Re: Official: Sony RX1R III Digital Camera announced!
Very said that Sony postponed announcement of this new RX1 so much Had RX1rIII come 5 years ago along with A7rIV the market of premium compacts would look very different, especially from the point of view Leica Q series. This is kind of tragedy considering that Sony is a tech leader and capable of making a better than Leica (and Fujifilm).
Now the space of premium compacts is much more crowded than it was a few years ago. Personally I was waiting for RX1rIII but decided to go with GRX100 RF - despite being kind of quirky camera the RF is unique, fun and produces great results. We have also A7cr which is almost the same size as RX1rIII, but has Z-battery, IBIS and is ILC.
I also want to challenge the Sony mindset that smallness and premium go well together. I tried A7cr and I feel it is much worse shooting experience than A7rV - mostly because of small size. EVF is crucial to shooting experience and A7cr underperforms here compared to other Sony cameras, Leica Q3, GFX100 RF, and just about any reasonably good camera Fuji X100 series included. IBIS is another shortcoming, but maybe not quite so bad.
In hindsight it is easy to say what Sony should have done with RX1rIII. Sony should have moved much more quickly, and be more bold in improving the original RX1 concept. Better EVF, IBIS and Z-battery despite making the camera slightly larger? Maybe they should have also designed a new lens for RX1rIII, and leave the old Zeiss 35mm behind? We will never know all the details of RX1rIII story. Maybe bad market analysis and trying to keep development as low as possible?
Anyway nice to see that Sony has noted the rise of premium compacts. Maybe we will see a much more thoroughly designed RX1rIV in a few years. Personally I also hope that Sony would make a cropped sensor compact camera to challenge Fuji X100 and Ricoh GR. Compacts are fun
Jul 18, 2025 at 02:59 AM
Previous versions of tuomkok's message #16853766 « Official: Sony RX1R III Digital Camera announced! »
Had RX1rIII come 5 years ago along with A7rIV the market of premium compacts would look very different, especially from the point of view Leica Q series. This is kind of tragedy considering that Sony is a tech leader and capable of making a better than Leica (and Fujifilm).