When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. What you need to know Product photos: Sony As you may have seen, Sony has just refreshed its full-frame compact, the RX1R, with the mark III coming almost a decade after the last.
The new version is packed with Sony's latest technologies but also hews so closely to the original concept that a lot risks looking dated, too.
We've already looked at how the RX1R III stacks up against the cheaper, stabilized a7CR, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Sometimes compactness and the focusedness of purpose of a fixed-lens camera is enough to justify a premium over an interchangeable lens camera. But a list price of
We take a closer look at what the RX1R III is, what it offers and where it sits relative to its predecessors and rivals.
Basic specs
At its core, the RX1R III is exactly the update you'd expect, if you were familiar with Sony's latest internals. It's built around the excellent 60. 2MP sensor that, coincidentally, also underpins the more expensive Leica Q3 and Q3 43 models.
It uses the same 35mm F2 Zeiss-branded lens as all the other RX1 models, with the same stepper-motor-driven focus system.
Like Mark II it has a built-in electronic viewfinder but now fixed into the corner of the body, rather than a pop-up design. The need to keep the camera small has limited Sony to a 2. 36M dot (1024 x 768px) EVF panel, which is a jarring spec on a camera this expensive.
Like previous RX1 cameras (and the first five iterations of Fujifilm's X100 series), there's no stabilization system. The body has been redesigned, with a sleeker front panel and dials recessed into the top plate, but the fundamentals of the camera are broadly unchanged.
Updated autofocus
Sony's AF system has been massively improved in the decade since the RX1R II's launch, in terms of both performance and operability, and we've become used to reliable subject recognition and very tenacious tracking. Like Sony's other high-end models, the RX1R III includes a dedicated processor for crunching the added complexity of these machine-learning-derived algorithms.
However, the RX1's focus group isn't the fastest mover, which risks blunting the camera's top-end performance. We'll update this article in the coming days, once we have got a sense for how much of its potential it's able to deliver.
It's something of a shock to realize the RX1R II's clunky "Center Lock-on AF" system was as recent as ten years ago, given the huge advances we've seen since.
Price and positioning
The original RX1
Photo: DPReview
The price tag on the RX1R III is somewhat eye-watering, if you compare it to anything other than Leica's Q3 twins, but this series has always been a halo product.
The original RX1 felt like Sony was making the statement "we understand photography" as much as putting out a product that was expected to shift units or make a profit. Even back at a much lower price point, we pondered whether it was trying to be a modern Leica (this is before the Q series showed us how much a real Leica full-frame compact would cost).
The first RX1 pre-dated the company's full-frame ILCs, and cost appreciably more than the higher resolution a7R when it was launched a year later. The RX1R II was priced much closer to the cost of the contemporary a7R II model, but they've always been priced at a premium.
That said, if you compare the RX1's UK launch prices to those of the Fujifilm X100 version available at the time, you'll see the first two RX1 models were 2. 3x more expensive than the contemporary X100s, and the RX1R II and III are around 2. 6x more expensive. Which, given you get a sensor around 2. 4x larger, suggests they're not out-of-keeping with the rest of the market.
Price: US and beyond
The price in the US, though, is punchy, for reasons you may have heard about, in the news. Looking at the launch prices of previous Sony models over the past ten years, we found the UK launch price (incl. VAT) is around 20% higher than the US launch price, if you use the then prevailing exchange rate. This is, in part, because prices soften more readily in the UK market: the apparent premium is essentially an early-adopter tax that fades away after a few months.
However, that same calculation would lead you to expect a US launch price of around $4700, if you simply subtract 20% from the UK price and use the current exchange rate. This, and the 3. 2x premium over the X100VI (vs 2. 6x for the RX1R II over the X100T), helps explain why the US price in particular looks so high.
Higher-res sensor
Sony has made some critical changes, compared with previous models. The biggest of these is the move from a 42MP sensor to a 60. 2MP one. It may be a chip that we've seen before, but it remains one of the best sensors, in terms of image quality, that we've ever encountered.
The first RX1R model was a variant of the RX1 with no low-pass (anti-aliasing) filter. The RX1R II had an innovative design that placed an LCD panel in the middle of the low-pass filter. AA filters work by refracting light differently, depending on its orientation. Engaging the LCD layer would polarize the light and determine whether the second layer of filter doubled or cancelled the effect of the first layer.
The RX1R III has no such cleverness, so you lose the ability to engage an AA filtering effect as you could on the Mark II. However, the higher resolution of the RX1R III's sensor means aliasing will only occur with higher frequency patterns, at frequencies even more likely to be inhibited by the lens, anyway.
Larger battery
The new camera also gains a larger battery, the 7. 3Wh NP-FW50 battery, compared to its predecessor. This helps address one of the most sustained criticisms of the series, which was known for offering relatively short shooting durations from its compact 4. 5Wh NP-BX1 battery.
The new battery is around twice the depth of the one used in previous models (18. 5mm, rather than 9. 2mm). Despite this, the new camera isn't appreciably deeper than the existing one, with the body itself measuring just 2. 5mm more than its predecessor.
The new camera also has a USB-C socket and is compatible with the USB Power Delivery protocol, allowing it to both charge or be powered over the USB socket if you have a sufficiently powerful external charger or battery pack.
Vs Leica Q3
The most obvious direct competitor to the Sony RX1R III are Leica's Q3 cameras, the original Q3 with its 28mm F1. 7 lens and the Q3 43 with its 43mm F2 lens. They let you choose whether you want a wider-angle lens or a normal perspective, rather than the RX1R III's 35mm that splits the difference. They also offer stabilization, which the Sony lacks.
Both cameras are based around the same sensor as the Sony but both have larger format 5. 98M dot OLED viewfinders (with greater, 0. 79x magnification) and tilting rear screens, where the RX1R III's is fixed. They're also both appreciably larger cameras than the Sony, as the diagram above shows. They are also substantially heavier, with the Q3 tipping the scales at 743g, with a battery and memory card: 49% heavier than the RX1R III.
In addition, they're also both more expensive cameras. If you want to see what premium pricing in this type of camera looks like, then feast your eyes and lock up your wallet when you see the $6735 and $7380 price tags dangling from the Leicas.
A rather more pragmatic alternative might be the a7CR and a suitable prime lens. That's a comparison we looked at in more depth, the other day.
EVF and screen
Two of the greatest points of contention, beyond its pricing, are the specifications of its viewfinder and its rear screen. Both have been dictated by Sony's focus on keeping the size of the camera down.
With the body already a fraction deeper, as a result of the adoption of a larger battery, the company has clearly decided that the additional bulk of an articulated screen would compromise its compactness. There have been several successful fixed-lens cameras with fixed screens (not least the first four X100 cameras), but there are times, particularly for waist-level shooting, when a tilting screen comes in handy. If that's the way you prefer to shoot, you'll need to opt for a larger camera.
Leaf shutter and hotshoe
The other factor worth remembering is that, like most fixed lens cameras, the RX1R III features an in-lens 'leaf' shutter. This gives essentially a global shutter effect, allowing flash sync across the whole shutter speed range, but with the disadvantage that its maximum shutter speed drops as you approach the camera's widest aperture setting. A 1/4000 sec maximum at F5. 6 drops to 1/3200 sec by F4 and 1/2000 at F2. There's an e-shutter mode that allows shooting at up to 1/8000 at any aperture, but the 100ms (1/10 sec) readout rate means it's better for static subjects.
The camera has a hotshoe, useful both for mounting a flash but also featuring the multi-interface pins that let you connect mics and channel digital audio into the camera. Like the a7CR, the small body of the RX1R III sees video limited to 4K/30 (the sensor can deliver 8K resolution, though with a lot of rolling shutter). It has all the latest Sony video goodies including uploadable LUTs, S-Cinetone and 10-bit Log capture. The RX1R II, by comparison, topped-out at 8-bit 1080.
Summary
The Sony DSC-RX1R III is the update we weren't sure we'd ever see, and it's a pleasant surprise in many respects. The fixed-position viewfinder is more readily accessible than the pop-up unit in the Mark II, the 60. 2MP BSI CMOS sensor has proven itself to be excellent and the new model addresses one of our biggest criticisms of the previous models: battery life. The adoption of a host of Sony's latest features and functions is promising, too.
However, the move to a fixed screen feels like a retrograde step and we're disappointed they couldn't find room for an AF joystick, given the complete redesign of the body.
The RX1 series has always been a halo product that commanded a premium for reasons of prestige as well as miniaturization, but its current pricing, particularly in the US, is brought into stark relief by the existence of the still-quite-small a7CR, elsewhere in Sony's own lineup.
If you like a fixed-lens camera and the compactness is a major benefit to you, then it's hard to think of a camera that promises so much image quality from such a small package. But there's a price, both metaphorical and financial, to be paid for that totability.
. dpreview.com2025-7-18 17:00
