I know it sounds weird but we heard that there will be two more Sony announcements. On next week on May 7 to unveil the final A7s pricing and the two new Sony FE lenses (28-135mm Powerzoom and 16-35mm Zeiss).
The week after (May 15) Sony will then unveil the RX100M3 whichs specs have been already leaked:
20MP sensor (same as RX100/M2 models)
ISO 125-25600
24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 lens
Built in View finder (SVGA OLED Tru-Finder 1440k dots)
Tiltable screen (180 degrees up)
Record in XAVC S format (Same format of the Sony A7s but with no 4K output option).
Almost same size and weight as the current RX100/M2 models.
I have been told all other specs are the same of the current RX100II model.
Price is said to be around 800-850 Euro in Europe. Should be around $800-850 in USA (US price is my guess)
Busy time at Sony!
6 Responses
As regards the RX100 Mk III: I tried to calculate the gain in lens speed and despite shorter tele-end it seems the speed (luminosity) gain should be whole 1 EV (current RX100 has f4,9 at 100 mm and cca. f4 at 70 mm, so f2,8 at 70 mm is significant 1 EV better). So in my opinion faster lens is better even if a bit shorter and when Sony adds an EVF, it will be a significant improvement and a perfect travel lens. I spent last Easter holidays in Rome, Italy and realized that for a travel camera 3 things are crucial: portability (carrying heavy camera all day long is exhausting), wide and fast lens (wide for architecture: with 26mm eq. I wasn´t able to get Coloseum in frame; fast for dark interiors of churches etc.: with f2,8 I wished for a fastef lens) and a viewfinder (on direct sun it is impossible to frame only with an LCD). RX100 Mk. III has all of these, so a perfect travel choice.
This camara tele end (70 mm equivalent) is 30% shorter than the MK II (100 mm), and a 30% is not “a bit shorter”. As a consequence, the minimum DOF remains about the same. In fact, a little worse than in the previous version.
I’d trade 28mm for 24mm eq on wide end any day.
P.S. DOF can’t get worse. It just is.
Well, I never said this is a bad camera and I agree 24 mm wide end is way better than 28 mm. In fact, I´d like to see a compact camera with a 20-21 mm eq. wide end.
Also, I refer to DOF control. Always is preferable to have more DOF control. The fact is this camera has not improved DOF control despite the brighter tele end because zoom tele end is a lot shorter.
At equal focal range the DOF of new generation will be much shallower (f2,8 at 70mm vs. f4 at 70 mm of RX100 Mk. II, that is 2,4 m vs. 3,6 m (DOF with subject distant 5 m). It is not directly comparable, when you compare f2,8 at 70mm and f4,9 at 100mm, beceuse to get equal angle of view you need to get further with Mk. II.
I am comparing two lenses as a whole. Agree at 70 mm equivalent, but still you have a much shorter lens which also is not comparable with a 100 mm eq. lens. I understand Sony made a compromise solution with lens focal range, size of the lens and luminosity. But in the tradeoff, they got a wider angle (24 mm vs. 28 mm), a lot shorter tele (70 mm vs. 100 mm), a brighter 70 mm (2.8 vs. 4.0) and lost a little in minimum DOF.
Anyway, a good camera more suitable for street and casual photography than for travel.