Sony RX1R III Review

Ten years after the RX1R II, Sony dropped the a7R V sensor behind the Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f/2 and called it done. The files justify the exercise: 61 megapixels, no low pass filter, and a lens computed for this sensor that holds detail across the frame and lets Step Crop Shooting pull 50mm and 70mm framings out of the corner data. Subject recognition from the BIONZ XR and its dedicated AI unit covers people, animals, birds, insects and vehicles over 693 phase detection points. The body is magnesium, 498 grams, with recessed dials and a flush top plate, and it still slides into a coat pocket.

Then the list of what Sony left out at 5,099 dollars. No image stabilisation of any kind, on a 61 megapixel sensor that punishes a slow hand. A fixed rear screen, where the previous model tilted. A 2.36 million dot viewfinder, the panel budget bodies ship with. Three hundred frames a charge from the old NP-FW50. No internal neutral density filter and no record button for the 4K 30 video. It makes exceptional pictures and asks for more forgiveness than anything at this price should.