- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How it compares
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
- 20 MP
- 3.6x f/1.8
- Nikon CX EXMOR
- 3" LCD
Released June, 2012
Rated 90% by by TrustedReviews (Jul, 2012)The Sony Cyber-shot RX100 is the company's first pocket-sized advanced compact, and comes with a rich feature set that includes a larger than average 20.3MP sensor; a high quality 3.6x Zeiss optical zoom with a fast f/1.8 maximum aperture; full manual control and the ability to shoot Raw images; a range of built-in digital filter effects and, last but not least, the ability to record 1080p Full HD movies.
Conclusion Check out the Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
First reviewed June, 2012
Features Key features of the Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
20 MP
Nikon CX
Rated 100% by by Photography Blog (Jul, 2012)The combination of the f/1.8 aperture, effective built-in image stabilizer and maximum ISO speed of 6400 also makes this camera well suited to hand-held low-light photography.
megapixels
| 0 MP | 10 MP    | 20 MP |
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)Otherwise, it has an impressive roster of features and capabilities, including a 4.1-megapixel sensor, a Carl Zeiss 3X zoom lens, two burst modes, 640x480 video capture at 30fps, strong battery life, and fast response times.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)But with only $70 between them and a whole lot of feature differences including an Exmor R sensor, full HD movie capture, GPS, and a 920K-dot-resolution LCD, the H70 is a tough sell unless you truly only want a basic compact megazoom that takes nice photos.
sensor size
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Z.-Wu--Z.-Wu (Jul, 2012)Size of s100 with 1' sony sensor, the auto-focus is super fast and very accurate, much better than NEX-7, better than E-M5 with some lens but fail to match in the tele side.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Ted-Shafer (Jul, 2012)What is more important in the sensor is its size, which is critical to fast shutter speeds and low light photography.
wide angle lens
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Ted-Shafer (Jul, 2012)The RX100 perfectly fits my above criteria and is really incredible - overall a great camera that somehow manages to cram a fast, wide-angle lens and a huge sensor into a tiny body.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)Two, while the current trend is to have a wide-angle lens, the H20 is particularly narrow at a 35mm-equivalent 38mm.
aperture size
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Gerardo--GD (Jul, 2012)Sure you could get a NEX-5 with an even bigger sensor for slightly better quality but you would be stuck with a much, much larger camera, especially because of the size of the lens, and a much higher price.Combined with a minimum aperture of f/1.8, Carl Zeiss optics and a lot of cool features from Sony such as the Auto HDR and very cool camera effects, it is an amazing camera.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Adam-Brown (Oct, 2012)They don't have the aperture ability of build quality of the RX100.-No GPS or WiFi.
zoom range
| 0x | 3.6x   | 20x |
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Sam-Byford (Jul, 2012)Perhaps the best to date has been the Canon S100, a fairly tiny point-and-shoot that offers excellent manual control and relatively impressive image quality, but its compact-sized 1/1.7-inch sensor and somewhat slow lens limit its creative possibilities.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by peederj (Jul, 2012)In image review you can toggle the zoom rocker to zoom in on the shot you just took without pressing play, and it brings you right in for a pixel peep to check sharpness which is nice.
body size
102 x 59 x 36 mm
117 x 81 x 65 mm
127 x 75 x 54 mm
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Richard-M-Estel (Sep, 2012)This is truly a pocket camera, very small, but very solid and heavier than you would expect from its size.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)If you're looking for a compact or lightweight model, this isn't it; the Cyber Shot F828 weighs about 2 pounds with battery and media loaded, making it the heaviest non-dSLR camera we've seen.
Performance Real world tests of Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
battery life
330 photos
700 photos
200 photos
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)The battery life is a CIPA-rated 340 shots, which is very good, but if you're shooting a lot of video, have the display brightness cranked up, or are using a lot of the multishot modes or burst shooting, this will cut into your battery life.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)The battery life is a CIPA-rated 240 shots, but if you're shooting a lot of video, have the display brightness cranked up, or using a lot of the multishot modes or burst shooting, this will cut into your battery life.
max continuous shooting
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)Combined with the lack of a regular slow-but-steady burst that can shoot a larger number of frames, the HX1 becomes far less useful for continuous shooting than it really should be.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by c|net (Sep, 2005)Continuous shooting yielded an average of 2.1 frames per second regardless of image size or quality.
DxOMark low light performance
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Matt-Eye--Matthew (Aug, 2012)If you do not mind slightly impressionistic photos but great performance and excellent image stabilization in very low light, the HX30V is the best you can do with a small image sensor for even less than the LX7.
Cybershot DSC-RX100 by Michael-McKee--mystic-cowboy (Jul, 2012)This carries over the handheld twilight, in-camera HDR and sweep panorama features that I learned to like in my NEX-5n.
Our analysis How does it stack up against its top 10 competitors
pros
-
HD video -
1,229 k dots -
f/1.8 -
66.0 -
20 MP -
10 fps -
22.6 bits -
12.4 ev -
Stitches together multiple photos into a single ultra-wide view -
Combines multiple photos together to capture both bright and dark areas -
213 g
cons
-
2,800 ms -
The screen is fixed in place -
None -
Won't have that film look -
1/2000 s
Reviews Word on the street
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 | Rated by 263 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by Alex Rated 100% by by T.-Berarducci--tombfromca (Mar, 2013) Rated 100% by by G.-MCFARLANE (Jul, 2012) |
Lens
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)It's easy enough to access the top-level adjustments-image quality, flash, exposure compensation, macro, and self-timer-plus the Cyber Shot DSC-W70's handful of scene modes.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)Its body is compact and lightweight considering its long zoom and wide-angle lens.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)The 8-megapixel camera uses a 35mm-105mm equivalent, f/2.8-5.2 lens, giving it a standard 3x zoom range.
Sensor
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 100% by by Bruno-Zanchet (Aug, 2012)Pocket size with a 1" sensor is amazing, 20 MP picture simply perfect at 100% crop, even at low ISO.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)Overall, the camera's JPEGs look solid up to ISO 400 and acceptable through ISO 1600, depending upon scene content.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 100% by by Alejandro-J-Ceppi (Jan, 2013)It is also great that you can take pictures directly in Raw (for which you will need to use a program as could be Image Data Converter ver.4 that you can download freely form Sony`s web site, capable of correcting the strong optical distortions produced by the lens at some of the focal distances it covers and which the camera corrects automatically when shooting for jpg) and that the sensor, apart from being quite big considering this is a compact camera, covers a 12 EV dynamic range.
Screen
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)While blues and reds maybe aren't as accurate as other colors, they're still nice looking with all colors turning out bright and vivid.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)At just barely more than half an inch thick, the TX200V features an 18-megapixel Exmor R backside-illuminated sensor, a 5x f3.5-4.8 26-130mm Carl Zeiss lens, and a 3.3-inch 1.2-million-dot-resolution touch-screen OLED display.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)While blues and reds may not be as accurate as other colors, they are bright and vivid.
Image quality
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)Image quality is impressive, with nice color accuracy and accurate exposures that tend to preserve shadow detail at the expense of highlight detail when forced to compromise.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)If you don't fall into that category, Sony's added simple sliders for brightness, hue, and saturation, so you can tune them to your liking.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)Its quick performance, good picture quality, and surprisingly robust feature set make it a solid choice in the budget category.
Zoom
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 100% by by Sacha-PotterImage Quality: I've owned roughly a dozen compact cameras over the last six years including an S100, several Panasonic travels zooms, a Sony HX9V, Nikon P100, etc..
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 62% by by c|net (Sep, 2005)For example, we got sharp images of a stationary subject at 1/125 second, with the lens zoomed to a 35mm equivalent of 432mm.
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 | Rated 100% by by hollijs01 (Jan, 2013)As long as you aren't looking to take shots that you need a great deal of zoom, you'll love this camera.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | Canon PowerShot S110 Has a touch screen Canon PowerShot S110 vs Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 |
 | 2 | Fujifilm FinePix X100 Largest sensor Fujifilm FinePix X100 vs Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 |
 | 3 | Canon PowerShot G1X Has a flip out screen Canon PowerShot G1X vs Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 |
 | 4 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 2-way tie: Fastest lens Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 vs Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 |
 | 5 | Canon PowerShot G15 OK benchmarked shot to shot times Canon PowerShot G15 vs Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 |
 | 6 | Leica D-Lux 6 Most detailed video recording mode Leica D-Lux 6 vs Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 |
 | 7 | Fujifilm FinePix x20 Fastest rapid fire mode Fujifilm FinePix x20 vs Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 |
New duel?
Let the battle continue or dare to compare.
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Answers Community Find out what the Sortable community is saying about the Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100
21
people have recommended the
Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100Top Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 experts at Sortable
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7
- 10 MP
- 3.8x f/1.4
- 1/1.8" CMOS
- 3" LCD
2 more Sortable users recommended the Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 over the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7.
View all discussions | View comparison 
Beginner I
1
vote LX7 is certainly not a bad camera, but its biggest flaw is the small sensor. Compared to RX100, it's quite small as you can see here: panasonic_lumix-dmc-lx7-vs-sony_cybershot-dsc-rx100 at to in...
- 0 comments
- October 17, 2012
- Reply to: Sony rx100 or lumix dmc lx7
Beginner I
0
votes The G1X AF is extremely slow. Good picture quality and very good low light performance but very slow AF.
- 0 comments
- December 4, 2012
- Reply to: Lumix Lx7 or Canon G15/G1x or Sony RX100
Fujifilm Finepix X10
- 12 MP
- 4x f/2.0
- 2/3" CMOS
- 2.8" LCD
2 more Sortable users recommended the Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 over the Fujifilm Finepix X10.
View all discussions | View comparison 
Beginner I
1
vote I have not tested the Fuji, so this is kind of a one-sided answer. I have used the Sony, and I can tell you that the focus in low light is very good, maybe as good as my Nikon D70. The grain in...
- 0 comments
- August 15, 2012
- Reply to: Which is the best low light camera ?
Canon Powershot S100
- 12 MP
- 5x f/2.0
- 1/1.8" CMOS
- 3" LCD
It's a tie. Cast the deciding vote!
View all discussions | View comparison 
Intermediate I
0
votes The sony is the best compact camera that is available , no need for information !
- 0 comments
- December 27, 2012
- Reply to: Speed between shots - daytime, indoors no flash, and nighttime flash
Intermediate I
0
votes The sony has all of the features that a mom wants !
- 0 comments
- December 27, 2012
- Reply to: Baby pictures for a first time mom
