Sony's 2015 pocket travel-zoom — a viewfinder-less sibling of the HX90V.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX500 is a pocket travel-zoom compact announced in April 2015, essentially a smaller, viewfinder-less sibling of the HX90V launched alongside it. It brought a 30x zoom and a selfie-friendly tilting screen to Sony's slim WX line.
The camera pairs an 18.2-megapixel 1/2.3-inch Exmor R CMOS sensor with a Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 30x zoom covering 24-720mm equivalent, stabilised by Optical SteadyShot. The 3-inch 921k-dot LCD flips up 180 degrees for self-shooting, the BIONZ X processor delivers Full HD 1080p video at up to 50p with XAVC S support, and built-in Wi-Fi with NFC handles image transfer. It uses the widely available NP-BX1 battery and charges over USB.
On the UK used market the WX500 is one of the more capable pocket superzooms available cheaply, with its 720mm-equivalent reach and flip-up screen making it useful both for travel and casual vlogging. It remained on sale for years, so UK supply is reasonable, and the shared NP-BX1 battery ecosystem keeps running costs low compared with more obscure compacts.
Used buyers should exercise the zoom across its whole range, since long-ratio mechanisms are the main wear point, and check the flip screen's hinge and ribbon cable by tilting it fully while the camera is on. Look for dust spots at the telephoto end against a plain background, confirm video records without overheating warnings for a few minutes, and test the control ring and rear dial for skipping. As with most Sony compacts of this era, no separate charger was boxed, so confirm USB charging works before completing the purchase.