Monday, July 30, 2012

{CameraGear} Sony DSC-RX100

Hi everyone!

Its been a while since I've last posted anything on my blog but to get back into the habit I'll be posting some of my video review and tutorials as well some of my snapshots and opinions on cameras and anything photography related.


As the title suggests, this post is about the new Sony DSC-RX100 camera that has recently been released. It has been getting rave reviews on the web and as David Pogue of the New York Times writes, "The best pocket camera ever made". In this short review I'll be explaining to you why I agree with this statement and whether its worth it for you to spend your money on this camera.

Firstly, its svelete design is nothing short of excellent with its simplistic body and button layout, anyone can become accustomed to this camera. It has a nice selection of camera modes from Program, Aperture, Shutter speed and Manual settings all the way to its Intelligent auto modes and Sweep Panorama.


The control wheel on the lens allow you to change your settings easily without having to go into the menu or pressing a lot of buttons saving you time and hassle to get that certain shot.


The pop-up flash is tucked away at the top of the camera and will pop up when need be. What I like about this flash is that you can also bounce it by pulling back and facing up.

DSC-RX100 (top) and DSC-HX20 (bottom)

DSC-RX100 (left) and DSC-HX20 (right)

Now lets talk about how small this camera actually is. At first I was surprised because when I read it was going to have a large sensor, I thought it would be the same size as a Canon G12. I was wrong and its pocketable and not to heavy for me to carry around which is perfect for those times when I don't want to carry around my a77. The only thing I wish the body of the camera had would be a grip like the one in the DSC-HX20, although the style that Sony was going for would have to be completely different.


Featurewise, there are so many packed into this camera I wouldn't know where to begin. It has all the usual Sony features such as Sweep panorama, 10 frames per second continuous shooting, picture effects, auto-portrait framing mode and a whole lot more which I won't get into further detail.


 

Of course the big feature of this camera is its one inch sensor which is in fact the same size sensor in the Nikon J1 and V1 cameras but with a 20 megapixel sensor. This is a big advantage compared to other compact cameras offering better overall image quality and low light performance. Paired with the superb Carl Zeiss lens with an aperture of f1.8 at the wide end and f4.9 zoomed all the way in you're getting image quality approaching DSLR quality with smooth blurry backgrounds.

One new feature not seen in many Sony cameras is its ability to take photos whilst recording a video. Its a really helpful feature that I'm sure many people would appreciate. Its simple to do and just by pressing the shutter button, you'll be able to capture a moment in the video and turn it into a still without any interruption to the video itself.


As I mentioned before, image quality is the main advantage of this compact camera and it performs very well with clean ISO up to 1600. Noise does creep in afterward but its still acceptable till ISO6400.

Video quality is good as well with the ability to capture full HD videos in AVCHD format in 50fps or 60fps depending on your region or mp4 for use on the web. Active SteadyShot, a more efficient form of the standard SteadyShot is built into this camera to help stabilize whilst recording. 


After using this camera for a while I can definitely agree that this is the best pocket camera ever made. Although you are paying quite an expensive price, it still is a good purchase because you're buying a camera that approaches DSLR quality but in a compact and pocketable body and beats out the competition in the compact camera class. If you value excellent image quality in a pocketable form this camera is the perfect choice for you.

If you have any questions leave a comment or you can contact me on my facebook or youtube page.

You can also check out my video review below