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I read some comment and got some mails with questions about the new RX FF pocket camera. Once again I want to make it clear that the RX1 is not going to be replaced. What’s coming by end of August is a “variation” of the RX1 and will certainly not replace it. I am still working on the specs but I think the new RX may be even a tiny bit more expensive than the current RX1. If you want the RX1 you have no reason to wait unless of course you have four months time to wait until you can get the new RX (In October-November).
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104 Responses
the RX1 is a amazing camera, really worth the price for performance 😀
Please replace the sonnar with an e-mount 😉
No replacement, but just “vary” it with an E mount 🙂
+1 Really any kind of open mount.
They’re are guys on Leica forums that have been waiting a year since ordering the new M240 and Leica are incapable of delivering.
Give the Rx1 a focal plane shutter and any kind of open mount, and with a good peaking implementation for focusing SONY would capture many new loyal M users.
Not to mention all the users of speed boosters/turbos who want the fullframe experience.
Why would Sony want to “capture many new loyal M users”?
You might be surprised, but somewhere in google there’s a statement by a SONY director who during an interview stated that the business model behind the development of the RX1 was to create a substitute product to the “Leica”. This included Leica’s level of QC and price point. The RX and M240 clearly compete in the same space.
Following Leica’s business model and attracting “loyal M users” with an “open mount” are two very different things. Sony has no interest in providing someone else’s lenses with their cameras.
I take your point, but the converse argument can also be made. SONY opened the spec of the E-mount expressly to attract other makers to support the system with new lenses. This was largely successful.
Hmm, good point too.
RX is for not-interchangeable lenses. Keep dreaming.
If I was divisional chief of Cybershot development, I’d be itching to put forward my own vision of fullframe ILS mirrorless. Especially given the success of the Rx1.
A SONY mirrorless given the RX1 treatment – involving styling, software stack, traditional controls like manual EC etc would compete very well against rival cameras like the XE1,XPro etc.
Sure the RX monkier is traditional branding for non-ILS SONY cameras, but bureaucratic decision can sometimes be more fluid.
But you are not and thus cybershot is a non-interchangeable lens camera. For that, they have NEX.
True. It doesn’t make any sense to mix up the two lines. RX for fixed lens,fixed lcd and no built-in VF. NEX is for everything else.
Have you seen how bad many Leica M lenses perform on the VG-900? A FF NEX will likely not perform any better with M lenses, and the native lenses will be larger than the lenses we already see from Fuji X and NEX. Aps-c was the sweetspot between size and quality chosen by many companies for this reason, in terms of interchangeable mirrorless. The RX1’s fixed lens design allows Sony to keep things small with the 35mm sensor.
I am time after time (with astonishment) reading the repeated requests for a new RX1 model with exchangeable lenses.
Because we can all be ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY sure that this will NEVER, NEVER, EVER happen!
No RX camera, and no CyberShot camera, will ever show up as an interchangeable lens camera.
An RX1 camera with interchangeable lenses will not be named RX2 (or something). It will be named NEX-9 (or something).
We can be reasonable sure that the Sony people are doing just that – wrestling with the HUGE obstacles to develop a practical useable NEX FF. In ADDITION to this rumoured RX1 variation. Because an RX1 variation would be much “easier” to develop than a NEX FF, this RX1B, RX2 (or whatever) will come much earlier than the NEX FF.
Anyway, we will have both.
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The evidence presented so far is that SONY are going to screw up the development FF NEX by having a large cumbersome ‘hybrid’ mount. They will trade-off all the advantages of a small agile camera system.
The “evidence” you speak about cannot be evidence if it’s based on rumors.
The evidence would be the photographs taken at the SONY video display of one of their hybrid mount designs, and the sourced statements provided by Admin that the ff nex will be larger than anticipated.
I totally a agree with you. I am wondering if it will be a 50mm or maybe a 85mm rx, big maybe for the 85mm.
If Sigma can make their Merrill in twp different focal lengths, there’s no reason Sony can’t make both a 35mm RX and an 85mm RX.
Hit the street with both the 35mm and 85mm slung-around your neck … the ultimate in camera bling.
Add macr to that 85mm rx camera and that would be great.
Also Andres mentioned high resolution in an earlier post. What does that mean?
Maybe the lens can be Vario-Sonnar 28-70/2,8-3,5/ It will be cool! Very cool!
Make it a 24-70 f/4 and I’ll empty out my bank account!
A 50mm f/2 seems more likely though.
I don’t think they’ll ever go for something smaller than f2, they’re gonna lose one of the best characteristic of the RX1: extreme 3D rendering when wide open.
They 35/f2 is amazing wide open, so I think Peter’s correct: maybe another fixed focal at f2.
I agree with you that a zoom would be really cool but then they can’t say “pocketable” anymore… 😀
I meant “The 35/f2” and not “They…”
Admin, please, activate the “correction option”… 😀
How about YOU activating “read what I wrote before pressing that post button” option! 🙂
Sorry “Mr. Perfection”… Never happened to you? 😛
😀
EVF would be amazing! A tough Leica alternative.
Admin, any word on when the 5r/6 replacements are coming?
50mm. That’s what’s coming. Why? Because it makes more sense than any zoom. Let’s think of canon’s 35mm f2. It’s small, same as nikon’s, but not as small as the RX Sonnar.
Ok. Now let’s think of 50mm’s. Same deal, likely the RX design can me same size as the Sonnar. It would make sense, right? Small, amazing IQ, maybe even a bit of a macro trick.
Let’s now think of zoom. Even the slowest and less impressive zooms are large. Not all of them, except canon’s 24_70mm 2.8 II is an amazing lens (think of the 2.300usd price tag too) and it’s massive. Want that on an RX with image quality that keeps that top of the line performance? Not in small size, no. It would be huge.
So, who wants a zoom? Not me. I bet there are more people preferring another fixed focal length excellent IQ lens rather than a large, likely compromised IQ zoom lens.
Think of reality. FF sensor needs a proper lens.
Agreed on the no zoom, but I think they will go wider, rather than tele.
I put a double wager on that then. My cash would go for a 24mm if wider, not 28mm. If tele, My cash goes for a 50mm. If 50m, I am betting f2 with a 1:2 macro capability ala CZ ZE/ZF 50mm Makro-Planar. If Makro design doesnt offer a similar performance wide open as the 35mm sonnar, then f2 with amazing performance alone.
Wild guess, knowing Zeiss, if they are tapping onto heritage feeling like they did for me with the RX1 (closes thing to a Contax G2 amazing IQ) then a 45mm f2 like the Contax G version. It was, and maybe still could be, the sharpest normal lens ever tested by photodo (the guys who pioneered this before photozone.de)
It was even better than the Leica 50mm Summicron.
Now that we know, via tobinators, that the Sonnar 35mm has a performance equal if not slightly better than the 35mm Summicron, who knows what Sony can come up with, right?
Oh wait… If they go wider, why not make the best damn 24mm ever! Zeiss already pulled that out with the 25mm f2 for ZE/ZF (better than Canon or Nikon’s 1.4 or 2.8 lenses)
Again agreed. 28mm doesn’t make much sense, so either 24mm if wide or 50mm if tele. I sure hope it will be the former though 🙂
Wouldn’t they have to make the 50mm faster? I´d never pay the extra cash for a FF 50mm f2, since I get a fuji with a 35mm 1.4 instead.
Yeah, wider makes sense to me too. 35mm is a nice middle ground on FF between a normal lens and an ultra wide angle. I think it would probably be a fast 24mm. It could appeal to a lot of people who like landscapes and architecture.
More expensive than the RX1? That points to a wide angle or zoom. A 50mm should be cheaper than a 35mm, unless it has a built-in viewfinder. It would be so great to have a large optical viewfinder. Low res EVF that have eye sensor lag would be a total waste. We already have the LCD that people can use for low-light framing. Lets have a large optical VF for daylight use. Anyone against an optical VF should look through an X100s VF or something even larger like a medium format VF. Nothing beats an instantaneous, bright VF with infinite resolution.
I hope a fixed 21mm f:2,8 and tiltable LCD. EVF doesn’t matter for me, I like OVF, so I can capture every shot at soon.
Regards. Giovanni. Italy.
If 21, it would be a nice challenge to see them make at least an f2 version. Leica makes a 1.4 version of their 21 and although good, it is not incredibly amazing wide open or at f2. So f2 design makes it a fast lens while keeping amazing IQ wide open (like the Sonnar)
Zeiss 21mm is a milestone in lenses history. I said f:2,8 because they have good experience in this focal lenght, and because of its poketable dimensions.
Regards. Giovanni.
Which Zeiss 21? They made a few.
Contax G 21mm 2.8. Amazing lens. No distortion.
Contax 21mm 2.8 C/Y mount. Amazing lens even after the mount went dead, Canon users kept using it.
Contax 17-35mm 2.8. Amazing lens too, but not as good as the C/Y mount.
Zeiss 21mm 2.8, in order to give a fully compatible lens to Canon/Nikon users. Apparently not as good as the original 21mm.
Zeiss 21mm ZM 2.8. A good 21mm but nothing to write home about.
But all of the above are 2.8’s. Why not take up the challenge and make an f2 version? Only, and only, if the IQ would be amazing from centre to edge like the current Sonnar. Again, you don’t want to step down with a new lens when compared to the original lens.
Very few bought the RX1 despite the 7* rating and there are quite a few used samples available.
A more expensive RX1? You have got to be kidding!
Canon and Nikon are doing wonderfully well with FF sensored cameras. In Nikon’s case it is even cheaper than SOny can ever make one, in spite of being the sensor manufacturer. Incredible!
SLR vs the most compact FF ever. If you don’t think that adds to the value of a camera (plus the fact it is the best 35mm lens available for a FF camera, on par with Leica’s) then you are just thinking of the price of something and the value of nothing.
In case you are thinking of the Sigma 35mm 1.4 ART lens, as a cheaper choice, Tim Ashley has written about Sigma’s QC issue when it comes to getting a decentered lens. So thats a bit of a gamble there.
If you think of just:
1) FF camera
3) 35mm lens
Then you have plenty of choices. But you think:
1) Compact FF camera
Then you dont have that many, dont you?
There is no doubt this Cybershot is unique. That alone (plus the 7* rating) does not make it sell. 🙂
The price has to come down by ~1000 Euros to be on par with the US prices. Then there may be some movement. If the new RX1 does not have the silly pop up flash and has an EVF instead, it may elicit some interest.
If someone had posted that a Sigma lens suffers from “dencentering”, I will ask them if they had their optical bench properly aligned when they discovered that, instead of parotting such technical issues without any proof or verification. 🙂
My other comment didn’t appear, so I will write it again. You have no way of knowing how many RX1 were sold or whether the camera makes enough money for Sony. One thing I agree on though, the European pricing is way too strange.
I will leave the shareholder battles to you. RX1 is a half baked camera. Not that useful.
Depends on how you look at it.
http://tashley1.zenfolio.com/blog/2013/2/sigma-35mm-f1-4-dg-hsm-possibly-great
Bottom of page. 3 copies.
We would need to contact lensrentals and dxo to confirm.
I used to have a Sigma 24-70mm (latest version) when I had my 5D2 and I kept the second copy of it because the right side was more or less on par with the left when shooting dead on subjects. At the time, Calumet sold me those and they said it was more or less common to have a few flaws in Sigma lenses so one had to pick the best of the bunch.
As I don’t need many lenses (35mm 90%, 50mm 10%) I don’t really own that many so can’t speak for other Sigma lenses. I did own the 19mm for NEX when I had my NEX 7 but it was not a very incredible lens so I can’t put a fuss for the price.
I do agree with Sony’s pricing on European markets. But, sadly enough, it also happens with other brands too so it is not unique to them. What is rather unique to them is the great disparity between US – EU. It is greater than the a99 and NEX disparities by quite a margin.
I don’t know what they are using as gauge to measure their prices. Second hand M9’s?
US second hand M9: ~$4000
UK second hand M9: ~£2800
I don’t believe the RX1 should drop about EUR1,000 to make it ‘make sense’. For what you REALLY get (if that’s your focal length) then it already makes sense. Because of the focal length choice, it is not a camera for everyone. Because of the lens’ excellence, it is not something many see as a ‘need’ to have the best performing 35mm lens. What this camera does, it does it better than any other combo there bar the Leica M with a Summicron (and even then it is a close call)
To me, photography is my main bread and butter. 35mm is my focal length. Compactness is a need. High ISO performance is a must. To have those three together in one package that works for me so well, its worth the cash. For everyone else, there are plenty of choices out there. If those that want the RX1 for what they will get don’t value it in the same way, there will always be the Fuji X100s, or an X-Pro1 with the soon to come 23mm 1.4. Or a D600+Zeiss/Nikon/Sigma. No?
Hendrik, You can link all you want but I still do not see any proof for “decentering”. Where are the optical bench tests to assert that claim?
My latest cam, a Titanium body with Carl Zeiss Sonnar, a Contax T, has a view finder, RF, compact and is really pocketable. The RX-1, is neither compact by cybershot standards, not pocketable for a normal person, ergonomic nightmare, has color shifts and is at best half baked. Most reviewers have sold their samples after giving it high ratings and those cameras have changed hand a few times already. That is the reality.
Let us see what the new RX1 will get. A 9* may be? 😀
Argued ad nauseam, film cameras lens designs cannot be applied to digital cameras because of the angle of incidence light has to fall on them. Come on, be honest, I had a Contax TVS and a T3 too and those viewfinders are nowhere near acceptable today. I mean, the G10/11/12 may have one too but those are jokes.
You sound a bit aged to argue with film designs on digital cameras. It isn’t the same. Even Leica stated that the Kodak sensor they used for the M9 had to be custom made to allow most of their lenses to work properly with it. Even then, the wider angle ones (21 and 24) still have a bit of colour cast on the edges and some smudging.
“Even Leica stated that the Kodak sensor they used for the M9 had to be custom made to allow most of their lenses to work properly with it.”
Now we are talking. Sony- the largest sensor manufacturer in the world!
Leica, a tiny camera company.
I do not have to be “young” or a tech wizard to think that it would not take a sensor giant to come up with really useful product and price it competitively to Nikon who use their (sony) sensors!!
What do you think? 😀
Over the years I’ve used many cameras, mostly mediums format and find the RX1 to be one of the better in image quality. It seems you are more interest in camera specs rather than making photographs. For a recent contemporary art exhibit I presented 32×40 inch prints made from the RX1, they had a wonderful 3D quality. The camera has issues but it’s image quality, build quality and compactness is worth the price. The Contax in no way would compete.
All hail the God of wine and party, for he sees the light!
“For a recent contemporary art exhibit I presented 32×40 inch prints made from the RX1, they had a wonderful 3D quality.”
I make no such claims to diss others.:)
Care to post a link to that exhibition and point to your 3D quality images?
My point was the image quality of the
RX1 is quite spectacular and it is not logical to compare the lens/camera potential the pocket Contax. No diss intended. The big prints can be seen at http://www.dennismarsico.com look under installations them Armory Show. Not all photos were with the RX1 there are also images from the NEX 7 with the Zeiss 24mm
Well, these are photos of photos on a wall, the fact that you couldn’t pick out the RX1 is maybe related to that? 🙂
It certainly doesn’t reiterate any point.
Ermm…Leica?
That is only one and it is still bigger.
And far more expensive.
Sony sold more RX1 than Pentax sold APSC K30. The profit margin on RX1 is pretty large. Sony doesn’t need to sell many to make profit on RX1. Don’t worry about RX1. It’s doing just fine. That’s why RX2 is coming too. More money.
RX1 has been great success.
If Sony continues with the unified body-lens philosophy, then an 85mm f2 would be something I could consider.
Nice, but interesting, so no RX APS-C on the horizon?
Wifi and swivel LCD. No lens change.
I bet it’s an aesthetic variation. Different colour etc.
For my 2q’clee cents worth I would love to see Ff with athe eeally good 85mm macro lens and a super high resolution sensor.
That was full frame 85mm macro and super high resolution sensor.
My smart phone changed what I wrote and i cant edit it.
My guess is it’ll be nearly the same with a wider lens. This camera is made to last a while, so I don’t want an EVF built-in that will become outdated quickly and add size, nor a tilt screen that would likely add 50% to the depth of the camera. Keep it modular…although, I probably will just stick with the RX1, anyways, so I guess the new version won’t matter to me.
I certainly don’t miss my M9. The RX1, while not being pants pocketable, is certainly much smaller and lighter than my Leica.
Outdated quickly? Who cares that it’s outdated if it works perfectly? It’s a fixed prime lens ffs.
+1. EVF are good more than enough today. And a swivel screen is not so thick: consider that of OMD-Em5 for example.
Look again where the sensor of the OM-D, NEX cameras, etc. is located within the camera. It is near the center of the camera body, so there is quite a bit of room behind it for the tilt screen mechanism. My RX1’s sensor is near the back, so they’d have to add some room behind the sensor to accommodate the tilt screen.
As for the EVF, Sony has the potential to make newer and better EVFs in the future, when they are modular, rather than making the camera larger by making an internal EVF that will become outdated. In fact, I actually returned my RX1’s EVF, because I prefer using the LCD and an OVF, so I’d rather not have the extra size of an internal EVF.
Why not have a slot on the RX to connect the optional NEX EVF like you can snap on a NEX 5? Would love to have that option available on a RX 100 for sunny days.
There is already an EVF available for the RX1’s hotshoe.
Maybe the technology has evolved such that they can now put a 28mm F2.0 – F2.2 lens and keep the same size of the RX1 or be even smaller ?
I would really want Sony to resist any temptations to add features like EVF or tiltable screen. Keep this camera as small as possible and it will be an unmatched winner.
The RX1 is already as small as it can be for a FF sensor camera and it is a winner. Like mentioned above, the RX2 comes because the RX1 is doing just fine.
My RX have 24-70/2.8 and I just can’t wait to lease it 🙂
Sony’s new advanced idea in cameras is that you buy a different camera for each focal length you need. No such thing as interchangeable lenses anymore, Sony has decided this is the future. And just think how much more Sony can make this way, and it freezes out other brands of lenses and you have to buy Sony. A big increase in Sony profits since everybody will buy several of these new cameras. That’s what the RX series is really all about.
And the future beyond that is that it also becomes buying a new camera for each type of photo you take. Everyone will be eager for Sony to do that. Instead of showing off your new camera you can show off your new camera set.
i mean this a s a serious question: why didn’t you sell your gear a long time ago and move on?
WK, are you serious? You are not aware of that Sony is putting out interchangeable lens cameras all the time? Oldest line is Alpha Mount, where they will release a couple of FF bodies next year. And more lenses of course.
Regarding their next line – the NEX compact interchangeable lens cameras – they are also coming out with more cameras, and they have doubled the number of new NEX lenses coming each year, to be at least five from 2013.
And that they are working on a new NEX styled series of FF interchangeable lens cameras too, intended to be launched next year?
I have absolutely no idea what you are thinking (I have tryed to figure it out).
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Haha. What about Sigma’s DP series? I thought they pioneered your ‘for every focal length get a new camera’ system.
It isn’t a Sony idea. It is, however, a good idea when each lens for that focal length is excellent and compact too. The price of the whole body+lens combo is the price of one Leica lens and that would be your only other option in this size/weight category so…
stick a built-in EVF in the corner and a larger grip on the front, pleeeeeease.
I’d love it if it had an optical viewfinder and a 50mm lens. But, then again, at a higher price i wouldn’t like it quite enough to buy.
Engineer it with a fix 24-135 F/2.0-4.0 lens, add a new higher resolution EVF, faster focusing system and keep it compact then you’ll have a super system.
…and please also built in coffee machine and a fridge, but keep it compact 😉
Dont forget a super model that comes with it because we all need some studio shots in our portfolio.
And throw in a Ferrari or at least a MAserati. We don’t want to be seen on a bus with the camera.
And please bundle in a Ferrari or at least maserati. Nobody wants to be seen with the camera on a bus, dont’t they.
The new RX would be 28mm F2.8, and can be extended to 21mm through 0.75 converter. Must be cheaper than current RX1 and compete against entry level FF 6D & D600.
The current RX1 isn’t more expensive than the 6D or D600, after you have added a top notch Zeiss lens to the bodies (at least not in my country).
And those C/N cameras must not weigh more than 0,4 kg (excluding battery, but including Zeiss lens) to compete against RX1. And be shrinked several times over.
And why must RX1 be cheaper then Canons and Nikons entry level FF cameras? The images coming out from RX1 has better IQ than ANY other FF on the market, regardless of price, even better than the 3,5 times more expensive Leica M with Summicron 35/2,0.
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Meh, I agreed with you until the third paragraph, as I was wondering how much a Nikon D800E plus a top prime would cost, but then meh, third paragraph came and all was lost (again) to fanboyism…
Vivek wrote:
“Very few bought the RX1 despite the 7* rating and there are quite a few used samples available.”
Very few bought it?
Please state your sources. I am sure you’ll never be able to come up with the sales numbers, because these have never been released!
1) The only official information we have is what Sony have said about the RX1 – and THEY are very pleased with the reception and selling of it.
2) If there would be even the SLIGHTEST truth in your statement, Sony would OF COURSE never expand the RX FF-line to comprise two different models (RX1 will not be dropped). Rather, they would drop the RX1.
What are you thinking???
3) Sonys decision to go ahead with the really hard work to develop a FF NEX (it is impossible to fulfill all the demands on it constantly being made here), was based on that the RX1 is selling much better than Sony hade anticipated. OK, this last point about the FF NEX decision is based on rumours here…
The ONLY “sources” claiming that RX1 is not selling well, are the anti-Sony bunch, who want Sony to drop it, and preferably pull out of the camera market entirely. Like you?
Vivek wrote:
“A more expensive RX1? You have got to be kidding!”
If you can’t afford it, you do not belong to the intended target group.
If you think it isn’t worth the money, if you dont’t understand what makes RX1 to a completely unique jewel in the camera history, because your photographic style lies outside its intended photographic purpose, then you don’t belong to the intended target group either.
Vivek wrote:
“Canon and Nikon are doing wonderfully well with FF sensored cameras. In Nikon’s case it is even cheaper than SOny can ever make one, in spite of being the sensor manufacturer. Incredible!”
So you are still belonging to those who are comparing the price of RX1 including a top Zeiss lens with the price for body only cameras from Nikon or Canon? Incredible!
Add a top notch Zeiss lens to any of those, and they will certainly not be cheaper than the RX1 combo (at lest not in my country).
And certainly none of those will slip down in your jacket pocket either. And those combos will weigh about 3 times as much or more. Well, Leica M will “hardly” weigh more than 2,5 times as much, but it will cost about 3,5 times as much (in my country).
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Forget about it. Vivek will make any assumption without backing it up, then insist that others must back up theirs. Add to that some strange logic and there you have it.
The price (of a RX1, even the EU prices) is not out of reach for me. Here is the point to those defending the compact (or P&S) cam:
Instead of defending the largest sensor maker putting a run of the mill sensor in a compact (or in a future NEX), everyone should be asking the question why is that a tiny company like Leica could design sensors that are conducive to cameras with short registry and Sony aren’t doing it (be it APS-C NEX or full frame). It is not the smallness but the usefulness. The A99 is a far more versatile camera than the RX1, AFAIC.
How many plastic elements are in that “top notch” Carl Zeiss lens (RX1)?
I own/use a Leica MM, the best digital camera ever from Leica. I appreciate boldness. While the MM is (at least on the surface) hardly innovative, it is more of a camera than any that Sony could muster.
Anti Sony? Hardly. Couldn’t care less if they make the best TVs in the world. If I find a camera that I like, I will buy it and use it.
What a mess. Given that I do not see a clear point in your comment, here are a few thoughts.
Some of us here like the RX1, which you called “half-baked” and “not useful” without even explaining why. Well, you did try to show us how much it sucks, because it doesn’t sell, but that point got quickly destroyed (you decided to “leave the shareholder battles to [me]”).
Smallness can very well be a part of usefulness, not sure why it is one or the other for you. You compare the camera to an A99 and say it is more versatile. Duh. If you want the RX1 to be an interchangeable lens camera, then it will obviously always fail. It was designed to be a compact camera with great image quality. Where does it fail at that? I also doubt the sensor inside it is “run of the mill”, given how close the lens sits.
Also, I doubt many here care about how many plastic parts there are in the camera. Now, that is not about usefulness, but… bashing, maybe?
As to Leica’s boldness, yes, they are very bold to sell an under-featured camera for a fkload of money.
You guys convinced me about Sony and RX1. 🙂 I am off this site forever. Good bye!!!
Please, Vivek. The MM is still a very outdated camera with all kinds of issues (I’m an M9 owner, btw,) so to justify its purchase simply because of Leica removing a cfa is a stretch, if you’re going to bash the more capable RX1 at the same time. I own an RX1, too, and it’s a fantastic camera.
@ GH – how do you find RX1 as a day-to-day camera? I’m planning to sell some equipment I have to buy it. The reason I’m asking is because that’s what my X100 did really well, succeeded as a daily camera. It’s hard to find good field reports on usage of RX1, few reviews out there but nothing really aimed at day-to-day shooting. Would you say that RX1 is also good for landscape/architecture/street? Flickr is just full of close-ups to show dreamy bokeh at f/2.
I can vouch for the RX1 being a day to day camera. I can rely on it for delivering professional results. Is a day to day camera something you put in your pocket? is it something that you feel you are not sacrificing quality vs convenience? Is it all of them at the same time?
For as compact as the RX1 is, it is not as pocket-able as an X100/s because of the lens protruding. However, the weight is light (compared to the most immediate comparable camera per output, a Leica M/M9) and the convenience is high. If those are day to day cameras to many photographers, then surely the RX1 can be too.
I believe Fuji has marketed the X100/s as small and greatly capable cameras, which they are. They have a cult like following and the retro styling does go hand in hand with today’s fad of ‘aged = cool’ like hipstamatic and instagram. However, there is no other camera on the market today that can do what the RX1 can do with the same lens bar a Leica.
@ Hendrick – X100/X-Pro1/X-E1 are not about retro styling but about direct access to all exposure related controls without turning the camera on. That’s the whole point which a lot of people attribute to ‘cool’ or ‘retro’.
I couldn’t care less about the retro looks, it’s all about ease of use and that’s something I’d like to see on RX1 too – never liked PSAM selectors, RX1 would be so much better if it head instead of PSAM normal shutter speed dial.
My primary concern is the difficulty switching distances while zone focusing. The focus ring is simply a rotating switch, and there is no option to focus the lens to pre-defined distances such as 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 5m etc. While it is not relevant to all users, this would be trivial to implement with software in an already feature-packed unit.
John, I’ll agree that a few of us (myself included) would like to have distance and DoF scales on all lenses. However, this would NOT “be trivial to implement with software”. In fact, it would be impossible to implement this for any “Focus by Wire” lens. There are no couplings between the focusing ring and the focussing motor. It is possible to turn the focusing ring an arbitrarily number of turns – there are no stops, and no couplings back to the ring from the current lens position.
Also, Zeiss has explained this on their web site (someone else have already put forward your suggestion to Zeiss).
The only way to get what you (and me) would like to have, is that an RX1 version with a fully manual lens would be launhed. However, I am pretty sure that Sony would not sell many of these, if so …
Different niche…will never compete with FF DSLR. Picture quality is competitive, but stuck with one lens.
my predictions or wants are:
build in EVF/OVF 4million High Res
or
newer EVF with 4 Million High Res
36mm sensor (D800)
40/50/or 85mm ziess prime
faster auto focus
faster write speed
new firmware
slide down and out LCD
relocate video button to where (custom) button is by the shutter (tired of keep pressing the video button by mistake)
build in teleconverter feature with spot focusing on center image, and not wide area focus.
mp4 60fps (instead of 30fps)
iso changeable in scene mode
faster pop up flash sync
how about RX2 with 24mm/2 lens and come up with wide angle conventer lens? 😀 or RX2 with 50 or 85mm/2 and come uo with wide wide angle conventer lens to, internal EVF, shutter leaf speed up to 1/4000 on all focal lenght, sync speed flash compability, more macro ability and tilt LCD, improvement AF speed, weather sealed, that would be killer 😀
Following the thought of single purpose cameras the RX variant would address the architectural and landscape needs. Maybe mounting the Hologon 16mm f8 or the 21mm Biogon. Fast aperture not so important for these fields of photography particularly with the high ISO quality of the sensor. Speaking of sensors a 36mp sensor would embrace the big print crazed art market making it a real break through for the high end creative.
my bet for ‘variation’ is 24Mp sensor, without AA and with PDAF