New Sony RX100 mkIII announced

[Todd Mizomi]

Was going to pick up the RX100mkII at Costco the other day, but they disappeared from the shelves. Now I know why:

Sony RX100 III boasts brighter zoom, popup viewfinder, and still fits in a pocket

They removed the flash hotshoe though. :-(

[Jack Zhang]

So close, but no cigar... XAVC-S, but no 4K...

[Philip Lipetz]

I do not see a mic input jack. Or active hotshoe for audio adapter.

[Dave Blackhurst]

Some pluses, some minuses.... that's for sure! The 100Mk2 still looks pretty good!

[Emmanuel Plakiotis]

Digging into the specs
XAVC 50mbit
5 axis stabilization for video
ND filters

From a videographers perspective seems a very interesting camera

Not even GH4 has ND filters

[Emmanuel Plakiotis]

Compared to Rx10 it's almost the same, but with better codec and 5 axis is. Of course the lens is less capable, but we are talking about a camera that is 1/3 in weight and 1/4 in size. Not to mention and 300€ cheaper. Even compared to CX900 has better is. If this camera performs in the same league, ithink it could be a real winner as a hybrid camera. It can even replace gopro type do cameras.

[Dave Blackhurst]

Well... the RX100 and RX10 are two different animals, the RX10 is very hard to beat for what it can do, but the RX100 has the advantage of pocketability.

IF you don't need the long end of the lens or audio, no question that it's a powerhouse acquisition device with a pretty good bang/buck ratio considering.

I've used the RX100 and then the Mk2 - it became my "primary" video camera in the sense I could take it anywhere... though the RX10 is worth the extra size and weight (and cost), I stick the RX100M2 into the bag right next to it... multicam capability in a tiny bag!

There are fairly inexpensive Chinese shells for this camera (at least the earlier versions, I've got to look at whether the Mk3 can be shoehorned in with the added thickness dimensions and change in flash positioning), so it can be "ruggedized" as well. I modded a "MK1" shell to fit the Mk2... not sure about the Mk3 - going to be a tight fit!

[Ken Ross]

Originally Posted by Jack Zhang

So close, but no cigar... XAVC-S, but no 4K...

Yup, wait for the RX100 MKlV, it will have 4K. :)

[Darren Levine]

it's still so puzzling to me why just about every manufacturer has the mentality that there's only the worlds of 1080, and 4k, and nothing exists in between. No stepping stone, no middle ground, nothing. No, they may not be 'standard' resolutions, but many people don't care, a bit more is a bit more useful

Blackmagic gave 2.5k, though that's because that's what the sensor did best.

gopro gave 2.7k, but thats just an action camera (but a fan favorite)

so when i look at a camera like the rx100m3, i really wonder why they didn't do something, ANYTHING over par for the course? This is a premium priced point and shoot, the rest of the upgrades look great, but it seems they could have gave it at least something of a resolution bump, be it 2.5k, 3k, etc...

[Noa Put]

it's still so puzzling to me why just about every manufacturer has the mentality that there's only the worlds of 1080, and 4k, and nothing exists in between

They first sell whatever makes the most money as long as they can until one manufacturer supplies the next best thing and all the rest follows.The canon 50d was announced around 2008 and years later seem to be shoot video in raw you can be sure Canon knew about that, everything changed when they start using large sensors for video, when I was shooting my first hdv cams any upgrade was usually in functionality, like adding sdi or xlr, but with large sensor there is much more potential to differentiate their offerings and by that making much more different models, each with their own limitations, so they can sell even more. I"m pretty sure they could have given us 2,5k inbetween but not before the 1080p market was saturated, they milked that cow as long as they could, tried 3d for a short while without much success so 4K was probably the next obvious step, 4 times more resolution sounds greater then 2 times more when you sell something, it's like these 300 times zoom on those consumercams, customers love that :) probably 8K is already easily possible to do as well but first they have to milk the 4k market a few years before they will move on to the next big thing.

[Ken Ross]

Darren, I think part of it can be explained by the fact that they want to stick to the native resolutions of most existing displays. By doing some in-between resolutions, you've automatically entered into the world of scaling and picture quality sacrifices will be unavoidable. Some displays may even fail to accept some oddball resolutions.

[Darren Levine]

It's a good point Ken, i was thinking as more of a working shooter than a high end consumer, but it does beg the question of whether sony knows/cares about more than just consumers using such a camera. But to get around your noted issue, just like they still include 720 on 1080 cameras, they would/could still leave those options along with the 2.5k/whatever option. In the manual i could see them noting the considerations when shooting the higher resolution.

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Jack Zhang

So close, but no cigar... XAVC-S, but no 4K...

If you need 4K, Sony also makes the F55.

[Dave Blackhurst]

Is that an F55 in your pocket...

[Jack Zhang]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

If you need 4K, Sony also makes the F55.

Yeah... We're talking 4K on a budget, not unlimited budget.