Imaging Resource tested the different LPF (low pass filter) settings:
“The trade-off between moiré and overall sharpness is evident, especially in the first example with the bottle label.”
Dpreview added the studio test scene and the RX1rII shows an impressive tack sharp resolution.
The new RX1RII will ship starting from next week at Amazon US (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
47 Responses
Some interesting comments on DPReview.
Looks like they’re made by a lot of people who have not tried an RX1 before.
It is exactly what one would expect, the RX1+EVF with A7r insides except IBIS and 4K.
Great combo.
Some points are not in focus (at DPR) so people don’t know what to guess.
If you look in “comp” mode ( = re-sizing to the 24 mpx RX1), the RX1 RII looks exactly like the RX1R. So I’m afraid that it’s the normal rendering of the lens. A field curvature? A weakness at this particular distance? I will wait for real reviews to see more clearly the behavior of the lens…
This is an expensive camera!
I know. Just think of how many cheeseburgers that is.
I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a RX1rII today. 😉
Razor sharp??? Are we looking at the same pictures? Have you seen Leica Q comparison? I know the distance and lens curvature limitations impact… but one thing you certainly can’t say from Dprev studio comparison is that these pictures are razor sharp…
“Dpreview added the studio test scene and the RX1rII shows an impressive tack sharp resolution”
???
no, the dpr studio scene show high field curvature
The DPR test scene showed HORRIBLE results… What are you talking about? The corner sharpness is horrible!
Do not see any sharpness improvement with OLPF off.
Well, yeah, this thing does what d800e does. D810 is an improvement over D800e… which confirms your impression.
I would consider one if it has some kind of image stabilization. Unfortunately it doesn’t.
If you’ve used the camera, you know that this result is only understandable since they were 1.4m away from the target.
All lenses show greater field curvature the closer they are to the target/object.
The fact that he’s trying to make sense of such tests speaks volumes.
At that distance. I have an RX1 and field curvature reduces to negligible at 2.5m distance
I know that. I am not saying the RX is faulty.
I am saying what sar said about the dpr test is bullshit.
I think the one all the way to the right looks best. I’m being serious.
Yeah, I’m not sure the increase in detail (with LPF off) is necessarily worth the moire trade-off. Nevertheless, cool that now we can choose from shot to shot.
To have real idea about the resolution, focus, etc., check the comparison against A7RII and others at Imaging Resource. Impressive!
I do like dpreview. They really make an effort and do great work. But I find there are too many variables to their studio shots, so I don’t take much notice of them. Sometimes, they’re just out of focus, which means they mean nothing.
Those under the impression that we either have a faulty unit or have conducted this test erroneously may be intrigued by the following comparison of the RX1R II vs RX1R on the left (http://bit.ly/1MFLbsd) and right (http://bit.ly/1MFLcMQ) sides of our scene. Note how the RX1R II is worse on the left, but better on the right, side of the scene relative to the RX1R, when viewing at common output size. This is simply indicative of the realities of tolerances for unit-to-unit variation of a lens, and also of how discerning a flat target at close distances can be for wider angle lens tests. Our RX1R II unit is no more faulty than the RX1R unit we tested some time back; however, side-by-side pixel-level comparisons allow one to pixel-peep far more than you’re likely to when viewing a single image from your camera in isolation.
Furthermore, because of potential field curvature (which can change with subject distance), these results are not *necessarily* representative of what you’ll experience (1) at infinity, or (2) if you focus on an off-center subject off-center, as opposed to focus at the center of a flat field as we do for our studio scene.
We’re looking at developing new tests to address this by (1) having a much larger chart we can shoot at much larger subject distances (to simulate infinity), and (2) showing results focused at many different points throughout a flat field, to show the results of focusing on off-center subjects *in the presence* of field curvature.
Hope this clarifies things.
Cheers, you put words to my hunch.
This type of microcosmic fussing and poking and picking makes me hate the tech side of photography.
Totally! I rented th RX1R recently so that I could get a feel for this little camera before I plunked down my money on the new RX1Rii The shots that I got were unbelievable. I could not believe it I was shooting at F2. I love the way it had the different focus modes right on the outside of the camera. I loved how small it was and how I could wear it around my neck with it out it weighing me down like my A7Rii + lens. But most of all, I loved the image quality. This camera is truly more than the sum of its parts. But, you wouldn’t know that by ruminating over test shots.
I think some people are so immature that, when they realize something is out of their reach, they spend time in forums tearing it down rather than grabbing what they’ve got and going out into the streets and shooting some photos.
Agreed. 100%
Using Sony A7rII as an example http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/sony-a7r-ii/A7R2hSLI000100NR0.ARW.HTM
ACR 9.2 (AHD demosaicing?) x RawTherapee LMMSE demosaicing
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4686872/AHD_LMMSE.gif
ACR 9.2 x Capture One v8
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4686872/A7R2hSLI000100NR0-C1_ACR.gif
We can see that C1(Capture One) and RT(RawTherapee) with LMMSE demosaicing
can render the fabric without moiré.
BTW, Capture One is a no-brainer for Sony users…
I wonder if they will implement some sort of “Bracketing” feature that lets you take the picture of all three modes after one another in an easy way.
This is really impressive in my opinion, when you think about it, you needed to have a 2nd camera body before this variable thing, now you can have both cameras in one.
Do you mean PLF? It has that, among other bracketing modes.
That’s pretty much perfect then. It really becomes two cameras in one body.
to make it perfect, it needs 4K and IBIS
and without time limits.
The corner sharpness is absolutely horrible! Corners are just a total smear. I don’t care about “field curvature” or “the picture was taken too close” rethoric on a 3 grand camera. For this price, no excuses. In fact, I find it almost unbelievable and venture to say the unit DPreview used was flawed. That Zeiss lens is stunning, hard to believe that sample they published. I have an RX1R and love it. The RX1R2, with no upgraded lens, no in body stabilization and no 4K, make this a useless upgrade for me that absolutely doesn’t justify paying another 3 grand again. I will NEVER forgive Sony for NEVER, ONCE, having released a single firmware update for the RX1R to improve the focus accuracy as well as other pending issues. I said it before and stand firm never to buy another Sony camera again, due to that fact alone. And after seeing the DPreview shot and lack of corner sharpness, even less excited. If the issue is field curvature matters, they should have upgraded the lens. They have had 3 years to do it, and are charging the price to justify it. In fact I maybe the only one to think so, but I find the upgrade of this camera rather lame, aside it has a higher res sensor and EVF. Better focus? Sure, because the ficus of the RX1R is tragic and was NEVER addressed. And as for LPF, absolutely no increase in real world resolution WHAT-SO-EVER that justifies EVER having it OFF and enduring moire everywhere. Filter ON, add a bit sharpening on the settings and never touch it again.. that’s the way to go with the RX1R2.
You… ah, what’s the point…
I think the image quality is fine and the camera from a still point of view is very good. However, I do agree, IBIS and 4K (without time limit or at least no overheating issues) should have been a standard implementation. And considering the push to 4K TVs and computer desktop monitors, one would think sony would want to encourage people investing in new TVs and monitors.
I think the variable antialiasing filter is pointless. leave it off… and put in the IBIS or an ND filter.
There seems to be something wrong with the RX1 from Dpreview. Steve Huff posted images with no border smearing at all. And you should know this because it’s very unlikely that Sony declines their product so much.
And, you feel bad about Sony because they never need to release a firmware update? Normally you’d rated this as good, right. No bugs, no things that could have work from the beginning … Your RX1R is not a cheap Banana-ware that needs to ripe with the customer. Everything behaves as advertised and within specifications. No need for updates. Especially when you haven’t said what you missed. Right, faster AF! Cool. I want a faster Macbook too. I should write Apple and ask for an update. But at least 50% faster … (irony off) …
Don’t you feel cheated when they magically increase performance or add features and ask “Why wasn’t it there from the beginning?” Like with the A7II, they activate 117-point focal plane phase detection AF … Yeah nice, thanks and stuff. But … why only now? They build them into their product and didn’t write some code to make use of them? WTF? I could have used them already! Or with Fuji and their great updates … Yes, but actually they were pretty buggy and behind on release and and bringing it to a level where it always should have been, is the least they should do.
I don’t want updates, I don’t want to flash my devices. I want reliable and stable products right from the beginning. It’s a disease of our times that company ship beta-products to their customers, and it’s an even stranger world where customers ask companies to do so just for the fact of an update.
No point! I love my RX1R, no doubts the RX1R2 will be great and better than mine, and whoever has 3 grand to buy it, will love it. Not a doubt in my mind, this is the world’s best compact camera. Blows everyone else, all other brands including all the Leica stuff and gear, directly out of the water and zooms right along. My RX1R was, is, and will be for a long time, the most fun and enjoyable camera I have ever used to date. The RX1R2 is better.. just not better enough for me, and NOT from a manufacturer that doesn’t support or update it’s high-end products. That’s my no point, point 🙂
The best compact camera ever made and you love it, but you will never ever buy a Sony camera, because they give a f*ck about yesterdays customers (which was well known even before RX1)?
I’m confused.
Well I didn’t know before the RX1 because I never bought a Sony camera before. And yes, I will never buy another Sony camera because I find no excuse after buying their most expensive machine, they ignored completely supporting it with a single update. Why? You think it’s not a good enough reason to stop a relationship with a manufacturer? Then it’s because if you and other people that things don’t progress. If more people thought like me instead of blindly buying everything in front of their noses simply because they can afford it and want it now, manufactures would be forced to re-think their products as not so discardable, and of their customers with a bit more respect. Now, you go buy lots of Sony stuff and enjoy your time and money well spent:)
Just FYI: I would never ever spend 3k on a Sony product.
I’m fully on your side. I’m just a little surprised that one have to spend 3k before realizing what to expect from a company like Sony.
Right! Sony is pushing hard for the 4K standard and leaves it out of their most expensive camera? And please, no bulshit from them it’s about “heat dissipation” matters. As for IBIS being left out, also no excuse. The body needed be a fraction bigger to accommodate it? So be it. And argument that it would make the camera much bigger, is not valid. The trade of an extra couple millimeters to have the feature, would NOT void a single order on the camera from anyone wanting to buy it.. by the very opposite. In fact, ironically, the RX1R2 is in fact a bit bigger (depth) than then RX1R already.. fact that I am yet to see anyone care to worry about it or comment, because it’s not an issue..
I am sure there are ways to work around the heating issues, as they claim. It might require some different alloys, but at the price they are asking, there is no excuse.
Right! Like on the new Xperia Z5 phone, Sony managed to equip it with a very sophisticated copper heatsink and heatpipe design to remove the grilling heat of the dreaded Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU. That’s a full heatsink and heatpipe inside a cellphone! If they can make and install such a complex design and components inside a few millimeters of available space, nothing they CAN’T do on a camera thick and huge as a brick compared to a cell phone. And mind you, the heat generated by the SD810 at full throttle is absolute melting! Everything else is talk and BS..
Well, the a7rII, which was no doubt engineered at the same time as the RX1 II, has heat issues with 4K, and the smaller RX100 IV would have such severe issues with heat that clips are limited to 5 minutes. How many other brands offer full frame cameras the size of the a7 line that shoot 4K? It not only appears not feasible for Sony at the moment, but also for every other camera manufacturer in the world. In a year things will be different. People are impatient and demanding on a level that would have been absolutely obscene just 15 years ago.
Do you really need to shoot for 10 hours non stop?????? Isn’t a few minutes of a take usually ENOUGH??? No wonder why videos get more boring and boring and take long and longer.. hey, in the world of film with 36 exposures per roll, many people take actually some cool shots. Now cameras can shoot 100000000000000 photos per memory card, and most are all shit!
@all people still using the RX1(R): How are the results of macro photography?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joevanwyk/21871179544/in/album-72157660370210765/
I know next to zero about macro, but when I recently rented an RX1R, I had a blast with that functionality. Being able to flick that ring on the lens and close focus is really fun. It made me mindful of all of those special little things all around us. I quickly learned that f2 is too shallow for most things in macro mode. Rookie mistake! :-))