Sony brings back the superzoom RX10 with a stacked sensor and a high price

Sony is bringing backmost the RX10 superzoom camera aft a astir nine-year spread betwixt models. The recently announced RX10 V retains the aforesaid 24-600mm balanced f/2.4-4 Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 25x zoom lens of its last two predecessors, but it has tons of upgrades elsewhere. The caller 20.1-megapixel 1-inch-type sensor is simply a stacked design, allowing up to 30fps continuous burst shooting without immoderate blackout (up from the last-gen’s 24fps). That’s a bully betterment for a camera aimed astatine action, sports, and wildlife photography, but it will travel astatine a steep costs of $2,299.99 erstwhile the camera launches successful early August.

The RX10 IV launched astatine $1,700 successful 2017. And, to beryllium adjacent to the RX10 V, the pricing for the caller exemplary isn’t wholly disconnected the people if you set for inflation. But what you get pinch the RX10 V isn’t conscionable a sensor upgrade — the assemblage has been revised to look and consciousness for illustration Sony’s larger Alpha mirrorless cameras. It uses the aforesaid NP-FZ100 artillery recovered successful astir existent A-series models, offering complete 50 percent much artillery capacity.

The caller RX10 V besides inherits galore noteworthy features and specs from its larger Alpha cousins, for illustration an OLED physics viewfinder, 4K 60p full-width video signaling (4K 120p erstwhile cropped) pinch S-Log3 and S-Cinetone colour options, and Sony’s top-notch real-time autofocus search system. Like larger Sony Alphas, the RX10 V has 575 autofocus points and tin observe subjects arsenic good arsenic the quality shape — to amended find and latch onto faces and eyes during accelerated movement. It moreover has the Speed Boost usability that debuted successful the pro A9 III camera, allowing you to sprout astatine faster burst rates for short stints erstwhile you request it.

Since the RX10 IV came good earlier utilizing a ample camera arsenic a webcam was a thing, the RX10 V now supports livestreaming astatine up to 4K 30p via a USB-C relationship (with simultaneous recording) — which is perfect because its video-out larboard is still a flimsy Micro HDMI connector. While astir of what’s caller astir the RX10 V is an upgrade complete the past gen, the caller exemplary sadly mislaid a mates features: The lens nary longer has a built-in ND select and there’s nary pop-up flash. Bummer.

I sewage to concisely trial the RX10 V for a fewer days, and contempt the reused lens, I came distant impressed. It really does consciousness for illustration a Sony Alpha camera pinch a large built-in telephoto zoom — though overmuch smaller and lighter than attaching a immense lens to a full-frame mirrorless Alpha. I’m nary birder aliases quality photographer (the longest lens I personally ain is simply a 135mm), but Sony’s fantabulous autofocus and 30fps blackout-free burst shooting made it beautiful easy to photograph birds successful trees astir my backyard aliases macro shots of bees moving from flower to flower. There’s a batch this lens and fast-shooting sensor tin do. Of course, if you’re for illustration maine and utilized to full-frame cameras, you person to somewhat dial down your expectations erstwhile it comes to sharpness and solution — a 1-inch-type sensor is versatile, but it doesn’t clasp up to the aforesaid pixel-peeping scrutiny.

The RX10 V seems aimed astatine deep-pocketed casual shooters who want a camera to return walking without lugging astir a container afloat of lenses. In my years spent down a antagonistic trading superzoom cameras conscionable for illustration it (even the original RX10), the demographic was almost ever parents photographing their kids’ sporting events aliases looking to return a versatile camera connected vacation. But astatine $2,300, it mightiness beryllium much for a precocious retired grandma aliases grandpa than it is for a mates 30-somethings pinch a kindergartener.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge