Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

That said, the real advantage of RAW - control over white balance, a little extra latitude on exposure and the option to take full control over noise reduction and sharpening - is still there, and for the serious user it's worth experimenting with.

The sensor's full pixel count of 18MP is never used (output size tops out at 16MP in 4:3 mode), but viewed critically, image quality is excellent in all of the available aspect ratio modes.

And the difference in sensor size is immediately apparent, even at these low ISO settings.

It's well worth running down the Settings menu and looking at such things as configuring the AEL/Focus button behaviour, turning on Auto Review, setting Wide Image to 'Full Screen' for movie recording, and enabling 'Release w/o lens' if you plan on using adapted lenses (etc).

Without such options as a wideangle zoom or a fast 'normal' prime, the sad fact is that your ability to play with unusual perspectives or shallow depth of field is limited compared to other systems.

As for Nikon's other claim - that the f/1.8 setting allows significant control over depth of field - this is true only at very close focussing distances and (of course) only with the lens set to 24mm.

The contrast is now a lot lower (so much so that outdoor images can seem a little flat) and the saturation much more natural, though the sharpening is still a bit high for my tastes.

These adjustments apply very slightly different levels of contrast, saturation and sharpness.

Add in some of the best photo quality of any budget ILC out there, and it looks like Sony has a winner on their hands.

The ISO 6400 photo is pretty lousy, though playing with the RAW images using SilkyPix makes me think that you could squeeze out a small print with a little work.

As far as exposure control is concerned, with still photos, photographers are used to balancing aperture, shutter speed and ISO to get the optimal exposure.

That is, the RX100 Anti Movement Blur mode would shoot at higher shutter speeds and ISO levels than the LX7 Handheld Night Shot mode.

The screen is lovely, and you can reasonably see it in bright sun (at least enough to compose a shot).

For the typical user making prints the results are very good, with excellent color (not too overdone but bright enough to please the target market) and reliable focus, white balance and exposure (though see below).

Patches of raised dots do a remarkably good job of providing grip on the front and rear surfaces of the camera, making it as nice to hold as it is to look at.