Sony RX1 fixed lens full frame with leaf shutter

see also:

• mirrorless camera systems
• Sony NEX E-mount camera system
• compact fixed lens digital cameras with larger sensors
• Sony RX1R II 42mp fixed lens full frame with leaf shutter

• introduced Sept 2012
• this camera is the 1st full frame compact digital
• in essence it is somewhat like a large version of a Sony NEX 5R but with a Sony SLR A99 sensor (without phase detect sites) and a fixed 35mm lens
• new ISO-standard flash hotshoe doing away with the old Minolta legacy hotshoe at last!
• 24mp 14-bit RAW sensor, 5fps burst
• ISO 100-25,600
• fixed Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2.0 OIS lens with:
  • quiet leaf shutter 30sec - 1/2000th sec
  • 9-bladed circular aperture
  • macro switching ring allows focus to 20cm
• 3“ fixed LCD screen
• popup flash
• flash sync up to 1/2000th sec
• magnified MF Assist function plus Peaking option
• memory recall (MR) mode is accessible via the mode dial so photographers can store and instantly recall up to three sets of camera settings
• 13 Creative Styles
• ISO settings as high as 102400 can be achieved using Multi Frame Noise Reduction
• Auto HDR and D-Range Optimizer, bracket shooting (Exposure, DRO or White Balance) and Auto HDR shooting modes, and a Digital Level Gauge
• Pixel Super Resolution digital zoom technology, which allows for magnification of image size without sacrificing pixel count. This results in far higher quality results than are achievable with conventional digital zoom.
• 1920×1080 MPEG-4 or AVCHD HD video at 60p/50p (28Mbps quality) or 25p/24pfps (24Mbps quality) with stereo mic
• multi-interface hotshoe provides options such as:
  • high-quality OLED XGA OLED Tru-Finder™ EVF (model FDA-EV1MK) which allows for even greater manual focusing precision ($600)
  • external optical viewfinder featuring Carl Zeiss optics (model FDA-V1K) ($450)
• 113 x 65 x 70 mm (4.45 x 2.56 x 2.76”), 482 g (1.06 lb / 17.00 oz)
• RRP ~$2,800
• see dpreview.com's preview
• compromises
  • no inbuilt viewfinder
  • no in-body stabilisation like on a Alpha camera
  • no phase detect AF
  • AF is much slower and noisier than on a Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera
  • the live view feed has a lot of moire and aliasing
  • the peaking function of the camera bafflingly only works when in magnified focus assist
  • no interchangeable lenses
  • focus-by-wire lens is not great for the street photographers who may be the main target of such a camera, this group would often prefer zone focusing with focus scale and DOF scales
  • when the sensor technology becomes outdated in 5 years, you cannot re-use the $800-1000 lens you paid for
  • it would have been more versatile with an f/1.4 lens in terms of low light and shallow DOF capabilities
  • 1/2000th shutter speed limit may create issues in bright sunlight requiring the use of an ND filter at f/2.0
  • video modes give poor output compared to contemporary cameras
  • the short lens flange distance for a full frame sensor may mean issues with image quality to the periphery - we will have to wait and see how they have dealt with this.
• full frame interchangeable lens camera price competition:
  • Sony A7 mirrorless $1699 body only
    • limited AF lenses or need $350 adapter for Alpha lenses
    • flash sync only 1/250th sec?
  • Leica M9 with Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ~$9,000 but no live view, no AF, no IS, no video recording
  • Canon 5D Mark III ($3,500) with EF 35mm f/1.4 lens $1,329 shallow DOF but noisy mirror, no fast CD-AF, no OIS or leaf shutter
  • Nikon D600 with Nikkor 35mm F/1.4G ($1,649) shallow DOF but noisy mirror, no fast CD-AF, no OIS or leaf shutter
• another alternative is a Micro Four Thirds system with the 17mm f/1.8 lens - cheaper, smaller, faster AF, more versatile but this will give 1.5 stops less capability at gaining shallow depth of field (DOF) and no leaf shutter

• EOSHD
  • higher sensor quality than the Leica M 240, Phase One IQ180 digital back and easily beats the Canon 5D Mark III dSLR on dynamic range by almost 3 stops
  • lens is better performing than the $1850 Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm F1.4
• http://www.peteradamsphoto.com/sony-rx-1-review/
  • has trouble focusing in low light situation
  • no C-AF
  • No Flash Sync Port When Using the EVF
  • level of image quality produced by this camera is no less than extraordinary
• http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2013/02/04/the-sony-rx1-in-bw-by-steve-huff-and-other-rx1-owners/
• http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2015/01/23/6-months-with-the-sony-rx1-by-simi-tometi/
  • great image quality but sluggish AF and no built-in EVF
• http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2015/09/22/daily-inspiration-867-by-scott-sarber/
  • when used with a Ricoh GW-3 .75x wide angle adapter gives nice images stopped down at f/5.6 or more
• Scott Sarber's review
  • includes a Milky Way shot to show how good the lens is

• imaging resource test of sony rx1
  • 1EV vignetting wide open corrected in camera
  • 0.7% barrel distortion reduced to 0.1% in camera
  • wide open, corners are a little soft with some lateral CA but very good for a full frame lens
  • “very little coma distortion” so perhaps it may be good for astrophotographic landscapes of the Milky Way although field of view is limited
• DxOMark test of RX1
  • more lateral CA and distortion than a Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM but sharper across the frame