Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

Last updated: Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

Last Updated (21 May’13):
- Hands-on Review by DigitalRevTV

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is a 20.2 MP Exmor CMOS Sensor Digital Camera with 3.6x optical/7.2x Clear Image Digital Zoom. It features Bright F1.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens with 3.6x zoom, P/A/S/M modes, JPEG and RAW image shooting, Full HD 1080/60p video recording with manual control, and a 3.0-inch Xtra Fine LCD display. The camera measures (W x H x D) 4 x 2.3 x 1.4″ / 10.2 x 5.9 x 3.6 cm and weight Approx. 8.5oz (240g) (Battery and Memory Stick Duo included). It sold with price of $648.00 at Amazon store.

Overall Rating: | Latest Price Info

Expert Reviews

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Reviews

Imaging-resource reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“the Sony RX100′s performance was really excellent for a high-resolution point & shoot. Autofocus is on par with even fast SLRs, prefocused shutter lag is very much in the top tier regardless of camera type, and Speed Priority burst mode was faster than most professional SLRs. While not quite as dramatic as Speed Priority burst mode, single-shot cycle times were very good as well.”
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Digitalcamerainfo reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“The excellence of the RX100 is two-fold: a great lens, plus a great sensor; same as every decent camera. Let’s start with the lens. Resolution test scores were astounding, and included some of the most impressive sharpness data we’ve ever recorded, compact camera or otherwise. Chromatic aberration is slight, plus any barrel distortion is corrected away automatically.”
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Trustedreviews reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“The Sony Cyber-shot RX100 is an excellent advanced compact that offers a near perfect blend of size, performance and image quality. At over £500 though the RX100 doesn’t come cheap, putting it into the same kind of price bracket as many CSCs and even some entry-level DSLRs.”
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PCMAG reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“The RX100 focuses fast and can capture images with a shallow depth of field, much like an interchangeable lens camera. And the 3.6x zoom lens is very sharp throughout the entirety of its zoom range.”
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Photographyblog reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“The 20.2 megapixel sensor provides excellent results from ISO 100-1600, with only the faster settings of 3200 and 6400 suffering from a little too much noise and smearing of fine detail. Chromatic aberrations are well controlled and colours a little dull but largely accurate, and the fast 3.6x lens is great for achieving that shallow DSLR-like depth-of-field and using the camera in low-light conditions.”
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CNET reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“The svelte shooter offers reliable programmed modes, customizable buttons, fast autofocus performance and good image quality packed in a sleek chassis which may appeal to enthusiasts and beginners alike. This is why we chose to award the RX100 our CNET Asia Editor’s Choice.”
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Popphoto reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“Sony’s Cyber-shot RX100 is a worthy entry in the field of high-end compacts. Even though we feel that the camera’s performance might have been better served keeping the pixel count down, we ended up with some great images.”
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Digitalcamerareview reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“At first blush the RX100 looks like a typical compact digital with outstanding autofocus acquisition and shutter lag times, terrific image quality and solid feel.”
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DCresource reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“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.”
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Ephotozine reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and writes;
“Image quality on the RX100 is excellent, with excellent all-round performance, images have good detail, low noise and excellent exposure. The camera has a wide range of features to improve results with a number of dynamic range enhancing modes as well as a built in multi-shot HDR mode.”
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Video Reviews

Sony DSC RX100 Hands-on Review by DigitalRevTV

Sony DSC RX100 vs Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Video Review by MarcsProductreviews

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Video Review by JohnSisonPhotography

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Video Review by Davomrmac

User Opinions

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 User Reviews

Best pocketable compact I’ve ever owned
“For the first time, a pocket camera gives me the quality I expect. Great detail, great low light abilities, fast operation, very customizable. I tried the Canon S95, the panasonic LX5, the Ricoh GRD. The RX100, while being similar in size, has a significantly better image quality.” – By Anzere
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Left me confused
“This camera is way better than buying any DSLR (around $700 range( and settling with cheap kit lens as RX100 has much faster and better lens than any kit lens that come with DSLRs. It will be almost impossible to be disappointed with picture quality this gem outputs.” – By kits from VA
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Best Compact Camera available 2012
“The reality is – that since getting the RX100 I have not used my dSLR camera once — it has all the features I normally use, is equally fast, and the IQ of the shots is stunning.” – By RonAnnArbor
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Great camera
“Yes, it is as good as they say it is. Solid controls, ergonomics, features and most importantly picture quality. I was a Canon S-series user for years, but RX100 is much more advanced in the same size package.” – By ALY
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I love the RX100
“I purchased this after having an HX9V for about a year. I do miss a large zoom but of course the trade off is a must faster lens (at the wide end) a larger sensor and just better pictures over all.. All of that aside, this cam is small, bright, fast, beautiful menus and I LOVE IT!” – By Paul Bosche
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The absolute best pocket camera in the market
“Overall, if you are an experienced hobbyist or a semi-professional photographer looking for a camera to take always with you, or a backup/alternative to your big clunky DSLR, don’t look any further. This is it.” – By Gerardo “GD”
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The 2nd to last camera I will ever buy
“The RX100 perfectly fits my above criteria and is really incredible – overall a great camera that somehow manages to cram a fast, wide-angle lens and a huge sensor into a tiny body… suffice it to say that it is fast and responsive and takes great pictures of fast-moving kids even in low light conditions.” – By Ted Shafer
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Unbelievable compact camera
“The built in carl zeiss lens delivers superb pictures with very good sharpness overall. I would definitely recommend this little beast to anybody who plans on upgrading their point and shoot camera as this give you pretty much most of the features that a dslr or micro four thirds camera has to offer except for the ability to change lenses.” – By Nash “HarshRocks”
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RX100 Expert Settings
“The bokeh is bit wooly especially toward the corners but there is in-camera correction of CA and distortion and the centers are terrific, which is fine. This isn’t the quality of an APS-C sensor camera like the Rebel, but it is better than any pocketable camera I know of. There is good and shallow DOF available at all focal lengths.” – By peederj
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Best Pocket Camera Ever Made
“This camera takes incredible photographs under all lighting conditions. The picture quality rivals good entry level DSLR cameras even at higher ISO settings.” – By Kenneth R. Shapiro
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A gamechanger. Ultimate, high quality vacation and anywhere cam
“I’ve had the camera for a little over a week now and I’m simply stunned. The quality of images and video out of this tiny marvel really does rival my Nex-7 for the most part. I can’t wait to be able to work with RAW files whenever Lightroom or Aperture support it. The JPEGs are quite good for now.” – By Wat
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State of the art pocket camera
“If you shoot RAW, the RX-100 is the first pocketable camera that gives you a real advantage with RAW. There is a noticeable difference in dynamic range. Use RAW and there’s more highlight headroom and you can pull more details out of the shadows.” – By Michael McKee
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Amazing little being
“Size of s100 with 1′ sony sensor, the auto-focus is super fast and very accurate, much much better than NEX-7, better than E-M5. lens is exceptional, f1.8 can be used but there maybe some halos in daylight, starts from f2.8 is razor sharp. Macro shoot is amazing.” – By Z. Wu “Ryan.W”
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Very decent pocket camera
“I will say that GF5 with the kit 14-24mm X lens produces picture very close to but not as sharp as RX100, particularly at ISO 1600 and onward. RX100′s boot and shutdown is around 3 seconds each. Wide angle at 28mm f/1.8 is really amazing, especially that it also have pretty short minimum focus range (roughly 10cm).” – By E. Leung
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Samples

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos @ Imaging-resource.com

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos @ Digitalcamerainfo

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos @ Amazon.com

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos @ Trustedreviews

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos @ Flickr.com

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos @ Photographyblog.com

- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Sample Photos @ DCresource.com

Manual

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 User Manual (PDF)

Click to view or right click and select Save Target As..(Firefox) or Save link as.. (IE) to download

- Download Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 User Manual (PDF – 10.21MB)

- Instructional Manual

Features

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Features

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 offers a 20.2 megapixel Exmor CMOS image sensor which excels to produce crisp and detailed images in extreme low-light conditions. It’s equipped with 7.2x Clear Image digital zoom and bright F1.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens with 3.6x zoom. The lens is able to provide refined background defocusing – bokeh, while the premium multi-layered T* coating also automatically reduces ghost and flare caused by light reflection.

This camera allows you to capture ultra high-definition still images in JPEG format, RAW format, or even both simultaneously. It also lets you record Full HD 1080p video at 60 frames per second (fps) and supports a full range of controls for video and still shooting that range from iAUTO to P/A/S/M. Not only that, it also offer Low-Light ISO 6400 Sensitivity to capture incredibly clear low-light pictures without sacrificing detail.

It has been improve the focusing speed and sensitivity by featuring the Exmor CMOS sensor which uses its rapid throughput to deliver high-quality image signals to the camera’s BIONZ processor, which makes the lens has high speed performance even in low-light situations. This camera is also able to capture full 20.2 megapixel resolution images at up to 10 frames per second which guarantee your decisive moment such as your baby trying to walk will be captured perfectly.

You can view your photos and videos on a 3.0-inch Xtra Fine LCD Display which offers high resolution up to 1,229k dots that makes the camera is easy to scroll through menus and preview life Picture Effects. The LCD monitor also comes with a WhiteMagic feature which increases visibility in bright daylight.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Highlight Features:

+ 20.2MP 1″ Exmor CMOS Low-Light Sensor

+ Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T Lens

+ Xtra Fine 3.0-inch LCD Display with WhiteMagic

+ Optical 3.6x Zoom & Digital 7.2x Zoom

+ Optical & Electronic Image Stabilization

+ Full HD 1080/60p Video Recording

+ Ultra-Fast 0.13 Sec High-Speed AF

+ Face Detection & 10 fps Burst Mode

+ Record Stills Using JPEG, RAW, or Both

+ Aluminum Body with Built-In Pop Up Flash

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