PHOTO YODOBASHI

YODOBASHI CAMERA ONLINE PHOTO MAGAZINE

SONY RX10 / SHOOTING REPORT

SONY's 1-inch sensor has been used in the RX100/RX100II and the unique QX100. And now, it's loaded in this high zoom camera. Besides, the lens is 24-200mm zoom with a constant aperture of F2.8. They could make the zoom ratio higher, but they chose not to. So, I was excited to try this camera. The sensor, which is larger than conventional compact cameras, has an advantage in tonality. For picture quality, this element is more important than sharpness because tonality of what we view everyday cannot be divided digitally and it's continuous. So, in order to capture the original tonality, it's always better to be equipped with minuter sampling rate. Hence, it's better to have larger sensor (the question "larger than what" is another story, though).

Speaking of typical use of this camera, the first occasion would be travel. With its high picture quality and portability, you can capture everything you see in a zoom ration you need/want. If the sensor is larger than 1 inch, the body would be larger. In a trip, I encounter many scenes when I want larger focal length than what a standard zoom lens covers. To be honest, I want around 300mm. However, if I am to cover such a wide range, basically I have three choices: 1) I would pick a 70-300mm with a modest max aperture or a 28-300mm, 2) by compromising picture quality I would choose a compact digital that with the same zoom ratio, 3) I choose a compact digital that covers up to 1000mm while it has a conventional sensor for compact digitals. However, the RX10 doesn't belong to any of the three categories. In terms of the appearance, it looks as if it has the ultra 1000mm zoom, but it's doesn't. It professes high picture quality, so I guess this is a powerful gear. Now, let's take a look at the samples.

( Photography & Text : K )

Picture quality outscores the RX100 / RX100 II

I simulated everyday shooting and I had an impression that camera depicts even more minutely and clearly than the RX100/RX100II. It's hard to evaluate lens and body separately particularly if the camera has a fixed lens. So, it's difficult to judge if the improved picture quality is due to the lens only or additional elements such as image processing engine. But anyway, it does take great pictures. The wave pattern and the net stack on the stake are captured in great detail. I shot straight against the sun which was almost setting. The whitening in the highlight and the sea surface with added amber color look very natural are they are free from being abrupt.

I stopped down by two steps. I focused on the concrete in the right-center section, but it doesn't become pan-focus. The 1-inch sensor is larger than conventional compact cameras, so depth of focus becomes shallow. The focused section looks very sharp.

While I was framing the bell that was floating on the light, a woman came to pray. I was shooting from a good distance, so she didn't seem to notice me. After I shot, I talked to her to thank her. I only stopped down by 1 step, but it's sharp more than enough. We encounter many situation when we want to pull subjects even in our everyday shooting. Or, I should say, I want to zoom in order to organize framing. Although I can never say this is a compact camera in the pocket, it's still compact for its picture quality.

I also stopped down by 1 step and it's so sharp. I shot straight against the sun, but there's no halation and the image doesn't become loose.


This shoot-all camera overcomes distance to the subject.

With this camera, I felt I can do anything. It's sharp even when I zoom to tele and it captures texture faithfully when I draw near. We shouldn't compare with the pictures taken by APS-C or 35mm full size sensors, but this camera definitely outperforms compact cameras with smaller conventional sensors. Honestly, I want this camera for traveling, but I'm afraid if I won't be using other cameras once I get this camera.

It stopped raining in the morning. The skin of the tree pops out by the light. It captured the wet atmosphere very well.

It was very dark, but you can use faster shutter thanks to the F2.8 aperture. Depth of focus is very shallow at tele end.

There're some noise in its own way,, but it processes very cleverly. This is ISO2500. Isn't it good enough? It was windy, but the anti-shake mechanism assisted my framing and the result looks nice.

I shot almost at the minimum focus distance. It has 3D plasticity and texture is depicted very nicely. Bokeh depends on the distance to the background, but overall, it's very smooth. With the RX100/RX100II, I sometimes want to pull more, but with the RX10, I can frame easier thanks to the longer tele-end.


I shot wide open in the evening. I'm amazed by the sharpness at tele end even though it's wide open.

High-zoom capability makes releases me from the limitation of focal length and I feel I can do everything. It also makes me lazy, though.


This is an almighty. It shoots almost everything.

This camera is a category killer because of the lens demonstrating the spirit of the name and fine appearance and the body that is smaller than SLR cameras. We want 24mm to shoot indoor. We want 200mm when we instantly pin-point subject or when we cannot approach to subject. And, we want to draw near and prefer larger bokeh. I wonder how many scenes this camera comes in handy. This is a joker camera. Not to mention it's a great choice for beginners, but it's so attractive for advanced shooters as well. It's so convenient that I feel scared to buy. Anyway, it covers almost all situations and needs.