Sony RX1 - High Performance, Low Stamina

Introduction

The Sony RX1 is a technological marvel that we still can’t believe exists. Hold it in your hands and the camera looks like a large compact with an oversized lens, but inside this relatively small package beats a full-frame image sensor - the same large sensor that you find in much bigger DSLR cameras. In fact, it’s the smallest digital full-frame camera in the world. So you’re getting the same image quality from a compact camera as you’d get from the best DSLR cameras, and in high-resolution 24MP glory.

There are compromises of course. The RX1 is a fixed-lens camera with a 35mm f/2 lens; you can’t swap it out as with a DSLR – the only way you’ll zoom is to walk in. It’s a beautiful compromise though; 35mm is a classic focal length, not too wide, not too tight and its glass is from Carl Zeiss.

Even though you can shoot in bursts, there’s no Auto-Focus Continuous (AF-C) mode, the camera is stuck in AF-S (Single) mode. Another compromise is that there’s no viewfinder, electronic or optical. There are optional electronic and optical viewfinder attachments for sale, but those cost an arm and a leg; the EVF costs S$729 while the optical viewfinder costs a whopping S$829.

And that’s the last thing you should know before we dive into the review proper; the Sony RX1 is seriously pricey at S$3,999. The question is: Is it worth it?

Design & Handling

The RX1’s body is solid, and its understated design somehow looks retro, modern and premium all at once. The camera handles like a dream, with every control you need at your fingertips. There’s only one glaring problem, which we'll address right at the end.

The lens looks ridiculously oversized at first, but you quickly get used to it. In fact, we slowly grew to love the way it looks, from the aperture ring (it’s electronic, not mechanical), the clever macro switching ring and the orange highlight around the base of the lens. A little blue Zeiss logo by the side complements the orange, the lens hood (included with the camera) is beautifully engineered, and even the lens cap impresses. Made from aluminum, the lens cap has a solid weight and snaps into place smoothly. The lens has a clever macro AF switching ring in front of the aperture ring. To shoot in Macro mode, shift the focusing distance to 0.2m-0.35m, to switch back just shift it again to 0.3m-infinity.

The camera doesn’t offer much to grip onto, the front of the body is flat while the rear thumb-rest is small. The camera has a relatively balanced heft even with its protruding lens, thanks to that you’ll be able to retain your grip on it but we would worry about dropping the camera if someone bumped us (maybe its price-tag caused us to worry more than usual). To improve your hold, the camera comes with a thumb-grip attachment which attaches into the multi-interface shoe; it’ll obstruct the Play button and rear control dial when in use but can be rotated 180 degrees out to free the controls.

The shutter release feels perfect, with the right amount of tension when you go down to half-press. The shutter itself isn’t silent but is very close, you can hardly hear it close when it shoots, making the RX1 a quiet companion. The power switch is stiff enough not to accidentally trigger in the bag, and not too stiff to make it tough to switch. The AF/DMF/MF switch on the front of the body is another matter; it’s very stiff without much to grip on. That's a good thing when you don't want it to change by accident, a bit of a wrestle when you do want to change it.

Even though the camera has a simple design, everything you need is right there on the camera body, and using it is a pleasure. Aperture is dictated by the aperture ring around the lens, and shutter speed is controlled via the rear control dial, which may look small but is actually quite easy to use. An exposure compensation dial takes care of any EV adjustments, and a useful customizable button sits above that. Even the AEL (Auto Exposure Lock) button can be customized, and except for the up direction which corresponds to the Display command, the other three directions on the rear d-pad can also be customized too.

The video Record button is cleverly positioned off to the side of the thumb-rest, making it harder to accidentally press and keeping it within reach. It takes some effort to move your thumb over to press it though, as you give up your firm hold on the thumb-rest you’ll need to use your other hand to steady the camera.

Some people might miss a viewfinder, but we invite them to check out the rear LCD monitor to see if they’ll change their minds. The 3-inch display is gorgeous, with a 1,228k-dot resolution. The image is sharp, the colors vivid - the only problem is that they can sometimes be too vivid, leading you to think that the images are brighter than they are.

The Fn button brings up a useful overlay of essential settings on the screen, like the drive mode, AF area and ISO setting – similar to the overlay on Sony’s Alpha DSLR cameras. With all the options displayed the screen can get cluttered, we preferred toggling the Display command to get them out of the way. There are some nice, small touches inside the menu. The Menu can be set to start again from the last used position or from the top, and you can set the Delete command to confirm on ‘Cancel’ or ‘Delete’ first. Unfortunately, there is no way to select and mass delete images from the Play screen.

Battery Woes

The one option we missed from Sony NEX’s cameras is the ability to display the amount of battery left in percentages, instead of just in bars. This turns out to be the one missing info crucial to the RX1, as we discovered - to our dismay - that the battery life is low, very low. With the LCD monitor quality set to ‘High’, battery life is rated for approximately 220 images, set the monitor quality to ‘Standard’ and battery life is boosted to a meager 270 images.

To further compound the problem of battery life, you can only charge the RX1’s battery while it’s inside the camera, via USB. And even if you bought a second battery for S$79, you won’t be able to leave the first battery behind to recharge because the RX1 doesn’t come with an external battery charger. You’ll have to pay S$119 for one as an optional accessory. That’s just nasty.

Image Performance

The full-frame sensor inside the Sony RX1 is the only reason anyone would consider an S$3999 camera, and long story short - it delivers. The 24MP files are crisp and full of details, colors are vibrant, auto-focus is good and the lens performs beautifully.

A little more about the auto-focus (AF) first. It’s not the fastest, but it’s not the slowest either - for some odd reason the lens will always rack in and out before locking on focus, instead of just snapping onto the target. It doesn’t take too long, unlike the Canon EOS M, and is still very usable. If auto-focus isn’t your style, the RX1 makes manual focus easy with focus peaking. Areas in focus are highlighted on the screen, and there’s also a focus magnifying option to automatically zoom into the scene whenever you twist the focus ring. Focus peaking is such a useful feature it’s a surprise most other cameras haven’t included it yet.

One missing piece about AF is that there’s no quick way to select AF points. There’s a work-about; you can engage tracking AF by pressing the center button on the rear control wheel, center focus and have the AF track the subject. Or you have use Spot AF and use the d-pad to change the AF point whenever you want. But it’s slow - the focus point is small and you can’t change its size, so it takes some time to move and for some reason you can’t use the rear wheel to quickly move the point around. In this aspect the RX1 would have benefited immensely from having a touch-screen.

The camera returned one of the highest scores we’ve seen from our resolution chart test so far, 2800 x 2800 LPH (horizontal and vertical). Images are full of detail, thanks to the high 24MP resolution. On the flip side, the 24MP files are a storage killer, files can range from 10MB to 20MB, with an average size of 12MB each.

Image noise is finely controlled and we’ve very impressed with the results. You can spot some slight noise coming in at ISO 1600, and more noise at ISO 3200 which looks like sweet spot between noise and image quality. Details are smudged at ISO 6400, and ISO 12,800 and ISO 25,600 are noisy. But even though noise can be seen in the high ISO shots, its appearance is tightly reined-in, appearing fine rather than coarse.

Sony has said that they’ve taken great pains to make sure the lens stays sharp from corner to corner. Wide open at f/2, we find the image a tad soft, the entire image becomes sharper at f/4. But the upper right corner is a weakness, and that doesn't come into sharp focus until f/5.6, staying that way until f/16. At f/22, diffraction causes details to appear a little fuzzier. There is slight chromatic aberration which can be automatically corrected in-camera. Further to that, the 35mm focal length introduces some barrel distortion, which you can auto-correct in-camera by turning the distortion correction on.

If we were shooting JPEGs without post-processing, we’d leave the Auto DRO (Dynamic Range Optimizer) feature turned on. From what we see, DRO boosts the shadows and tames the highlights by adjusting the image’s curves, letting you see more detail in a single picture. To actually get a real high dynamic range feature, you can turn on the HDR shooting mode and the RX1 will shoot three images and combine them into one.

One odd habit the RX1 tends to have is to underexposure the image; we’ve found that we could usually increase the exposure by up to one full stop in post-production without blowing out the highlights. It also seems to have a warm bias for JPEGs, although shooting in raw will negate this preference. Sony’s color doesn’t seem as organic when it comes to human faces, which sometimes look a little flat or smoothed over, but it’s nothing we can’t live with. And while the face recognition technology could usually recognize and focus on subjects facing directly towards the camera, it had more trouble with side profiles or people a little further away.

All in all, the Sony RX1 image performance is seriously impressive. AF is not the fastest we’ve seen, but it’s still good. Switching AF points quickly is a challenge, so you’ll either be stuck trusting in automatic focus or doing it manually. Images are full of rich detail at 24MP, and the lens performs beautifully, with creamy bokeh (background blur). Image noise is kept to a minimum, and the f/2 lens already helps you to keep the ISO setting down.

There’s really very little to complain, not only does the RX1 shoot great pictures, it shoots some of the best pictures we’ve seen yet from a full-frame sensor, right up there with the big DSLR cameras.

Sample Photographs

These are sample photographs shot with the Sony RX1. The photos have not been post-processed and are copyright to SPH Magazines. They are provided for your reference only and we ask that you do not reproduce them elsewhere. Click for full-resolution images.

Conclusion

This is the way we see the Sony RX1: It’s a niche, proof-of-concept camera that’s pushing the limits of camera design, built for the photographer who appreciates a 35mm f/2 lens, and is a luxurious second (or twenty second) camera for the person who can afford to drop S$3999 on one.

If you love 35mm f/2 and want the power of a 24MP full-frame sensor, the RX1 will not disappoint you with its solid construction, smooth handling and gorgeous images. As photographers know, it can be refreshing to play within the constraints of a prime lens, and the RX1’s compact size makes it a delight to just drop in your bag for the casual day out, to hold in your hands when you’re walking the streets looking for a decisive moment.

Sure, you can always get a full-frame DSLR camera and a 35mm f/2 lens and still be able to swap out lenses in the future. You'll spend slightly less, a Nikon D600 (S$2999) with a Nikkor 35mm f/2 (S$659) will set you back S$3658, a Canon 6D (S$2899) with a EF35mm f/2 (S$529) will cost S$3428. With a DSLR, you’ll also get a camera with a tried-and-proven phase detect AF system which works great for still or moving subjects and in bright or low light, as well as a built-in optical viewfinder. But you won’t get the RX1’s compact size and nearly silent shutter, two factors which will help you remain inconspicuous and unthreatening when photographing people.

Now, the camera isn’t perfect. We were ready to give the RX1 our full love when it first arrived - until the battery died out on us on day two of our testing. This was after shooting about 250 images on a full charge. Battery life is seriously low, rated at 220 to 270 images, which is easily half a day of shooting (well, depending on how trigger-happy you are). No use having a powerful full-frame camera in your hands with Carl Zeiss lens if it won’t turn on.

And it’s rather silly that the RX1 is its own battery charger. If you want a second battery you’ll need to pay an additional S$79 for it, and if you want to charge both at the same time you’ll need to get the optional external battery charger accessory which costs S$119. That’s an extra S$198 you need to cough up to work around the RX1’s low battery life. It's reason alone for us to hesitate recommending the RX1 for serious usage; despite its other overwhelming strengths, the camera has a pretty weak Achilles’ heel. And it’s one you’ll be paying a lot for.

No Other Camera Like the Sony RX1...Yet

At the moment though, there is no other camera quite like the Sony RX1…except possibly for Fujifilm’s X100S, successor to the highly acclaimed X100, which will be arriving at the end of March.

The Fujifilm X100S is also a camera with a fixed 35mm (in 35mm equivalent) f/2 lens and a new X-Trans CMOS II image sensor. Even though it’s a 16MP APS-C sized sensor, with the lack of an AA filter its image quality might be able to give the RX1 a run for its money, and for much less at US$1,299.95 (approx. S$1610 today; in comparison, the X100 launched here at S$1699).

From its cousin, the Fujifilm X-E1’s test images, it seems that Fujifilm’s sensor comes close, at 2600 LPH to the RX1’s 2800 LPH. If you compare their ISO 200 images, you’ll see that thanks to the lack of an optical pass filter, the Fujifilm X-E1 looks like it can capture slightly more detail than the RX1. The X100S doesn't use the same exact sensor though, so to know for sure how it fares against the Sony RX1 we’ll have to test if for ourselves when it comes out.

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