Hands-on: The Sony RX1R II is a beast with an Achilles’ heel

There once was a hero from Greece …

In Greek myth, Achilles was a great hero and warrior. He was so badass that when his friend Patroclus was killed in battle, Achilles flipped out into beast mode, and killed so many of the enemy that a river god got pissed off, because all the bodies were choking his waters.

Achilles was even supposed to be invincible. When he was born, his mother Thetis dipped him into the mystical river Styx, but he was left vulnerable at the one part of the body where she held him, at his heel.

Achilles must have really wondered why his mom didn’t just switch legs when holding him, as he was finally killed by an arrow right to that heel. Because of this story, today we say that someone has an “Achilles’ heel” when referring to a strong person’s weakness.

Like Achilles, the Sony RX1R II is a beast in many ways. And like Achilles, the Sony RX1R II has a glaring vulnerability that will either make or break the camera for you. Here’s an early preview of the camera from my short time with it.

Sony RX1R II: The (mostly) good

I’m not kidding when I say the RX1R II is a beast. There are so many groundbreaking technologies packed into this unbelievably small body that it’s going to take a while to go through them.

It’s really small

First, it’s really compact, considering what it’s packing. This is a full-frame sensor camera that fits into the palm of your hand. It can comfortably fit into a daypack or messenger bag for easy carrying — not something I can say for a full-frame DSLR camera.

It has a crazy 42.4MP full-frame sensor

Didn’t seem that long ago that 36MP was enough to blow our minds. Now it seems like 50MP and 42.MP are the new normal. Even if you don’t have a horse in the megapixel race, you can’t deny the incredible detail you get from Sony’s astounding 42.4MP full-frame sensor.

This full-frame sensor is among the first series of backside-illuminated (BSI) full-frame sensors from Sony. While the name is silly, it refers to sensor technology that makes for higher quality images, especially in low-light.

While BSI sensors have become more commonplace in smaller cameras and smartphones, the 2015 series of A7 cameras, including the RX1R II, mark the first time that full-frame BSI sensors have been produced.

All this is technology. What do the pictures look like?

Mind-blowing. There’s so much detail and bite, thanks to the 42.4MP sensor, the ability to turn off the optical low-pass filter, and that ZEISS lens.

Note: The images shown here were shot in uncompressed raw, imported to DNG, processed to taste and then exported into JPEGs.

The images look truly life-like, and the RX1R II captures an incredibly wide dynamic range, even at higher ISOs. This gives you a wide latitude in post, but even when you push up the shadows and pull down the highlights, the final image manages to look natural, and not like a garish HDR file.

The ZEISS Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 lens is perfectly matched with the sensor, although it isn’t perfect. The lens is sharp, although not sharp corner to corner wide open. The falloff from the wide aperture is buttery smooth, but there does seem to a bit of chromatic aberration around the bright edges, and definitely slight barrel distortion.

I list these imperfections to be thorough, but really, the sum of the 42.4MP plus the ZEISS lens far, far outweighs these slight problems. I used to think that 42.4MP was overkill. But if this is the quality you can get from that, then consider me converted.

You can turn off the optical low-pass filter

Optical low-pass filters are both good and bad — yes, they reduce the amount of fine detail in a capture, but they also reduce the appearance of moire artifacts, which can ruin a perfectly good shot.

It used to be that you couldn’t choose; you either bought a camera with a filter (mostly every digital camera until the recent past), or bought one without. The RX1R II is the first camera where you can actually choose.

How crazy is it that the Sony RX1R II comes with an option — you can turn on the low-pass filter to stay safe while photographing repeating patterns, or you can turn it off for maximum detail. This, paired with 42MP of detail, gets you some seriously rich shots.

The auto-focus system is game-changing

Thanks to the hybrid combination of both phase and contrast detection technologies, plus the fact that it has 399 phase-detection AF points, the Sony RX1R II’s AF system is both astoundingly fast and accurate.

Sony is doing all sorts of wizardry that I’ve never seen before in a mirrorless or DSLR camera. In AF-C (AF-Continuous) mode, the AF frame animates to show you precisely where the focus will be, whether a big rectangle surrounding a person, small boxes around somebody’s eyes, or minute boxes for macro shots.

It locks on target when you half-depress the shutter, and animates locking on to the subject when you move the camera. It does sometimes lose the target, but I’ve found it to be accurate most of the time.

It’s also quick enough to sustain focus through multiple shots, as long as you’re in AF-C mode and half depress the shutter button throughout the shots.

It has a built-in electronic viewfinder

This one’s for the viewfinder purists. While you could buy an (expensive) electronic viewfinder (EVF) attachment for previous RX1s, the RX1R II comes with a pretty responsive, built-in, OLED EVF with a 2.3 million-dot resolution.

Finally comes with a battery charger in the box

Seriously. This is the first RX1R II that actually ships with a battery charger in the box. Previous RX1s shipped with a USB cable to charge the battery in the camera. If you wanted the privilege of charging your battery outside of the camera, you had to buy a battery charger yourself.

The new battery charger is quite clever

The new battery charger is actually quite a clever little thing. It charges via USB as well, so you can actually recharge your RX1R II battery using a portable battery pack.

Actually, you can also charge your RX1R II’s battery via an external battery pack through the camera’s the USB port, and use the camera at the same time. We wouldn’t recommend it, but hey, if you’re ever desperate on battery, it is an option.

Is it expensive?

The RX1R II’s list price is S$4,999, which rivals its megapixel count in amazing numbers. It’s dropping in at S$1,100 more than the original RX1. Is it expensive? Yes! Is it more expensive than the Sony A7R II, which has the same high-resolution sensor and hybrid AF system, lacks the ability to turn on an optical low-pass filter, but comes with a 5-axis image stabilizer, 4K video shooting and can swap lenses?

Well. The A7R II is listed at S$4,099, which costs S$900 less. But the A-mount 35mm f/1.4 G prime lens is listed at S$2,599, bringing the two together at S$6,698. It’s not a direct apples-to-oranges comparison, but it does show you that while the RX1R II is expensive, its price, when compared to its siblings, is not completely cray cray.

Sony RX1R II: The (few, but one critical) bad

The Sony RX1R II is mostly good, mostly incredible, actually, but it does have one critical flaw — an Achilles’ heel, plus a few other problems.

That name is a mouthful

I have no idea who comes up with the naming convention, but try saying RX1R II three times fast. Why not just make this the RX2?

No image stabilization

To make the RX1R II as small as it is, the camera doesn’t come with image stabilization. It might not sound like a big deal, but when you’re playing with 42.4MP worth of resolution, every little camera shake makes a big difference. You’re going to need to be extra tight with your shot discipline to make up for the lack of IS.

No grip

The RX1R II is a wee thing that costs a lot of money, so you want to be as careful with it as possible. Unfortunately, there’s hardly any grip on the thing.

The front rubber grip is flush with the body, and the rear thumb-grip is near non-existent. So it’s hard to hold on to the RX1R II and it always feels like it’s going to slip out of your hands.

No easy access to AF points

The RX1R II’s auto-focus system is solid. But there are times when you just want to take over the AF point yourself. Unfortunately the RX1R II has no option to do that, you have to switch Focus Area modes through the Fn menu, which takes you about two or more button presses depending on where you are.

The frustrating thing is that there almost is a way to quickly take command of the AF point. When you press the center button in the middle of the d-pad, the RX1R II lets you set an object to track using the center AF point.

But instead of taking the object you’re pointing to directly using the middle AF target, it guesses which is the subject that’s closest to the AF point, and it can miss. This is one place where Sony has tried to be too clever by half, and should just let the photographer dictate the focal point using the AF target he’s using to aim right at the subject.

Battery life is weak

This is what my entire article has been leading up to. Battery life is the RX1R II’s Achilles’ heel, and it is weak. It’s enough of an issue that this will either make or break the camera for you.

The RX1R II’s battery is rated for 200-220 shots per charge. That’s very low. And it’s actually gotten lower from the RX1’s rating of 220-270 shots per charge.

The Sony RX1R II’s nearest competitor, in spirit if not in specifications, is the Fujifilm X100T. Now, that camera actually fares a little low in the megapixels race today, with a 16MP APS-C sensor. The X100T’s battery is rated for 330 shots per charge, which already isn’t something to shout about, but think about this — it’s 50% longer than what the RX1R II can give you.

Now, I don’t know that every photographer is clamoring for 42.4MP worth of resolution. But it’s a safe bet that more, if not all, photographers will appreciate longer battery lives. A high-resolution sensor doesn’t help when the camera dies less than half a day into shooting.

The RX1R II only comes with one battery for S$4,999

At S$4,999, the RX1R II costs S$1,100 more than the RX1. For that price, and especially considering how the RX1R II has lower battery life, you’d think that Sony could do you a solid and slip in an extra battery in the box. Nope.

(My colleagues tell me that if you can drop S$4,999 for a camera, you can probably pony up US$49.99 [official list price] for an additional NP-BX1 battery. True, I suppose.)

The Sony RX1R II: What I’m really thinking about the camera will piss people off

There is no doubt that the Sony RX1R II is a technological marvel. Sony introduced more ground-breaking technologies in this one camera than some camera companies do in an entire year. You have to give them that.

And so far, the Sony RX1R II has been getting some rave reviews.

And yet. And yet.

The low battery life is a real deal-breaker, at least for me. A game-changing camera that dies less than half a day in is just a black box that’s taking up space in the bag.

The RX1 had the same problem, but you’d think that with a problem of this magnitude, you’d try to at least keep the same low battery life in the sequels, not reduce it even further.

Maybe you can buy an extra battery and double the battery life to last the day. But really — for S$4,999, I think it’d be decent for the RX1R II to ship with two batteries instead of one.

That sums up the Sony RX1R II for me really. It’s a technological marvel, but not a very practical camera. A pretty heroic beast with a serious Achilles’ heel.

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