San Diego, CA—Sony added to its premium Cyber-shot RX point-and-shoot lineup with the DSC-RX10 III. It features a 25x super-telephoto zoom lens with a 24–600mm focal range to enable photographers to shoot everything from scenic vistas to distant wildlife.
The compact RX10 III is equipped with a back-illuminated, 1.0-type, stacked 20.1 megapixel Exmor RS CMOS sensor with a DRAM chip and advanced signal processing. The DRAM chip is engineered to facilitate continuous shooting at up to 14 frames per sec with minimal blackout. The sensor is paired with Sony’s latest Bionz X image processor to aid in providing professional-caliber features. These include 40x super slow motion video capture at 960 fps, an anti-distortion shutter with a 1/32,000-second maximum speed, and 4K movie capture. The duo also provides ISO settings from 64 to 12,800, to deliver low-noise images.
“By pairing the convenience of an ultra-telephoto lens with our innovative stacked CMOS image sensor design, we’ve created a whole new image experience unlike anything else in market today,” said Neal Manowitz, vice president, Digital Imaging, Sony Electronics. “The new RX10 III offers a true ‘all in one’ package that will appeal to a wide range of amateur, hobbyist and professional photographers and videographers.”
The 24–600mm Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.4–4.0 for better light-gathering capabilities. The aperture unit has nine blades that are designed to create a near perfect circle in the f/2.4–11 range. This enables shooters to create content with creative bokeh, where the subject stands out against a softly defocused background. The lens is constructed with one super ED glass element, five ED glass elements and two ED aspherical lenses, which all work to minimize chromatic aberration and deliver high-contrast, sharp images. And its T* coating helps minimize flare and ghosting.
In addition, the lens has built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilization to reduce the effects of camera shake, particular when shooting at longer focal lengths. According to the specs, the engaged OSS is equivalent to shooting at a shutter speed 4.5 stops faster than the current setting of the camera. Plus, for tele-macro imaging, the lens boasts a minimum focusing distance of 2.4 feet and 0.49x maximum magnification at a fully extended 600mm.
The latest Cyber-shot RX camera to offer 4K (3,840×2,160) movie recording, it utilizes full pixel readout without pixel binning to capture 1.7x more information than is required for 4K output. This is said to result in enhanced image detail and minimize moiré and jaggies. The camera records in the XAVC S codec at a high data rate of up to 100 Mbps during 4K recording and 50 Mbps during Full HD 1,080p recording. Pro caliber video functions include: picture profile, S-Log2/S-Gamut, gamma display assist, time code, input for an external microphone and output for headphone monitoring.
The RX10 III sports some other upgrades from existing RX10 models. These include triple lens rings for focus, zoom and aperture control; a handgrip shape optimized for the large-aperture lens to enhance stability when holding the camera at eye level; a focus hold button on the lens barrel to lock in focus on a subject while reframing the image; an XGA, 2.35M-dot OLED Tru-Finder; Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity; and dust and moisture resistance.
The Sony Cyber-shot RX10 III will be available in May for $1,500. sony.com
