20 November 2012, Singapore – This is the one camera that created so much buzz in the photography community. It is after all, the first compact camera that has an advanced 35mm full-frame 24.3 MP Exmor® CMOS sensor and paired with the amazing Carl Zeiss T*t 35mm f/2.0 fixed lens into a lightweight camera body, weighing only 482 g.
The large sensor means that the camera’s sensitivity range is boosted to a generous ISO 100 – 25600. This allows the Cyber-shot™ RX1 to capture natural, low noise handheld images in near-dark conditions without needing flash. It is a dream come true for many street photography enthusiasts. Moreover, the lens’ wide f 2.0 maximum, 9-bladed circular aperture enable users to capture beautiful ‘bokeh’ effects that will make some professional-class DSLR camera lenses jealous.
This is one camera whose image quality (IQ) has been compared and found similar to the Leica M9. The IQ that this camera churned out promises to blow you away.
Where, when and how much?
The good news is, it is coming to Singapore real soon. Just in time for the festive season, the Cyber-shot™ DSC-RX1 will be available in Singapore from 12 December 2012, at a recommended retail price of S$3,999.
It will be sold at the following outlets – Alan Photo Trading, Bally Photo Electronics Pte. Ltd., Cathay Photo Store (Private) Limited, MS Colour Services Pte. Ltd., Sprint-Cass Pte. Ltd., Sony Stores, Sony Centre V3, and Sony Centre Juzz 1.
Additional accessories available for purchase:
1. Electronic Viewfinder Kit, S$729 – With compact, stylish and tiltable design, it possesses unique XGA OLED Tru-Finder™ that offers high resolution and high contrast view.
2. Jacket Case, S$349 – Designed with genuine natural leather, this protective jacket case can be attached to the RX1 even when connected to a tripod.
3. Lens Hood, S$249 – Exclusively designed to protect the RX1 lenses from shock or dirt, this lens hood is made of machined-metal and precisely engineered yet light-weight.
4. Thumb Grip, S$349 – The thumb grip enables comfort grip of the camera even when it is held with just one hand.
5. Optical Viewfinder Kit, S$829 – Attachable to RX1’s Multi Interface Shoe, the Optical ViewFinder enables users to responsively find and shoot fast moving objects as and when they see them.
Camera Specifications
| Model | DSC-RX1 |
| Image Sensor | 35mm full-frame (35.8mm × 23.9mm) Exmor CMOS Sensor, aspect ratio 3:2
(Effective resolution) Approx. 24.3 megapixels (Gross resolution) Approx. 24.7 megapixels |
| Lens | Carl Zeiss Sonnar T*, 8 elements in 7 groups (3 aspherical elements including AA lens); maximum aperture F2; focal length = 35mm (Still Image 3:2) |
| Zoom | Clear Image Zoom (still image): 2x
Digital Zoom (still image): 24M approx. 4x / 10M approx. 6.1x / 4.6M approx. 9.1x |
| Screen | 7.5cm (3.0 type) (4:3) / 1,229,000 dots / Xtra Fine / TFT LCD |
| Image stabilisation | Electronic type (for movie) |
| Focus Type | Contrast detection AF |
| Focus modes | Single-shot AF (AF-S) / Continuous AF (AF-C) / Direct Manual Focus (DMF) / Manual Focus (MF) |
| Focus area | Multi point AF (25 points) / Centre weighted AF / Flexible spot / Flexible spot (tracking focus) / Flexible spot (face tracking) |
| Light Metering Mode | Multi segment / Centre weighted / Spot |
| White Balance Mode | Auto/Daylight/Shade/Cloudy/Incandescent/Fluor (Warm White)/Fluor (Cool White)/Fluor (Day White)/Fluor (Daylight)/Flash/C. Temp./C.Filter/Custom |
| Shutter Speed | Program Auto (30-1/2000) / Aperture Priority (30-1/2000) / Shutter Priority (30-1/2000) / Manual (Bulb, 30-1/2000) |
| Sensitivity (still image) | ISO 100-25600 (1/3 EV step, expandable to ISO 50/64/80)
Auto: ISO 100-25600, selectable with upper / lower limit Multi Frame NR: Auto (ISO 100-25600, selectable with upper / lower limit), 100-102400 (1EV step) |
| Continuous shooting | Speed Priority Continuous Mode: Approx.5 fps
Continuous mode: 2.5 fps (AF-S) |
| Image Control | Creative Style, Quality (RAW/RAW&JPEG/Extra fine/Fine/Standard), Long Exposure NR (On/Off), High ISO NR (Normal/Low/off), Multi Frame NR |
| Shooting modes | Program Auto (Program shift available), Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, MR (Memory Recall) 1 / 2 / 3, Movie, Sweep shooting, Scene Selection, Intelligent Auto |
| Creative Style modes | Standard / Vivid / Neutral / Clear / Deep / Light / Portrait / Landscape / Sunset / Night Scene / Autumn Leaves / Black & White / Sepia |
| Picture Effect modes | Toy Camera, Pop Colour, Posterisation, Retro Photo, Soft High-key, Partial Colour, High Contrast Monochrome, Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolour, Illustration |
| Flash | GN6 (in metres at ISO 100);
Flash modes Auto/Fill-flash/Slow Sync/Rear Sync/Off/Wireless |
| Other Shooting functions | Smart Teleconverter (approx. 1.4x / 2x), Face Detection, Face Registration, Smile Shutter, Quick Navi, Grid Line, Digital Level Gauge (pitch and roll), Exposure Bracketing, White Balance Bracketing, DRO Bracketing, Flash Bracketing, Peaking, MF Assist, Auto Portrait Framing |
| Recording format | Still Image: JPEG, RAW (Sony ARW 2.3 format)
Movie: AVCHD Ver.2.0, MP4 |