Sony RX100 III Image Quality - Time to see how this popular premium compact handles the competition
posted Tuesday, August 5, 2014 at 12:23 PM EDT
The Sony RX100 line of premium compact cameras became a trilogy with the release of the RX100 III this summer, taking on a brighter lens, pop-up viewfinder and sporting the highly touted BIONZ X processor found in Sony's new full frame mirrorless trilogy, the A7, A7R and A7S. Given the enormous popularity of the first two offerings in the RX100 series this has certainly been a camera largely followed here on our site.
At a current street price hovering around its retail price of US$800, this new model is now in an interesting price bracket. The mk II can now be purchased for ~$650, and the mk I for even less than that, so we know readers are interested in knowing what they can expect to see in the image quality department as compared to these two siblings in the line. This price point also puts the mk III in direct competition with several other popular and relatively compact models that while perhaps not all technically known as "premium compacts", are all still fairly small in size for their class.
So head over to our Sony RX100 III Image Quality page to see just how well this latest Sony offering stacks up against the Sony RX100 II, Canon G1X II, Nikon J4, Olympus Stylus 1 and the Panasonic GM1. We're including a variety of differing sensor sizes to show how they fare as ISO rises, given that they're all in roughly the same price bracket.
If you'd like to perform your own custom comparisons, click over to our Comparometer where you can pit the RX100 III test lab images against any camera we've ever tested across their available ISO range. Does it top the popular Canon 120? Can it stand up to its big brother the Sony A6000? Or how about the Samsung NX Mini? The Comparometer is your best source for custom image quality comparisons.
To read more about the rise of premium niche cameras like the RX100 III, see our recent article for a closer look. And if you've yet to do so, be sure and check out Mike Tomkins' RX100 III Shooter's Reports to see how this latest model fares out in the real world.
[quick links: Sony RX100 III • Gallery • Image Quality • Lab Samples • Shooter's Reports]