Compact Camera News

In 2015, Sony presented their second version of a high-end compact camera with a one-inch-type sensor and an 8.3x zoom that offered a lot of professional functions. This year the company announced an equivalent camera, but with an ultra-zoom lens. The new Sony RX10 III uses a one-inch-type sensor (13.2x8.8mm) with 20MP resolution. The large integral lens has a focal length of 24-600mm (35mm film equivalent). The new camera has an SLR-style body, but uses an electronic viewfinder with 2.36 million RGB dots. An LCD on the back with 1.3 million RGB dots can be flipped up- and downward.

Based on the same sleek, stylish design as the existing RX100 and RX100 II models, the new RX100 III features a specially developed ZEISS® Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 lens and adds a built-in OLED viewfinder with ZEISS T* coating. The camera utilizes the same high-resolution 20.1 MP 1.0-type back-illuminated CMOS image sensor as the existing RX100II model, and adds the powerful BIONZ X processor featured in several high-end Sony cameras including the full-frame 7, 7R and 7S models.

The Sony RX1R II is a high-end compact camera with an integral lens that features a full-frame sensor with a very high resolution of 42MP, comparable in some ways to a classic rangefinder camera or the Leica Q system. The original Sony RX1 was one of the first cameras that offered a full-frame sensor in a compact camera and was sold in two versions: as a “standard” that used a low-pass (anti-aliasing) filter and, as the RX1R, one that was built without a low-pass filter.

Sony just launched the latest addition to its premium RX100 compact camera line: the RX100 VII, which Sony says offers similar speed capabilities to its full frame A9. (The Sony A9 is a pro-level mirrorless camera designed for shooting sports.) The Sony RX100 VII also features a newly developed 1.0-type stacked 20.1 MP Exmor RS CMOS image sensor with DRAM chip and latest generation BIONZ X image processor.

Sony just dropped the curtain on the RX100 V, a new flagship model in their powerful Cyber-shot RX line of 1-inch sensor compact digital cameras. Sony says their latest model has the fastest AF speed, most AF points, and fastest continuous shooting speed of any compact camera.

Edwin Land introduced his first instant camera 66 years ago. Now Supersense presents their 66/6, a new pinhole instant camera (limited to 500 handcrafted pieces) dedicated to the Polaroid founder. Just six years after Polaroid closed down its last film factory, Supersense unveiled this new instant camera that uses Polaroid’s classic White Frame Instant Film format, currently produced by The Impossible Project.

Entry-level and mid-range compact cameras have fallen by the wayside as most of us own a high-end smartphone that’s sufficient for capturing impromptu images. But for “serious” photography on the go there are still several compelling reasons to carry a premium point-and shoot camera with easily accessible creative controls.