Panasonic LX7 and Sony RX100

I had a discussion today with one of my friend about small cameras. We both have DSLRs but my Olympus collects dust for some time now. He is a dedicated full-frame shooter. It is not a problem for him to carry 10 kg of equipment on photo trip but he is somewhat reluctant to do this every day. It is not just size and weight, there are some other reasons. But he like to have a camera with him for occasional opportunistic shots. 

One of the possibilities for him would be an advanced compact camera. Obviously, none of these cameras would compete with (full frame) DSLR at pixel level. Still, the image quality of current advanced compact cameras is pretty good. Currently Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX7 and Sony RX100 are the most popular models from this class on Amazon. These cameras illustrate opposite approaches in this class. LX7 has a very bright lens, F1.4-F2.3 with a handy 24-90mm zoom range. RX100 has a dimmer lens,  F1.8-F4.9, with ~30-108mm zoom range. With such lens Panasonic gets more light to the sensor, which would reduce the noise. LX7 is equipped with 10MP 1/1.7" sensor, while RX100 has huge 1" sensor with 20MP. Both cameras have an optical image stabilization. Currently on Amazon Panasonic LX7 is about $200 cheaper than Sony RX100.

RX100 is still very popular

I like to check list of top selling cameras on Amazon. Sometimes the numbers are just unbelievable. For example, Fuji X100S is present in top 100 best selling cameras (position 68 in all categories). Fuji X100S is a great camera, no doubt but it is an elitist camera aimed on certain group of people. At $1300 it is one of the most expensive cameras in top 100 list. On other hand, other compact cameras with APS-C sensor, Nikon A and Ricoh GR, did not made it to the list on that day.

Another interesting fact: Sony RX100 is still selling close to $650. Today it was on position 21. Other camera with 1" sensor (Nikon 1) did not made it in top 100 list.  Nikon 1 J2 is selling for $300  including10-30mm VR lens but it is less popular that the Sony. J2 is not a latest model, but the replacement for Sony X100 is expected to be announced later this month. Still, Sony RX100 is prices twice more than the Nikon, and it is more popular.      

Nikon 1 is an amazing system with the fastest autofocus among current breed of mirrorless cameras, but many people want to have a small and capable camera. Nikon has the technology to make a good compact camera with 1" sensor and fast autofocus. Such camera probably would outsold RX100 or RX100MkII. But for now Sony is the only company producing 1" compact cameras.

This situation describes a very narrow segment of camera market, advanced compact and mirrorless cameras. The whole market is dominated by two giants. In fact, Nikon is very successful company.

Why compact cameras with 1' sensor are imminent

Mid-summer sunset in Brisbane. Fuji X10, sunset mode + GIMP

Sometimes the sunset colors are just unbelievable. I had just few minutes to go outside and take some pictures. I wish I would have a better position.

Anyway, lets talk about cameras and sensors. Sony RX100 is now listed as best selling camera on Amazon, and nearly all top threads on Sony Cameras forum on the dpreview are dedicated to this model. In Australia the RX100 is more expensive than Canon G1X (based on prices in Photo Continental, my favorite camera shop in Brisbane). People are ready to pay premium for such innovative products.

 So, who will produce next compact camera with 1' sensor? Who will combine 1' sensor with good optics (bright lens, sharp across the frame). I would bet on Olympus. They can get sensor from Sony.

Nikon probably will not do that because such camera will compete with the Nikon 1. Canon used bigger sensor in G1X, and it is unlikely that the company would design optics for another sensor size instead of new mirrorless lenses. Panasonic can do it but the company just released the latest advanced compact with smaller sensor, so they need to make a new sensor and design the camera. Pentax does not have advanced compact at the moment. Ricoh probably can do it, but probably without zoom. Samsung can do it but not any time soon. Fujifilm is busy with X100 replacement, new mirrorless system camera and the X10 sensor replacement. I wish they would put such big sensor (1') behind X10-like lens.

Sony RX100 is real!

The camera was announced. It is amazing how small it is considering big sensor. It looks like beefed up Canon  S100 :). TechRadar already posted a review of RX100 and according to this site both noise and dynamic range are more or less similar to other premium compact.

Sony proved that it is possible to build a small camera with big sensor. Imagine this sensor combined with brighter lens and body with buttons and dial... 

If the image quality of the RX100 is similar to current crop of premium compacts I would not change Fuji X10 to RX100. I don't need so many pixels, but Fuji has very good lens that is significantly brighter at long end. Beside of high MP and small size the Fuji X10 wins hands down. I am talking about me here, and by image quality I mean dynamic range and noise. I also understand that with similar noise level images from camera with bigger pixel count will be better but I am not sure about low contrast areas.

Sony RX100: new compact camera with big sensor

Preamble. I am very impressed with Fuji X10. Both the image quality and usability were exceeded my expectations. By usability I mean not only handling and user interface but also ability of camera to satisfy my needs. It is not perfect camera, but I like it a lot. I discovered that viewfinder is not necessary for taking pictures. It might sound stupid but for someone who always used viewfinder – that is a revelation.

Now the story. It seems that Sony will produce a compact camera with a relatively big sensor, Sony RX100 (note the "X"). The sensor will be two times bigger than in Fuji X10, similar (identical?) in size to sensor used in Nikon 1 cameras but smaller than 4/3 or m4/3 sensor. The lens is about one stop brighter than on Canon G1 X, and the Sony weights nearly half (!) of the Canon. On the long end of the zoom the Sony is a tad brighter (and longer) than the Nikon 1 kit lens, and in the same time the weight of RX100 is similar to that of Nikon 1 J1 (body only. It is even lighter than Fuji X10! The RX100 does not have a viewfinder but for small camera with moderate zoom it should not be a big problem (based on my experience with Fuji X10). The whole package does look very attractive to me.

There are several things that I don’t like. It seems that the camera uses the memory stick, a proprietary Sony storage thing. For me it is a minus because I already use CompactFlash, SD cards and proprietary xD picture cards from Olympus – the last one is the slowest type of storage.

The camera has 20MP sensor, so the pixel density is somewhat comparable to Fuji X10 and other modern premium compacts such as Olympus XZ-1, so the quality probably will be quite similar. I don’t need that many, but some people prefer high pixel count. If the camera does not clip highlights aggressively I would not bother. The files will be big but I can cope with that issue. Cannot stop the progress here :)

At far end of the zoom the lens is still only f4.9 while Fuji X10 is two stops brighter. For me it is rather amount of light going to the sensor, not depth of field. The brighter the lens, the lower the iso.

It seems that the RX100 has “supermacro” mode at wide zoom settings, similar to Fuji X10, while minimal focussing distance at tele end is about 50 cm. Unfortunately, no miracle here. I guess putting second supermacro at tele end of the zoom would make the lens big but I don’t mind to have slightly bigger camera with slightly brighter lens and supermacro implemented at long end of the zoom.

I am not sure if it is possible to put a filter on the lens, and I would prefer to have one.

Fixed rear screen as on Fuji X10. It is usable but tilting screen would be more useful.  

Anyway, the specs of the Sony RX100 are very appealing. I hope the rumors are not a hoax. It would be interesting to see the performance and price for this camera...