The Sony RX100 VII is the best compact camera you can buy
Sony's latest advanced compact camera is the highly compact RX100 VII, the seventh iteration of the RX100. Since its inception, this line of cameras has proven to be a very popular option for...
09/12/2021
The latest advanced compact camera
from Sony is the very compact
RX100 VII
, the seventh iteration of the RX100. Since its debut, this line of cameras has proven to be a hugely popular option among enthusiasts looking for a great travel camera, vloggers, and even professionals who want a compact backup option just in case. The RX100 VII should do just fine for all of these needs, provided you're willing to pay the asking price of $1,200.
Not that $1200 is too much for what you get, because Sony has packed a ton of it. value, including an extremely versatile 24-200mm (35mm equivalent) zoom range, 20fps continuous burst mode shooting, flip-up touchscreen, built-in image stabilization and the same powerful autofocus that you'll find on its flagship full-frame interchangeable lens pro cameras.
Pocket power
The Sony RX100 VII fills a specific need, but it's probably one that a lot of people have: balancing image quality, range and portability. On the practical side of the spectrum, the ultimate device is probably your smartphone, since you always have it with you. On the IQ and range side, you're looking at a high-end DSLR with a high-quality, low-aperture zoom lens that can weigh more than a big dog. The RX100 VII manages to be so impressive because it can offer almost the portability of a smartphone, with some of the photography chops of a setup that typically requires its own suitcase.
Inside the RX100 VII you will find a 1-inch sensor, which is very large compared to smartphone imaging sensors. This is important because it means there is no contest between which will capture a better image, with lower noise, greater depth of field and better color rendition. For all the software wizardry that companies like Apple and Google can bring to the photography table, nothing can quite outweigh just having a larger sensor yet.
The compactness of the RX100 VII isn't just impressive due to the large sensor it packs inside, however; you also get an electronic viewfinder, built-in flash, external microphone jack and articulating LCD screen. To get all of this in such a small package is amazing - the EVF in particular is a great feature for anyone who wants to be a bit more direct and particular with their shooting composition, while the LCD Folding down means you can also have a great selfie screen and monitor to use while vlogging.
In terms of portability, you can charge the RX100 VII directly via USB so you can leave any extra charging gear at home. The camera has a micro USB port for data and power, and while it would have been nice to see it switch to USB-C on this camera to keep up with the latest developments in charging computer and smartphone, it's always better than requiring an external charger.
zoom-zoom
Sony has opted for a very long zoom range for the RX100 VII, which sports a 24-200mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.8-4.5 retractable zoom lens. It's the same range and aperture as the RX100 VI, which opts for a longer reach over the brighter 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 lens found on the V and earlier.
While you'll lose some ability to separate your subject from the background compared to a brighter lens, you get a lot more range for capturing action or wildlife. The extra reach also makes it a better all-around travel camera and allows for shots you simply couldn't get with a shorter lens.
The long end of the zoom range also delivers razor-sharp images, especially in bright and daylight conditions. In the examples below you can see some of the 200mm samples shot on the RX100 VII next to the wide 24mm versions of the same scenes to get an idea of how close you can get with this lens and the quality possible pictures. even at these extreme zoom lengths.
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At the wide end, you have plenty of room to capture great architectural or landscape shots, and the sharpness is fantastic in great light too. There is some distortion, but it's mostly corrected by Sony's software on the JPG output. That 24mm wide angle is also the right width for arm-length selfies, though you'll probably want at least a short selfie stick for vlogging apps to give you a bit more framing options.
< p> Sticky AFLeaving aside the fact that this is one of the best sensors available on the market for a camera of this size, there is another very compelling reason to choose this camera, and one that probably gives it the advantage over competitors from other companies. I'm talking about Sony's autofocus system, and the RX100 VII is Sony's latest and greatest, only found in the company's much more expensive cameras, like the A9 and the new A7R IV.
< p>You get face and eye tracking, for both human and animal subjects, and both of these systems are best-in-class compared to systems from other camera manufacturers. The animal in particular is a Sony specialty and worked very well on my real dog – and Sony's Aibo robot dog, captured at the Sony Ginza Experience Center in Tokyo.Face and eye detection settings are available for both stills and videos, and you can also set eye preference (left or right). The newer AF feature, however, is object tracking, which allows you to point your AF point at a specific object and have the camera automatically track that object as you zoom or pan, or when the object moves within the frame. You can choose from a range of options regarding the size of a focal area to track, and it works in tandem with human face detection so the camera automatically focuses on the subject's face when visible. , and more generally on this one when it is not. , which is amazing for sports or action photography.
In practice, it works extremely well. Sony's claims about the quality of grip and the ability to recover a subject after it has moved behind an object, for example, are accurate. It truly is the best AF system available on a pocket-class camera, at any price, and it's truly amazing to experience. In the images below you can see how it allowed me to capture a very clear image of a hovering hawk at the 200mm telephoto zoom, how it tracked a moving bicycle and got a clear image of the rider's face and how he froze a moving bicycle motor during a burst series (all shots were sharp, by the way).
[gallery ids="1881884,1881883,1881881,1881887,1881936"]
low light
Another area where Sony's RX100 VII and its 1-inch sensor are going to have an edge over your smartphone is in sub-optimal lighting conditions. Bigger sensors mean bigger pixels and less noise, with better blacks and shadows. Sony also uses a back-illuminated stacked sensor and built-in optical image stabilization, which means you can shoot sharper photos at slower shutter speeds, letting in more light for clearer images.
In practice what you get are really good low-light shots, especially outdoors with ambient light present, or in suitably well-lit indoor environments. In poor lighting or when trying to freeze low-light action, you'll get some pretty noisy results, especially compared to an APS-C or full-frame camera. Sony's technology can do a lot to make the most of less than ideal photographic conditions, but at some point it hits the limits of what's possible.
Sony also isn't quite as aggressive with calculating photographic techniques to digitally compensate for lower available light, as Pixel phones and the latest iPhone 11 do. RX100 VII presents sharper night and indoor shots, by comparison, and you can still get much better indoor images with the RX100 VII than with any smartphone.
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As you can see in the gallery above, the camera works extremely well as long as there is a well-lit subject or element in the frame. It's less effective when the whole image is uniformly dark, but if you're looking for great photos in those conditions, you should probably consider upgrading to a larger camera with a bigger sensor.
movie maker
The RX100 VII's greatest strength may well be its ability to shoot video for a device of this size. Out-of-camera video with very minimal adjustment to the default shooting settings produces very useful results, both for home video enthusiasts and for YouTubers or vloggers looking to produce content great quality without lugging an entire film production studio with them on their travels.
Again, the versatile zoom range really shines here, and you can even shoot at the tele end of the handheld zoom and get totally usable footage, provided you pay a little attention to movement, as you can see in the third clip in the sequence below, which was shot from a distance of 200mm. Low-light footage is superb, as seen in the second clip in the sequence, and at the wide end you can capture sweeping landscape views or flip the screen and rotate the camera for style video Selfie.
The added microphone port makes it an even more powerful filming tool, and if you take their optional VCT-SGR1 shooting grip, combined with a small shotgun mic or something like the Rode Wireless Go, you have everything you need to create highly compelling travel journals in an incredibly lightweight package that will be able to produce quality photos and achieve zooms and wide shots not possible on a smartphone.
Summary
The RX100 VII is a delight of a camera and an easy recommendation to make. There's nothing that compares in this size class in terms of feature range, autofocus capabilities, video prowess and performance as a general all-rounder. It's the do-it-all travel camera you could only really dream of five years ago, and it's become more and more ideal for this use with each generation Sony introduces.
Whether you're looking to enhance your photographic possibilities from your smartphone, or if you want to supplement your professional or advanced amateur equipment with a pocket camera available as a B-camera for video or to take a few choice photos, the RX100 VII is hard to beat. Its only downside is the asking price of $1200, which is well above average for a compact camera, but in terms of value, $1200 isn't at all expensive for all that this camera has to offer. .
Full sample gallery
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