A premium bridge camera with the RX100 II one-inch sensor and f/2.8 constant aperture lens.
For
Large one-inch sensor
f/2.8 constant aperture
Tilting screen
Excellent viewfinder
Against
No touchscreen
High price
It's no secret that the compact camera market is declining, but one
area which seems to continue to perform reasonably well is the bridge
camera market.
Ratings in depth
Sony has already taken hold of another lucrative area of the market with its RX100 and follow up, the RX100 II, topping the sales charts of the premium compact area.
Now,
the company has put that same sensor inside a bridge camera in the
shape of the RX10. Not only does it have that excellent sensor, Sony has
also designed a new processor, the Bionz X, which promises to deliver
processing speeds which are three times faster than the equivalent found
in its predecessor.
Other bridge cameras on the market generally
feature a standard compact-camera sized sensor at 1/1.7 inches. This
should make the RX10 a much better performer, both in terms of low-light
shooting and also in helping to create attractive shallow depth of
field effects.
Although the 8.3x zoom (24-200mm equivalent) lens doesn't have the mammoth zoom range of cameras such as the Canon PowerShot SX50,
it does offer something which most don't; a constant fixed aperture of
f/2.8. The only other bridge camera to currently offer that is the Panasonic Lumix FZ200,
which includes a 24x optical zoom (25-600mm equivalent), but of course
it's worth noting that the sensor size inside the Panasonic is
considerably smaller. On
the back of the camera is a screen, which, although isn't touchscreen,
is tiltable for those awkward angled shots. Though it's not fully
articulated or 180-degree tiltable, making it less useful for self
portraits or video work. There's
also a 1.4 million dot EVF. Many will groan at the thought of an
electronic viewfinder, but Sony's devices generally are very good, and
with a resolution that high, it seems likely that the RX10's device will
not disappoint. As is starting to become standard with cameras now, the RX10 features inbuilt Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity. This
means you can share shots you've taken instantly with your smartphone
or tablet, or use one of those devices to control the camera remotely -
something which will probably appeal to nature and wildlife
photographers.
NFC
is still a bit of a technology buzzword and basically means that if you
have another device with the technology, you'll get a one-touch
connection. Plenty of Android devices are packed with NFC, but Apple
users still haven't been treated to the technology.
As well as an inbuilt flash, there's also a hotshoe for attaching other accessories you may want to use, such as a flashgun. As
it stands, it's difficult to find a direct competitor for the RX10.
There are no bridge cameras with such a large sensor, but if we're
looking at premium cameras in this market, then the Canon PowerShot SX50 and the Fuji HS50 seem like obvious choices. The Leica X Vario is also technically a bridge camera, but it features an even larger, APS-C size camera.
The
biggest sticking point for this camera is likely to be the price. It is
not cheap, coming in at over £1000/$1000. You could probably get three
beginner DSLRs for that price. But that's not the point; to get
something which offers this focal length and maximum aperture with a
DSLR would cost many thousands, and, what's more, would be many times
the size and weight of the RX10.
This camera joins the premium RX family, of which the RX100 II and the RX1
also belong. It's an interesting trio, all of which are unique in the
marketplace. Sony is proving to be an innovative manufacturer at the
moment.
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