DxOmark tested the RX10 sensor. And as you see from the image on top the performance slightly surpasses the RX100MII:
As hoped for, the RX10 has the same high-quality, high performance sensor as the RX100 II. If the handling is good and Carl Zeiss 24-200mm f2.8 equivalent zoom performs as well as anticipated, then the RX10 may be the most versatile ‘walkabout’ model on the market and perhaps the most tempting bridge camera for a decade.
But the real highlight is that Open Box price of $937 at Adorama (Click here). makes you save $360 over the regular price. Grab it!
P.S.: Sony RX10 European links at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
34 Responses
That’s still twice the price of any other bridge camera, and it only has 10x zoom. No matter how good the image quality is, that’s going to be a hard sell.
What other bridge cameras are you talking about?
10x zoom with fixed f2.8 through all the focal length,
1″ sensor size, 1920×1080 60p/50p at 28Mbps, this is the one and only!
Because no one gives a sh!t about it. PLAIN & SIMPLE.
Panasonic FZ200
+ 24x zoom, f2.8 at all lengths
– Much smaller sensor
= 1920×1080 @ 60fps 28Mbps
$409
Panasonic has better lens but poorer sensor, at less than half the price.
If this is a bridge camera, the bigger sensor alone is worth the price. But you forgot a number other things such as weather sealing and a much higher quality LCD screen (1.2 million vs 460,000 dots).
“Better”? More zoom does not equal “better”, in fact it’s often the opposite case.
But how good is that lens? sure it might have 24x, but what about the quality?
The lens is excellent, what sucks is Panasonic’s JPEG engine. Only worth shooting in RAW on the FZ200.
It’s not a fair comparison even by dxomark’s:
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-RX10-versus-Panasonic-LUMIX-DMC-FZ200___918_818
To really understand the impact of this camera you should look at the astronomical prices people paid for Super-16mm cameras and lenses. I used to own an Eclair ACL Super-16mm camera and it cost me several thousand dollars for a Cooke 10.4-52 T2.8 Cine lens. The lens you are getting on this camera is being focused on a sensor the size of a Super-16mm film frame. The lens you are getting is an 8.8-73.3 f2.8 which is almost like the Canon 8-64 T2.4 Super-16 lens used to film “Leaving Las Vegas”. This camera is a real game changer.
That sensor will only be worth that much more to a limited segment of the market. Anybody who really cares about image quality and has that much to spend would probably skip the RX10 and go straight to an APS-C DSLR and get an even larger sensor.
If the RX10 was in the $400-$500 range then the improved sensor would offset the limited zoom range and make the RX10 competitive with other bridge cameras. At >$900, I don’t expect to see Sony sell a lot of them.
Well, I’m not saying that rx10 is the best bang for bucks, but with all the points mentioned above, it cant be compare to “any bridge” camera like u said. Cant compare it with that pana either. Different sensor size, lens quality and other features. How can you call camera with that sensor a bridge camera anyway? Bridge from what to what? Phone and p&s camera?
Your comparison is beyond ridiculous, Bob, tenable only if you don’t care one iota about any aspect of image quality, or about lens quality, or about build quality, etc., etc.
Sony is redefining a lot of things lately. They are also redefining what a bridge camera is.
Very big, heavy, expensive, and ridicolous DSLR style….. No thanks! There are other better stylish compact cameras for this class.
There’s the RX-100 if you want compact 😉
This is basicly a budget video camera, though capable of making something fairly serious unlike most Handycams.
The styling is a failure, they should’ve kept the RX series consistent.
no grip for a 800 gramm 200mm zoom camera would be a failure 😉
They could’ve made something work out by making something of a nex-rx blend. Both are far from a traditional DSLR design and are similar enough to seamlessly blend.
The styling is fine.
Fine by itself, yes, but they totally messed up the rx lineup.
Changing the name works too.
Little too pricey for F/7.9 equivalent depth of field on FF. Very tough to get shallow DOF for video work short of the “zoom all the way in” trick. Probably a camcorder would be a better bet. I’d wait until the prices drop to around $600 as they will by this time next year.
FF equivalent bla bla
You expect the price to be less then half in a year? Obviously you don’t pay attention to camera prices.
Supposedly the video quality of the rx10 is superior go all the alpha cameras (a7r, a99 included) thanks to the full pixel readout of the sensor in video mode.
yes, it resolves more detail in video then any other Sony DSLT/ILC cameras, it only loses in the DR if I’m not mistaken.
with fast ultrasonic AF as well.
Very nice sensor within the uglies body ever seen among compact cameras.
Take the test and see if you can tell the difference between RX10 vs. NEX5N:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcczqyStirw
this may be an alternative:
Olympus Stylus 1. Zoom 28-300mm F2.8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhx9OsjTsfw (review in Italian)
Again, puny sensor.
This is what a camcorder could really replace.
Have any of you actually held the camera and used it? It’s actually pretty damn good. Very responsive too. Tried it in my local Jessop shops. Solid well built but not overly heavy for it’s size.
So many uneducated views!
I’m a full time professional and have this camera. It is, far and away, the most accomplished camera in terms of flexibility and performance.
Yes, it is expensive, but for the majority of occasions there is little to touch it if you want a light camera, a tough camera and exceptional image quality.
Certainly, I’d like focus to be a modicum faster (it is pretty decent anyway) and I’d prefer manual zoom to electronic (although I understand the reasons for it), but this is truly superb.
I do a lot of editorial work and I would not hesitate for a moment recommending this to any fellow photojournalists.
“So many uneducated views!
I’m a full time professional and have this camera”
I suggest we all just shut up and turn our puny uneducated minds over to the big shots.