Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX500 Digital Camera (Black) Bundle [Japan Import]

I got this for a family trip to Europe, on the recommendation of a photographer who said it would be compact and offer a wide range between zoom and closeup. Yes it does! I loved the panorama feature, the powerful zoom, and it took great photos using natural light even in situations that I thought would be too dim and would require the flash. The down side: There are a lot of dials and buttons, all try tiny, so if you have fat fingers like me, it's hard to move through the various tools and menus. Also, there are SO many functions/options/fields to mess around with, if you want to, that learning to use this was kind of overwhelming for me (I'm not tech-savvy.) I actually got more comfortable using it by ignoring the screen commands and controls, ditching the owners manual and just pointing and shooting. I wanted an actual digital camera so I wouldn't have to worry about running out of storage space on my iPhone, and because I wanted something with better zoom/wide angle function than the phone. But I wanted essentially a point-and-shoot, something small. This definitely fits the bill -- it fits in my jacket pocket or an inside pocket of my purse. Also it held a charge for about three days so I didn't worry about it running out of juice very often. Another drawback: Trying to thread the wrist strap through its loop was very difficult (it's very tiny) and I also wanted to be able to wear the camera around my neck. I had to find a tiny metal ring, thread that through the loop, then thread a lanyard and the wrist strap through the ring. This wasn't easy. Also, the wrist strap feels flimsy to me -- is it going to fray/snap and fall off my wrist? But the camera itself did a beautiful job without being big and clunky.

This is a good camera, and it came in great shape. But….. The bundle that was listed with the camera was not included, no battery, no tripod, no SD card, no bag.

I bought this camera because I had dropped my previous Sony (which I loved) in the sand - argh! My previous Sony gave me great pics with it's Zeiss lens and I liked the size and "handiness" of the line. So I thought this one would be perfect. In sunny situations, it's nearly impossible to see what you're trying to photograph in the LCD screen, no matter how you try to shade your eyes or the camera. Perhaps that why I was so generally underwhelmed by the pics, I was frustrated with NOT having a view finder. ah well.

We researched this purchase for weeks, went and saw the camera twice at the store, but were disappointed with the pictures. The pictures had a wide-angle look to them, so if ever a person was anywhere around the edges of the photo, they'd be very distorted. This alone was enough for us to send it back, as we can get these types of photos with a phone camera, but for his price we expected much more from a camera. ( I will say that the sports setting was amazing! Took some pictures at a splash park and could see every drop of water in mid-air, very cool). Also, concerning the bundle, the camera didn't fit in the case provided.

I ordered this by mistake and it was in Japanese. There wasn't an option to change to English. It is useless to me. I spent a great deal of time to change it to English, without success. There isn't an option to return or trade it in, so waste of money on my part.

Purchased 2 of these cameras only to find out later that these cameras are lock in Japanese language and can't be updated or settings changed otherwise, but with that said the seller was helpful to return the items at no charge.

The menu is in Japanese and cannot be changed to english. To get a refund I was directed to print a code and go to a kohl's store to return it. I purchased from amazon. Kohl's is amazon's problem not mine.

No English language booklet within the package. Charged camera and language was in Chinese. No screen protector on camera. Don't know how to use it. I don't read or speak Chinese.