With all these A7-A7r excitement the RX10 release got a bit overshadowed. But this is really a suprising camera with an unique video feature that we miss on the A7-A7r cameras (question to Sony…why?):
First look at Photoreview Australia:
“The main advantage of the RX10 as a movie camera is its ability to read out image data from the entire sensor array and sub-sample it in the processor. This is a ‘first’ for this type of camera and minimises the risk of moiré and false colour effects, ensuring optimal image quality on a frame-by-frame basis. The BIONZ X processor has been designed to handle a 5K video stream and has a special large-scale integration chip to convert this data into 1920 x 1080 pixel movie clips. According to several specialist video commentators, this ‘full pixel readout’ has been restricted mainly to smaller sensors, although the Nikon 1 sensor (which is the same size as the RX10’s) can deliver 4K output at up to 60 fps (NTSC format).”
Sony Cyber-shot RX10 First Impressions Review at Camera.Reviewed.
This is possibly the best hybrid for the serious documentarist, writes Mike Kobal.
Hands-on by Trustedreviews:
Preview by Camerahoarders.
Hands-on by Expertreviews.
The full presentation page at Sony.net.
Spanish hands-on at Quesabesde.
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Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!
Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.
Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev
A7 at Digitalrev.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.
36 Responses
very much interested in this camera…
I was very excited about this camera too until I tried it out at the PhotoPlus Expo. I just didn’t like how it’s a power zoom and neither did anybody else near me that were also playing around with the camera. I guess if you don’t mind how slowly you zoom in and out even if you do so by the barrel, then you will be fine. Personally, I think the power zoom makes it feel like a cheap toy rather than a high end camera.
One big reason for powerzooms in this ‘superzoom’ category is that you can have much more complex movements of optical elements when zooming if they don’t all have to be mechanically coupled to one master ring. If you just look at the number of optical elements in comparable zoom lenses (ie, similar zoom range) with manual zooming compared with those with powerzooming, you’ll see that powerzooms will have a significantly more complex optical construction.
+1
Right.. and overheat the A7R’s FF sensor with the full pixel video readout?
Just as I am afraid of… everyone hate the goddam power zoom ring:
photoreview.au:”The zoom ring is 15 mm wide with a finely-ridged surface. It operates by telling the camera to adjust the focal length, which means there’s none of tactile feedback provided by a mechanical zoom. Zooming can also be adjusted via a lever toggle surrounding the shutter button. Either way, the pace of zooming is relatively slow, which is a pity because it should have been easy to make mechanical zooming via the ring a lot faster and more precise.”
expertreviews.co.uk:”One contentious design decision will be the use of a power zoom. This is controlled using a lens ring or via a more typical rotating switch around the shutter button. It’s a little slow and clunky compared to a manual system, though you do benefit from it automatically retracting when you switch off the camera.
That power zoom may aggravate when shooting stills, but it’s just one of numerous features that will be appreciated by videographers”
+1 Myself and everyone around me at the PhotoPlus Expo hated the power zoom as well. I expect many people who had preordered the camera expecting it to be the perfect travel camera will cancel and go for something else.
I totally understand why you guys hate the slow zoom. For how I would use the camera/zooming while filming- the slow speed is perfect, take a video documentary/reportage where you can’t get close and the only choice to get a better look at the point of interest is to zoom but you don’t want to cut, you want one take, I much prefer a very slow steady “zooming in” then the “bullet train” approach, for taking pictures of course this isn’t that great because you want to zoom in and out as fast as possible.
This RX10 looks looks awesome
They should have just put that in the RX100 MK2. The RX10 should never have been made, at least not with that tiny sensor.
you consider a 1″ BSI sensor in a prosumer camera a tiny sensor? i thought it is the largest in it’s class… (hmm… maybe it’s a new class?)
Given that Nikon is confirmed to be using Sony sensors in their DSLRs, it seems awfully convenient that the 1 inch sensors in the RX series and the Nikon 1 have started to exhibit similar features.
(If the RX10 still sounds expensive, think what you’d pay for a Nikon 1 with a similar lens and less advanced sensor…)
Aptina supply the Nikon 1 sensors but… they’ve recently concluded a technology/patent sharing deal. Not 100% what Aptina get out of it but their sensors are speedy little things so I’d guess that that’s why the RX10 is capable of such feats.
It’s weird that sony produces such photo cameras, instead of bringing to market new Alpha mount cameras. It seems more and more that for me the best Sony camera in futuure is …nikon!
Yes, I’m one of disappointed A mount users!
Sure, it’s disappointing that there’s no follow-up A-Mount camera just yet.
I suspect that Sony was hoping that they’d have solved the PDAF issue on the FF sensors already but it didn’t turn out that way.
So now, they’ve got to revert to plan B and give another iteration of the SLT stopgap measure.
It’s such a pity that they cannot simply implement the Laser ranging system they had on the old R1 – that is before it was labeled as dangerous to the eyes. That would possibly have bypassed all the issues already and we’d all be happily shooting away with mirrorless A-Mount cameras that can focus in pitch blackness.
[It’s such a pity that they cannot simply implement the Laser ranging system they had on the old R1 – that is before it was labeled as dangerous to the eyes.]
So that is why my (aged 75) eyesight is not as good as it was! I have used my R1 continuously since 2006 – 7 years now. I have not been able to try a RX10 but it will stand or fall as to whether it will replace the R1 in just two points: no lens geometric distortion from 24mm to 120mm equiv. and a true WYSIWYG EVF (eg. that I can see the effect of varying the white balance in the EVF before I take the photo). I have lived in hope now for aforesaid 7 years; keeping my fingers crossed!
what’s wrong with Sony coming out with a Cybershot RX series? Do you mean Sony would never come out with any A mount camera after the announcement of RX10?
It’s weird that BMW produces 3 series, instead of bringing to market new 7 series. It seems more and more that for me the best BMW car in futuure is … Mercedes Benz! Yes, I’m one of disappointed 7 series owner!
LOL
“We certainly applaud Sony for trying, and for producing such a stunningly well-designed product, but we still don’t think a $1,300 superzoom has a snowball’s chance in heck of surviving today’s cutthroat camera market”
Pretty much sums it up, DOA in today’s market
Yup, was intrigued until I saw the price tag. Even if $500 off it would be hard to justify adding that to my Xmas shopping list.
One would wonder what “surviving” actually means.
And yet the Nikon 1 survives (under water)
It is very interesting camera:
– image stabilisation
– good sensor (RX100 proved itself)
– good for video (no line skipping)
– weather sealed
– nice grip
– nice controls layout
– tilting screen
If AF is fast then I would grab it!
And a constant 2.8 throughout the whole range. And it seems to have 1:1. Is it really weather sealed though?
Maybe I was wrong, many reviewers claim “Weather sealed” but it seems supposedly, not oficially confirmed.
Page 6 of the RX10 brochure
Download here: http://www.alphaforum.net/bro2013/RX10.pdf
“”Strong and light enough for anything””
“” Magnesium alloy top and front casings make the RX10 light solid and robust enough for long rigorous use by advanced photographers and videographers. The cameras dust and moisture resistant design even allows shooting in outdoor environments “
+1
extreme noise at ISO 400, not useful even for family events.
http://camerahoarders.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/sony_dsc-rx10_photo_samples_15.jpg
I wouldn’t be to concerned about the noise at ISO 400, did you ever see images taken by the RX100 MK2? Same sensor and certainly not a bad zeiss lens attached to it. Image quality must be good, AF performance is still unclear. On paper this camera has only 2 disadvantage for me in order to be the ideal all-round travel camera, no GPS and the price…
Agree!
I agree, no GPS is a drawback for such a camera which would be such a great all around travel camera.
This is one of the reasons I’m still holding on to my A55, the—I believe—last prosumer camera on which Sony put a GPS. I wonder if they took it away due to the annoying, yet bearable, need to keep the GPS assist data up to date by hand. How are other manufacturers doing this? It should be a no-brainer on the new Wi-Fi-enabled models. Sigh.
A65/A77 were the last cameras with built-in GPS, and A65 can be had for a fairly good deal now. When I upgraded to A65 last year from A55, I haven’t regretted it one bit.
af speed was very good at the wide end as far I could tell at the EXPO, the hall was very bright and well lit, once I zoomed to 200mm equiv it started to hunt….still descent, I will do a proper test with this camera once I get a production model 🙂
I noticed that image it was worse than the low light high ISO samples .Looking at it I think the main subject has been underexposed and then pushed in post a recipe for disaster.I downloaded the RAW samples from imaging resource using sony image data converter. The results look very decent up to 800ISO and even the 100ISO shot printed well at 18×12.
Photoreview.austalia review summary :
“we had pre production camera, so we could not tell about whatever is important for a camera… but we still issue a full review”
Electronic zoom yuck!
Simple as this buy a budget DSLR and get a couple of lenses for less than this RX10. Instant non starter. Sony are on some kind of ego trip where they think they can charge $1300 for a $700 camera (at most)