Sony has announced the newest member of the popular
RX100 series of camera. Called the RX100 VI unsurprisingly, the new model
continues the trend of few but important changes across the board to keep
things fresh and interesting in what is now a six-year old series.
The main change in RX100 VI is a new lens. The new
model includes a 24-200mm lens, making it the highest focal length lens in the
series so far, giving it some serious magnification that RX100 cameras have
lacked so far. Despite the increased focal length the camera packs an
impressive f2.8-4.5 aperture range, which although slower at the wide end
compared to previous models (f1.8-2.8) is still reasonably fast at the tele
end. The new lens assembly uses 15 elements in 12 groups for sharper image
quality across the frame.
The RX100 VI also improves the optical stabilization
performance. Sony claims an improvement equivalent to 4.0 stop increase in
shutter speed at 200mm. The new model also improved 4K video output. The camera
is now capable of recording in S-Log 3 as well, providing wider dynamic range
for more flexible color grading work in post. The camera also supports HLG
picture profiles. Together, they can be used to create an HDR video workflow,
which is a first for a Cyber-shot camera.
The rest of the camera is largely identical to the
RX100 V. It has the same 20.1MP 1.0-type DRAM stacked sensor, BIONZ X
processor, 315 point AF system with 0.03 seconds focusing speed, 1080p video at
240/480/960fps slow motion and 24fps burst capture. The display is now touch
screen but only used for focusing and has lower resolution (921k dots) compared
to previous models (1228k dots). The electronic viewfinder remains the same.
The battery is also the same although Sony claims a few extra shots this time.
The Sony RX100 VI will be available in July 2018 for US$ 1200. As usual, the price keeps increasing over the previous models as Sony
keeps selling them alongside the new one. Not sure how much sense that makes
considering how old the first few models are at this point and also how the new
ones keep getting out of reach for its target audience.
