and processor, and adding wi-fi and NFC connectivity, a better handgrip and the more intuitive Alpha menu system. Despite a slight price increase, the A5000 remains an excellent first "serious" camera for smartphone/compact camera upgraders.

An excellent buy for those looking for their first compact system camera. Image quality is good, handling is great and there's a good solid system for E Mount cameras.

The Sony A5000 is a very good everyday compact system camera that offers a lot for its entry-level price. It's just a shame Sony has chosen to stick with a slightly underwhelming screen.

- Macro performance not quite as good as some competitors.
- Battery life not as good as predecessor (but still fair for its size).
- Slightly below average saturation levels and hue accuracy.
- Still can't capture RAW files and JPEGs at the "Extra Fine" highest quality setting.
- Default Wi-Fi camera app lacks robust functionality; need to install additional (free) app.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV offers serious video improvements over the RX100 III, but it is very expensive for a compact camera.

Sony has made some good improvements to what is already an excellently performing camera, but there are still a few small problems with the RX100 IV which make it just slightly less than perfect. Even if you can put the extremely high price aside (especially as that will drop as time goes on), it remains disappointing not to see a touch sensitive screen on a Sony RX100 - if for no other reason than setting the AF point would be much easier and quicker with one. It’s also frustrating that you have to switch off raw format shooting to make full use of some of the functions on offer here, too.