For anyone interested, a seller on eBay is offering brand new Sony RX1R III cameras for $4,200, roughly $1,000 below the regular price.
Also take a look at this disassembly guide for cleaning sensor dust. While it's not specific to the RX1R III and the internals differ, the steps to access the sensor should be very similar:
A few pages back I reported that I really like the RX1R III but I had some AF issues and a significant decentering of the lens unfortunately. So I gave it a new try and returned it for an exchange. 4 weeks have passed now and till now the RX1R III has been my only used camera for everyday documentary of my kids and the like. I really enjoy it, despite owning the Leica Q3 + Q3 43. But sadly that changed this weekend. We had family and friends over and went a bit hiking through some near forest area. Yesterday, I went through the pictures and found that all portraits with the person/face on the left side of the image (placed to the rule of thirds) were really unsharp, not by a little but so bad that you even could directly see it without zooming in to the picture. Just unuseable. And I had the RX1 in the medium size mage format (33 mpx). This reminded me of pctures from my first copy of the RX1RIII. So yesterday I thoroughly tested the issue. And sadly the left third of the frame is really unuseable until stopped down to at least F4. This suprised me, as I quickly (!) tested the centering of this copy to avoid getting another decentered one.
Maybe I overlooked the issue or the decentering happens over time which I can hardly imagine (I never dropped the camera or hit it against something of course. I treat my gear really carefully). I thought it might stem from the focussing element which might not be suited for "heavy" AF-C tracking usage. I used the camera in AF-C and tracking till now. But I guess the more likely option is that I just did not see it in the beginning. However it is so unsharp in the left third of the frame that I'm suprised I did not recognize it in the beginning. This leaves me somewhat puzzled to be honest. I'm now thinking of sending it in for service to see if they can find something that is of in the lens or if I just should order another return.. which is the easiest way of course. I would like to know if the owners of the RX1R III could quickly test this. Just put something in front of the camera in half body or full body portrait distance (e.g. 1.5 - 3m) and take three pictures. One with the subject in the center and two according to the rule of thirds, one on left, one right side. Of course refocused for every image. This would help a lot!! Thanks.
Short update on the decentering issue: I contacted a shop in austria that is known here for really good camera and lens repair services (schumann.at). On request I sent them some test Images and they just confirmed a severe decentering of the lens. They offered to replace the lens but they can not give me a date yet as Sony has not given them a date for lens shipment for the rx1riii.
I just got an A7CR and a Viltrox 50 f2 Air. I know it's bigger setup, but small enough to take with me almost everywhere. The Viltrox is small, light, also f2, but faster AF and better sharpness (35mm Air would be more comparable, maybe in near future). Overall setup was way cheaper, has IBIS, articluating screen, decent battery, and with additional grip i can still use my 35GM and 65 APO comfortable when size is not important.
james2441139 wrote:
Maybe its already mentioned by someone else in some other thread, but I tested the FDA-EVM1K (that works on my RX1 perfectly) on my friend's Rx1rMk3, and can confirm it does not work on the Mk3. Does not register anything, no messages on the screen either.
Appreciate the field report.
If the RX1R III truly won’t drive the FDA-EV1MK external EVF, Sony has made low-angle shooting unnecessarily hard:
No tilting screen
No external tilting EVF
That’s a real step back for street shooters and a miss on accessibility in 2025. Sony really needs to be held accountable.
If Sony had a shred of corporate responsibility and self-awareness, they’d explain why they made such an accessibility-hostile choice and be transparent about this design failure, immediately initiating a firmware remedy for FDA-EVM1K.
A compact full-frame street camera should not make low-angle composition a gymnastics event.
Lukacs wrote:
I just got an A7CR and a Viltrox 50 f2 Air. I know it's bigger setup, but small enough to take with me almost everywhere. The Viltrox is small, light, also f2, but faster AF and better sharpness (35mm Air would be more comparable, maybe in near future). Overall setup was way cheaper, has IBIS, articluating screen, decent battery, and with additional grip i can still use my 35GM and 65 APO comfortable when size is not important.
You're right on all points but unfortunately RX1 cameras have a secret weapon, ie. leaf shutter. For those who need it, no other Sony combinations can replace it.
FMTopFan wrote:
You're right on all points but unfortunately RX1 cameras have a secret weapon, ie. leaf shutter. For those who need it, no other Sony combinations can replace it.
Sure. I like leaf shutter but not for that premium price. It has unlimited flash sync, but in practice even at 1/1000 there are significant light loss, I think it is not that much better than plain shutter with HSS overall. It also has bokeh degradation as EFCS, and can't go over 1/2000 at f2. The only real benefit is the silent operation without rolling shutter effect in certain conditions (where you can't use the slow sensor readout). Overall I don't see myself a benefit of the central shutter in RX1RIII because of the lens aperture is not optimal for leaf shutter without built in, automatic ND filter. I'd prefer this camera with 42MP stacked sensor and without shutter mechanism or at least with built in ND filter. For example GFX100RF is whole different story, it has an F4 lens combined the 1/4000 shutter speed so shutter speed is not limiting factor, also has built in ND filter, MF plain shutter is huge and loud, and it's obviously a high resolution, high DR camera so there is no stacked sensor solution yet.
I watched that video earlier. I think I agree with Benj, in that even with the compromises, the RX1RIII is likely for me. Once used prices come down a bit, it will only be a matter of time for me I suspect.
I’m a daily user of my RX1RII (and the RX1 before that). Even with their compromises they just fit me so well.
I’m curious - anyone here have the III and the II and can comment on the differences in hand and practice?
If the RX1R III truly won’t drive the FDA-EV1MK external EVF, Sony has made low-angle shooting unnecessarily hard:
No tilting screen
No external tilting EVF
That’s a real step back for street shooters and a miss on accessibility in 2025. Sony really needs to be held accountable.
If Sony had a shred of corporate responsibility and self-awareness, they’d explain why they made such an accessibility-hostile choice and be transparent about this design failure, immediately initiating a firmware remedy for FDA-EVM1K.
A compact full-frame street camera should not make low-angle composition a gymnastics event.
Maybe there's a technical limitation here that we're not aware of, so it might not be something a firmware update can truly fix. The FDA EV1MK was originally released for the RX1, but it does work on the RX1R II which ironically also has as a tilt screen.
FMTopFan wrote: Appreciate the field report. If the RX1R III truly won’t drive the FDA-EV1MK external EVF, Sony has made low-angle shooting unnecessarily hard: No tilting screen No external tilting EVF That’s a real step back for street shooters and a miss on accessibility in 2025. Sony really needs to be held accountable. If Sony had a shred of corporate responsibility and self-awareness, they’d explain why they made such an accessibility-hostile choice and be transparent about this design failure, immediately initiating a firmware remedy for FDA-EVM1K. A compact full-frame street camera should not make low-angle composition a gymnastics event.
While I completely agree with all your criticisms, and for me a tilt-screen, better evf and IBIS would make this camera a no-brainer for me, even if it grew in size a little, I suppose we have to accept Sony’s design/marketing decisions. They made it to a size/weight that kept it wonderfully small.
I’m just not sure how much bigger it would need to be to incorporate those three things - ACR size I suppose, but then even that has the compromise of a poor evf, and we already have the ACR. I don’t see the point of berating Sony, since they are innovative, and are producing the small FF cameras many people want, whereas, other manufacturers are not. Look at the extra size and weight of the Q. It has all the features we want, but at the cost of being larger, heavier and even more expensive.
Great video, I like the grip additions he shows off (IDSworks), they look really minimal and blend well with the existing body. I sold my RX1rII partially because I couldn't get along with the tiny grip but didn't want to put on a big chunky grip (had the one from RSS). For now I get along OK with my A1 and a small prime (CV40), but if money was no object, I would definitely pick up this camera to try for a bit.
