It’s real: The nearly-pocketable Sony RX1 sports a full-frame sensor and 35mm lens

 

 

Only a handful of cameras have made me want to utter expletives of happy astonishment. "Holy Moly, they finally did it!" I thought (paraphrased). Yes, it's real: Sony has shoehorned a full 35mm-sized sensor with a fairly fast 35mm prime lens into a nearly pocket-sized camera called the Sony Cyber-shot RX1. It's official: you can go ahead and think of "RX" as code for Rex, because the King of Small Cameras is here.

I'd been expecting a super-pro digital SLR above the A99 (a camera we'd already seen, which was announced simultaneously), but I didn't expect a camera that would make all the early Sony RX100 buyers utter a few expletives of their own. But before you feel chagrined, note that the price of this 24.3-megapixel, full-frame, fixed-lens compact camera is a comparatively high $2,800. Whoa.

Price not an issue, or just want to salivate over how the other half shoots? Read our hands-on Sony RX1 preview for more on this stunning camera!

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1

General

Camera Type Mid-Sized

Manufacturer North America: RX1

Dimensions 4.5 x 2.6 x 2.7 in.
(113 x 65 x 70 mm)

Weight 17.0 oz (482 g)

Planned Price $2,800

Planned Availability November 2012

Image Capture

Sensor Type Sony CMOS
35mm (approx. 1.69 in. diagonal)
24.70 megapixels (total)
24.30 megapixels (effective)

Filter Type RGBG

Focal Length Multiplier 1.00

Aspect Ratio 3:2

Image Dimensions 6000 x 4000 (24.0 megapixels)
6000 x 3376 (20.3 megapixels)
3936 x 2624 (10.3 megapixels)
3936 x 2216 (8.7 megapixels)
2640 x 1760 (4.6 megapixels)
2640 x 1488 (3.9 megapixels)
12416 x 1856 (23.0 megapixels)
8192 x 1856 (15.2 megapixels)
2160 x 5536 (12.0 megapixels)
2160 x 3872 (8.4 megapixels)

Capture Speed Continuous: 5.0 frames per second

Image Quality 3 levels

Image Preview / Review

Viewfinder No

LCD 3.0 in. diagonal, 1,228,800 dots

Playback Zoom 16.7

Lens

Image Stabilization No

Focal Length 35.0mm (actual)
35mm (35mm equivalent)

Aperture Range f/2 - f/22

Focusing System Contrast Detection: Multi point AF (25 points) / Center weighted AF / Flexible spot / Flexible spot (tracking focus) / Flexible sport (face tracking)
Has AF assist lamp
Manual focus possible

Focusing Range Normal: 12" - infinity (30 cm - infinity)
Macro: 8.2" - 14" (20 cm - 35 cm)

Exposure

ISO Sensitivity ISO 100-25600 (1/3 EV steps, expandable to 50/64/80), Auto (100-25600 with selectable upper/lower limits); Multi Frame NR: 100-102400 (1 EV steps), Auto (100-25600 with selectable upper/lower limits)

Shutter Speed 30 - 1/2000 second

Exposure Modes Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual

Metering Modes 1200-zone Evaluative, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure Compensation +/- 3.0EV in 1/3EV increments

White Balance Image Sensor - Auto WB, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent (Warm white/Cool white/Day white/Daylight), Flash, Color Temp, Color Filter, Custom

Internal Flash Guide Number: 6
Modes: Auto, Fill-flash, Slow Sync, Rear Sync, Off, Wireless; Red-eye reduction: On/Off
Range: ISO Auto 0.75m to 21.7m / ISO 25600 up to 43.4m

Flash Exposure Compensation +/- EV

Creative

Scene Modes Scene modes: Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Sunset, Night Portrait, Night Scene, Hand-held Twilight; Sweep Panorama; Effects: Toy Camera, Pop Colour, Posterisation, Retro Photo, Soft High-key, Partial Colour, High Contrast Monochrome, Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolor, Illustration

Digital Zoom Up to 2x Clear Image Zoom, 1.4x/2.0x Smart Teleconverter, up to 9.1x digital zoom at lower resolutions

Self Timer Yes, 2, 10 seconds

Movie Format AVCHD 2.0 / MP4; Audio :Dolby Digital (AC-3) / MPEG-4 AAC-LC with audio

Movie Resolution / Frame Rate 1920x1080 @ 60p/28Mbps/PS or 60i/24Mbps/FX or 60i/17Mbps/FH or 24p/24Mbps/FX or 24p/17Mbps/FH, 1440x1080 @ 30p/12Mbps, 640x480 @ 30p/3Mbps

Storage

Recording Medium Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, SD/MMC including SDHC, SDXC

File System Complies with Design Rule for Camera File System (DCF)

File Format 14-bit RAW (ARW 2.3), RAW+JPEG, JPEG (EXIF 2.3)

Connectivity

Other Micro HDMI (Type-D), Microphone Jack

Power

Battery Type Lithium-ion rechargeable

Battery Form Factor Proprietary NP-BX1

Product Bundle

Software Software CD-ROM (includes Picture Motion Browser, Image Data Converter 4)

Battery / Charger 1 x Proprietary NP-BX1 Lithium-ion rechargeable battery and charger

Other

Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) compliant Yes

PictBridge Compliant Yes

Internal Microphone Yes

Internal Speaker Yes

Tripod Mount Yes

Remote Control Yes, Threaded cable release

Waterproof No

Notes World's First Full-Frame Compact Digital Camera

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