As I wrote a few weeks ago, I enjoyed editing video on my iPad 2 in iMovie which got me started on putting all my video in a format that the iPad could read without conversion. While our Canon PowerShot SD960IS
About 2 weeks ago, I was going to go to Best Buy, but due to a cranky child, I didn’t make it. The following day, I saw some cameras in the Best Buy ad, so I looked up specs on a few of them. I decided to take a shot on the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-WX9
. Normally I’m not a huge Sony fan because of their insistence on using Memory Sticks, but a friend of mine told me that starting in all their cameras from last year or maybe earlier, the cameras also accepted SD cards.
Best Buy was sold out of the camera (it was on sale for $199, $20 less than normal) so I ordered it with free shipping and received it last Friday. After reading and re-reading the specs, I absolutely couldn’t wait for it.
The first thing I did when I got it was find the setting to capture videos in mp4 format in 720p. After doing this, I shot a video, took the card out and placed it in the camera connection kit on my iPad. The iPad imported and played the video without problems. That pretty much sealed the deal for me to keep the camera; the rest of the features were gravy since the camera already did more than my Canon.
The Sony almost has too many features to be usable, so I’ve tried to learn a few ones that are useful to me. First off is panorama mode. I’ve used stitching programs before, but due to them not being convenient, I think I have 1 wide picture in my collection. This mode makes it simple to capture a very wide picture that looks great. It’s easy to use and one feature that I’ll be using again.
The next feature that amazes me is the smile shutter. You turn it on and it detects when someone smiles in order to snap the shutter. In my testing, it works quite well if there is only one person in the picture; if there is more than 1 person, it’s only going to focus the detection on one of the subjects. However this could be used for self portraits and getting in the picture by having everyone frown until the photographer gets in the picture then everyone smiles. It should also be great at getting pictures of my son when he’s smiling even when he’s not really a happy camper.
The 16 megapixel resolution is a bit overkill, so I scaled it down to 10 megapixels and the images still look great. The Carl Zeiss lens and 5x zoom seem to perform better than the Canon.
While flipping through the options, I saw it mentioned Eye-fi and I had to dig into the docs which are inconveniently only on the CD and not the website (they’re in HTML and I prefer PDF since I can put them in Paperless and even put them on my iPad for easy access on my next vacation) to figure out what this meant. Basically there is an icon which tells you when the Eye-fi card is uploading and you have the ability to turn off the uploading to conserve battery.
I almost fell over when I saw that it charges over USB. Unfortunately one end of the cable is a Sony proprietary connector. The good news is that as long as I remember the cable, it is pretty easy to find a USB port for charging. One caveat is that it appears to draw a little too much power to charge from one of my chargers. Using an adapter I recently got for my XPal Power battery to charge my iPad, I can get the camera to charge on that charger. The large battery charges the camera without the adapter.
The one major downside I found to the camera is that the colors on the LCD are pretty awful. The images look washed out, but viewing pictures on my computer or iPad show that the colors are properly represented in the actual images.
Pros
- Records movies in a format the iPad can read directly (720p, mp4 format; this is not the default).
- Easy to use panoramic mode.
- Smile shutter is pretty good at detecting smiles.
- USB Charging.
- Indicator for Eye-fi uploads.
- Pretty sharp pictures.
- Accepts a variety of formats including SD, SDHC, and SDXC.
- Burst mode to capture 10 images in rapid succession is easy to use and works well.
Cons
- Proprietary cable for charging.
- Display makes pictures look wasted out.
- Manual is delivered as HTML instead of PDF. However, using wkhtmltopdf and some command line magic, I was able to create a PDF of the HTML documentation.
- Too many features! I haven’t been able to dig into everything and I’m not sure I can remember how to use everything even if I understood it all.
Summary
Like most of my reviews, this one is pretty favorable because I did my homework to find a product that met my needs. I’m extremely pleased that the device records video that is directly readable on the iPad; just about everything else is gravy to me. The cost of digital cameras has come down so much, that in the $200 price range, there are so many choices. Deciding on which one to get is extremely difficult. So far, I like the camera and it is taking pretty good pictures.
I don’t think that people can go wrong with this camera. If you’re looking to display your videos on an iPad and don’t want to have to deal with conversions, this camera fits the bill. (Note, however, that the 1080i default video format cannot be read on the iPad.)
Hi Scott, thanks for this detailed review. But I must add that other people find the controls horrible. Not an issue for me but apparently a big problem for other users 🙂
The way I use the camera, I rarely futz with the controls. I suspect that most users are the same way. Just like any device these days, there are far too many options which results in potentially confusing controls.
Have you tried 1080p MP4 format with the iPad 2 ?
Does the 720P MP4 format also work with iMovie on iPad 2 ?
It’s 1080i and that didn’t work on the iPad 2. Using the 720P mp4 works fine.
My husband just bought this for me and it’s charging. I can’t wait to use it. I hope it’s as nice as the one I lost after only a few months… the DSC 370. I loved that camera, although it did not get great reviews… Did way more than I could comprehend. I agree more than you need in most instances.
Hi Scott. I just bought the WX9 and I love it. I also bought an eyefi card and I got it to work pretty good with my IPad. The only problem is that I can get the video to transfer onto the camera roll, the videos will then play no problem on the ipad, but I can’t seem to be able to use the videos in imovie. The only videos I can use in iMovie are the ones recorded from the iPad. Seems pretty silly to expect people to be recording their video by holding up their big iPad. The video is much better on the Sony which is why I want to use the wx9 video for iMovie. Is their any tricks you can tell me on how you got it to work?
Hi Thomas,
Arrgh. I thought that being able to view videos in the Photos app would let me use it in iMovie. This was the main reason I stuck with this camera. We should report this as a bug to Apple as finding a camera that lets me edit directly in iMovie is becoming impossible to find.
I should have done more testing before my 2 week return policy was up. I’m a bit annoyed at myself and Apple for this. The video plays, the iMovie team needs to fix their app.
I filed this as a bug with Apple as Radar # 9484331.
Scott, this isn’t a bug. I did some more research and it seems iMovie has to have the exact format in order to edit the video. This means that no camera is going to give you the right video unless it is an iPhone or iPad video.
Anyhow, there are some programs out there that will convert the video. The trick is finding the right one. I haven’t been able to do that yet. The best solution is to find an app that converts your video for you. I think someone will eventually come up with some app that will convert easily but the only one right now is reel director.
I also heard that turning off the audio might make it work. Check this link out, it is a forum post with people with the same problem.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2779723?start=0&tstart=0
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for the info. I consider this a bug as it reduces the usability of the program. I converted about 700 videos and they work fine in iMovie. The difference, I believe, is in the audio. The audio from the DSC-WX9 is stereo AAC @ 48 kHz. The video I converted was mono AAC @ 44.1 kHz.
I did submit feedback to Apple and maybe they can fix iMovie to be more forgiving of video formats.
Ok, I found the solution. Download the splice video editor app. Only an iPhone version is available, but that is ok. You also don’t need the paid version, only the free one. Start a project and leave all the defaults in place, insert your one video and export it. It will then show up on your reel in iMovie.
Thanks! That does work, but not as easy as directly into iMovie. Can Apple be that clueless that people want to edit video directly on the device taken by other cameras or is it a hardware issue? In any case, thanks for the tip and I’ll keeping looking for an app that looks better on the iPad.
Actually, this method is unbelievably easy compared to the solutions online. Other ways to do this was to copy the file to your computer, convert the video with a special program with various specific settings, then you had to place the video in your photo directory, start itunes, sync the photos, then use a special ipad app to move the file to your camera roll. I went through 5-10 different methods before I tried this one. If I was a programmer, I would come up with a file converter specifically for this and I bet I could sell it for $.99 and it would do well. There are so many other people really pissed off about how Apple doesn’t offer a converter.
BTW, the reason why it is so difficult is because the imovie is extremely fast for what it normally takes to edit-add texts-transitions-music-photos to videos. It does this by restricting the video format to be one size and video/audio codec only. I think the video codec is hard wired into the graphics processor (Hardware vs software rendering). I have worked with video editing software before and adding new formats slow things down by orders of magnitude. So, if it takes a couple of minutes for each clip to convert before I edit the video, I would rather have that and have the Ipad create really cool videos fast (for $4.99).
On another note, if you ever get a chance to try the Eye-fi, you should check it out. Its really amazing, It looks just like an SD card, you just turn your camera on and your ipad automatically downloads the files. It just took me a while to get it set up right.
Hi Thomas,
I actually started looking at writing a one trick pony app to do just this. The ffmpeg library has been compiled for iOS, so basically I just need a video picker/selector and then a go button to do the conversion. I’d hope that I could modify the date on the exported video to be the same as the original as the Splice Editor sets the date to today’s date which isn’t all that helpful to me. I’m not making any promises, but I’m taking a look at doing this.
While I can understand the hardwiring for the video that the iPhone/iPad takes, it dramatically reduces the usability of an otherwise fine product. Furthermore, if Apple actually tested cameras and listed models that work directly, that would have lead me to a different camera that works out of the box as that was one of my goals in getting this camera.
I do have an EyeFi card and really like it. However, I think that it’s draining the battery on the camera. I’m not sure yet, but I don’t seem to get more than a day out of the camera just taking a few pictures.
Yeah, it does drain the battery. You can turn eye-fi off by going to menu, then the toolbox at the bottom, then the 4th page of the section with the wrench etc. Then, when you want to transfer your images, turn it on.
I don’t think any camera other than an IPad, or IPod, or IPone will take the specific video. Besides, the WX9 still has more features than any other camera in that price range. Heck, I was looking at getting a canon s95 but I found that it wouldn’t do a panaramic sweep thing like the sony does (I will use that alot for vacation pictures). The picture quality of the WX9 isn’t as good as the s95 but the quality seems pretty close (good low light performance is hard to find in a lower priced camera).
Is it really that easy to create an app like that? I would love to look into creating my own apps, but I am not going to go out and buy a mac just to do some programing.
I’ve been debating turning off the Eye-Fi, but for now, I just deal with it. I’m interested in trying out the Eye-Fi to iPad without a router at some point, but haven’t had the time. I’ve had the Eye-Fi card for over a year and generally recommend it.
As for the video on the iPad/iPhone, I converted a bunch of videos to a format that iMovie on the iPad understands using QuickTime Player with the export setting HD 720p. I find it odd that a camera can’t match Apple’s exact setting. The WX9 is close; I think just the stereo audio is what hangs it up (the audio is in AAC format which the iPad likes).
I write iOS software for a living, so I have a head start in writing an app! I haven’t gotten very far, but I’ll poke at it in the evenings.
Hey Scott, I just took a bunch of pictures at our companies golf tournament and they came out great. The continuous mode works awesome when shooting a golf swing.
Anyhow, I noticed the eyefi card took forever to upload the videos and pictures over the network,so I turned it off to transfer the photos/videos to the iPad in direct mode. FYI,it works 10 times faster. You should really give it a try.
I do think I’ll try turning off the Eye-Fi card; my main reason for getting the card was to make sure I could get the pictures before my son deleted them playing with the camera. However, he’s not allowed to play with the WX9, only the older camera, so that is no longer an issue.
Ok…I just got to Brazil with the new WX9 and was looking forward to taking some great music videos. Only problem is that when I get to my computer to upload the vids to my hard drive I don’t see any .mov or .mp4 files. When I plug the camera into my mac I get 3 external devices that pop up in my finder 1) no name 2) PMPORTABLE 3) the untitles memory stick
In most cameras you can just go into the memory stick, find the movie files and drag and drop them into your external hard drive. And usually iPhoto imports the videos together with the pics with my other cameras. For some reason I’m not able to get just the video files off of the camera. Any suggestions?
Did you setup the camera to produce MP4 video files? The default is AVCHD. I changed mine to MP4 as it’s easier to use and the quality is at least as good as my last camera.
I put my sd card into my computer from my camera and it uploaded my pictures and not my video. Do I have to do something differently to get my videos on my computer?
It depends on the type of computer you have. I use the MP4 video setting and the videos import fine into my Mac using iPhoto.
I have an HP. I found I manually have to go find the video in a folder. It simply won’t download automatically.
Because the pictures on my DSC wx9 are stored in one folder for each day, when I download them onto my computer, I have to copy the folders one at a time. It takes a long time if it has been 30+ days since I last did it. Then, since it only copies and doesn’t move the pictures, I have to go into the camera and delete the pictures one day at a time.
Do you know if I can change the settings to have the pictures saved into folders containing pictures for one month instead of one day?
Also, do you know how I can move the pictures onto my computer instead of only copying them?
Hi Lisa,
On my Mac with iPhoto, it sees all the videos and photos no matter the folder they are in; importing is quick and easy. You might want to contact Sony to see about putting the pictures in one folder. If you want to “move” the pictures, you copy them and then delete them from the camera as you’ve already seen; this is standard before for using memory cards.
Hi Scott and Thomas,
I was very happy when I found Scott’s blog , and I hope that you guys will help since I cannot find some info that was very important to me !
Most important to me would be to have an easy, preferably wireless, transfer of my photos (and videos) from the camera to my Mac and to my iPad and to my daughter’s iPhone.
I cannot find any information on the “direct” upload that you write about. I assume “direct mode” meant wireless? It seems like it does not refer to the Eye-fi card because Thomas says that he turned it off and this “direct method” was actually ten times faster! Did you mean using a plain SD card? What I really would like to have is a wireless transfer on our home networks. (I don’t even have a camera kit for the iPad.) Is the Eye-fi card the only solution for wireless transfer? (The PMP is with USB cable only, right?)
There is some talk in the Sony documentation about direct upload of photos to computers and websites like flickr, but it’s not clear either. Do they mean a wifi upload or a USB cable transfer to the computer?
Sorry to be so dense but I am kind of new to digital cameras (had one years ago when 6 megapixels was considered huge… And didn’t use it a whole lot anyways)
Thanks a lot!
Dee
Hi
This is a wonderful blog. Can you please guide me how to change from the default video settings to mp4.
Thanks