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Sony RX100 III review


Andrew Reid
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Despite appearances the third RX100 is no incremental update. It is astounding that Sony have managed to put a built in ND, OLED EVF, 120fps and XAVC codec in a compact camera, not to mention the new 24-70mm F1.8 to F2.8 lens. Sharply detailed resolution in video mode round out the spec.

But does the reality of shooting with it live up to the specs on paper?

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Sounds decent enough. But first I need to get my hands on a LX-8 and the FZ1000. I have the LX-7 now and I love it, could've gone for a RX100 back then, but didn't and still feel like Panasonic might just have the upper hand here again (for me personally). Also, the FZ1000 seems like a lovely addition as well. Kind of a pity they dropped the constant f/2.8-aperture of the FZ200, but it's a seems a good alternative to the RX10 and fitting somewhere in between but on it's own. Sometimes I go out and pack all my gear, other times I just need a nice all-purpose flexible camera without additional gimmicks, so I really like all these new options.

 

But for now I'm just really curious how the LX-8 will stack up against the latest makeover of the RX100. B) Round #2. FIGHT!

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Really great review of movie features. Haven't seen anything this informative on the RX100m3. Thanks.

 

For the life of me, I can't get it to record stills when taking movies (in manual mode). Nor can I get it to use AF-C or do punch-in focus assist. I think I've tried every menu option that might be restricting access to this functionality. I'm not alone; a few people on other forums have been complaining that you can't take stills in movie mode, nor use focus assist.

 

Would love to know how you got this to work!

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Really great review of movie features. Haven't seen anything this informative on the RX100m3. Thanks.

 

For the life of me, I can't get it to record stills when taking movies (in manual mode). Nor can I get it to use AF-C or do punch-in focus assist. I think I've tried every menu option that might be restricting access to this functionality. I'm not alone; a few people on other forums have been complaining that you can't take stills in movie mode, nor use focus assist.

 

Would love to know how you got this to work!

 

I said so in the review sir... Set the dial to M stills mode and shoot movies in there like normal, but with the benefits of the stills mode. Just be sure to set aspect ratio of stills to 16:9 so you get the proper framing for videos.

 

I actually prefer to use M stills mode for movie recording than the actual Movie Mode on the dial. In movie mode you cannot use AF-S to grab focus quickly on an object and record video with it locked rather than continuous. Also in movie mode the manual focus assist is a bit soft and peaking a quite low res affair. Pressing the shutter won’t allow me to bang off a still in movie mode either, nor can the shutter button be used to record a movie! I have set my stills to 16:9 so I get proper framing of movies in the stills mode. When I need MF I get a crisper zoomed display and when I press the shutter button I can rattle of a raw still. Only at 120fps does the framing change when I hit record in this mode and I lose the option for the cropped ‘Active Stabilisation’ for movies too but the benefits of stills mode for movies outweighs those downsides.

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The only thing lacking on the RX100 line for me is a built in time-lapse feature. I jerry-rigged a solution out of a rubber band at an airport once after TSA got on to me for shooting a time lapse with my DSLR :) 

 

Looks like the MK3 comes with its fair share of issues, but still comes close to being the perfect camera for my run and gun situations. 

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The only thing lacking on the RX100 line for me is a built in time-lapse feature. I jerry-rigged a solution out of a rubber band at an airport once after TSA got on to me for shooting a time lapse with my DSLR :)

 

Looks like the MK3 comes with its fair share of issues, but still comes close to being the perfect camera for my run and gun situations. 

 

Seems like the RX100m3 is supported by this time-lapse app though:

 

https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/usbdetail.php?eid=IS9104-NPIA09014_00-000003

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"However the camera astoundingly does not playback 120fps in-camera as slow-mo"

 

When you're playing back a clip you should see an arrow pointing down next to the words Control Pannel. Just press down on your wheel and you'll see more playback options including slow-mo..

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I said so in the review sir... Set the dial to M stills mode and shoot movies in there like normal, but with the benefits of the stills mode. Just be sure to set aspect ratio of stills to 16:9 so you get the proper framing for videos.

 

I actually prefer to use M stills mode for movie recording than the actual Movie Mode on the dial. In movie mode you cannot use AF-S to grab focus quickly on an object and record video with it locked rather than continuous. Also in movie mode the manual focus assist is a bit soft and peaking a quite low res affair. Pressing the shutter won’t allow me to bang off a still in movie mode either, nor can the shutter button be used to record a movie! I have set my stills to 16:9 so I get proper framing of movies in the stills mode. When I need MF I get a crisper zoomed display and when I press the shutter button I can rattle of a raw still. Only at 120fps does the framing change when I hit record in this mode and I lose the option for the cropped ‘Active Stabilisation’ for movies too but the benefits of stills mode for movies outweighs those downsides.

Thanks Andrew. I think I read more into your description than you intended (also, AF-C was a typo; I meant AF-S). I thought you were saying that, WHILE taking a movie, you could get the RX100m3 to offer AF-S, use manual focus assist, and fire of a still. If you just meant that you could do so BEFORE taking the movie, fine. The Mark 1 allowed one to take a still while shooting a movie. The Mark 3 doesn't seem to allow this. I can live with it as is, it's just a shame that they dropped the "grab a still" feature that was in the Mark 1.

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"However the camera astoundingly does not playback 120fps in-camera as slow-mo"

 

When you're playing back a clip you should see an arrow pointing down next to the words Control Pannel. Just press down on your wheel and you'll see more playback options including slow-mo..

 

Really? On down arrow I have label "Volume", with predictable results...

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Really? On down arrow I have label "Volume", with predictable results...

 

You need to hit the Center Button so you're actually playing the file then you'll see it (I just hit the Center Button twice so I immediately pause the clip then go to slow-mo).

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Great review! I totally agree it is outstanding for drones. I am waiting for my pre-ordered RX100 III to replace my RX100 II which replaced my RX100 :-) I have been using them on my drones and although I also fly with 5D, GH3, BMCP and gopro, the RX100 is the one I usually pick when I want to shoot something for myself. Just forget about carrying it on a Phanton, at least reliably. The problem is the gimbal, which is usually 2-3x the weight of the camera, hence a > 1Kg payload vs the 240g of a gopro with a gimbal that the phanton can carry adequately. Here are some shots with the RX100 on our drones: www.vimeo.com/gaivota/rx100 . Cheers,

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  • 4 weeks later...

I got the mark III camera yesterday.

I did some side by side comparison for the steady shot and the video quality with the mark II

It looks like the Mark III is actually worse it lacks detail even with the XAVC codec, the autofocus is slower and only the intelligent steady shot is an improvement but not life changing

I am sending it back now and am really annoyed seems like one of those case of upgrade where old feature are made look bad to show the new feature better?

Weird

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  • 2 weeks later...

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