I never understand the rationale behind the so-called premium compact camera category. Given the high prices of premium compact cameras, you ought to be a pro to be wanting one and yet they are usually of fixed lens, which is a feature not preferred by pro shooters. Perhaps, it is much like a sidearm of a soldier? If it is, then the new Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VII Camera would be a pretty expensive sidearm.
Featuring a newly developed 1.0-type stacked 10.1 MP Exmor RS CMOS image sensor with DRAM chip and the latest generation BIONZ X image processor, Cyber-shot RX100 VII Camera promised a full-frame Alpha 9-level of performance that fits right into your pocket. Here’s a rundown of its key selling features:
• Alpha 9-level speed performance with up to 60 AF/AE tracking calculations per second and 20fps blackout-free shooting with AF/AE tracking
• World leading 357-point focal-plane phase-detection AF + 425-point contrast-detection AF with world’s fastest 0.02 sec high AF speed
• Real-time Tracking and Real-time Eye AF for humans and animals
• ZEISS® Vario-Sonnar T* 24-200mm F2.8 – F4.5 Large Aperture High Magnification Zoom Lens
• New ‘Single Burst Shooting’ Drive Mode at up to 90fps speed
• Pro-level movie functionality including 4K[xi] HDR (HLG), Real-time Tracking and Real-time Eye AF for movie shooting, 4K Active SteadyShot™,Vertical-position data recording for movies and integrated microphone jack
And it further features pro-level movie-making for on-the-go shooting, including:
• 4K in-body movie recording with full pixel readout and no pixel binning in high bit rate XAVCS™
• Real-time Tracking and Real-time Eye AF for video
• 4K Active SteadyShot that is 8x more effective than 4K Standard SteadyShot
• Integrated Microphone input
• Hybrid Log-Gamma (HDR) / S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3, S-Gamut3/S-Log3
• Compatibility with ‘Movie Edit add-on’ from the ‘Imaging EdgeTM’ mobile application for movie stabilization and editing
• Vertical-position data recording for movies
• Interval Shooting[xix] for stunning time-lapse videos
• Super Slow Motion[xx] recording at up to 1000fps
• 180-degree flip screen for ease-of use whilst vlogging
The new Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VII Camera is slated to ship in August 2019, priced at $1,198 and the RX100 VII Shooting Grip Kit, which was announced at the same time, will be shipping later in 2019 for around $1,300. Yikes. Definitely not an everyday consumer camera if you ask me. Hell, it would be stretch to call it prosumer because, I remember the last time a prosumer digital camera did not asked for a grand.
In any case if you are raring to have a go with this swanky, feature-loaded compact camera, you can pre-order a unit for the aforementioned $1,198 from Amazon and B&H Photo and Video.
All images courtesy of Sony.
