Sony RX10 III Image Quality

At base sensitivity -- ISO 100 for both cameras -- neither the Sony RX10 III or its predecessor exhibit much to speak of in the way of noise. The RX10 III turns in a slightly crisper mosaic label, but this looks to be down to slightly more aggressive sharpening, as there's not really any more detail than in the RX10 II's version. The newer model does better with the difficult fabric swatches, however, with slightly greater contrast in the red swatch and more thread pattern visible in the pink swatch.

Compared to the Canon G3X, which has a slightly higher base sensitivity of ISO 125-equivalent, there's a much more noticeable difference. More noise processing shows itself in the bottle crop, which has a slightly plasticky feel as a result. There's also rather lower contrast in the bottle crop, making the Sony look sharper even though detail levels are actually pretty similar. And the same is true in the red fabric swatch, with the Canon showing noticeably lower contrast. Nor does the G3X pick up on the fine thread pattern in the pink swatch, which is clearly visible in the RX10 III's rendering.

The comparison to the Panasonic FZ1000, which again has a slightly higher base sensitivity of ISO 125, is nevertheless rather closer. Noise and detail levels are similar, although the slightly higher contrast of the RX10 III gives its mosaic label the impression of being a little crisper. It's in the color renditions that the two differ most significantly. The Sony's image is more neutral, with that from the Panasonic having a cooler, slightly greenish color cast. This shows itself most obviously in the pink swatch and the border of the mosaic label. The RX10 III also does noticeably better with the difficult red swatch, with the FZ1000's result being a bit more muted and with rather less detail retained.

We've included the Panasonic FZ300 in this comparison as an example of a recent, SLR-like long-zoom with a smaller 1/2.3"-type sensor, versus the 1"-type sensor of the RX10 III. At twelve megapixels, resolution of the FZ300 is significantly lower, but the lesser pixel count does offset the smaller sensor size somewhat. The FZ300's bottle crop does look just slightly more processed, but noise levels aren't dissimilar. Just a glance at the mosaic label, though, tells you that even at base sensitivity the smaller-sensored camera is gathering quite a bit less detail. And like that from the FZ1000, the FZ300's image also has a slightly cool, greenish cast along with lower contrast and less detail in the difficult red fabric swatch.

And finally, we've included the Sony A6300 in this comparison as an example of what a recent, larger-sensored camera is capable of. Obviously, this is an interchangeable-lens camera, and so instead of a fixed long-zoom lens, we're looking at the result from a sharp 55mm prime lens. That's perhaps a bit unfair to the other cameras in the roundup, but then that's one of the advantages of an interchangeable-lens camera: You can choose an optic appropriate to the particular shot, rather than using a one-size-fits-all zoom. At base sensitivity, the A6300's slightly higher-res 24-megapixel sensor gathers a little more detail, as you can see both in the mosaic lable and fabric swatches. Its shot is also just a touch cleaner, but interestingly the RX10 III does a much better job with the pink fabric swatch -- the A6300 renders it quite a bit too warmly.

With the sensitivity dialed up to ISO 1600 equivalent, there's a little more difference visible between the Sony RX10 III and its shorter-zoomed sibling. Although noise is now quite noticeable in images from both cameras, the RX10 III's noise reduction is a little less heavy-handed, retaining more detail in the mosaic label and pink fabric swatch. The mosaic label in the RX10 II's image is rather blotchier and more mottled by comparison. The RX10 II's pink fabric swatch is also slightly crisper, although the finer thread patterns have all but vanished. And its red fabric swatch shows a touch more contrast.

Now that we're not at base sensitivity any longer, the Canon G3X trails its Sony rival by an even greater distance. On the plus side, its noise processing doesn't leave quite as mottled an appearance in the bottle crop. Unfortunately, its contrast is significantly lower, and a lot of the detail in the mosaic label and fabric swatches has been squashed, giving the Sony RX10 III's image quite an advantage overall.

At ISO 1600-equivalent, the Panasonic FZ1000 too gives a cleaner, more processed-looking image. In the bottle crops this gives a somewhat plasticky, artificial feeling, but for our money that looks a bit better than the mottled noise processing of the RX10 III, even if it feels a bit oversaturated. But in the mosaic label, the Sony RX10 III has a slight edge in the detail department, although there's still quite a bit of detail in the Panasonic's rendition too -- the white lines in the mosaic just aren't quite as boldly-rendered. The FZ1000 otherwise holds onto contrast pretty well, though. Sony definitely wins in the red fabric swatch, with the Panasonic FZ1000 having lost most of the detail at this point. And the RX10 III's color rendering remains more faithful.

It's once the sensitivity is ramped up that the smaller-sensored Panasonic FZ300 really starts to trail the field. Its bottle crop is quite noisy and mottled, and almost all of the finer details in the mosaic label have been lost. Likewise, its red fabric swatch is near-devoid of detail.

Conversely, the larger-sensored Sony A6300 really shows an advantage once the sensitivity has been raised above its base. Its bottle crop is still pretty clean, despite obviously much lower noise processing levels. And it retains far more detail in both the mosaic label and fabric swatches, especially in terms of contrast in the hard-to-render red swatch. There's even some thread patterning left in the pink swatch, and only a repetition of the too-warm coloring in that swatch holds the A6300 back from a perfect result.

Finally, we come to the comparison at ISO 3200-equivalent. Here, again, we have to give the edge to the Sony RX10 III over its earlier sibling. Although both cameras have lost all detail in the red fabric swatch by this point, the longer-zoomed RX10 III managed to retain just slightly more in the mosaic crop, and its rendition of the pink swatch is also a little better, with the RX10 II tending a bit too warm. Both cameras are about equally noisy and mottled in their bottle crops, though.

It's interesting just how different Canon's approach is from the rest. At ISO 3200-equivalent, the G3X gives an image with a much finer-grained noise pattern, but it also looks quite heavily overprocessed and plasticky by comparison to the Sony RX10 II's shot. Where the Sony still retains a reasonable amount of detail in the mosaic label and pink fabric swatch, the Canon's different approach to noise processing has obliterated most of the finer details, and even some of the not-so-fine ones. Both cameras struggle with the red swatch, but the Canon G3X does have slightly greater contrast for the small percentage of the detail that remains.

Again, at ISO 3200 the Panasonic FZ1000 offers up a less mottled-looking bottle crop than that from the Sony, and yet it still manages to hold onto quite a bit of detail in the mosaic label. The FZ1000's contrast is also higher, but again it feels a bit oversaturated. In the fabric swatches, the Panasonic still feels a bit too cool, but it definitely does a better job with the red swatch, holding onto at least a little of the printed pattern in the fabric.

By the time we reach ISO 3200-equivalent, there's simply no contest between the Sony RX10 III and Panasonic FZ300. The smaller-sensored camera trails in every way, yielding a noiser image with lower contrast and significantly less detail.

There's equally no contest when it comes to the RX10 III vs. the A6300 at ISO 3200-equivalent. The larger sensor of the A6300 shows itself in a much cleaner, less noisy image, and that's accompanied by far more detail in the mosaic label and especially in the red fabric swatch. Only the too-warm pink swatch keeps the A6300 from a perfect result, but it's the clear winner nevertheless.