DSC-RX1/B
4.9
5
13
13
In A Word, "HOLY-MOLY!"
I recently sold my A77 to get this camera to compliment my Sony NEX VG900 camcorder. Like the VG900, this is a fantastic piece of engineering. The images that the RX1 produces are very sharp and detailed. I used both the RX1 and A99 with 24mm F1.8 in a local Sony Retail Store and I was surprised to find that the RX1 turned out to have better image quality, since both of the cameras have a 35mm sensor. This camera is nicely sized and fits into a coat pocket, but not in a pants pocket. That's one issue. It also has a high quality metal build and the bottom section is the only part that is plastic. The out-of-focus blur is very creamy and smooth and turns out to be extra-gorgeous in videos. The video quality is good. Low light performance is nice up to ISO 6400. Even 12,800 ISO photos were reasonably clean. The fact that the lens has a leaf shutter means that it was completely silent and I love that. The burst rate is only 5 FPS but I can live with that. The gripes are that there is no viewfinder. I purchased the EVF attachment and it is fantastic in terms of quality. I don't recommend the Zeiss optical viewfinder. I purchased all of the accessories for the RX1 and things like the lens hood and thumb grip are EXPENSIVE! The continuous autofocus in both photos and videos is a bit sluggish but the focus peaking aids me to compensate for that. But there is no focus peaking in video. The battery is the same as the RX100 and does not give you good battery life, but it is reasonable. I look at photos from this camera and they look very sharp but when I zoom in on them, every detail looks perfectly rendered. This camera looks very subtle as well. Everyone sees that I have a pocketable camera but they don't know that it has better capability of a full-frame DSLR. I love the fact that is has the aperture ring, exposure compensation dial, and macro switch. That means that I don't have to do menu diving. Also, I can adjust exposure in video recording, which IS important. The shutter button is a cable release style and is the best I've pushed. There is no other word that I can describe this camera other than AMAZING. I would recommend it in a heart beat. It's basically a Point and Shoot, but I feel insulted calling it that. It's way more impressive than that. Kudos to Sony for achieving an incredible piece of engineering.
June 2, 2013
I'd have given it 6 stars if I could
Fist of all, if you don't have the very best lens/body from Nikon, Canon, Leica etc, you will be very disappointed in the images from your current camera once you see these. Color balance a bit on the sat side for me, but that can be fixed in post. Good golly the sharpness and contrast, even in low light is amazing
Very easy to handle if you have the thumb lever, still not too bad if you do not. Menus are easy to access ad understand.
Only gripe is the obvious one about limitations of lens reach. has jiggled tele modes which are good, but not the real deal and not raw.
A bargain at this price for the output quality of this thing.
May 13, 2013
Extremely happy and satisfied
All around this is a great camera. I rented several cameras before purchasing the RX1, including a Leica M and Nikon D-800E. Although some may think the RX1 is expensive?it is, in fact, a bargain when you look at all that it has to offer. I made several image test with each of the rented cameras. Without a doubt this camera fulfilled most of my needs and was not short on quality in any category. The materials, finish and workmanship is excellent, it is easy to use and the images are equal to other cameras that I tested. Color differences between the rented cameras where subtle and easily fixed with processing. It is a mirrorless camera with 2 lenses in one (wide and macro), excellent optics, a large 24 MP full frame sensor, optional (but necessary) electronic viewfinder, electronic level and bright screen. It is very easy to operate and fits into my jacket pocket. There is no guess work while composing the image. I am very, very happy with the quality of images thus far. I am a still photographer so I have not used the video. I imagine the quality on screen is off the charts.
May 5, 2013
An absolutely unique photographic tool w/out peer
If you managed to get this far through all the reviews of the camera, you're either a glutton for punishment, are you really are a researcher and aficionado of high-end digital photography. Let's assume it's the latter and get to the really interesting stuff.
This camera is in a class of one. There's really nothing like it anywhere in the marketplace. It's absurdly expensive for a point-and-shoot, and yet it takes pictures that rival and in some cases exceed in overall quality what some of the very best full frame pro cameras are capable of generating . . . . . while fitting fairly comfortably in your jacket pocket. It looks like your neighbor's point-and-shoot $350 Canon, but costs more than your last vacation. It doesn't even have a viewfinder, either optical or electronic - although you can get a great electronic one, if you don't mind being soaked for another $450 on top of what you've already shelled out for this absurdly expensive but marvelous piece of technology. Or you can really get hosed completely by Zeiss, and get an optical viewfinder for another $650 - easily the most overpriced accessory in digital photography. It isn't the fastest focusing, and it requires you to move closer or farther to get the shot that you want instead of zooming in or out given the fixed focal length lens. It can be both maddening to use and at the same time . . . a breeze to use like any other point-and-shoot.
It's like nothing else really. Its high ISO performance is equal to anything and I do mean anything out there. It's capable of taking very low noise images at ISO 6400, and with a little bit of cleanup and working in RAW, you can easily salvage high quality pictures at ISO 12,800 with lots of detail and very little loss of information due to noise. Overall, the camera is something of a walking contradiction in terms in many ways, and at the same time, it's a camera that's capable of inspiring enormous loyalty and probably will generate a truly cult-like following, while many other people may simply shake their heads at what they see as Sony's foolishness.
Pros:
1) As good high ISO as virtually any full frame camera (with the possible exception of the Canon 1 Dx, Nikon D4 and D600 - and, at worst, it is very close to those benchmark systems in terms of low light ability - at best it is equal to any of them).
2) Capable of remarkable detail due to its 24 megapixel full frame sensor with excellent color and dynamic range. DxO sensor score of 93.
3) High quality Zeiss 35mm F 2.0 fixed lens that is sharp edge-to-edge (which for FF camera might cost $1200 or so by itself).
4) Intuitive but deep operating system and menu structures, immediately familiar to those coming from Sony Alpha background. Easy to run as full manual camera . . . or put on full AUTO, and all shades in between. Good aperture priority mode operation (my personal fav).
5) Capable of shooting 1080 at 60p and taking excellent videos in low light, and with full IS (image stabilization).
6) Remarkable compactness and portability for such enormous low light capabilities w/full frame sensor - an engineering tour de force in terms of cramming full frame capabilities into a point-and-shoot size and form factor (achievable only with a fixed lens).
7) Macro functionality in CZ lens.
8) Customizable buttons and other nice user config operating system features.
9) Crop/zoom functionality of x1.4 and x2.0 partially mitigates fixed lens restrictions (equivalent to 50 and 70 mm lens but with obvious loss of resolution).
10) High build quality w/ nice magnesium chassis - has very solid feel (it ought to for this much $!).
11) Decent flash.
Cons:
1) Price.
2) Fixed focal length lens means extra work to get the shot properly framed - and forget about shooting subjects at a distance.
3) Tendency to underexpose one half to one third exposure value - why can't Sony for this much money get exposure values locked in?
4) Problems with focus lock in low light - mostly a standard contrast detection focus issue (but for example OM5 does better job). Fixable in firmware updates perhaps?
5) Likelihood of (or at least possibility of) planned obsolescence, as Sony may release a zoom lens version sometime in the next three years.
6) More than disappointing that Sony did not include an electronic viewfinder as standard equipment at this price.
7) Poor thumb grip with not enough contour - not easy to hold onto the camera with one hand.
8) No IS for stills - given that this is always sensor-based in Sony systems, not sure why omitted (hi ISO performance?).
9) Sony STILL hasn't made viewing photos and videos in any kind of alternating fashion easy - must surf menus or shoot video to get easy viewing access to videos on card.
10) Poor battery life. Must carry two batteries.
11) Lens zoom and crop functionality not available if shooting in RAW.
12) Flash has really modest output and no bounce functionality.
Having more cons than pros doesn't mean that I don't like/love this camera. I'm a bit stunned by its capabilities on the one hand, and frustrated with its limitations on the other, but it's obvious that what makes it so remarkable actually locks in some of its limitations. You simply couldn't get this compact form factor with an EVF and even a 3x zoom lens. The lens alone would be huge, and this Zeiss lens itself is an engineering marvel, in terms of how small it really is for a FF sensor 2.0 lens. In the end, it's all about image quality, and here, both in stills and video, there is very little to complain about. And if you take this instead of your huge DSLR and bag of lenses, just because it's so damned convenient, isn't that the strongest endorsement you can make? I find that I am transitioning away from a very favorite Sony A65 as my default camera, just because this is so easy to carry.
I'm still exploring the performance envelope of the RX-1, and will update this review as I go. It's a remarkable camera by any standard, and perhaps the most INTERESTING camera that has been made in the last 10 years, with the possible exception of the SLTs made also by Sony. Suggests that Sony is thinking outside the box and more creatively than anyone else.
February 8, 2013
