Sony RX100 viSony has introduced their sixth version of their compact enthusiast model, the RX100. I was an early adopter of the original RX100 in 2012, and it truly sparked a renewed interest in photography at the time. Now the RX100vi continues the line but the 2018 market is very different than existed in 2012. Should the photography enthusiast be considering the Sony RX100vi today? What are the advantages and what are the alternatives?
My History and Experience with the RX100
In 2012, my primary camera was still the Sony A100, which was getting very old in the tooth. The RX100 came along at a price tag of $650, very expensive for a compact camera back in 2012. But it promised near-dSLR quality in a package that could fit in your pocket.
My compact RX100
While the sensor size of the RX100 was still much smaller than an aps-c dSLR, it made up for it with a fast aperture lens. At the wide angle, equivalent to 28mm, the Sony RX100 featured an aperture of 1.8. This allows far more light into the camera than a typical dSLR kit lens, which makes up for the difference in sensor size. Ultimately, this allowed for low light capabilities that easily surpassed smart phones, typical compacts, and was very competitive with kit dSLRs.
The original Sony RX100 is still available for Amazon for under $400.
While I loved my RX100, I parted with it a couple of years ago. Back in 2012, aps-c mirrorless was still not entirely mature. Smart phones were decent in good light snapshots but useless for many situations. Things have changed. While the RX100 was pretty compact, it was still too big to fit in anything smaller than a large coat pocket. Meanwhile, smart phones have only gotten better. The iPhone 8 has a 12mp camera with a 1.8 aperture lens, and iPhone 8+ introduces a second camera with 2.8 lens to get effective 2x zoom. Combined with advanced processing, today’s smart phones have fantastic low light capabilities and can conveniently produce high quality snapshots. And most people are buying a good smart phone anyway, plus it really is pocketable. On the higher end, mirrorless cameras aren’t that much bigger than compacts. Comparing the Sony A6000 to the RX100 models:
RX100 vs A6000
Prior RX100 models and Recommendations
So where has the Sony RX100 model gone over the last 6 years and what models are still meaningful for an enthusiast?
- Original Sony RX100, equivalent range of 28mm to 100mm, fast 1.8 aperture but only at the wide end of 28mm. Now priced at $368. Hard to recommend a 6-year-old camera that won’t meaningfully out-shoot a new smart phone. But if you hate using your phone for photography and want a good stand alone camera, purchase it here.
- The Sony RX100ii updated the sensor to a BSI sensor, increasing image quality by a noticeable degree. Additionally, it added Wifi, a tilt screen and a hotshoe. As RX100 owners proved unlikely to start adopting hotshoe accessories, the hotshoe was dropped from later models. Priced currently at $548 on Amazon, I’m not sure the upgrades are worth nearly $200 more than the RX100 in today’s market. Therefore, I can’t recommend this model.
- Two critical changes were made with the Sony RX100iii. Most importantly, the lens got faster and wider, now with a 24-70mm/1.8-2.8 lens. Some would complain that the lens is shorter than the previous models, but I actually think gaining 4mm on the wide end is more critical than losing 30mm on the telephoto lens. You can always crop a bit to effectively get more reach but you can’t make an image wider in post processing. 24mm is truly useful for landscapes. High end enthusiasts and professionals will often rely extensively on 24-70mm lenses, so it is a focal range that can cover a lot of ground, from landscapes to street photography to portraits and more. While the sensor is the same as the prior model, the lens is much faster at the wide end. Meaning, when shooting in the 50-70mm range, you can ultimately obtain superior quality and low light performance. The second addition is a pop-up EVF. Unfortunately, it’s a small and uncomfortable viewfinder, but still a handy alternative if there is too much sun glare to use the LCD. Now priced at $648 on Amazon, it’s the same price as the original RX100 upon introduction. That makes it cheaper than an entry-mid level dSLR like the Canon Rebel T7i , same price as a Nikon D5500. Image quality can be very comparable to those cameras when they are using the kit lens. So if you want dSLR quality is a very compact package without the need to change lenses, I can still recommendSony RX100iii.
- Evolution of the camera continued with the RX100iv, with another new sensor. The new sensor offered only minor image quality improvements. (DXOMark testing here) More critically, the new sensor offered much faster speed, allowing for 16 frames per shooting, 4K video, and other high speed video improvements. For stills photography, I don’t think the upgrades were particularly compelling. If you shoot primarily stills, go get the RX100iii. But if you also do a lot of video, the RX100iv is an interesting option for under $800.
- Speed enhancements continued in the RX100v, now at 24 frames per second stills and an extensive phase detect autofocus system. My original Sony RX100 was no speed demon, but was perfectly usable for things like portraits and landscapes, the types of things for which I was most likely to use a small compact camera with a fairly short lens. The RX100v autofocus improvements make the camera much more capable for shooting action. But how much action is really being shot with a camera like this? 24 frames per second is an interesting parlor trick but not really valuable for users of this type of camera. Priced under $1,000:, you can purchase it on Amazon, you can assemble a much more powerful ILC kit for less money. For example, take the Sony A6000 with two-lens kit, the 16-50 and 55-210, now for under $650 Amazon (here), add the Sony SEL 50mm F/1.8 for under $250 underAmazon. (My review here) So now, for the same price as the RX100v, you have a fairly compact mirrorless APS-C camera with 3 lenses, giving you more range and far superior low light capability (thanks to the 50mm f/1.8 lens).
- That brings us to 2018. Smart phones have gotten far better, and have started to catch up to the capabilities of the RX100 line. The newest biggest iPhones even have a second lens effectively giving a focal length reach of 56mm, just slightly shorter than the recent Sony RX100 models.
The New Sony RX100vi…..
The main change to the Sony RX100vi is a new lens with a much longer range, now equivalent to 24-200mm. I dare say most ILC photographers, outside of serious sports and wildlife shooters, really live within this range. By going to 200mm, the RX100vi becomes capable of some telephoto shooting, whether for longer focal length portraits, candids, even a tiny bit of sports shooting.
But to me, this felt like a desperate attempt to stave off smart phones, as they started to become more and more competitive with the other RX100 models. While the focal length is indeed more handy it comes at a step cost: the lens is now an aperture range of 2.8 to 4.5, meaning a stop slower through the range. At 24mm, you are shooting the smaller aperture of 2.8 instead of 1.8, at 70mm you are shooting F4.5 instead of 2.8. This ultimately translates to more than one stop worse low light performance! This can be a serious impediment to image quality.
There are some other useful improvements for many shooters, the EVF now pops out automatically instead of needing to be manually pushed and pulled. Focus speed is further improved. The RX100vi now comes equipped with a touch selfie-LCD. (Features which I believe need to be added to a Sony A6000ii).
So you get a much longer lens and other improvements but you lose a significant amount of aperture.
As shown in this handy chart from dpreview:
[/caption]The RX100vi quickly becomes a slow-lens camera. From about 40mm and up, the full frame equivalent would be about F11!
One indirect benefit of a larger sensor, especially with a faster lens, is background separation. Don’t expect much background separation out of the RX100vi.
You can pre-order the Sony RX100 vi for on Amazon here.
I just can’t recommend it for most shooters. At that price, there are just so many superior cameras. But if you feel you need the focal range in the most compact camera possible, then it’s a reasonable purchase. It will still out-perform your traditional small sensor point and shoot cameras. (Today’s best smart phones can outperform those small sensor compacts which is why the camera makers have basically abandoned them).
But wait… an alternative RX…
The advantage of the RX100 series is the compactness — almost pocketable. In reality, it requires a large coat pocket, not a back pocket or shirt pocket. As I said above, you can get a far more capable ILC for less money. But there are people who don’t necessarily hate the size of a small ILC, they just don’t want to have to change lenses. Thus, if you are looking for the general convenience and performance of the RX100 series but don’t mind the size of a small ILC, it might be time to look at some of the RX10 models.
Sony RX10ii
The Sony RX10ii has the same 24-200mm range at the Sony RX100vi, but with a constant 2.8 aperture lens! Thus, it reclaims the one stop aperture advantage over the RX100vi, for the same $1198 price! (Sony RX10ii on Amazon). The body is indeed larger than the RX100 series, but that comes with better ergonomics and better viewfinder. It is much heavier than the RX100vi, at 800 grams versus 300 grams.
The RX100vi will give you compactness, faster performance and faster autofocus. The RX10ii will give you a faster better lens (resulting in better image quality and low light performance), while also giving better ergonomics.
But if you want range….
Sony RX10 III
200mm is indeed useful. As I said above, many photographers mostly shoot in the 24-200mm range. But if you really want to do any sports or wildlife, you very quickly become constrained by just 200mm.
At a cost of increased weight, now over 1000 grams, the Sony RX10 III introduced a 24-600 lens! A dSLR capable of 600mm would typically cost over $1500 and weigh over 1000 grams, just for the lens. On top of that, the lens aperture is 2.4-4. Overall, slightly faster than the RX100 vi. Suddenly the $1298 price tag looks quite reasonable. Thus, if it’s a matter of maximizing focal reach in a reasonably sized camera, with the convenience of not changing lenses, I can recommend the Sony RX10iii. Purchase on Amazon.
SOny RX10 IV
The problem with the earlier RX10 models is they still relied on contrast detect AF, not ideal for shooting fast action. The RX100vi has a much more advanced autofocus system but the ergonomics of the camera and even a focal range limited to 200mm, means most people probably aren’t using it for much fast action.
The RX10 IV combined the huge range of 24mm to 600mm to a fast phase detect autofocus system. It is now available for under $1700 on Amazon.
At $500 more than the RX100vi and RX10iii…. It’s a price at which you can get a far superior image quality full frame camera body (but you would still need to buy lenses). It’s hard for me to recommend any 1″ sensor camera at that price tag.
But, if you want to shoots sports and wildlife with all-in-one convenience, then this is the camera for you.
Summary of my recommendations
Compact camera for those who just don’t want to use their phone, the original Sony RX100.
Compact camera for those who want the best possible image quality and low light performance but don’t need a huge focal range, the Sony RX100iii.
Compact camera with the best possible image quality and low light performance for stills and video, the Sony RX100iv.
For the best image quality in the 24-200mm range and an ergonomically comfortable body, go with the Sony RX10ii.
For those looking for high image quality in an all-in-one camera with a range capable of covering sports and wildlife, get the Sony RX10iii or RX10iv.
