Sony RX10 III Flash

Coverage, Exposure and Range
Good flash range helped by the fast lens, with somewhat narrow coverage.

Coverage. Flash coverage was somewhat uneven at wide angle, leaving very dark corners and edges in our flash coverage test image. Narrow coverage at wide angle is common, though, and some of the corner darkening is likely from the lens itself. Illumination isn't very even vertically either, however we doubt that'll be an issue in most real-world shots. We no longer test flash coverage at telephoto, as it is invariably better, making wide angle the worst case scenario.

Exposure. Our Indoor Portrait test scene came out dim in our normal flash test at f/4 without any exposure compensation, but the camera selected a fairly fast 1/100s shutter speed which should help avoid subject motion blur in typical portrait shots. With +1.0 EV flash exposure compensation, however, the shot was well exposed, but the camera boosted ISO to 500 to achieve that while maintaining the same, relatively fast 1/100s shutter speed.

Manufacturer Specified Flash Range Test. The Sony RX10 III's flash range is rated at 10.8m / 35.4 ft. at wide angle, and 6.5m / 21.3 ft. at telephoto, with Auto ISO. In the test shot above at telephoto and 21.3 feet, the RX10 III chose ISO 2000 and produced a well-exposed flash image, so Sony's flash range rating is credible. We shoot this test shot using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.