At the end of March, Sony announced the launch of the RX10 III – which features the same
1-inch sensor found in the RX100 IV. It comes with a mammoth-sized fixed lens
with an equivalent zoom of 24-600 mm and a 1-inch sensor capable of shooting
20.1 megapixel photos, burst speeds of up to 14 frames per second, and 4K video
with slow-motion capture of up to 960 frames per second. Though it’s not much
different than its predecessor, the RX10 II, the RX10 III’s long-zoom lens is a feature that is going to be tough to
come across for those in the high-end 35mm camera market. The camera is set to
launch this May at a price of $1,500.
The
star feature of this camera is that monster 24-600mm f/2.4-4 Vario-Sonnar T*
Zeiss lens. While there are limitations to having such a large lens (such as
compactness), the lens is still capable of taking photos with a nice shallow
depth of field at f/4 – even at a 600mm focal length. Sony’s new lens is also
capable of getting up those close-up, macro shots as little as 3 cm away from
the lens. That’s quite impressive for a prosumer camera, especially for one of
this size.
The
design of the camera has a striking resemblance to that of its predecessor, the
RX10 II: so if you were hoping for a fresh, new design, you’ll be sorely
disappointed. It’s got the look and feel of most prosumer range DSLRs with its hot
shoe on top of the built-in flash, mode dial, and a screen on top of the camera
body that shows basic information like ISO, shutter speed, and aperture f-stop.
It feels good in the hand (as any camera of this price caliber should). As a matter of fact,
there’s really no way to tell the two cameras apart unless you notice the lens
and extra Roman numeral added to the badge on the front of the body.
So the
real question is “what are you actually getting with the RX10 III?” For starters, both the RX 10 III and the RX 10 II have similar image quality, they record
4K video, and both have 20 megapixel 1.0 inch sensors. All you’re getting is a bigger lens and for $300 extra dollars, I don't think it's worth the investment. It’s not that the RX10 III is a bad camera, it’s just
that there's really nothing new about it. RX 10 II, for a couple of hundred dollars less, is just
as capable of a camera. If something more compact is what you’re looking for,
get the Sony RX100 IV.
