Sony RX10 II review: This Swiss Army knife of the camera world boasts even more tools than ever!
posted Friday, September 25, 2015 at 3:43 AM EDT
Over the last several years, few cameras have excited and inspired us quite like the Sony RX10. Now, the Sony RX10 II takes things to the next level, building on the original design and bringing upgrades in many important areas. And we've just finalized our full review of the RX10 II, putting the finishing touches on our image quality and print quality analyses as well as our carefully-considered conclusion.
One of the reasons we loved the original RX10 so much is that it was a single camera which aimed to replace a multiplicity of photographic tools. Much like the legendary Swiss Army knife, the RX10 II probably didn't better all of those original tools taken one at a time, but by combining their capabilities into a single, relatively compact body, it saved you carting a bagful of gear everywhere you went.
The Sony RX10 II is much the same as its predecessor, but more so. It retains the same bright, relatively far-reaching 24-200mm equivalent, f/2.8 constant aperture zoom lens, which covers your bases for most typical shooting scenarios. And it still offers a high-resolution 20.2-megapixel, 1"-type image sensor that's large enough to ensure great image quality, but small enough to ensure that the impressive lens didn't require that the photographer double as a weightlifter.
And where its predecessor was fast, the Sony RX10 II is even faster, shooting at up to a whopping 14 frames per second with a burst depth that's more than twice as generous as before. The new model also focuses fully one-third more swiftly. And not only does it catch up with subsequent rivals of the original RX10, such as the Panasonic FZ1000, with new features like 4K video capture, it bests them by providing a really fun, unique (and very useful) 4x to 40x slow-motion video function that boasts record-making resolution for a consumer camera.
But where its predecessor was in a class of one, the Sony RX10 II does have its new Canon and Panasonic rivals to contend with -- and while there are some important ways in which they differ, they can give you a lot of that same experience for a whole lot less than the RX10 II's rather steep US$1,300 pricetag. The question is this, then: Can the Sony RX10 II justify that extra expense over its rivals, and does it belong in your camera bag?
Find out the answer to this and a whole lot more besides in the conclusion of our just-finalized, in-depth Sony RX10 II review. And don't forget to check out our image quality comparison and print quality analysis, both of which have also been posted within the last 24 hours!
