Sony CyberShot RX100 - A Pocketable Digital Compact Dream

At a glance

·         Image sensor: 1.0-inch Exmor CMOS

·         Effective pixels: 20.2 Megapixels

·         Optical zoom: 3.6x

·         Weight: 213g (body)

·         Price: $999

Sony Cyber-Shot RX100

The Cyber-shot RX100 is Sony's answer to the Canon 5100. The RX100 has neither built-in GPS nor Wi-Fi, and Sony appears to be concentrating more on the shooting experience with the RX100's fast lens and sensor (incidentally, the same size as the sensors found in Nikon 1 series mirror less cameras).

The RX100 is made from sleek aluminum. And has а nice heft to it in the hands. Similar to the canon 5100, the RX100 possesses а control ring placed around its lens. This allows users to change key settings of the shooting mode that they're currently in. In aperture mode, the control ring will adjust aperture values, while shutter priority mode lets users fiddle with shutter speeds.

The Function button provides fast access to up to seven functions such as ISO sensitivity, also adjustable with the front control ring. The RX100 even comes with focus peaking (with selectable color and sensitivity, as well as image magnification on manual focus mode, which makes quick and accurate manual focus а simple matter.

The LCD display has an impressive resolution of 1,229k dots, far higher than any LCD screen on other digital compacts on the market now. Lt also sports Sony's WhiteMagic LCD technology, which includes а white pixel in addition to the standard red, green and blue sub pixels for а brighter display, even under sunlight.

If you like shooting in RAW, you will be pleased to know that the RX100 also shoots in RAW as well, though Sony's own Image Data Capture software is the only supported RAW converter at the moment. Hopefully, Apple and Adobe get into gear sooner.

The control ring makes adjusting setting on the fly easier

The RX100's fast f/1.8 lens and large sensor makes for excellent shooting in low-light situations. Autofocus was quick and reliable. One gripe is that you can only shoot at f/4.9 at the camera's longest end.

In terms of image quality, the RX100 produced one of the best looking images we've seen out of а compact. Color saturation was good without looking too garish, and the ability to get good background blur (or bokeh as photography enthusiasts call it) with its f/1.8 lens, makes it much more useful in terms of creative shooting than your average point-and-shoot.

The large 1-inch sensor helps the RX100 excel at low-light shooting too. In our tests, noise doesn't show up untiiiS01600. For web-use, images can still be used even at higher ISO settings, unless you intend to zoom in 100%.

The build quality of the RX100 is superb, and the camera features а host of modes and options that will not only appeal to the beginner, but also the photography enthusiast. Interestingly, the battery is charged in-camera via USB, either hooked up to your РС or via the supplied АС charger. While cool, this doesn't leave room for flexibility.

At $999, the RX100 is priced within reach of an entry-level DSLR, or mirrorless system camera. On the other hand, the RX100 offers the best balance we've seen yet between image quality, performance and portability. DSLRs and mirrorless system cameras can't quite fit into your back pocket. Coupled with its speedy autofocus, we see the RX100 giving even entry-level DSLRs а run for their money.