MOMfiaTechTalk Thursday: The Sony Cybershot WX9

“The best camera to have is the one you have on you.” – Brian Smith, photographer

I love my SLR. When I got it a few years ago I had such fantasies of taking the pictures that made others jealous. I practiced my skills and played with manual and various lenses, yet auto was always my main setting when trying to capture a special moment with the kids. Also? It’s big. It was one thing to throw it in the stroller or in the suitcase-sized diaper bag I used to lug around, but as the kids got older, my bags (thankfully) got smaller… with less room for oversized cameras. I found myself taking more and more pictures with my iPhone for convenience’s sake – my iPhone was already in my hand – and apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic made the images ready and cool for instant posting. But the pictures also lacked the quality that I had loved with the SLR.

Enter the Sony Cybershot WX9.

While I must disclose that this camera was given to me at a pre-BlogHer Sony photo event, and even though an intimate group of us were given a hands-on tutorial of each of the settings of the camera by celebrity photographer Brian Smith, the simple fact is that I LOVE this camera.

It’s small – but has 16.2 megapixels, with video function that records crystal-clear movies at 60i in 1080 AVCHD format. Have a new fangled 3D TV? This camera actually takes movies in 3D. And did I mention that it’s small? It fits neatly into the camera pocket of my purses, and doesn’t add bulk if you opt to carry a clutch. It’s the perfect compact camera.

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you may have recently thought that my skin looks soft and glowing… Okay, I’m aware that sentence sounded SO VAIN, but I’ve really been getting a lot of comments about it. While I could just say thanks and let you sit and wonder what I’ve had done or what product from Romy’s Swag Bag has done that much work in such a short amount of time, I’ll let you in on a secret – it’s not me, it’s the camera. The camera has a “soft skin” mode which automatically airbrushes your skin. Remember the TV camera filters popular in the pre-botox 1980s? The devices that made aging actresses like Joan Crawford and Cybill Shepherd appear dewy and almost gauzy? Think of this feature like that – your face make-up looks perfectly applied and your skin tone less blotchy and more Hollywood starlet.

And if that feature isn’t enough alone to get you running to the nearest store, you have to check out the sweeping panoramic mode:

view from the winner's circle at the Del Mar racetrack

This setting allows you to capture the ENTIRE scene. You actually push the shutter button and then move the camera slowly from left to right – sweeping the entire view around you. I’ve had an amazing time playing with this function at the beach, at the Del Mar Races and even standing on rooftop patios of tall hotels like the Hard Rock San Diego.

view from the 11th floor suite at the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego

A big thanks to Kimberly Blaine for hosting the wonderful #SonyPhotoFunMom pre-BlogHer event and to Brian Smith for the photography tips and my new hot headshot. And a HUGE thanks to Sony for the fabulous camera – me and all my girlfriends thank you for the amazing pictures.