'TEN MONTHS ON' UPDATE: If anything I'm more enthusiastic about this camera now I've used it for nearly a year. I've become very comfortable using it and only remain annoyed by the histogram disappearing when you change exposure compensation. Everything else is great. What always strikes me is that no matter what I photograph, in no matter what conditions, this camera just nails it. I took a series of photos in a dark, underground building development recently, all at f/1.8 and ISO 1600 and the results were incredibly sharp and noise free. And a day at a sunny seaside resort was equally up this camera's street, the auto ND filter kicking in when the light was too bright, and colours looking superbly saturated. Focus and startup is so quick, and the viewfinder and tilt screen just essential... I'm taking so many more photos now I have this because it's just so much fun.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I had a Mark I Sony RX100 and grew to love and rely on its combination of size and quality. Now I've upgraded to the Mark III. This is pretty rare for me because I usually flit about and try different brands since I have no 'brand loyalty'. So the new camera has to stand on its own merits (which it does) and be significantly more useful than the original (which it is). This is a fantastic camera.
Three obvious new things stand out. The new lens, the hinged LCD, and in particular the pop-up viewfinder. Look deeper and you find a heck of a lot of other changes too (wi-fi, zebra striping and a handy ND filter, with auto mode, among the highlights), many of them very useful, but it's the three main physical changes that made me upgrade.
Of these the lens is a mixed bag. I appreciate the extra 4mm of wide angle, which I think gives you more than the loss of 30mm at the other end takes away. So now it's equivalent to a 'classic' 24–70 like the pros use, but they usually have a 70–200 in their bag too... On the whole I'm happy about the change because I shoot more wide angle than anything, but think carefully about that zoom range. The sweetener is that the new aperture range of f/1.8 to 2.8 means at least it's a pretty bright lens no matter what the focal length, although it doesn't mean extra 'depth of field' possibilities like you might think, because of the change in focal lengths. Still, you can get quite pleasing subject isolation for portraits at 70mm and f/2.8. And the new lens is sharp at 70mm. That's unusual: most lenses are a bit soft at the end of the zoom range. This one is very sharp 'wide open' at 24mm too, but only in the centre. Edges are a little soft at 24mm, even if you close down the aperture, but things are generally very sharp in the corners at just slightly more than 24mm, especially if you up the aperture a bit to f/4 (f/5.6 guarantees sharp corners except at 24mm). Overall, the new lens seems a bit sharper than the old one, which itself was no slouch. After much experimentation, I seem to get the nicest results by using f/4 in Aperture Priority mode for general shots.
The hinged LCD is a wonderful thing, and if you don't think it's something you'll use much, you've probably never used one. I've had it on cameras in the past and the lack of it in the original RX100 was a constant bugbear for me. It's so much more of a pleasure to use the Mark III because of it. The screen still attracts ugly fingermarks that are hard to wipe off. And it's a shame (quite a big shame) it's not a touch screen, especially when there's no instant way to change the focus point.And it's still relatively hard to see in bright light.
But that's where the Mark III's killer feature comes in – the pop-up electronic viewfinder. If there's one thing that made me upgrade, it's this. The good news is that it's bright, sharp and fluid, and totally usable to frame shots and make changes to settings in the menus. There's a nice little diopter adjuster (with a wide range) so you'll be fine no matter what your eyesight is like. I did notice a tiny bit of judder when panning in some directions though, and in bright light you have to cup your fingers around the top to keep stray sunshine out – even so, the green confirmation on the level indicator is near impossible to see through the EVF in bright light. It's also a bit fiddly to close because you have to push it in, then down, but this soon becomes second nature. More annoying is how it switches the camera on when you pop it up, and especially how it always switches the camera OFF when you push it down. That's an infuriating decision that should be an option, because sometimes you want it to work this way and sometimes you don't. But none of this matters really because having even a slightly flawed viewfinder is way, way better than not having one at all. I use it a lot.
I've been trying the wi-fi functions and they seem to work fine. You can buy (yes, 'buy') apps for the camera to add new functions like timelapse and 'star trails', but the built in tethering app lets you control the camera from your phone or tablet. It works fine but only has basic controls for zoom and exposure compensation. You can send photos pretty quickly to a mobile device or connected TV, but not video.
There's a new sensor too, and while it's not obviously 'that' much better than the old one, it's obviously very good, producing very clean, incredibly detailed images with low noise. Dynamic range is good too – this is where the larger sensor really comes into its own. If you shoot raw, you can get back a surprising amount from blown-out highlights (I processed some old raw images in Lightroom from my Canon 400D SLR and was surprised to find them not only noisier but with rather less leeway for recover highlights and shadows than the RX100). I've found raw images to be very 'malleable' in Lightroom.
I've set auto ISO to use up to ISO1600 (you can set a minimum too) and it really is very usable at that sensitivity, so much so that without really closely examining photos, you don't really notice an ISO1600 shot when you come across one. Impressive.
What else have I noticed compared with the original RX100? Focusing seems a tad faster, which means for a compact it's really fast and responsive. Only my Olympus OM-D is faster. Sony have simplified the menus a bit, and especially the Fn menu, which is nicer to use. They've got rid of the pointless '?' button and replaced it with a much more useful customisable 'C' button that I've assigned to 'AEL toggle'. Very nice. Like before, you can change the function of just about every button if you want. And you can now 'lock' the rear control wheel so you don't change settings with it by accident. Video, a strong point before, is now even better, though you'll need at least a 64GB SDXC card (that's right, even a fast 32GB won't work) to use the new high quality setting.
The new camera feels quite a bit heavier and somewhat chunkier than before, but it's still just as portable and pocket-able really. The relocated flash is still 'bounce-able' if you tilt it with your finger, but it seems even more fragile and on the verge of breaking when you push it back in place. The LCD hinges feel rather fragile too – the price you pay for thinness.
A couple of things that haven't changed (and should have) are the very slow zoom-in in playback mode that takes a full second and zooms all the way in whether you want it to or not. Also *infuriating* is that the histogram disappears when you change exposure compensation, and bafflingly, you still can't use the self timer with bracketing – just when you'd want to use it... The camera still makes a hash of yellows, which is a shame when colour is generally very natural. And it's still a complex little beast, with a gazillion functions and options that you may never get your head around.
But make no mistake – this is a major upgrade if you have a Mark I (the more I use it the more I think this). Less so if you have a Mark II. And if you're not upgrading, it has to be the best really compact camera with a built in electronic viewfinder AND a tilting LCD that you can buy right now. Except there's now the Mark IV, but that's so much more expensive for now that it's a whole different proposition.
| Package dimensions | 15.7 x 12 x 9.4 centimetres |
|---|---|
| Package Weight | 0.58 Kilograms |
| Item Weight | 263 Grams |
| Brand | Sony |
| Colour | black |
| Continuous shooting speed | 10 fps |
| Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
| Has image stabilisation | Yes |
| Included components | Sony DSCRX100M3 advanced digital compact premium camera (Wi-Fi, NFC, 180 degrees tiltable LCD screen) - Black. |
| ISO Range | 125-12800 |
| Max Focal Length | 70 Millimetres |
| Min Focal Length | 24 Millimetres |
| Model year | 2014 |
| Part number | DSCRX100M3.CEH |
| Size | RX100 III |
| Focus type | Auto Focus |
| Aperture Modes | F1.8-F2.8 |
| Style | Camera |
| Effective still resolution | 20.1 |
