We didn't initially pay much attention to the Sony RX1's focus tracking, as it wasn't highlighted as a particular feature, nor was it one that would have much impact on our own use of the camera. ISO 12,800 prints a crisp 5 x 7, with generally nice detail and only minor softness in our red swatch. Again a pretty close match between the Sony RX1 and Nikon D600, though we give the edge to the RX1 here. In digital images, you'll typically notice aliasing in three ways, either as raggedness ("stairsteps") in angled high-contrast edges, in the form of moiré patterns or as color artifacts (really a subset of moiré patterns). Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R II sensor review: Take two   Introduction Specifications and Features The Sony RX1R II is the not-unexpected update to the 24-Mpix RX1R. Nikon's D600 leaves behind a bit more luminance and chroma noise, following Nikon's generally more conservative approach to noise suppression, and as a result maintains more detail in the red leaf swatch than the RX1. If you want to avoid the issue entirely, you're going to have to turn shading compensation off, even if you're shooting RAW, and then handle any shading corrections in Photoshop. Note the softer representation of threads in the pink swatch, though. We never thought we'd find ourselves saying that a $2,800 compact camera was a good deal, but if ever one qualified as such, the Sony RX1 is it. In the clip with the focus target, the RX1 did manage to track the subject sometimes, but it still wasn't 100%. Really wealthy photographer’s. The latter are among the most severe we've seen with that particular subject. Since a photo was the last file recorded, when you press the playback button, you'll be presented with just still images. As in the still shooting modes, users can toggle through a wide variety of information overlays for the LCD screen both before and during video recording. It's simply something that you must keep in mind when moving the camera while recording video. (I can hear the Leica fans screaming about the superiority of the M over the RX1, but honestly, guys, do even you think it's $7,000 better? With the introduction of the new Sony … Users are left to make a trade-off: A) access full exposure controls such as full Manual exposure by using Movie Mode, but forgo manual focusing, or B) have easier manual focusing capabilities prior to recording by using still image modes, but give up the flexibility of true PASM exposure options. Period, full stop. One of the reasons the ZX1 is larger is that it incorporates a large 4.3-inch screen on … The High Profile compression scheme produces better video quality than Main Profile. Most digital SLRs and CSCs will produce an excellent ISO 100 shot, so we like to push them and see what they can do compared to other cameras at ISO 1,600, 3,200, and 6,400. Sony said a lot of effort had been put into the Carl Zeiss lens to make it small while maintaining exceptionally high quality worthy of the 24-megapixel full-frame sensor. Regardless of what mode the camera is in, users do have the ability to adjust the ISO sensitivity and the exposure compensation during video recording, although exposure compensation is reduced to +/-2 EV steps rather than the +/- 3 EV steps shown on the dial. The shots below show it in comparison to an average-sized hand, and beside a current higher-end digicam. City by the bay: f/6.3; 0.8 sec shutter speed; ISO 3200; 16:9 aspect ratio. The same could be true of tall buildings in a city, or for that matter any other tall subject that's too close to fit into the frame. Material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted or otherwise used without the prior written consent of The Imaging Resource. True, you can change lenses on the bigger systems, but they're also a lot bigger, not to mention $500 to $700 more expensive. In order to see the video, you have to select the appropriate media format in the menu system of playback mode. (More on that last one in a minute; one of my very few gripes about the camera.). I enjoy hiking when I have the time (ie, seldom), and Sweep Panorama is often the only way to capture the full height of a waterfall, working exceptionally well for that purpose. Or whatever. The retail package contains the following items: The Sony RX1 is a remarkable camera in almost every respect, from the full-frame sensor hiding inside its incredibly compact body, through its excellent lens, great feature set, and superb image quality. While some forms may be subject to detection and removal, by definition, aliasing is impossible to completely distinguish from valid image data. On Sep 2016 Sony increased the price of RX1R II camera to $3,898, but today after $600 price drop the camera is available at $3298. What's remarkable to me is just how well the Sony RX1 stacks up against the best the field has to offer. While the RX1's EVF is better than many, it still blows highlights and plugs shadows, making it difficult to compose shots where there's significant subject detail in either. In the meantime, though, the bad news is that Sony bakes the shading compensation into the RX1's RAW files, so they aren't truly "raw" in that sense. One added note about Sweep Panorama, that accounts for some of why I find it so handy: Most people only think of panoramas for horizontal shots, but they can be incredibly useful for vertical shots as well. To really get a feel for how prominent the issue is here, download the original, and you'll be able to see the effects in much greater clarity. In creating the lens for the RX1, Sony's lens designers took an approach we're seeing more and more lately, taking advantage of the ability to correct images digitally to allow more latitude in some aspects of the lens design. Sweet indeed! Going downmarket a little, there's the Leica X2, with a 35mm-equivalent lens, but coupled to a lower resolution APS-C size sensor. All interchangeable lens cameras in this comparison were shot with our very sharp reference lenses. Another possible workaround is to use a small aperture if the extra depth of field and longer exposure aren't detrimental to the shot. Speaking for ourselves (the various editors who've been involved in writing this review), it wouldn't keep any of us from buying an RX1, since we don't really care about tracking AF in video that much, and with its wide-angle lens, we wouldn't be using the camera for sports shooting either. There's also almost no chroma noise, so high-ISO shots look great when enlarged. ), Macro focus setting doesn't get you very close, 1/2000s max shutter speed at f/2, but "extended" ISO 50 helps, No continuous AF in still capture mode, continuous AF in video mode doesn't work, "Off" High ISO noise reduction setting applies stronger NR to red channel than "Low" or "Normal", Sluggish buffer clearing (does not take advantage of UHS-I cards), Standalone battery charger is optional (should be included), Plastic LCD screen: Should really be Gorilla Glass at this price point, Pricey to some, especially when you consider the cost of the optional, dedicated accessories. Ultimately, it all comes down to the pictures a camera can deliver, and the RX1 delivers in spades across the full spectrum of lighting conditions and subjects. If you're a non-sports still-shooter, we expect you'll feel the same. For the more advanced shooter wishing to use an external microphone, the RX1 has a 3.5mm microphone jack located on the left side of the camera. It also induces a focal length crop of almost 1.2x for 16:9 video. The result is a remarkable lens in virtually every aspect: This is by far the highest optical quality we've seen from any full-frame lens of equivalent focal length, including 35mm primes costing $1,500 or more. Just as the lens freed me from worrying about staying in its sweet spot, the Sony RX1's super-clean high ISO files meant I could by and large stop worrying about ISO as well. The Sony Cyber-shot RX1 began shipping in the U.S. market in December 2012, priced at US$2,800. Features Handling Performance Verdict Specification The Sony Cyber-shot RX1R is an update to the Sony Cyber-shot RX1 but with the anti-aliasing filter removed to … It takes a sweet lens to do justice to that 24-megapixel Sony sensor, but Sony certainly has stepped up by making it an 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T*. Rear monitor. At $600, the FDA-V1K is more expensive than the EVF to boot. Figure $1,900 - $2,000 for the body only at typical street prices. Sony RX1R Review. Is this something that could be fixed in firmware? Field Test … Both the DRO and HDR options have an available Auto setting as well. Well, almost. Much of what makes the Sony RX1 such an enjoyable camera to shoot with comes down to its great user interface, and the extent to which it can be customized to fit your particular needs. The camera has a 1,229,000 pixel screen of 7.5 cm diagonal. The net result is that you'll need a reasonably recent computer to play the RX1's Full HD video files smoothly, and will want a pretty powerful machine for Full HD video editing. This is surprisingly difficult to pull off; the human visual system is incredibly adaptable, and can easily handle both a range and mixtures of color temperature that would give most cameras fits. Here in the Sony DSC-RX1, the company is showing off exactly what it can do. The target was illuminated with our carefully-balanced HMI studio lights, so illumination was uniform to less than 1/10 EV. The Sony RX1 has two different external viewfinders available as accessories, the FDA-V1K optical viewfinder, and the FDA-EV1MK electronic viewfinder, using OLED technology. Sony priced it at $2,800 because it's the only point-and-shoot with a 24 x 36mm sensor (Barnack or "Full-Frame" size).Its lens does not zoom, the camera has no image stabilization (except for video, done electronically just … Certainly the pink swatch includes a clear thread pattern, though the D600 gets the pink closer to right. Do all RX1's show the same behavior? ISO 6,400 prints well at 8 x 10, which is yet again excellent for this ISO. Yet the D800 still holds on to the basic thread pattern in the red leaf swatch, as well as the threads in the pink swatch. Never mind our usual AF-tracking acid test with a car moving at 30 mph, we couldn't get the RX1 to track a person moving at a leisurely stroll. The ability to assign specific functions to various user-interface buttons is nothing new, but the Sony RX1 gives you more options (a total of 25 can be randomly assigned to buttons) and lets you configure more of the available buttons than is common. For more advanced shooters, the RX1 does offer full manual exposure adjustments, as well as the standard Program Auto, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority exposure modes. A few in the press room at launch barely stifled a few guffaws at the price, because up to that point we'd been thinking it compared to the RX100, which comes in at a high $650 relative to its pocket competition -- but not that high. Note that 1,440 x 1,080 mode uses rectangular pixels (1.33:1), so movies are 16:9 aspect ratio, despite pixel dimensions that would suggest a 4:3 ratio. The only trick with this off-focus workaround is to blur things slightly enough so you don't end up with an over-soft image. Even if the aperture or shutter speed values are pre-selected prior to video recording, once recording has begun, the camera ignores those values and automatically adjusts them for a proper exposure. ), and the customizable controls meant I spent a lot more time taking pictures than digging through menus. The two shots on the right had the color saturation amped up to 100 in Photoshop, to make the faint color tints glaringly obvious. Sony shipped samples of both for our evaluation. I've almost never found this to be the case with other cameras. Beyond its basic picture-taking chops, the Sony RX1's broad array of scene modes and custom filter settings enable a lot of creativity in-camera, while special multi-shot modes like Handheld Twilight and Sweep Panorama expand shooting opportunities in genuinely useful ways. It makes sense that such a mode wouldn't be available during video recording itself, but why not offer it before recording begins? Full HD video at up to 50 fps (frames per second) with film-like effects, manual control, and audio input.¹ For creative flexibility while shooting movies and stills, users can enter Program Auto (P), Aperture Priority (A), Shutter Speed Priority (S), or Manual Exposure (M) mode for manual shooting and exposure control. Shooting with the camera, it was just amazing to me that I could shoot wide open at f/2, and not feel that the large aperture was in any way compromising the quality of my images. Note, though, the brighter orange blotches in the D600's shot, both in the shoulder of the olive oil bottle and on the face of the mosaic character. It features the same 42-Mpix full-frame CMOS sensor as the Sony A7R II, paired with the familiar Zeiss 35mm f2.0 Sonnar lens first seen on the RX1. Featuring a fixed 35mm f/2 lens and 24 megapixel sensor in a petite shell the RX1 is designed for professionals after a discreet compact with excellent image quality. (The D800's sensor is made by Sony's sensor division.) ). The camera features a 36 x 24mm CMOS sensor and a leaf shutter for near-silent operation. ISO 1,600 starts to undo the mystique of the A99, possibly due to the translucent mirror technology in the A99, which likely reduces the ISO sensitivity by a third of stop or so. Overview by Roger Slavens and Dave Etchells Posted: 06/27/2013. Your eyes can tell you plainly that the Sony A99's noise processing is a little more aggressive here. If a standard-def TV is your only choice, though, you're out of luck, as the RX1 doesn't offer any form of standard-def video output connectivity. The front of the Sony RX1 is pleasantly simple, with a small leather-like grip, a bold but simple product name and an AF-assist lamp. The videos below show examples of both conditions. We'd seen fixed-lens digital cameras with large APS-C image sensors before, but none with a full-frame sensor. It's difficult to see a difference between them at ISO 100, which is significant given the NEX-7's APS-C sensor size, though the RX1 shows less noise in the shadows. The video AF tracking results were extremely disappointing; the camera had great difficulty tracking a subject moving at any speed. 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