Sony recently introduced the latest addition to their acclaimed Cyber-shot™ RX compact camera line, the full-frame RX1R II (model DSC-RX1RM2).
Joining the original RX1 and RX1R cameras in the family of the world’s smallest full-frame cameras, the new RX1R II delivers the highest picture quality of any Sony compact camera ever made. This can largely be attributed to the new camera’s high resolution 42.4 MP sensor paired with its large aperture, fixed focal length ZEISS® Sonnar T* 35mm F2 lens, which have been fine-tuned to optimise performance together.
Additionally, the new model features a 30% improvement in AF response speed compared to the original award-winning RX1 models and is equipped with the world’s first optical variable low pass filter that can be set to “off”, “standard”, or “high” based on user preference with low pass filter bracketing available. It also has a convenient retractable XGA OLED viewfinder for eye-level shooting, which has been implemented with minimal change in overall body size from its predecessors.
Ultimate Image Quality in the Palm of Your Hand
The new RX1R II camera utilises a back-illuminated 35mm full-frame Exmor R® CMOS sensor with approximately 42.4 effective megapixels paired with a powerful BIONZ X processing engine to achieve superior levels of image resolution and sensitivity (ISO 100-25600, expandable to 50 – 102400) with wide dynamic range. The sensor’s back-illuminated structure, with an expanded circuit scale and copper wiring design, enables faster transmission speed and outputs data approximately 3.5x faster than the original RX1R, ensuring high-speed performance.
Matched specifically for the image sensor, the large aperture 35mm F2 ZEISS® Sonnar T* lens ensures that all images captured by the camera are impressively sharp from the centre to the corners. The lens also has a unique Macro shift ring for focusing on subjects as close as 14cm in front of the lens, and has nine aperture blades that produce smooth, even background defocus or ‘bokeh’ in the most commonly used aperture ranges.
Another unique benefit of the new camera is its fixed lens design, which allows the positioning of its sensor and lens to be precisely adjusted to maximise all benefits of the sensor’s extremely high resolution. The closer the two components are to one another, the wider the angle through which light can pass through the lens and directly reach the sensor, resulting in imagery that is rich in detail and resolution. Also, unlike the focal plane shutter common to interchangeable lens cameras, the RX1R II utilises an in-lens shutter, allowing 1/2000 sec flash synch speed and a significant reduction in overall body size.
The new RX1R II also offers uncompressed 14-bit RAW image capture to maximise the benefits of the image sensor’s wide dynamic range, while also still supporting existing compressed format.