Sony Cyber-shot DSC RX1 Review | 108 Data compared

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 is a groundbreaking, premium compact camera featuring a 24.3MP full-frame sensor and a fixed 35mm F2 Carl Zeiss lens in a highly portable body, delivering exceptional image quality, wide dynamic range, and superb high ISO performance. Its, robust physical controls, including a dedicated aperture ring, and a near-silent leaf shutter make it an excellent tool for street photography. However, the camera suffers from sluggish, unreliable autofocus in low-light, a lack of a built-in viewfinder or image stabilization, and a high, premium price point. Additionally, the fixed-lens design lacks dust sealing, making it vulnerable to sensor dust, and the menu system is considered cumbersome.

The ⁠PCMag UK review highlights the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 as an exceptional, premium compact camera that sets a benchmark by packing a massive 24-megapixel full-frame image sensor and a fast Carl Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f/2 lens into a pocketable body. The camera's main pros center around its outstanding imaging performance, including gorgeous photo quality, sharp lens performance even when shooting wide open, and excellent high ISO capabilities in low-light environments. It features quick operation once running, offering fast burst shooting, minimal shutter lag, a highly customizable control layout, a dedicated physical aperture ring, and crisp 1080p60 video capture. Additionally, an innovative macro ring on the lens permits close-up focus down to 0.2 meters, maximizing its utility for enthusiast photographers seeking SLR-quality images without the accompanying bulk. PCMag UK However, the camera suffers from several notable cons that are primarily related to value, handling speed, and missing hardware essentials. The direct price of $2,799.99 is steep, and Sony's decision to omit a dedicated external battery charger—forcing users to charge the battery in-camera—is highly criticized for a luxury device. Furthermore, official accessories...

The Sony Cyber-shot RX1 is lauded as a groundbreaking compact, featuring a 24.3-megapixel full-frame sensor and a fixed Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 Sonnar lens, providing exceptional sharpness, rich color reproduction, and impressive high-ISO noise performance. The premium, compact magnesium alloy body offers physical controls and a dedicated aperture ring with a 20cm macro mode. Conversely, the camera lacks a built-in viewfinder, necessitating expensive external add-ons, and is hampered by limited battery life and relatively slow autofocus performance in low light. Despite its limitations, the RX1 is deemed an exceptional, high-quality tool for specialized street and landscape photography, though its high price point makes it a significant investment. The fixed, non-tilting 3-inch LCD screen is also noted as a limitation compared to newer models.

The Sony Cyber-shot RX1 is a highly unique 24-megapixel full-frame camera that stands out for its exceptional build quality, outstanding haptics, and a fixed, integrated 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss Sonnar leaf shutter lens. In terms of performance, the camera delivers remarkable image quality with highly usable ultra-high ISO ranges up to 6400, providing effective "shooting freedom" in low-light environments. Its leaf shutter makes operation nearly silent, offering incredible stealth for street and documentary photography. Additionally, the camera features a traditional manual aperture ring with solid detents, a highly configurable interface with custom dial positions, and an excellent Auto ISO implementation that smartly selects logical default limits for shutter speed and aperture. Despite its premium design, the camera suffers from several glaring design faults and economic omissions. On the physical side, the close-focus ring on the lens is easily turned by accident, the rear LCD screen lacks an articulated tilt hinge, and there is no built-in electronic viewfinder (EVF). Functionally, the video capabilities are hindered by a total lack of manual audio level controls, and Sony’s obtuse image review system stubbornly...

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 is a groundbreaking full-frame compact camera praised for delivering exceptional, class-leading image quality that rivals high-end medium format systems and elite setups like the Leica M. Priced at $2,800, its primary pros include an outstanding 24.3-megapixel sensor with an impressive 14.3 stops of dynamic range, excellent low-light performance up to ISO 25,600, and a perfectly matched, razor-sharp fixed Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 lens. Additionally, reviewers celebrate its robust alloy build, near-silent leaf shutter, pocketable form factor, and stealthy design, making it highly effective for street photography and photojournalism. However, the camera suffers from several notable cons, most notably its heavily flawed and disappointing video capabilities. The 1080p mode exhibits severe line skipping, heavy aliasing, and moiré, rendering the video quality worse than cheaper compact counterparts. Additional performance drawbacks include an autofocus system that is slow and bordering on unusable in low light, poor battery life inherited from smaller camera designs, and the lack of vital physical features like image stabilisation, an articulated screen, or a built-in ND filter. The manual focus peaking functionality is also inexplicably limited...

The What Digital Camera review of the Sony RX1 praises the full-frame compact for delivering DSLR-quality image performance, exceptional sharpness, and low-light capability in a small, robustly built body. Key advantages include accurate auto white balance and fast write speeds. Conversely, the review identifies significant drawbacks, specifically an autofocus system that hunts in low light, an overly sensitive exposure compensation dial prone to accidental adjustments, and poor battery life.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 is a compact, premium camera. It features a 24-megapixel full-frame sensor. It includes a sharp 35mm f/2 Zeiss lens. The physical aperture ring allows for instant adjustments. Generated images display exceptional edge-to-edge sharpness. Shutter lag is incredibly short at 0.15 seconds. It captures bursts at 5.2 frames per second. It delivers DSLR-quality images in a pocketable form. However, this premium performance comes with specific drawbacks. The camera is very expensive at $2,800. It starts up slowly, requiring 2.5 seconds. The control layout lacks full D-SLR flexibility. Final image detail drops heavily at ISO 12800. Despite these flaws, it earned an Editors' Choice.

The Amateur Photographer review highlights the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 as a groundbreaking, premium compact camera that brings a 24.3-million-pixel full-frame sensor and a Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 lens into a travel-friendly form factor. It delivers exceptional image resolution and low-light performance, featuring a tactile aperture ring, 5fps shooting, and a macro mode that allows for close-focusing down to 20 cm. However, the review notes significant limitations, including the lack of a built-in viewfinder, necessitating an expensive external accessory or reliance on the fixed rear LCD. Other drawbacks include slower autofocus in low light, the absence of image stabilization, a 1/2000s shutter speed limitation at f/2, and no modern Wi-Fi connectivity.