I've had the RX100 for 2 months. It's a very proficient camera, and its low light performance is quite remarkable. It's quite pricey and for the money I would have like a GPS for geotagging and perhaps more zoom. Partly for that reason I haven't sold my Canon 700D with its nice zoom telephoto. But it is definitely my camera of choice most of the time, and I don't really like it to be too far away - you find yourself wanting to grab it that often.
So what are the stand-out features?
- Ruggedness has to be one of them. On my 2nd day (!) of ownership it detached from the top of my tripod (my fault) and fell from table height onto a stone floor.The body is metal and feels nice and solid, but it was a bit flattened on one corner. However, that's it. No problems whatsoever with any camera functions. Since then I have fallen off my bike with the camera around my neck, and despite road contact, it came up smiling (I didn't).
- The quality of the lens. I think this is why the zoom is limited. The lens does its job superbly and I suspect that Sony didn't want to push it outside its optimum performance envelope. The quality of the image means you can overcome some of that zoom limitation simply by cropping.
- Low light performance. This is astonishing. Using the "Night, Hand Held" setting you can take the most amazing pictures without a tripod. Several of the images I have included (the moon through the clouds, patio at night, deep dusk sunset, are simply hand-held. The photos of the milky way had the benefit of a tripod though I have taken lots of starry pictures without one.
- Challenging light conditions generally; I've included a few images taken towards the sunrise and it copes well.
The nice to have are:
- Electronic view finder, very, very good.
- Screen at back can be tilted (very useful, more than I expected) and it understands selfies too.
- Lots and lots of manual control and special setups like the hand-held at night. Worth exploring those.
- Raw image if you want it.
- The WiFi is handy and works well. I paired it with my iPad no problem, and the download is fast.
Bit gimicky:
- I think the much touted slow motion up to 1000 frames per second is overdone. On my iPhone I can do only modest slo mo, but it's easy to use. I just film as usual, but having selected slo mo first. Thats it. With the RX100 you have to go into a special High Frame Rate Mode, put the camera into standby, point it at the thing you want, and press go. It only buffers a few seconds worth, and I think if you want to film your child and pony clearing a jump, don't bother (or use an iPhone). I've taken some very nice dequendes of dripping water and things falling, but it's not convenient.
Any regrets?
None. It oozes quality, has super dynamic range, stunning images, convenience, usability and more. If you don't fancy forking out for a M4, consider one of the others, down to and including the M1. My daughter has that and it too is a super camera. I wanted a view finder so I held out for the M4, but it looks like the M3 would do most of what I want too.
| Package dimensions | 16.2 x 13 x 8 centimetres |
|---|---|
| Package Weight | 0.58 Kilograms |
| Item dimensions L x W x H | 41 x 102 x 58 millimetres |
| Item Weight | 271 Grams |
| Brand | Sony |
| Colour | Black |
| Continuous shooting speed | 24 fps |
| Included components | Camera, Rechargeable Battery Pack NP-BX1, AC AdaptorAC-UB10C/UB10D, Micro USB cable, Shoulder Strap, Lens cap, Shoe cap, Lens hood, Eyepiece Cup, Instruction Manual |
| Max Focal Length | 70 Millimetres |
| Min Focal Length | 24 Millimetres |
| Minimum shutter speed | 1/32000 seconds |
| Part number | DSCRX100M4.CEH |
| Zoom Type | Optical Zoom |
| Focus type | Auto Focus |
| Maximum shutter speed | 1/32000 seconds |
| Aperture Modes | F1.8-F2.8 |
| Style | Camera |
| Effective still resolution | 24 MP |
