Sony has announced the Cyber-shot RX100 VI – price tag $1,200 / £1,150 – a new premium compact camera boasting a 1-inch sensor and a 24-200mm f/2.8-4.5 lens with a July release date.
The Sony RX100 VI is an update to the RX100 V that was launched late in 2016. Inside the RX100 VI is a stacked 20.1-megapixel 1-inch Exmor RS CMOS sensor, and it’s powered by Sony’s Bionz X processing engine.
Lens
The big update, however, is the lens, which more than doubles from a 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 focal length on the RX100 V to 24-200mm.
The new RX100VI’s lens is constructed of 15 elements in 12 groups. This includes two Extra-low Dispersion aspherical glass elements and eight aspherical lens elements, including four advanced aspherical lenses.
The increased focal range should make the RX100 VI a powerful tool with plenty of reach. The 8x zoom, of course, means a slower aperture compared to the RX100 V, so we’re eager to put the camera through its paces.
What’s more, Sony says the RX100 VI lens has built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation providing the equivalent to a 4.0-stop faster shutter speed.
Autofocus
The new Sony RX100 VI’s Fast Hybrid AF system promises the world’s fastest AF acquisition time for a 1-inch sensor camera at 0.03 sec, Sony says.
The AF system comprises 315 phase detection autofocus points that cover some 65% of the frame and a continuous shooting rate of 24fps. This 24fps burst rate comes with full AF/AE tracking and a buffer rate of up to 233 images.
Sony says it has also improved its Eye AF in the RX100 VI. The model provides approximately 2x the tracking performance of the RX100 V.
There’s also touch focusing and touchpad focus point control that allows users to drag their fingers to ideal focus points of their choice.
Video
The Sony RX100 VI can record 4K video like you’d expect from most premium cameras these days. But it can record 4K over the full width of the sensor and supports 8-bit Hybrid Log Gamma for high dynamic range.
You’ll also find S-Log3/S-Gamut3, 120p Full HD mode, Picture Profile and proxy recording.
There’s also ultra-slow motion videos at frame rates of 1000, 500 or 250fps.
Design features
The new Sony RX100 VI also features a 2.35-million-dot XGA OLED Tru-Finder EVF with ZEISS T* Coating. This new EVF retracts in and out of the RX100 VI body according to your preference, and can be activated by an access button.
What’s more, Sony says it has reduced the display lag on the RX100 VI’s EVF compared to the RX100 V.
Another new feature – and a first for Sony’s RX series – is touch shutter functionality, which can be activated by tapping the back LCD screen.
There’s also a new zoom lever with customisable zoom speeds and an LCD that can be rotated 180 degrees upward or 90 degrees downward different shooting angles.
You can also turn off the camera’s monitor, which Sony says boosts your number of images per charge by 30%.
Other features
The Sony RX100 VI also has a high speed Anti-Distortion Shutter (maximum shutter speed of up to 1/32000 second) that reduces the ‘rolling shutter’ effect commonly experienced with fast-moving subjects, and can shoot completely silently in all modes, including continuous high speed shooting, when the electronic shutter is engaged.
The RX100 VI also offers Bluetooth, NFC and WiFi capability.
Sony RX100 VI Price & Release Date
The Sony RX100 VI price tag is £1,150 in the UK and $1,200. Meanwhile Sony says the RX100 VI release date will be July for customers in Europe.
At the time of writing we don’t yet have information on a Sony RX100 VI release date in the United States.