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Joining its two older siblings is the Sony RX100 III, the latest addition to a popular family of ultra-compact, but very capable cameras that have pushed the envelope of what is possible from a small digital camera. For the past few years, Sony seems to be leading the charge when it comes to rapidly advancing camera technology, and the RX100 series of cameras have become some of the most popular advanced compact cameras on the market — and for good reason.

I’ve seen the Sony RX100 III along with its predecessors, the Sony RX100 and Sony RX100 II, frequently referred to as a point and shoot camera and its price compared and contrasted with basic point and shoot cameras. Although the RX100 III can certainly be used as just a point and shoot compact camera, its features, capabilities, and image quality really make it more of an advanced compact, more fairly compared in both features and price with cameras like the Canon PowerShot G7X, Ricoh GR, and Panasonic Lumix LX100 than basic point and shoot cameras that cost hundreds of dollars less, have smaller sensors, and far fewer advanced features.

With a price tag of just under $800, do the Sony RX100 III’s features justify the asking price? If you’re serious about your photography but want a very capable pocket-sized camera without sacrificing the features found on DSLR and mirrorless cameras, I think that the answer is yes, and in this review I’ll go over several of the reasons why I think the Sony RX100 III lives up to the hype.

To test this camera, I decided to carry it along on a 3 day backpacking trip, the sort of scenario I would normally pack a DSLR camera and a few lenses along for. I wanted to see if such a tiny camera that weighs just over 10 ounces could adequately replace a pile of gear that weighs almost ten times as much. As a lover of long exposure photography, I was really looking forward to testing the RX100 III’s high ISO capabilities for star photography while out in the wilderness.

One of my biggest findings while using the RX100 III instead of a bulkier DSLR camera setup was that I actually took more pictures — it’s easy to reach into your pocket, pull out this little camera, and take a photo — one that I might not have bothered with if I had to go to the effort of taking out my DSLR. Even though I might be taking more photos, thanks to its convenient size, the real question in my mind was whether or not the quality of the photos would really measure up. Let’s find out!

Sony RX100 III Features & Specifications

The Sony RX100 III uses a 1 inch 20.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, the same used in the previous Sony RX100 II model. While the Sony RX100 and RX100 II used the BIONZ processor, the new RX100 III makes use of Sony’s BIONZ X processor, used in the a7, a7R, and a7S full frame mirrorless cameras, and about 3 times as fast as the BIONZ.

Aesthetically, the Sony RX100 III doesn’t look much different from its predecessors, and is only slightly larger in size. Missing from the RX100 III is the flash hot shoe that was added to the RX100 II, but which Sony apparently felt most customers weren’t using. Its position is filled with a pop-up flash and to the left is arguably the most exciting new feature of the RX100 III — a pop-up electronic viewfinder. The viewfinder uses an eye-sensor, which automatically switches between the LCD screen and the viewfinder when it senses that you’ve put the viewfinder up to your eye.

Also changed from the previous versions of the camera is the lens — the RX100 and RX100 II featured a 28-100mm equivalent f/1.8-4.9 lens, while the RX100 III now uses a 24-70mm equivalent f/1.8-2.8 lens. Although some might miss that extra bit of reach, the change allows the new lens to let in twice as much light at the 70mm focal length than either of the previous models, making it easier to shoot in lower lighting conditions and to capture photos with a shallower depth of field.

A built in 3 stop neutral density filter can be activated manually or automatically and helps with capturing longer exposures and for shooting in bright sunlight when the camera’s maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 might not always be enough to obtain a proper exposure. Burst shooting is possible at up to 10 frames per second, useful for capturing action sequences.

Like the Sony RX100 II, the RX100 III also features a hinged LCD screen, which can tilt up and down , making it easier to shoot with the camera overhead or at ground level — for shooting selfies, the LCD screen can even be adjusted so that the screen sits on top of the camera, facing the lens.

Who is the Sony RX100 III for?

The RX100 III is easy to use and can certainly serve as an excellent camera for casual shooters who plan on shooting JPEG in automatic mode, but where it really shines and where its high price-point makes the most sense is when its advanced features are being utilized, making the RX100 III especially well suited for use by serious amateur and professional photographers who want a small camera that can shoot in RAW.

While the Sony RX100 III isn’t designed to compete with Sony’s much larger mirrorless cameras like the Sony a7 II, the image quality that the little RX100 III produces is truly impressive. For photographers who shoot street and candid travel photography, the tiny body of the RX100 III makes it perfectly suited for this kind of work. Pros and serious amateurs don’t always want to carry along a full kit of gear, especially while traveling, but they do want to always take photos that are of a consistently high quality no matter what camera they’ve brought along — the RX100 III definitely produces that kind of quality.

Although the 24-70mm equivalent lens obviously won’t allow the RX100 III to serve as a realistic alternative for wildlife photographers who are used to using 300mm and longer lenses, it’s wide enough at 24mm to capture great landscape shots and at 70mm, it does a great job with portraits.

Sony RX100 III Appearance & Feel

If you’ve never used one of the RX100 III’s predecessors before, the diminutive size of the camera is quite surprising. In my large hands, the camera is extremely tiny and easily fits into my loose pockets — the camera can be worn on a neck strap, but it’s small size seems to lend itself to using a wrist strap instead.

The black aluminum body looks great, but it’s a bit slick and a finger grip on the front would have made holding onto the camera easier. Luckily, an optional grip can be purchased for the RX100 family of cameras that makes the camera a bit more ergonomic and easier to hold on to — the Sony AG-R2 Attachment Grip, but it would be nice to see future installments of the RX100 ship with this accessory by default.

For photographers looking for a small camera to take traveling, it doesn’t get much better than this.

The Sony RX100 III can certainly take professional quality images, but its small size makes it less of an obvious target for thieves and it’s simply easier to carry around than a bulkier mirrorless or DSLR camera and lenses. With a recessed mode dial on the top of the camera and no unnecessary buttons, the RX100 III has a great minimalist design that doesn’t partake in any of the current fad for retro-styling. Despite its small size, the layout of the camera’s buttons and menu system is excellent. Even when using the camera at night in complete darkness to shoot star photography, I found the layout to be very intuitive and changing exposure settings like ISO, shutter speed, and aperture and adjusting the focus manually was simple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony RX100 III Performance

The RX100 III might be small, but its one inch sensor and BIONZ X processor give it plenty of power to take impressive photos. As one would expect, JPEG images look great straight out of camera, although when using auto white balance, the photos seem a bit on the cool side. If you’re investing close to $800 in an advanced compact camera though, your best results will come from shooting RAW, and indeed — the RAW files the Sony RX100 III produces look very comparable in quality to those from many current DSLR cameras.

ISO 100-640 shows very little noise at all, and in low light conditions, the RX100 III performs very well at higher ISO speeds too. At ISO 800 and above, a bit of noise starts to show up, but the results are still very usable, especially with just a bit of noise reduction in post processing. Thanks to the camera’s optical image stabilization which helps to counteract the effects of camera shake that would otherwise blur hand-held photos taken using slow shutter speeds, sharp photos can be taken using longer exposure times in low lighting to avoid using extremely high ISO speeds. Although the noise is very obvious at ISO 6400 and 12800, the image quality is still much better even at these more extreme sensitivities than what can be achieved using the majority of other advanced compact cameras on the market.

Long exposure photos taken with the RX100 III look excellent, and the results definitely rival what’s achievable by other cameras in the same price range — even much larger DSLR and mirrorless cameras with APS-C sized sensors. As with most cameras that offer manual exposure control, 30 seconds is the longest preset shutter speed, but switching to Bulb mode is simple using the mode dial on the top of the camera. Unless you have incredibly steady hands and want to hold down the shutter for the entirety of a long exposure, you’ll want to pick up a Sony RM-VPR1 Remote Control which features a shutter lock button so that you can shoot long exposures of any length without needing to keep your finger on the shutter.

Although the lens’s maximum apertures of f/1.8-2.8 are quite fast, the smaller sensor means that the depth of field at these apertures won’t be as shallow as it would be using a larger APS-C or full frame sensor. Even so, with sufficient distance behind your subject and the background, the RX100 III can still produce very nice bokeh when shooting wide open.

Sony’s specs list the RX100 III’s battery life at about 320 shots, a bit less than the 350 shot rating of the RX100 II. In spite of this, on a single battery charge I shot about 400 RAW shots including several dozen long exposure photos during the three day backpacking trip without exhausting the battery. Even with an expected battery life of about 320 shots, that’s still more than most comparable advanced compacts. Unfortunately Sony doesn’t include a standalone battery charger with the RX100 III, a trend among some camera manufacturers that I don’t care for, which makes keeping a few spare batteries charged tricky, since charging is done using a USB cable. For those who like to be prepared with a spare battery ready to go, Sony does make compatible chargers like the Sony BCTRX Battery Charger which can charge a NP-BX1 battery in 90 minutes.

Conclusions

All in all, the Sony RX100 III is a remarkably well-rounded camera and perhaps the best and most full-featured compact camera for travel on the market right now. At nearly $800 new it’s not the cheapest advanced compact, but with a 20 megapixel resolution, a fast 24-70mm equivalent f/1.8-2.8 lens, and outstanding image quality it’s a worthwhile investment for serious photographers who expect as much of their pocket camera as they do of their interchangeable lens camera.