Since its inception in 2012, the Sony RX100 series has gone from strength to strength, sporting advanced still and video technology never before seen on a compact body.
Today, Sony announced the fifth iteration of the series – the RX100 V – and it looks like another big leap forward for the 1-inch sensor compact camera segment.
The most important update compared to the previous model is the new Fast Hybrid AF system (contrast and phase detection) with an AF acquisition time of just 0.05 seconds and 315 points covering 65% of the frame – what Sony claims is the “world’s highest number of AF points” on a 1-inch sensor.
Paired with this new AF system is a fast continuous shooting speed of 24fps with AF/AE tracking at full 20.1MP resolution and a buffer of approximately 150 shots. This is up from 16fps in speed priority mode or 10fps in continuous shooting mode on the previous model.
These speeds are available with both the mechanical and electronic shutter, and since the camera features the same Anti-Distortion Shutter as the previous model, rolling shutter artefacts should not present an issue.
Moreover, the blackout time has been significantly reduced in this high-speed shooting mode, allowing photographers to follow fast action with greater ease.
Usefully, the camera has been given the AF-A option found on its interchangeable lens cameras. It allows the camera to automatically switch between continuous and single-shot AF modes depending on the behaviour of the subject.
The RX100 V comes with a newly developed 1-inch stacked Exmor RS™ CMOS sensor with a DRAM chip and an enhanced image processing system. It features a new front-end LSI chip that maximises processing speed, expands the memory buffer and optimises image quality, especially at the higher ISOs values.
The ZEISS® Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70mm F1.8–2.8 remains the same at that on the previous model, as does the retractable 2.35M dot XGA OLED electronic viewfinder and the 180 / 45 degree tiling LCD screen.
Like the RX100 IV, the camera is capable of shooting in 4K with full pixel readout and no pixel binning at a high data rate of up to 100Mbps (50Mbps in Full HD). It uses the XAVC S codec and features a number of picture profiles, S-Log2/S-Gamut, and the ability to manually extract an 8MP frame in-camera during 4K shooting (2MP from Full HD).
Super-slow motion has carried over to the mark V version, with options to shoot at 960fps, 480fps and 240fps in 60p, 30p and 24p playback formats for about twice as long as on the IV version. There is also a 120fps Full HD option.
Finally, the camera is WiFi and NFC compatible and can access Sony’s PlayMemories Camera applications.
The Sony RX100 V will be available in October for around $1000 US.