Originally Posted: August 25, 2012
Last Updated: October 9, 2012
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 ($649) may look like just another compact camera, but if you were to pry off the lens and take a look inside, you'd see what makes it stand out from the crowd. That big feature is its sensor size -- 1-inch -- which is nearly four times as large as what you'll find in a typical compact camera.
Based on a diagram by Digital Photography Review, used with permission
As you can see from the above chart, the RX100's 20 Megapixel, 1-inch sensor is larger than the typical 1/2.3" sensor, as well as the 1/1.7" (and similar 1/1.63") sensors used by cameras like the Canon PowerShot S100 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7. A larger sensor means more light is captured, which leads to better photo quality, in both good and not-so-good light.
Other features on the RX100 include a fast F1.8-4.9, 3.6X optical zoom Carl Zeiss T* lens, a super-sharp LCD, full manual controls (with RAW support), a customizable ring around the lens, lots of useful "bells and whistles", and 1080/60p video recording.
Is the Cyber-shot RX100 the ultimate compact camera? Find out now in our review!
What's in the Box?
The Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 comes in a pretty fancy box, though the actual contents aren't any different than what you'd find in a camera costing hundreds less. They include:
- The 20.2 effective Megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 digital camera
- NP-BX1 lithium-ion battery
- AC adapter
- Wrist strap
- Shoulder strap adapter
- USB cable
- 34 page basic manual (printed)
Like most premium compacts, the DSC-RX100 doesn't have any built-in memory, so you'll need to pick up a memory card yourself. The RX100 can use both SD/SDHC/SDXC as well as Memory Stick Pro Duo cards. I'd recommend an 8GB card if you're mostly taking stills, and 16GB or larger if Full HD movies are your thing. A high speed card (Class 6 or higher) is strongly recommended for best performance.
The RX100 uses the brand spankin' new NP-BX1 lithium-ion battery. This battery holds 4.5 Wh of energy, which is fairly good for a camera this size. Here's how that translates into battery life:
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Whenever I do one of these battery life comparison charts, the Sony cameras are always at or near the top. That's the case here, with the RX100 tied for first place with the Panasonic LX7. If you want to pick up an extra NP-BX1 battery, it'll set you back at least $40.
Something I don't like about the battery situation is how it's charged. Rather than using an external charger, the battery is charged internally, over a USB cable (plugged into the wall or your PC). Charging times aren't much worse than an external charger (155 minutes), but you lose the convenience of being able to have a spare battery charged at all times. An faster, external charger -- model name BC-TRX -- should be available at some point soon.
And speaking of optional extras, here's a table showing the small set of available accessories:
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A pretty typical selection for a compact camera. The only thing missing here is an underwater case.
I should add that Sony's online store sells an RX100 bundle that includes the camera, an extra battery, the LCD cover and jacket case, and a 16GB SDHC card for $799.
Moving onto the bundled software now, Sony includes two products with the RX100: PlayMemories Home (Windows only) and Image Data Converter (Mac and Windows). PlayMemories Home (formerly Picture Motion Browser) is a pretty standard photo organizing/sharing suite. In addition to importing photos from the camera, it can also share them via e-mail, prints, and on photo/video sharing websites. Editing tools include redeye reduction, brightness/saturation/tone curve, and sharpness. There's also an Auto Correct function which attempts to fix things with a single click. While PMB can view RAW files, it cannot edit them. For that, you'll need to use the next product.
That product is Image Data Converter, which can edit a number of RAW properties, including white balance, Creative Style, D-Range Optimizer, noise reduction, and exposure. IDC has a "version stack" that lets jump back in time to older iterations of the photo you're working on. My only real complaint is that it's a bit slow to process adjustments. If you'd rather use Photoshop for editing RAW files, you'll need to wait for Adobe to update their Camera Raw plug-in to support the RX100.
Sony uses two different codecs for video recording on the RX100: AVCHD and MPEG-4. PlayMemories Home can be used to view videos produced by the camera, and it can remove unwanted footage from your clip, and save the results as an MTS (AVCHD) file. While it can convert videos to WMV format, they'll be VGA quality. PMH can also burn videos to Blu-ray or DVD discs. Mac users can edit both MPEG-4 and AVCHD videos with ease, using iMovie or Final Cut Pro X. Do note that not all third-party video editing suites will be able to work with the AVCHD Progressive (1080/60p) video files that the RX100 can produce.
Despite being a premium compact camera, the RX100 still gets the budget treatment when it comes to documentation. Inside the box is a leaflet with enough information to get you up and running. If you want more information, you'll have to load up the full manual, which is a bunch of pages on Sony's website. In addition to being very inconvenient to view, the online manual isn't terribly user-friendly, either. Instructions for the included software will be installed onto your PC.
Design & Features
The Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is a stylish and compact camera with a premium feel. The body is made entirely of metal, giving it a very solid feel (as it should for $650). Ergonomics aren't quite as nice. There's no grip on the front of the camera, which would've made holding this slippery camera a lot more comfortable. The customizable ring around the lens doesn't protrude very far from the camera, which makes it hard to get ahold of. Finally, the buttons on the back of the camera are small and a bit cramped.
As you can see from the photo above, the RX100 is quite small, especially when you factor in the large sensor and fast lens. Here's how it compares against other premium compacts:
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The RX100 is one of the smaller and lighter cameras in the group. It should fit into most of your pockets with relative ease.
Let's tour the RX100 now, using our tabbed interface:
While most of the attention that RX100 has been getting has been about its sensor (which I'll touch on in a moment), let's not overlook its lens, either. This 3.6X optical zoom Carl Zeiss T* lens has a maximum aperture range of F1.8 - F4.9. That's quite "fast" at the wide-angle end, and about average at full telephoto. A fast lens lens in more light and offers better background blurring than typical lenses. The focal range of the lens is 10.4 - 37.1 mm, which is equivalent to 28 - 100 mm. The lens is not threaded, so conversion lenses and filters are not supported.
As you'd expect from a camera in this category, the RX100 has an optical image stabilization system, which Sony calls SteadyShot. This reduces the risk of blurry photos, and will smooth out your movies, as well. Speaking of movies, there's a special "active" mode that provides additional shake reduction when recording videos.
Behind the lens is the RX100's now famous 1-inch, 20.2 effective Megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor. The only fixed-lens camera with larger sensor is the Canon PowerShot G1X, which definitely won't fit in your pocket.
At the upper-right of the photo is the camera's pop-up flash, which is released electronically. Despite its small size, the working range of the flash is very high: 0.3 - 17.1 m at wide-angle, and 0.6 - 6.3 m at telephoto. If you're clever you can tilt the flash back with your finger and bounce it off of the ceiling, which gives you more pleasant results in most cases. The RX100 does not support an external flash.
The last thing to see on the front of the camera is the AF-assist lamp. In addition to serving as a focusing aid in low light, this lamp also illuminates when the self-timer and Smile Shutter features are being used.
The DSC-RX100 has one of the nicest LCDs that you'll find on a compact camera. This 3-inch display packs 1.23 million pixels, so everything is incredibly sharp. It actually has the same number of red, green, and blue pixels (921k) as your typical high res LCD, but its "WhiteMagic" technology throws in additional white pixels as well. This technology allows for either a 50% increase in brightness, or a 50% reduction in battery consumption (you can choose between the two in the setup menu). I found both outdoor and low light visibility to be very good.
Unlike the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 or the Olympus XZ-1, the RX100 does not support an electronic viewfinder.
Moving onto buttons now, you'll find the dedicated movie recording button at the upper-right of the photo. Below that we have the Function button, to which you can assign up to seven camera settings, and the menu button.
Below those is the combination four-way controller / scroll dial. The dial is used for menu navigation, adjusting the exposure, and replaying photos. The four-way controller does many of the same things, plus offers direct access to the drive, flash, exposure compensation, and Photo Creativity options. Pressing "up" on the controller toggles the information shown on the LCD. If you want the directional buttons to do something else, you can redefine their function in the custom settings menu.
The final two buttons are for entering playback mode, viewing the in-camera guide (more on that later), and deleting a photo.
I want to begin our discussion of the items on the top of the RX100 with the "control ring" around the lens barrel. The function of the ring varies depending on the shooting mode: it adjusts the zoom in the auto modes, Program Shift in "P" mode, and the aperture and/or shutter speeds in their respective manual modes. You can also redefine its function, to instead handle things like exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, Creative Style, or Picture Effect.
Moving back to the camera body, you'll find the flash (closed here) on the left, with the stereo microphones in the middle of the photo (no hot shoe here).The power button sits just to the right of the microphone.
Next up we have the usual shutter release button / zoom controller combination. The zoom controller moves the lens from wide-angle to telephoto in about 1.6 seconds. I counted at least seventeen steps in the camera's 3.6X zoom range.
That leaves us with the mode dial, whose options I'll tell you about following this tour.
There's nothing to see on this side of the RX100. The lens is at wide-angle position here.
On the right side of the camera, under a plastic cover, is the camera's micro USB port. If you're wondering where the HDMI port is, hit the next tab.
The lens is at full telephoto here.
On the bottom of the RX100 you'll find its HDMI port (why they couldn't put it on the side of the camera is beyond me), metal tripod mount (hidden from view here), and the memory card/battery compartment.
The door over the memory/battery compartment is fairly sturdy. Due to the proximity of the tripod mount, you won't be able to open this compartment while you're using a tripod.
The included NP-BX1 lithium-ion battery can be see at right.
The view on the LCD can be pretty crowded; an electronic level and live histogram are also available
Let's continue now with a look at camera functions that are controlled by buttons or dials. I already mentioned the control dial around the lens, which can be used to adjust a variety of things. I just wish it was a bit easier to grab ahold of.
The function menu in action
The Function button opens up the RX100's shortcut menu, and you can put up to seven camera settings into it, with plenty of options to choose from. When the menu is opened, you use the left/right directions of the four-way controller to move through your chosen functions, and either of the dials on the camera will select the setting you want.
Now let's talk about the items you'll find on the RX100's mode dial. There are plenty of options to choose from, so grab that cup of coffee!
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If you want a "set it and forget it" experience, then set the virtual mode dial to the Intelligent or Superior Auto positions. There, the camera will pick one of eleven scene modes automatically. It can even tell when you're using a tripod, and will use lower sensitivities to keep noise levels down. If you're using Superior Auto mode, the camera will use multi-shot modes like Anti Motion Blur and Backlight HDR to improve photo quality.
Background defocus is just one of the things you can adjust in Photo Creativity mode
Both Auto modes offer Sony's Photo Creativity Mode, which lets you easily adjust background defocus (aperture), brightness (exposure compensation), color (white balance), and vividness (saturation), without having to know any technical jargon. Another part of the Photo Creativity Mode are Picture Effects, which include toy camera, pop color, retro photo, partial color, high contrast mono, miniature, and more. Picture Effects can be used in the manual shooting modes and while recording movies.
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Something else that you'll find in Intelligent and Superior Auto mode are context-sensitive shooting tips, which you can see by pressing the button with the question mark on the back of the camera. An example is that if the camera has decided that you're taking a macro shot, all of the shooting tips will be about taking close-up photos. In other shooting modes you'll be able to browse through a larger list of tips, and if you want to see all of available tips, you'll find them in the menu.
A sweep panorama of Tahoe Meadows above Incline Village, NV
One of my favorite features on Sony cameras is Sweep Panorama, which you'll find right on the mode dial. This lets you "sweep" the camera from one side to the other, with a huge image produced almost instantly. You can choose from normal or wide sizes (no high res option here), and the results look great, as you can see above. Unlike most other Sony cameras, the RX100 does not produce 3D panoramas (or 3D images in general, for that matter).
Taken with Handheld Night Scene, ISO 3200
The other feature I want to mention doesn't have its own spot on the mode dial like on most Sony cameras. Instead, you'll find Anti Motion Blur (and its cousin, Handheld Night Scene) in the scene mode menu. This feature takes six exposures in less than a second, and combines them into a single image. The resulting image is generally sharp and blur-free, with less noise than if you just took the shot at a high ISO. That said, don't be surprised if you see a lot of noise when viewing photos at 100% on your computer, especially if they're low light shots like the sample above.
I'll tell you about another favorite feature of mine -- HDR -- in just a moment.
Naturally, the Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 also has full manual exposure controls, plus numerous custom white balance options, bracketing for WB and exposure, and support for the RAW image format. Fans of manual focus will also enjoy the handy focus peaking feature, which helps ensure that your subject is sharp. And don't forget about the customizable Function button and the Memory Recall spot on the mode dial, either!
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| The RX100's menus look great on the super-high resolution LCD | A description for each menu option is available |
The DSC-RX100 has a traditional menu system, rather than the more clunky system found on Sony's NEX models. The menus look great on the RX100's super sharp screen, and navigation is easy. The only complaint I have is that some menu items will through you out of the menu system after you've made a selection, rather than returning you to where you were. If you have a question about any of the menu options, just press the question mark button, and a help screen will appear.
Here are the most interesting options in the menu related to still shooting:
- Image quality: choose from standard or fine JPEGs, RAW, or RAW + JPEG; a fine quality JPEG will run you about 11.8 MB, while a RAW image weighs in at a healthy 22.7 MB
- Drive mode: here's where you access the burst modes, self-timer, and bracketing options; self-timer modes include a handy one or two person self-portrait option; I'll have more on the burst modes later
- Focus mode: choose from single, continuous, direct manual (AF+MF), or full manual focus
- Autofocus area: choose from 25-point auto, center, or flexible spot; the last option lets you select any area in the frame on which to focus; the RX100 also features an object tracking mode which you activate by pressing the center button of the four-way controller
- Face detection/registration: not only can the RX100 detect faces (up to eight in a scene), it can register specific ones; when those people show up in the frame, they will be given focus priority
- Smile Shutter: taken from Sony's point-and-shoot cameras, this feature will have the RX100 wait until someone in the frame is smiling before taking a photo; the sensitivity is adjustable, so you can really make people smile for the camera
- Auto Portrait Framing: analyzes a photo with a person in it and saves an additional image with more appealing composition; do note that the camera is interpolating the images back up to 20 Megapixel after they're cropped, which may reducing image quality
- ISO sensitivity: select from Auto ISO (you can set the min/max values used), manual (80 - 6400), or multi-frame noise reduction, which combines six exposures into one to reduce noise (choose from Auto or ISO 80 - 25600 here); do note that the default ISO is 125, and that using the lower values may result in highlight clipping
- White balance: choose from numerous presets, set the color temperature, or use a white or gray card in custom mode; all of these settings can be fine-tuned to your liking, and a bracketing function is also available
- DRO/Auto HDR: improves image contrast in two different ways. DRO breaks the scene into smaller areas and adjusts the contrast for each of them separately; HDR combines three exposures into a single photo; more below
- Creative Style: a "style" contains image parameters for contrast, saturation, and sharpness; there are six presets on the RX100 (standard, vivid, portrait, landscape, sunset, black & white), all of which can be fine-tuned to your heart's content
- Clear Image Zoom: boosts the focal range by up to 2X (at full resolution), with a minimal decrease in image quality (see example below); if you reduce the image size, more zoom power can be used
- Shooting Tip list: view all of the RX100's tips here
- Redeye reduction: turns on the pre-flash redeye reduction system
- Peaking level/color: when manually focusing, this feature sharpens the edges of in-focus areas of a photo; choose the intensity and color used here
- Control Ring: choose what the ring around the lens does; there's the default options, choices like exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, and zoom, or you can turn the whole thing
- Function button: choose which menu items you want in your shortcut menu
- Function of center button: choose from standard (depends on AF area setting), AE Lock toggle, AF/MF toggle, and focus magnifier
- Function of left/right buttons: nearly any menu option can be assigned to the left and right directions on the four-way controller
- MF assist: whether the frame is enlarged when manually focusing
I want to talk about a couple of those features, and I'm going to begin with the D-Range (dynamic range) Optimizer, or DRO. This feature breaks the scene into smaller areas, and adjusts the contrast in each of them individually. The goal is better overall contrast, and the example below shows you how well the feature works. You can choose from Auto DRO, or you can adjust the intensity manually from level 1 to 6.
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| DRO Off View Full Size |
DRO Auto View Full Size |
DRO Lv 1 View Full Size |
DRO Lv 2 View Full Size |
DRO Lv 3 View Full Size |
DRO Lv 4 View Full Size |
DRO Lv 5 View Full Size |
As you can see, the D-Range Optimizer brightens up shadows quite nicely, though it doesn't do anything for highlight clipping. For most purposes, using the Auto setting is just fine.
Attached to the DRO option is one of my favorite features -- HDR (high dynamic range). In this mode, the camera takes three photos in rapid succession -- each with a different exposure value -- and then combines them into a single image with dramatically improved contrast. You can let the camera automatically choose the exposure interval (which is the default setting), or you can adjust it yourself, from 1EV to 6EV. The camera shoots so quickly that no tripod is needed in most cases. The example below shows you a scene taken with and without HDR:
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| DRO Off View Full Size Image |
HDR ±4EV View Full Size Image |
That strongly backlit photo looks a lot better when HDR is used, doesn't it? The only problem here is that people appear more than once (it's three exposures, remember), but it's a small price to pay for a real improvement in image quality.
The last feature from the menus that I want to mention is Clear Image Zoom. This boosts the focal range of your attached lens by up to 2 times with less image degradation than regular digital zoom. The example below shows how much zoom you get from this feature, and if you view the full size photos, you can see what happens to the image quality.
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| Full telephoto (100 mm) View Full Size Image |
Full telephoto + 2X Clear Image Zoom (200 mm) View Full Size Image |
While there's no doubt that you get a noticeable increase in zoom power using Clear Image Zoom, the drop in image quality is quite evident when you view the images at 100%. This feature is best suited for small and mid-sized prints, and at the lower end of the ISO range.
Let's "move" on to the RX100's movie recording talents now. The RX100 records Full HD video at 1920 x 1080 / 60 frames/second (60p) with stereo sound, at a bit rate of 28 MBps. You can keep recording for up to 29 minutes, for which you'll need an 8GB memory card. If, for some reason, you want interlaced video, a 1080/60i setting is also available, with bit rates of 17 and 24 MBps.
While AVCHD movies look great on your HDTV, editing and sharing them isn't so easy. Heck, just finding them on your memory card is a pain. Thankfully, Sony also supports the MPEG-4 codec, which is much easier to work with. The bad news is that there are two resolutions available with MP4: 1440 x 1080 and 640 x 480 (both at 30 fps), and recording ends when the file size reaches 2GB.
As you'd expect from this high end camera, you can use the optical zoom while you're recording a movie. Continuous autofocus will keep everything in focus as you adjust the zoom, or if your subject is moving around. The image stabilizer is also available to keep things looking smooth.
The RX100 offers full manual controls in movie mode, and you'll need to switch to the movie spot on the mode dial to get to them. There you can adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity. A wind filter is also available. If you want to apply a Picture Effect to a movie you're recording, you can do that too.
One other thing the DSC-RX100 allows it for still shooting while a movie is being recorded, though only at 1080/60i or below. The resolution of the images can be up to 17 Megapixel.
Below is a not-very-exciting sample movie taken at the local train station. I converted the video below from AVCHD to QuickTime format using Final Cut Pro. If you'd like to download the original MTS file, it's available as well.
Click to play converted movie (1920 x 1080, 60 fps, 50.9 MB, QuickTime/H.264 format)
Click to download original MTS file (42.9 MB)
Maybe it's just me, but the video looks a little on the soft side.
The RX100 has an unremarkable playback mode, with no editing features to speak of, for either stills or videos. An annoyance that's been inherited from Sony's NEX models it that the camera separates stills and movies (even down to the codec level). What that means is that you can't flip through photos and videos at the same time. You have to either go to the playback menu or to the thumbnail screen (and the bar on the left) to switch between stills, AVCHD movies, and MP4 movies.
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By default, the camera doesn't show you much information about your photos. However, if you press "up" on the four-way controller, you'll get a lot more, including histograms and a display of over/underexposed areas of your photo.
There's no delay when moving between photos on the RX100. You can use the four-way controller or the scroll wheel to flip through them. If you've enlarged an image, you can use the rear dial to switch photos while maintaining the same zoom/location settings.
Performance & Photo Quality
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is certainly no slouch in the performance department. The table below summarizes its performance in various areas:
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With the exception of its average flash recharge speed, the RX100's performance is at the top of its class. You'll do very little waiting when using this camera.
The DSC-RX100 has two burst modes: "regular", and speed priority. Here's what kind of numbers I was able to get out of the camera using a fast memory card:
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Even though I couldn't hit the RX100's advertised top speed of 10 frames/second, 8.8 fps is still very good for a compact camera. The RX100 has a substantial amount of buffer memory, so it can keep shooting for quite a while before things slow down (a lot). Buffer clearing times can be in the 5 - 10 second range when shooting bursts of RAW images, though this only prevents you from taking another burst at full speed, or entering playback mode. The image on the LCD keeps up with the action fairly well.
Enough numbers and tables -- let's talk photo quality now!
Our macro test subject looks fantastic. Colors are super-saturated, the subject is sharp, and there's no noise to be found. I did have to use more exposure compensation than I normally do, but that's a minor issue.
The RX100 doesn't have a macro mode that you turn on, like on some cameras -- it's automatic. The minimum distance to your subject is 5 cm at wide-angle and 55 cm at telephoto.
The night shot turned out fairly well, too, though there's a fair amount of highlight clipping at the "low" ISO setting of 80 (which doesn't really improve at ISO 200). While I used manual exposure control to bring in enough light, you can let the camera do it automatically using the Auto or Scene modes. The photo is sharp for the most part, save for a bit of softness near the edges. There isn't any noise here (nor would I expect any), and purple fringing levels are low.
Let's use this same night scene to see how the DSC-RX100 performed at higher ISOs:
ISO 80 |
 ISO 100 |
 ISO 200 |
 ISO 400 |
 ISO 800 |
 ISO 1600 |
 ISO 3200 |
 ISO 6400 |
The first three crops look nearly identical. Noise first becomes noticeable at ISO 400, but it's not too bad. That trend continues one stop higher, with detail loss now becoming an issue. Even with that, a mid-sized or perhaps larger print is still very possible. The ISO 1600 has pretty obvious detail loss, so I'd stop here (and stick to small prints), or switch to RAW. The top two sensitivities -- ISO 3200 and 6400 -- are best avoided, at least if you're using JPEGs. Do note that you can use Multi Frame NR at higher ISOs (though not when shooting RAW images, which I was doing here), which may result in slightly better high ISO images.
Normally I like to have a RAW vs. JPEG comparison in this spot, but since Photoshop doesn't read the RX100's RAW files yet, I cannot. Once it can, I will update this section of the review.
| ISO 1600 |
JPEG, straight out of the camera |
 RAW -> JPEG conversion (Adobe Camera Raw 7.2) |
 RAW -> JPEG conversion + NeatImage + Unsharp Mask |
| ISO 3200 |
JPEG, straight out of the camera |
 RAW -> JPEG conversion (Adobe Camera Raw 7.2) |
 RAW -> JPEG conversion + NeatImage + Unsharp Mask |
While not mind-blowing, the RAW conversion do look better than the original JPEGs, in two areas. First, there's a bit more detail captured (though noise is the trade-off). Second, there's slightly less highlight clipping, and you can recover even more detail if you do more than a straight conversion (which is what I always do in this test).
I'll show you another RAW vs. JPEG comparison in a moment.
[Night RAW comparison added 10/9/12]
Compact cameras always have trouble with redeye, and the RX100 is no exception. The only redeye reduction method it has is to fire the flash a few times before taking a photo, which rarely works in practice. Since there's no removal tool in the bare-bones playback mode, you'll have to remove this annoyance on your Mac or PC.
There isn't much barrel distortion at the wide end of the RX100's 28 - 100 mm lens. This photo gives you an idea of the effects of this distortion in the real world. While vignetting wasn't an issue, you will encounter some corner blurring at times (see example).
Now it's time to see how the RX100 performed in our studio ISO test. Since these photos are taken under consistent lighting, you can compare the results with those from other cameras I've reviewed over the years. Let's see how the camera performed across its full ISO range:
 ISO 80 |
 ISO 100 |
 ISO 200 |
 ISO 400 |
 ISO 800 |
 ISO 1600 |
 ISO 3200 |
 ISO 6400 |
 ISO 6400 (Multi Frame NR) |
 ISO 12800 (Multi Frame NR) |
 ISO 25600 (Multi Frame NR) |
Everything is buttery smooth through ISO 800, with a tiny bit of noise appearing at ISO 1600. Noise levels remain quite low at ISO 3200, and even ISO 6400 is usable. If you turn on the Multi Frame NR feature you can shoot as high as ISO 25600 (though only for JPEGs). There's a slight improvement at ISO 6400 if you use that feature, but I'd pass on the top two sensitivities, as they're far too soft and noisy to be usable. The RX100 definitely impressed here, posting some of the best test results I've seen from a compact camera.
Let's do the same RAW vs. JPEG comparison that I performed in the night shot section. This time, I'll be working on cleaning up the ISO 6400 image with some easy post-processing in Photoshop:
| ISO 6400 |
JPEG, straight out of the camera |
 RAW -> JPEG conversion (Adobe Camera Raw 7.2) |
 RAW -> JPEG conversion + NeatImage + Unsharp Mask |
As you can see, the RAW image is noisier than the original JPEG, but it has quite a bit more detail as well. After running the image through NeatImage, a good portion of that noise is removed. Colors are quite a bit more punchy in the RAW conversion, as well. If you're shooting at the high end of the ISO spectrum, then it's well worth switching over to RAW.
[RAW comparison added 10/9/12]
Overall, the Cyber-shot RX100's photo quality is excellent. It's as close as you'll get to having an interchangeable lens camera or D-SLR in your pocket (the Canon PowerShot G12 is also very good, but is huge by comparison). The only real problem I had with the camera is occasional highlight clipping, especially if you're using ISO 80 or 100 (the default is actually ISO 125). Colors were nice and saturated outdoors, though photos taken in artificial light had a slight brownish cast (use WB compensation to get around that). Sharpness was just how I like it, with just a bit of blurring as you near the edges and corners of the frame (at wide-angle). As I just illustrated in the tests above, the RX100 keeps noise levels extremely low, until you hit ISO 800 in low light and ISO 3200 in good light. Try that on your typical compact camera! I did not find purple fringing to be a major issue.
I've got not one, but two galleries of photos taken with the DSC-RX100. Browse our standard or Lake Tahoe galleries and decide for yourself how the image quality looks!
Conclusion
While it's not perfect, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is the closest thing to having an SLR-in-your-pocket that I've seen yet. While Canon tried the big sensor in a fixed lens camera thing with the PowerShot G1 X, that model is ungainly, to say the least. The RX100, on the other hand, is a sleek, all metal camera that fits in your jeans pocket. It's well put together, though there are a few design foibles, in this reviewer's opinion. First and foremost, this slippery camera needs some kind of grip -- badly. While I like the customizable ring around the lens, it doesn't protrude very far from the body, making it difficult to get ahold of. The tight controls and bottom-mounted HDMI port also take some points off of the RX100's otherwise high score.
The RX100 features an F1.8-4.9, 3.6X optical zoom Carl Zeiss T* lens, equivalent to 28 - 100 mm. While it's very fast on the wide end of the focal range, it's closer to average when you hit full telephoto. Sony's Optical SteadyShot system helps reduce blurry photos while smoothing out your movies. The real selling point of the RX100 is what's behind the lens, and that's its 1-inch, 20.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor. This sensor is roughly 4 times larger than what you'll find in a typical compact camera, which is why the RX100 blows the doors off of those cameras in the image quality department. On the back of the camera is a 3-inch LCD display that packs a whopping 1.23 million pixels. Naturally, everything looks brilliant -- and outdoor / low light visibility is good, too. The RX100 does not support a viewfinder or an external flash (though it has a decent one built in).
Most of Sony's popular features can be found on the Cyber-shot DSC-RX100. For point-and-shooters, that includes two Auto modes which will select a scene mode for you, with Superior Auto mode also using multi-shot features that reduce image blur and noise. Other handy automatic features include Anti Motion Blur (and its sibling, Handheld Night Scene) and Sweep Panorama. You can use the D-Range Optimizer feature to brighten shadows, and the HDR feature to improve contrast in heavily backlit photos. There are plenty of manual controls available too, including those for shutter speed, aperture, white balance, and focus. Manual white balance adjustments, focus peaking, and an electronic level are also available. Naturally, the RAW image format is supported. The control ring around the lens normally controls things like exposure or zoom, but plenty of other choices are also available. The RX100 also offers a customizable Function (shortcut) menu, and several buttons on the back of the camera can have their function redefined, if you wish. In movie mode you can record Full HD video at 1080/60p with stereo sound, use of the optical zoom, continuous autofocus, and manual exposure control. After all that good stuff, I find the RX100's playback mode to be quite lackluster, with no editing features of note, and stills separated from movies.
You'd expect a premium compact camera like the DSC-RX100 to be responsive, and it doesn't disappoint in that area. The startup time is around 1.6 seconds, focusing speeds are some of the best you'll find, and shutter lag was not noticeable. Shot-to-shot speeds hang around the 1 and 2 second mark, for JPEG and RAW respectively, with a delay of 3 seconds between flash photos. Continuous shooting speeds topped out at 8.8 frames/sec for JPEGs and 4.6 frames/sec for RAW, and the healthy amount of buffer memory keeps things going for around fourteen shots per burst. Battery life was tied for the number one spot in the premium compact category. I will point out that the internal charging system Sony uses isn't great for folks who like to have a spare battery always on hand.
Photo quality is about as good as you'll find on a compact camera. The RX100 takes sharp photos with vivid colors, and very little noise. The camera will clip highlights at times, though avoiding ISO 80 and 100 will reduce that problem. Noise is kept well under control until you hit ISO 800 in low light, and ISO 3200 in good light. In good light you can even get away using ISO 6400, which would look like an impressionist painting on most compact cameras. The other problem I had with the RX100 is redeye -- it's pretty bad. Unfortunately, there's no removal tool on the camera, so you'll have to fix this annoyance on your PC.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is easily one of the top compact cameras on the market. For those looking for a pocketable companion to their interchangeable lens camera or D-SLR: here it is. At $650, it's not cheap, and the fact that you have to visit Sony's website to view the manual drives me nuts. Even so, those issues, along with the others I raised above, aren't even close to keeping me from giving the RX100 my highest recommendation.
What I liked:
- Excellent photo quality in a compact package; noise performance blows other compacts out of the water
- Fast F1.8-4.9, 28 - 100 mm Zeiss lens
- Ultra-sharp 3-inch LCD display, with good outdoor and low light visibility
- Full manual controls, including RAW support; focus peaking feature comes in very handy when manually focusing
- Intelligent and Superior Auto modes make point-and-shoot photography a snap
- Robust performance
- Customizable ring around lens, buttons, menus, and more
- D-Range Optimizer and HDR features improve contrast at the push of the button
- Fun Sweep Panorama feature
- Continuous shooting as fast as 4.6 fps for RAW, 8.8 fps for JPEGs
- Helpful Shooting Tips and descriptions of each menu option
- Records Full HD video at 60p with stereo sound, use of optical zoom, and manual controls
- Above average battery life
What I didn't care for:
- On the expensive side
- Some highlight clipping
- Redeye a problem
- Needs a grip, badly
- Other design annoyances: control ring around lens hard to get ahold of, HDMI port located on bottom of camera, can't access memory card or battery when using a tripod
- Bare bones playback mode; can't view stills and movies at the same time
- Internal battery charging isn't for everyone
- Full manual is on Sony's website (and is not downloadable)
Some other premium compact cameras include the Canon PowerShot S100 (and the large-sensored, but bulky G1 X), Fujifilm X10, Nikon Coolpix P310, Olympus XZ-1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, and the Samsung EX2F.
As always, I recommend a trip to your local camera or electronics store to try out the Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and its competitors before you buy!
Photo Gallery
Check out our standard and Lake Tahoe photo galleries to see how the RX100's image quality looks!