REVIEW: Sony DSC-RX10–a7 Alternative or Overpriced a3000?

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 Digital Camera

In looking at my old mail, I requested one of these cameras to review last October when I first learned about it. It took me a few months to actually get one which must be a sign they are selling well, but in all honesty I also had other cameras higher in the queue to review. After spending a month and 585 pictures later, I’ve reached the point where I’m ready to render my verdict on this camera.

Some other bloggers have given this camera high praises, and its specs are very impressive. It’s also very well built and feels worthy of what I would call a modest price for the features it offers. However, the thing I really wanted to know was this the ultimate Sony for the casual user that was being overshadowed by its a7 and a7R siblings, or was it just a fancy a3000 with a bunch of features that do little to improve the overall experience? The RX1 had impressed me in many ways except for its fixed lens, and the RX1R didn’t address that problem, so I figured the RX10 could finally hit the sweet spot.

In my hands, my initial thoughts were “wow, this is a really nice camera”. When I scanned the specs, I even thought this could possibly squeeze in as my 2013 camera of the year winner. I’m a sucker for Zeiss lenses, good build quality and high quality displays so my expectations going in was that I was wielding a very special camera.

Much to my surprise, a funny thing happened while I was testing this camera and looking at its results. I began to forget about all of the other Sony cameras I’ve reviewed except one – the a3000. While on paper the two cameras are miles apart from each other, this camera really started to help me appreciate how good the a3000 really is. This led to a conclusion that why isn’t this camera so good that I’m wanting to compare it to the a7R that I tested at the same time I tested this camera – in similar conditions? The answer is simple, this camera has most of the drawbacks of the a7/a7R yet its only advantage seems to be a big zoom lens. The more I used this camera, I thought – why wouldn’t I just get a a7 with a good lens or save money and get a a3000 that I felt created images that weren’t $1000 worse than this camera? However, each time I thought this I kept saying “but it’s got a Zeiss lens, and it’s well built, and it’s got a better display, and it’s got all this cool stuff (that many people would never use).” This of course begged the question, were all of these things creating images that were a $1000 better than a3000 or would a little more money for an a7 be a better choice?

Read on to see what I came to love and hate about this camera, and my final verdict about how it fairs against its much cheaper and a little more expensive siblings.

Hands On Notes

To keep things short, I’m just including a brain dump of my notes below rather than a more narrative discussion:

• I was surprised to discover that if the hood is off, that the popup flash isn’t half bad. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the better pop-up flashes that I’ve tested. Of course doing flash exposure compensation is very cumbersome, but I quickly found myself wishing for this popup flash on the a7R I was testing.
• Like all Sony’s I’ve tested, I had an above average problem with blurry photos due to shutter speed choices by the camera. I also somehow ended up with ISO 3200 as the max ISO in Auto (my review unit could have came that way by accident), so I had dozens of shots ruined by the camera choosing f/4, 1/8 sec @ ISO 3200 in aperture priority mode. I won’t blame the camera for those failures as Auto ISO will support the maximum ISO, but it did seem to have a love affair with 1/30 sec quite often (which if you have moving humans usually means blurry photos).
• One thing that really bugged me was that it was missing a front control wheel compared to the a7/a7R and many cameras I’ve tested. Some could argue that the aperture ring compensates for this, but it just annoyed me as I constantly found myself hunting for it.
• I loved the aperture ring for quick and easy access, and I appreciated the switch underneath that allowed for a silent mode when doing video. While I preferred the tactile feedback, I appreciate the ability to do both.
• While on paper the LCD good, it didn’t wow me in real life. I’d consider it more sufficient than anything else, and its pivoting screen was limited so you can’t do a selfie with your spouse or partner.
• The electronic viewfinder (EVF) had that common Sony unreal feeling like you are watching something with nasty fluorescent lights. There was also latency when panning that I found to be disturbing. I didn’t experience either of these issues in the a7R that I reviewed, so I consider this EVF more of a checkbox feature than something I’d ever want to use.
• During my testing I found that the battery life was adequate, so I have no complaints there.
• I loved the range of the Zeiss zoom lens, but it tries to do so much that it comes at the cost of the image quality. A fixed f/2.8 across 24-200mm (effective) sounds like a dream and too good to be true, and in this case it proves to be just that – an unrealistic dream. This might have been a good lens 5 – 10 years ago, but it’s mediocre – at best – by today’s standards.
• The in-camera noise reduction is unacceptably bad on this camera. I highly recommend shooting with it turned off and/or only shooting RAW then using a quality product like Noiseware to eliminate noise in a less destructive manner.
• Auto White Balance could be very bad indoors, so this is a camera that I’d advise choosing a non-default white balance or using a gray card if you aren’t going to be shooting RAW (i.e., videos, pano, etc…).
• The menu system on this camera is very cumbersome and the default button configuration make things like setting your flexible spot AF point very tedious. As a result, you’ll spend quite a bit of time figuring out how to get everything usable via numerous trips to the web due to a very inadequate printed manual. This is NOT a camera I’d even dream of letting my wife use as it’s too complicated compared to the Fujifilm X10/X20 or Canon G series cameras that she has enjoyed using in the past.
• The autofocus performance and burst mode failed to impress me, and my active 4 year old repeatedly defeated it. Unless I had very good light and he was moving in a predictable pattern, I found the suitability for photographing my toddler to be below average. I would never trust this camera with an important shot of my kids or school sports.
• Like the a7R, the timer drive mode failed to engage about 70% of the time. As a result, I’d have to hold the shutter release button for the entire 10 second countdown and then let go as the shot was taken which defeats the whole purpose! 100% of those shots naturally came out blurry, so I was very frustrated when the camera would do this for my long exposures shots where I had the camera on a tripod.

Bookshelf Test

The following shots are done on a tripod with all camera default settings except I also enable RAW. The full gallery of bookshelf images can be found at here, but I’ve included a few noteworthy images below. Please keep in mind that the images are not crooked – the camera is level, but the bookshelf has sagged over time due to weight so I use camera level instead of adjusting the camera for a level shot of the bookshelf. There’s also lens distortion with this lens at 24mm (effective).

f/5.6 @ 8.8 mm, 10s, ISO 125, No Flash

The result here is competitive with many DSLR’s – especially the entry level models. I found the results to be perfectly acceptable with the minimum native ISO of 125 (others are usually ISO 100 or 200 but not this camera).

f/4 @ 8.8 mm, 1/20, ISO 12800, No Flash

At ISO 12,800 there’s so much damage done to the image by the in-camera noise reduction that tons of detail is lost.

f/4 @ 8.8 mm, 1/20, ISO 12800, No Flash, From RAW via ACR 8.3

If you take the unprocessed RAW (shown above after ACR defaults) you’ll see that it’s got lots of good data with easy to remove noise. The image below is the same file (click for full-size) with Noiseware (Tutorial) default settings. The result is a decent file at a high ISO.

f/4 @ 8.8 mm, 1/20, ISO 12800, No Flash, From Raw with Noiseware Defaults

Be sure to click the above images to really get an appreciation of what’s happening here at full-size. This camera does an okay job, but most will find ISO 6400 to be the preferred upper limit.

Real World Sample Images

The following images come from in-camera JPEG’s using the camera default noise reduction settings. Most camera settings are the default with the exception of RAW+JPEG, a desired White Balance, a desired focus point, and occasionally a desired creative style being used.

All images are copyright Ron Martinsen – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

f/5.6 @ 8.8 mm, 1/30, ISO 640, No Flash, Custom White Balance
This is a camera that will reward you if you get your white balance right in-camera manually

f/5.6 @ 8.81 mm, 1/30, ISO 800, No Flash, Custom White Balance

f/5.6 @ 8.8 mm, 1/30, ISO 2500, No Flash, Auto White Balance
DRO seemed to have some complete failures at time despite being in Auto mode

f/2.8 @ 11.56 mm, 1/40, ISO 500, No Flash
Reds are always a challenge, but cameras with a wider dynamic range can usually avoid the transition to orange shown here

f/8 @ 14.53 mm, 1/40, ISO 640, No Flash, Aperture Priority, –1 EV
The historical method of doing –1EV compensates but I’m finding that better cameras (and even some smart phones) can do this right in-camera without user intervention like this

f/8 @ 31.77 mm, 1/10, ISO 3200, No Flash
The dynamic range isn’t point and shoot bad, but its not RX-1 good

f/8 @ 10.28 mm, 6s, ISO 125, No Flash
Despite using a tripod, it took me 16 tries to get this shot due to problems with the in-camera timer not working

f/5.6 @ 10.49 mm, 1/30, ISO 1000, No Flash
Unless I went full manual, this was about the only shots I could get of my toddler that weren’t blurry

f/5.6 @ 42.73 mm, 1/100, ISO 3200, No Flash, Auto White Balance
I was very unimpressed with skin tones and portraits with auto white balance

f/5.6 @ 39.2 mm, 1/125, ISO 2000, No Flash, Cloudy White Balance
Cloudy was better, but still kinda green and blah

f/5.6 @ 45.37 mm, 1/125, ISO 2000, No Flash, Shade White Balance
Shade just gave a jaundice appearance to skin

f/8 @ 8.8 mm, 1/250, ISO 125, No Flash, In-Camera Pano
On multiple occasions my pano’s would leave a gray block on the right. Regardless of the reason, it seems like the camera should detect and trim this unnecessary block.

f/8 @ 8.8 mm, 1/200, ISO 125, No Flash
Zoom out and you can get a huge field of view

f/8 @ 73.3 mm, 1/250, ISO 200, No Flash
But zooming in all the way on the same scene and you’ve got a spy camera <g>

f/8 @ 8.83 mm, 5s, ISO 125, No Flash, Tripod & Timer
Not bad, but I’ve seen many cameras outperform the results I see here

f/10 @ 10.49 mm, 3.2s, ISO 200, No Flash, Tripod & Timer
This reminded me more of what I’d expect to get from an a3000, not a camera with a Zeiss lens

See the full gallery at http://photos.ronmartblog.com/sony/rx10.

Real World Sample Video

Click here to go to this video on YouTube

Conclusion

To be fair, I could be a little overly harsh on this camera as I was testing the a7R at the same time I was testing this camera. The a7R has incredible image quality, so it has a way of making lesser cameras look inadequate. As a result, this might have skewed my opinion compared to what I might have thought had I tested this camera in isolation. However, I kept coming back to the same thought with this camera – I’d rather have a a7 if I was going to spend this kind of money, and if I was going to save money I’d prefer a NEX-7 or possibly even the super bargain a3000.

The Zeiss lens on this camera really disappointed me, but most super zooms with this much reach generally do. There’s a reason a really good zoom with 200mm spread cost a fortune, so if you cut corners on the glass then everything else looks bad on a fixed lens camera. In the end, I think that is where this camera falters and its also why its a3000 sibling succeeds – because it doesn’t try to overachieve.

This isn’t a bad camera, but I don’t think it’s one that is going to make any active/impatient photographers or parents with kids very happy (unless they only shoot in manual mode in good light). I also think that unless you always process the RAW files, you’ll probably find yourself seriously underwhelmed by the image quality (of the in-camera JPEG’s). Better quality is available by processing the raw images and using Noiseware (Tutorial), but for some that will be an additional unwanted step in their workflow. It’s also rather bulky in these days of camera downsizing, so I can just think of so many better choices on the market than this camera.

Like many Sony cameras, I find myself commending Sony for trying to meet a market need yet I find myself struggling to find enough reasons to recommend this camera. In the end, I can’t due to its unimpressive lens performance and below average usability. For as many things as this camera does right, I feel this would be a camera that offered much buyers remorse. I quickly found that I could trust it for travel photography or important family events, so I’d often reach for my smart phone as a backup to make sure I got the shot. With that being the case, why would I bother carrying this bulky camera with me?

My advice is that if you must stick with Sony then consider the a7 or NEX-7 instead. If you are willing to branch out then consider the Fujifilm X-E2, Canon 70D, or Nikon D7100 (at the time this was written). If quality trumps price then I’d consider the 5D Mark III, Nikon D610, or Canon 6D as alternatives (in that order).

Where to order

Click here to learn more or order on the B&H web site. My friends at Amazon have it available here.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Which camera should I buy?
• Sony a3000
• Sony a7R
• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Sony DSC-RX100 II vs RX100 I
• Sony NEX-7
• Canon 5D Mark III First Look (For Parents Version)
• Canon 6D (vs Canon 5DM3 & D600)
• Canon 70D (Part II)
• Fujifilm X20 (My personal P&S camera)
• Fujifilm X-E2
• Nikon D610
• Nikon D7100
• Noiseware Tutorial – Get rid of noise easily without destroying detail

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. B&H provided me with this loaner camera, but it was returned to them shortly after this review was published.

Sony DSC-RX1R and RX100M II Available to Order

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R Digital Camera (Adorama)

Sony DSC-RX1R Product Highlights

• 24.3MP Full-Frame Exmor CMOS Sensor
• BIONZ Image Processor
• Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 Lens
• No Optical Low-Pass Filter
• 3.0" 1,229k-Dot Xtra Fine LCD Monitor
• Full HD 1080p Video at 24 or 60 fps
• High Speed AF and MF Focus Peaking
• Continuous Shooting Rate Up to 5 fps
• Low-Light Sensitivity to ISO 25600
• Multi Interface Shoe

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R Digital Camera Rear View (Adorama)

24.3 MP 35 mm Full Frame Sensor

A whole new world of high-quality images are realized through the 24.3 MP effective 35 mm full-frame sensor, a normal sensor range of ISO 100 – 25600, and a sophisticated balance of high resolving power, gradation and low noise. The BIONZ®image processor enables up to 5 fps highspeed continuous shooting and 14-bit RAW image data recording.

DSC-RX1R: Ultimate resolution

The RX1R is a special edition of the RX1 for photographers who want to take full advantage of the sensor’s capabilities, and whose workflow normally includes computer based post-processing. The optical low-pass (anti-aliasing) filter that is built into the RX1 to minimize the occurrence of moiré and color artifacts has been removed from the RX1R, allowing the full resolution of the sensor to be achieved without compromise. The RX1R takes RX1 resolution to the limit.

Bright F2.0 Carl Zeiss®Sonnar T* lens

Carl Zeiss®lens expertise meets Sony optical precision in a sophisticated large-aperture lens that earns the coveted “Sonnar” name by offering remarkable brightness reminiscent of the sun. Whether taking casual snapshots, highly precise close-ups, or seriously composed landscapes and portraits, the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm F2.0 fixed focal length lens ensures exceptional image quality.

Full HD 24p video and stereo input

Create movies of amazing clarity at Full HD resolution with manual control and stereo recording. Movies can be recorded at 60i for super smooth playback or 24p for a cinematic look. You can also use P/A/S/M modes to expand your moviemaking creativity. The DSC-RX1R Multiinterface shoe has been upgraded to record stereo sound when using the optional ECM-XYST1M external microphone.

Amazing Low-light performance

Experience incredible low-light shooting without a flash. The camera captures six images in a fraction of a second. Combining the data from all six, it creates a single image with a reduction in noise equivalent to two additional steps of ISO sensitivity. Sensitivity selectable up to ISO 25600. (Recommended for still subjects.)

High speed Auto Focus

Focus fast and accurate with high speed AF precision. To improve focusing speed and sensitivity, the Exmor®CMOS sensor uses its rapid throughput to deliver high-quality image signals to the camera’s BIONZ processor, which provides intelligent response data to a new high speed actuator motor in the lens. The result is fast, DSLR-like focusing speeds even in low light.

Full frame burst shooting

When subjects are moving quickly, you can capture the decisive moment by shooting continuously at 5 frames per second — while maintaining maximum image quality at full 24.3 effective megapixel (approx.) resolution made possible by the BIONZ®image processor.

Three control lens rings

Full manual operation is intuitive on the RX1. Users can keep their eyes on the subject and concentrate on the composition while comfortably adjusting the dedicated aperture, focusing, and macro switching rings.

Conveniently placed dials

Quick access to conveniently placed exposure compensation and focus mode dials.

TRILUMINOS Color

The DSC-RX1R support Sony’s proprietary TRILUMINOS Color technology, allowing you to experience photos and movies in rich, natural colors on any TV equipped with a TRILUMINOS Display. The expanded color gamut immerses you in those unforgettably colorful moments, from the complex shades in a shimmering blue sky to the delicate skin in a baby’s face.

Expressive Full HD movie recording

As when capturing photographs, you can take full advantage of the bright lens and sensitive 35mm full-frame sensor to create movies of breathtaking quality in various lighting. Movies are recorded at Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixel) in the AVCHD Ver. 2.0 progressive format, and movies can be recorded at 60i or 60p for super smooth playback or 24p for a cinematic look, or other frame rates for other effects. Full-time continuous AF ensures clear results even when capturing fast-moving subjects. Moreover, Creative Style settings and Picture Effect expand your moviemaking creativity while

P/A/S/M modes enable manual exposure control.

Customizable buttons personalize operation

For the ultimate in user-friendly operation, you can easily reassign five buttons to activate other functions you frequently use. These buttons (Custom, AEL and Left/Right/Down) can be reassigned to activate any of the following functions:

Drive mode, Flash mode, Autofocus Area, Face Detection, Smile Shutter, Auto Portrait Framing, Soft Skin Effect, ISO,

Metering mode, Flash Compensation, White Balance, DRO, Auto HDR, Creative Style, Picture Effect, Image Size, Quality,

Registration, AEL hold*, Spot AEL hold*, AEL toggle, Spot AEL toggle, AF/MF Control Hold*, AF/MF Control Toggle, Smart

Tele-converter, Zoom, Focus Magnifier, Aspect Ratio, Monitor Mute and Not set. * Cannot be assigned to left, right and down buttons.

Bright high-resolution display

The 3.0” (1,229k-dot) Xtra Fine LCD enhances shooting ease by displaying scenes with impressive brightness and accuracy. Brightness is boosted by the white pixels of WhiteMagic™ technology, while blacks are displayed blacker thanks to various

Sony technologies including an AR (anti-reflection) coating on the LCD surface and a layer of resin between the LCD and reinforced glass that together suppress light reflection even when shooting outdoors. An illumination intensity sensor also optimally adjusts brightness depending on your shooting environment.

Quick Navi simplifies navigation

Easier to navigate than conventional menus, Quick Navi lets you confirm current camera settings at a glance and promptly change settings with the cross keys and control dial/wheel. User-friendly icons further contribute to easy operation that doesn’t require looking into menus — a capability that especially comes in handy when using the optional viewfinder.

Memory Recall (MR) memorizes combined settings

Whenever you find a perfect combination of camera settings for a certain type of shooting situation, you can save it in memory by using the Memory Recall mode. Should a similar situation arise, you can immediately activate the saved combination via dial. This mode can memorize up to three groups of settings (including exposure modes, shutter speed, Drive mode, ISO, White Balance, Metering modes, etc.).

Grid lines support balanced compositions

You can display grid lines on the LCD to support more accurate horizontal and vertical alignment of the camera with walls, streets and other elements in your scene. There are three styles to choose from (Rule of 3rds Grid Line, Square Grid Line, and Diagonal + Square Grid Line). For extra assistance, the Dual-axis Digital Level Gauge can be used to check for camera roll and pitch.

Finer focusing via MF Assist and Peaking functions

During manual focusing, use MF Assist to enlarge the displayed image up to 11.7x (approx.) and more clearly see the results of your finest focusing adjustments. A Peaking function can also be activated to enable focusing confirmation at a glance by colorizing the most sharply focused areas.

More natural gradations through D-range Optimizer (DRO)

In difficult lighting conditions such as backlit scenes, DRO analyses and corrects your image in real time to achieve smoother, more natural gradations with more detail in the highlights and shadows that more closely match what you see with your naked eye. You can choose the amount of correction up to 5 steps and even apply DRO during continuous shooting to achieve better results during sports photography. Note: The effects of DRO vary depending on the scene and conditions.

White balance versatility for desired color tones

Auto White Balance (AWB) produces more natural colors by compensating for the type of lighting in your scene. The RX1/RX1R also provides a full range of white balance presets (Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, etc.) a Color Temperature & Color Filter function, and Custom white balance adjustment options. You can even intuitively adjust white balance on a chart — in the amber-blue and green-magenta directions — during real-time monitoring of your scene* to achieve desired colors. * When a flash is used, the color tone can be adjusted after the image is shot.

Image Data Converter Ver. 4.2 RAW image development software

This powerful PC software provides advanced features for developing, editing and managing your 14-bit RAW (Sony ARW format) images. For example, you can expertly adjust exposure, white balance, tonal curves and more to match your creative intentions; convert the color space; save images in the JPEG, 16-bit TIFF and other formats; create thumbnail portfolios with image ratings; or apply Creative Style settings. The software can be downloaded for free from the Internet.

Sony DSC-RX100M2 Product Highlights

• 20.2MP 1" Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor
• BIONZ Image Processor
• Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* f/1.8 Lens
• 35mm Equivalent Focal Length: 28-100mm
• 3.0" 1,229k-Dot Tilting Xtra Fine LCD
• Full HD 1080i/p Video at 60 and 24 fps
• Built-In Wireless and NFC Connectivity
• Low-Light Sensitivity to ISO 12800
• Multi Interface Shoe and Control Ring
• High Speed AF & Manual Exposure Control

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100M2 Digital Camera (Adorama)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100M2 Digital Camera Rear View (Adorama)

New 20.2 MP 1-inch Exmor R®Sensor

The world’s first 1.0” CMOS sensor featuring an Exmor R®image sensor technology. With this back-illuminated technology, the sensor doubles light sensitivity and combines with Sony’s Column A/D Conversion to reduce noise by half — a great help when photographing in dimly lit environments. Markedly reduced noise is evident even when high-sensitivity settings are used for capturing night landscapes or indoor scenes.

Carl Zeiss®T* F1.8 3.6x optical zoom

The large-diameter F1.8 Carl Zeiss®Vario-Sonnar T* lens delivers refined background defocusing (bokeh). A premium multilayered T* coating also dramatically reduces ghost and flare caused by light reflection.

Simple connectivity to smartphones via Wi-Fi®or NFC

Connectivity with smartphones for One-touch sharing/One-touch remote has been simplified with Wi-Fi®/NFC control. In addition to Wi-Fi support for connecting to smartphones, the DSC-RX100M2 also supports NFC (near field communication) - a first for Sony digital cameras - providing “touch connection” convenience when transferring images to Android™ smartphones and tablets. Users need only touch devices to connect; no complex set-up is required. Moreover, when using Smart Remote Control — a feature that allows shutter release to be controlled by a smartphone — connection between DSC-RX100MR and the smartphone can be established by simply touching devices.

Expanded ISO Sensitivity

With a new Exmor R®sensor that features the same adaptive noise reduction technology from Sony’s flagship SLT-A99V, the DSC-RX100M2 easily offers a wide range of sensitivity from ISO 160 to ISO 12800.

High speed Auto Focus

To improve focusing speed and sensitivity, the Exmor R®CMOS sensor uses its rapid throughput to deliver high-quality image signals to the camera’s BIONZ®processor, which provides intelligent response data to a new high speed actuator motor in the lens. The result is fast, DSLR-like focusing speeds even in low light.

Comfortable control ring for manual operation

A unique control ring around the lens works in combination with an intuitive, displayed user interface for meticulous SLRtype control over settings that satisfies even the most fastidious users. The control ring can be assigned to adjust various features (at various values) from basics like zooming and aperture to creative functions like Picture Effect. Moreover, it turns smoothly and seamlessly, allowing quiet, click-free usage while shooting movies including a new step-zoom function that enables instant selection of commonly used focal lengths.

Capture JPEG files, RAW files, or both

The DSC-RX100M2 saves pictures as compact JPEG files and/or ultra-high quality RAW files. RAW files save images prior to de-mosaicking, white balance, sharpness and color enhancement. This retains maximum latitude for enhancing the image on your PC.

New Multi Interface Shoe connector

Users can expand photographic and movie shooting possibilities by attaching optional accessories via the Multi Interface Shoe, including an electronic viewfinder, powerful external flash and stereo microphone. You can also connect with a compatible remote control via Multi Terminal.

Full HD Movies at 60p/60i/24p

Capture HD Movies in your choice of super-smooth 60p, standard 60i or cinematic 24p, all at Full HD 1920x1080 resolution.

AVCHD™ codec delivers stunning picture quality. MP4 codec offers smaller files for easier upload to the web.

Tiltable 3.0” Xtra Fine LCD™

The tiltable 3” (1,229k dots) Xtra Fine™ LCD Display makes it easy to photograph over crowds or low to capture pets eye to eye by swinging up approx. 84° and down approx. 45°. Easily scroll through menus and preview life thanks to WhiteMagic™ technology that dramatically increases visibility in bright daylight. The large display delivers brilliant-quality still images and movies while enabling easy focusing operation.

Auto Object Framing

Give your photos a professional look with Auto Object Framing. Featuring advancements like exceptional two-person portrait capability along with Face Detection and Tracking Focus, Auto Object Framing not only turns ordinary photos into stunning compositions but does so automatically recognizing the scene then cropping accordingly.

Expanded ISO Sensitivity

With a new Exmor R®sensor that features the same adaptive noise reduction technology from Sony’s flagship SLT-A99V, the DSC-RX100M2 easily offers a wide range of sensitivity from ISO 160 to ISO 12800.

Customizable function button

Assign up to seven different functions to the function button, to allow quick access to your most frequently used functions.

Optical SteadyShot®with 3-way Active Mode

Optical SteadyShot® image stabilization reduces shake and blur by countering camera movements in both horizontal and vertical directions. Active 3-Way stabilization adds digital rolling control that counters clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation, resulting in more stable videos even at long focal lengths. Active 3-Way stabilization adds digital rolling controlthat counters clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation, resulting in more stable videos even at long focal lengths.

Auto HDR mode:

Captures more scene dynamic range than a single exposure can handle—and more range than photo film. Combines the best highlight detail from one shot, the best mid-tones from a second and the best shadow detail from a third for one incredible shot (up to 6 EV stops). Captures in a split second. (Recommended for still subjects.)

Face Detection/ Registration technology

The camera can automatically detect and register up to eight individual faces and adjust focus, exposure, white balance and flash to help deliver crisp, properly lit images of family and friends. Can prioritize children or adults

Multi-aspect ratio recording for still images

Capture still images in any of four aspect ratios — 1:1, 2:3, 4:3, or 16:9 (vertical to horizontal). This provides the freedom to choose a ratio that matches the scene or the specific shooting purpose.

3.6x optical/7.2x Clear Image digital zoom

Most digital zooms use electronic cropping to get closer to the subject, resulting in unsharp images. With Clear Image Zoom the powerful processor compares patterns found in adjacent pixels and creates new pixels to match selected patterns, resulting in more realistic, higher-quality images. Clear Image Zoom digitally doubles optical zoom for closer photos.

Picture Effect mode

Realize your creative potential with Picture Effect, a fun and simple way to convert ordinary landscapes and portraits that come to life by heightening mood and emphasizing certain attributes. Effects are Soft Focus, Posterization, Retro Photo,

High Contrast Monochrome, Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature, Soft High-key, Toy Camera, Pop Color, Partial Color, Watercolor Painting, HDR Painting, and Illustration.

Creative Style settings

Control how the camera processes your images with six finishing styles: Standard, Vivid, B&W, Sunset, Portrait and Landscape. You can even fine-tune contrast, saturation, and sharpness to your personal taste.

Conclusion

There was a lot to love about the RX1 and RX100 predecessors for these cameras, so it is great to see Sony making improvements on these popular cameras. The removal of the low pass filter ensures that overall image quality improvements are going to make these two cameras even more sought after than their predecessors.

Where to order

Click here to order the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R Digital Camera from the B&H web site. My friends at Adorama also have it available here.

Click here to order the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100M2 Digital Camera from the B&H web site. My friends at Adorama also have it available here.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these reviews:

• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Sony DSC-RX100
• Sony NEX-7
• COMPARISON: Fujifilm X-E1, X100s, X20 & X10
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 (with 2 lenses)
• Canon EOS M
• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories
• Which camera should I buy?
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

PRE-ORDER: Ricoh GR APS-C, 16.2MP, No Low Pass filter, 25,600 ISO

Ricoh GR Digital Camera (B&H & Adorama)

Product Highlights

• 16.2MP APS-C Format CMOS Sensor
• GR ENGINE V Image Processor
• No Optical Low-pass Filter
• 18.3mm f/2.8 Lens (28mm Equivalent)
• 3.0" 1,230k-dot White Magic LCD Screen
• Full HD 1080p Video Capture
• ISO Range of 100-25600
• High Speed AF and 4 fps Burst Shooting
• Image Effects and Macro Mode
• Compact Magnesium Alloy Body

Conclusion

It’s my understanding that this is camera is aimed at the Sony RX1, Fujifilm X100s and the Nikon CoolPix A. That’s a pretty crowded market with some tough competitors so Ricoh appears to be trying to compete on price. While I’m not a big fan of fixed lens cameras, the fact that this camera doesn’t have a low pass filter and is a nice form factor means it could be an interesting entry in this group – time will tell.

Where to order

Ricoh GR - Rear View (B&H & Adorama)

Click here to order the Ricoh GR on the B&H web site. My friends at Adorama have it available here.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these reviews:

• Fujifilm X20 (My personal P&S camera)
• Fujifilm X100s
• Fujifilm X-E1
• Fujifilm XPro-1
• Olympus OM-D E-M5
• Sony NEX-7
• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Sony DSC-RX100

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Sony DSC-RX100 vs Fujifilm X10 vs Canon s110/G15(Review Part 2 of 2)

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-RX100 Rear View

In part 1 of my review of the Sony DSC-RX100 (click to read), I showed lots of real world photos which show off the strengths of this camera. Its compact size and solid image quality make it compelling, but in this article I’ll wrap things up with a discussion about how it compares to some of the competition. In my mind, the cameras that most closely compete with this camera are the Fujifilm x10 (my former point and shoot of the year), the Canon s110 (which offers similar features in a compact package) and the highly touted Canon G15.

Bookshelf Test

Bookshelf images of different ISO’s and additional settings can be found at http://www.ronmartinsen.com/sony/rx100. Be sure to look at the filenames and metadata for details about what is what, and you may download them for your personal review but please delete them when you are done. All images were taken with RAW+JPEG Fine and camera defaults, but I can only upload JPEG so that’s what’s included online. I did disable stabilization for these tests since I was using a tripod and long exposures.

Here’s the base native ISO image (which is 125, not 100 or 200 as you’d find in other cameras):

Sony DSC-RX100 - f/8 @ 10.4 mm,10s, ISO 125, No Flash, AWB

From the in-camera JPEG with zero post-processing, what I see is an image that has excellent color, white balance and tasteful saturation. The image is sharp and overall fairly impressive for the size of its sensor.

For the opposite end of the spectrum, the ISO 6400 image always underexposed no matter what metering mode I was in and even with various ISO modes and both Aperture Priority and Manual (when set to +/-0 EV). Here’s the result:

RX100 f/8 @ 10.4 mm,1/8, ISO 6400, No Flash, AWB

The noise was squashed to oblivion which kills too much detail so overall I felt like this was an unusable ISO. For kicks and giggles I took the same exact image from the RAW file and just accepted the default RAW processing of Lightroom 4.3 (plus I clicked Auto Exposure) and this is what it looked like:

Same as above, but from Lightroom RAW Processing and Auto Exposure

The detail returns but so does the noise, so make no mistake that this is still a tiny sensor point and shoot. Noise is a reality but if you take a less ridiculous noise reduction setting (say Noiseware Default setting) then you have an image that cleans up nice enough to use for small prints and online images as shown here:

Same as above, but Noiseware Default noise reduction applied

DRO vs HDR

I also decided to test DRO vs HDR more carefully to see if my handheld results in the previous article would still hold up. As one might expect, they did but I did also confirm using longer exposures that HDR does in fact take multiple exposures as one would expect. In my previous article I stated I wasn’t sure that it did because the exposures were taken so quickly and so close together that I didn’t hear them. As a result I thought it might have been doing in-camera HDR from a single exposure, but that doesn’t appear to be the case (thankfully).

Here’s the Auto DRO setting which appeared to be the same as the DRO 5 setting done manually:

f/8 @ 10.4 mm,10s, ISO 125, No Flash, AWB, DRO Auto

There wasn’t any major difference in this mode versus the non DRO image, so I was a bit disappointed in the result. However, the HDR was quite nice and Auto seemed to take 3 or 4 exposures (I heard 4 clicks but wasn’t sure if all 4 were exposures) in the HDR Auto & HDR 6EV modes. Here’s the result:

f/8 @ 10.4 mm,10s, ISO 125, No Flash, AWB, HDR Auto

As I saw with the handheld, the alignment was great and the range was very good. It still was less than I am accustomed to getting from the EXR mode of the X10, but it was way better than the s110 HDR mode. If you have the this camera and the time to use, the HDR mode is definitely worthwhile for a great dynamic range with excellent color.

Subjective Comparison

Unfortunately I do not have any direct bookshelf images to compare against RX100 as my methodology for testing is much different now than it was at the time I reviewed the other cameras in this class. I didn’t take cameras in this class seriously in the past so my other bookshelf tests were more informal and not framed and tested to the same standard as I do for mirrorless and DSLR’s now.

With that said, I did test the RX100 using the more advanced methodology so that I can compare it against future cameras and you can compare it with other more expensive cameras that I have reviewed. This should come in handy when I review the X20 and the RX100 replacement in the future (no, I have no idea when or if that will ever happen).

To see the galleries of the other cameras discussed in this review then visit the following hyperlinks:

• s110 bookshelf shots and gallery
• G15 bookshelf shots and gallery
• x10 gallery (no bookshelf shots)

Based on my subjective opinion, here’s how I am seeing how these cameras compare:

1. At lower ISO’s, the best overall image quality favors the RX100
2. It’s my opinion, that the RX100 seems to have the sharpest lens of the bunch
3. In-camera noise reduction on the RX100 is terrible and gets horrific after ISO 800
4. The in-camera meter likes to underexpose compared to the others and switching metering modes didn’t help in the bookshelf test. Despite indicating a proper exposure, the ISO6400 shot was very underexposed. None of the other cameras exhibited this issue.
5. The RX100 and s110 are nearly identical in design, but the s110 is more feature rich and easier to use.
6. While none of these cameras have great flashes, I preferred the RX100’s flash performance the most.
7. The RX100 LCD was the hardest to use outdoors, but its battery performance was the best so perhaps that was an intentional trade-off by Sony.
8. Ease of use wise, I still prefer the Canon G-series (especially the G12) over the RX100
9. Camera that frustrated me the most in the field – RX100
10. Camera my wife most enjoyed – X10, but she loved the one hand ease-of-use of the RX100.
11. Best mixed-light camera (i.e., drastic differences between foreground & background) – Fujifilm EXR mode found on the x10. DRO and even the HDR performance of the RX100 wasn’t even close
12. Best macro camera – x10
13. Best pano performance – RX100
14. Best video – RX100
15. Best stabilization – RX100
16. Best in-camera high ISO performance – s110
17. Best value – s110
18. Worst value – RX100 (overpriced IMHO for what you get)
19. If I could only have one – Fujifilm x10 (because of EXR mode)
20. If advising a friend, I’d still suggest the x10 but if size is an issue I’d say the s110 or RX100

Here’s also some other cameras I’ve reviewed that some may wish to compare against as well (but I don’t consider any of these to be direct competitors):

• Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review (gallery)
• Fujifilm X-Pro1 Review (gallery)
• Fujifilm X100 Review (gallery)
• Sony NEX-7 Review (gallery)
• Nikon 1 V1 Review (gallery)
• Canon EOS M Review (gallery)

Conclusion

I like the RX100 and feel like it makes great images. If you do a comparison of the RAW images you’ll quickly find that it has great RAW images that are hampered by fairly poor in-camera processing compared to the other cameras I’ve tested. At low ISO’s it’s not an issue and they are quite good, but as the ISO’s climb the poor in-camera noise reduction really hurts. As a result, my “always keep your raw images” applies more for this camera than any of the others I’ve tested.

I wanted the RX100 to be a small sensor RX1 with a zoom, but it’s not. I wanted it to have NEX-7 like performance and Canon s110 like ease of use – but it doesn’t have that either. Instead what you get is a nice s110 size camera with an excellent lens, great low ISO performance, above average battery life and great video. All of those things make it a compelling camera that I think will satisfy buyers who live in the automatic modes, but anyone who likes control over their camera will find that the RX100 comes up short – very short. Given the high price of this camera, that’s unacceptable, but hopefully enough people will ignore these realities and buy it anyway so that Sony will be encourage to release a new model that hopefully addresses some of my concerns.

If you are a RAW only shooter then you’ll be much more satisfied than if you are someone who likes to use the JPEG whenever possible and the RAW is only a backup (which is my preference for cameras in this class). As a result, all of these little issues and the price have caused me to pass on getting the RX100 (which I had intended to buy before I tested it) and stick with my X10. It looks like my hope for a replacement now will rest on the X20 which I hope to review soon.

Where to order

Click here to order the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 on the B&H web site. My friends at Adorama have it available here and Amazon has it available here.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• REVIEW: Sony DSC-RX100 with Real World Sample Photos (Part 1)
• Which camera should I buy?
• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories
• Sony NEX-7
• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Canon G1X vs G12 vs Fujifilm X10
• Canon G15 vs s110 vs G12

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. B&H loaned me the camera I used for this review.

REVIEW: Sony DSC-RX100 with Real World Sample Photos (Part 1 of 2)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

When I reviewed the Sony RX1 I was thrilled with the image quality, but very disappointed with the fixed lens. I loved the Sony NEX-7, but interchangeable lenses on a compact camera isn’t my thing. This made me extremely eager to test out the RX100 because I hoped its smaller sensor sibling would finally dethrone my Fujifilm X10 as my personal point and shoot camera.

Since my wife is the primary point and shoot user in our house, I decided to let her spend a couple weeks with this camera before I put my hands on it. She uses her iPhone for most candid snaps and the X10 for her important shots, so I wondered what she would do with the RX100 in her purse along side her favorites.

She was attracted to this camera due to its nice compact size and her favorite feature over the X10 was that she could operate it complete using one hand (including power on/off) – something all busy moms are sure to appreciate.

Ease of use was important, but would it be enough to win her over? Would this camera finally dethrone the X10? Read on to find out.

Real World Sample Images

f/5 @ 10.4 mm,1/13, ISO 3200, No Flash, Shade WB
Aperture Priority & Single AF Point Handheld

I’m going to cut to the chase and let the photos taken with this camera speak for itself. You be the judge as to the quality of these images taken the way REAL PEOPLE use this caliber camera. These aren’t studio shots, they aren’t pre-planned, and many aren’t even taken by me – they are taken by my wife who captures the adventures of our son and everyday life.

All of these photos are in-camera JPEG’s – yes, JPEG’s because I’m testing the camera – not the sensor. I can tell you that I do keep the RAW’s wherever possible (not all features allow for RAW) and that unlike most cameras these days I’m not crazy about the in-camera JPEG processing of the RX100. That’s a shame too because it’s the JPEG preview that you see on the camera, and despite what the pixel peepers say – it’s actually what many buyers of this class of camera actually use.

With zero instructions from me, my wife gravitated to the Intelligent Auto mode as I suspect she was searching for something similar to the EXR mode on the X10. She tried SCN (Scene) mode, but it wasn’t as intuitive to her as the X10, so she avoided it. She didn’t discover the Pano mode, but she liked it once she saw it (she uses pano on the X10 occasionally).

All images are exactly as they came out of the camera. They’ve been imported into Lightroom 4.3, keywords added, and then exported using the Original option. All originals may be download for PERSONAL USE ONLY. You must delete them after reviewing them. You may not edit or reuse any images for any purposes or reason – including non-profit – without a hand signed license agreement by me personally. Of course, these are real world shots so few are worth stealing – ha, ha. ;-)

The full gallery of images is at http://www.ronmartinsen.com/sony/rx100. It should be noted that there are many duplicates in the gallery because those are where I used the in-camera HDR or DRO features, so the first is with that feature off and the second is with the feature applied.

Pleasantly saturated yet very accurate color in-camera
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/250, ISO 500, No Flash

Very good dynamic range, but still small sensor quality
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/25, ISO 3200, No Flash

Intelligent Auto just worked for this whereas the EOS M failed miserably!
(see the only usable EOS M shots here taken at the same exact time)
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/250, ISO 3200, No Flash (flash intentionally disabled)

Rapid moving Octopus shot through glass in crappy light – no problem for Intelligent Auto (IA)!
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/100, ISO 3200, No Flash

As might be expected, moving white birds gave IA fits,
but it did better than any camera I’ve ever owned in a scenario like this
f/5.6 @ 10.4 mm,1/160, ISO 125, No Flash

In the “hurry up and turn on the camera to get a shot of the rambunctious toddler” scenarios,
it got about 3 out every 10 bang on – that’s impressive for a point and shoot
This success rate made my wife grab for it more than the iPhone
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/200, ISO 800, No Flash

Being silly at the dinner table? Auto everything did okay
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/8, ISO 800, No Flash (flash disabled intentionally)

Flowers in Tungsten via SCN Landscape Mode – Sweet!
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/30, ISO 160, No Flash

With only a far away kitchen sink light on, I just snapped this to see what this camera could do
I was impressed that it came out so nice and stable as my hand was really in an awkward
position. Its stabilization is excellent and phenomenal with video!
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/13, ISO 800, No Flash

In IE, Safari & Firefox the mouse in and out images are identical, but in Lightroom, Chrome you see a washed out gradient for the in-camera image (mouse out) and a bright red (should be orange) image for the RAW conversion in Lightroom (mouse over)
Lightroom and Chrome are accurate.
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/250, ISO 1000

f/3.5 @ 10.4 mm,1/100, ISO 125, No Flash
In the “honey take a picture of my meal” test the auto AF frustrated
but switching to single point could easily fix that. Otherwise it rocked.

If you don’t take it out of auto modes, this camera loves f/1.8 (too much)
That said, it’s not bad for a handheld shot
Chrome the color is very accurate with reality whereas all other browsers oversaturate
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm,1/30, ISO 125, No Flash

I can’t wait to edit this one, but the in-camera was very accurate to what my eyes saw
f/3.2 @ 10.4 mm,1/100, ISO 125, No Flash

The Zeiss lens is excellent
f/5.6 @ 10.4 mm,1/500, ISO 125, No Flash

Great for a point and shoot, but the tiny sensor shows its weakness here
Those tiny things poking through the clouds are Seattle skyscrapers!
f/5.6 @ 37.1 mm,1/320, ISO 125, No Flash (A mode)

In-camera Pano Mode

HDR & DRO Mode

The Sony Dynamic Range Optimization (DRO) mode is much discussed on the web but it most closely resembles Fujifilm EXR in terms of performance. I still think EXR has the edge, but DRO was better than nothing. Even still, I found the in-camera HDR feature to outperform DRO to my eyes. The big difference though is that DRO will work when RAW format is active, but HDR only works with JPEG only mode.

DRO supports Auto and 5 manually chosen levels whereas HDR has Auto and 6EV levels. I laugh a bit at the EV levels for the HDR as it doesn’t feel like it’s doing real HDR since the camera seemingly takes one exposure and then manually creates the final image in-camera. For HDR a non-processed image is retained followed by a processed HDR. My samples gallery contains a bunch of examples and the HDR images are identified as being the brighter images.

Here’s a real world example in a touch scene:

No HDR

HDR 6EV does a decent job with what seems to be a single-exposure image

The windows is where you see the biggest difference and the improvement is worth using this feature, but if I did a 6EV by hand or with a DSLR, you’d not have overblown windows like you see here so this setting is a joke. Usable yes, but 6EV – not!

Video

I’m not a video shooter, and much of what we do with this class of camera is so bad I can’t bear to share it. However, I did toss one short video in its native MTS file format with all default settings for movie mode up on my samples site. It’s 59.5MB and it really shows how solid the stabilization is since I’m hand holding the shot and rotating on an uneven surface.

NOTE: The offline original is better than the online version I’ve shared. It’s much smoother with less compression.

The Wife Verdict

My wife loved using this camera and found herself taking a lot more images with it because of its one hand operation. She never really got used to the features and missed both the EXR mode and the exposure compensation dial (which we call the make it brighter/darker knob at home <g>) on her x10.

If this were a $300 camera we’d probably keep it, but at $648 (at the time this was written) it’s definitely going back to B&H in favor of the x10. It’s compact size doesn’t make up for the performance and features of her x10, and the benefits just don’t justify the price – for her.

Compared to Other Compact Cameras

Click here to see my comparison of the RX100 to the Fujifilm X10 and Canon s110/G15.

As common sense dictates, cameras like the RX1, XPro-1, etc… destroy it in image quality. However, if you are only printing 4x6 prints (but it can easily do 16x24”) and sharing your images on Facebook (etc…) with small images like I have here then this is all the camera you need for that output format.

Conclusion

See part 2 for my final thoughts.

Where to order

Click here to order the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 on the B&H web site.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Sony NEX-7
• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Which camera should I buy?
• Canon G1X vs G12 vs Fujifilm X10
• Canon G15 vs s110 vs G12
• Fujifilm FinePix X100
• Fujifilm X10 (2011 P&S of the Year)
• Fujifilm XPro-1
• Olympus OM-D E-M5

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. B&H loaned me the camera I used for this review.