Sony will release the latest addition to its Cyber-shot RX line, the ‘full-frame’ RX1R II, in December 2015.
The up-coming Sony RX1R II camera with its retractable XGA OLED viewfinder raised. (Source: Sony.)
Featuring a back-illuminated 36 x 24 mm Exmor R CMOS sensor with 42.4 effective megapixels, the latest BIONZ X processing engine and a Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 lens, the RX1R II is equipped to deliver ‘the highest picture quality of any Sony compact camera ever made’, according to Sony’s press release. The sensor and image processor combine to support a sensitivity range of ISO 100-25600, which is expandable to 50-102400. It also covers a wide dynamic range. The sensor’s back-illuminated structure, with an expanded circuit scale and copper wiring design, enables faster transmission speed and outputs data approximately 3.5x faster than the original RX1R, ensuring high-speed performance.
In a first for digital cameras, the RX1R II features an optical variable low pass filter that allows shooters to manually adjust the balance of image resolution and presence of moirø© or colour artefacts to match the subject. Three settings are available: Off, which provides comparable effects to having no low-pass filter and is suitable when prioritising resolution; Standard, which strikes a balance between resolution and removal of moirø© and colour artefacts, and High, which places more emphasis on reducing moirø© and artefacting.
The fixed lens design allows the positioning of its sensor and lens to be precisely adjusted to maximise all benefits of the sensor’s extremely high resolution. The lens also has a Macro shift ring for focusing on subjects as close as 14cm in front of the lens. Nine aperture blades produce smooth, even background defocus or ‘bokeh’. RX1R II also utilises an in-lens shutter, allowing 1/2000 second flash synch speed and a significant reduction in overall body size. Uncompressed 14-bit RAW image capture is also available, in addition to the regular compressed format.
The camera’s sensor features 399 focal-plane phase-detection AF points that cover about 45% of the image area and work with 25 contrast AF points to achieve focus response that is about 30% faster than the original model. Advanced motion-detection algorithm provide superior tracking performance of moving subjects and allows for an AF-C mode that accurately tracks a subject after focusing. It also can achieve up to 5fps continuous shooting with AF tracking. The RX1R II includes multiple AF area settings including Wide, Centre and Flexible Spot, as well as Eye AF and lock-on AF.
Other features include a built-in retractable XGA OLED Tru-Finder with Zeiss T* coating and four glass elements, including two aspherical lenses, that work together to deliver a magnification of 0.74x and clear corner-to-corner visibility with minimal distortion. The new camera also has a 3.0 type WhiteMagic 1.2 million dot LCD display that can tilt upwards to 109 degrees and downwards to 41 degrees. Video clips can be recorded at full HD 1920×1080 video with frame rates of 60p, 30p or 24p, using the versatile XAVC S movie recording format. The new RX1R II camera is also Wi-Fi and NFC compatible and fully functional with Sony’s PlayMemories Mobile application available for Android and iOS platforms, as well as Sony’s growing range of PlayMemories Camera Apps.
The new Sony RX1R II full-frame compact camera is scheduled to go on sale in Australia in December 2015. Pricing has still to be determined. For further Sony product information or stockist details, contact Sony Australia on 1300 720 071 or visit www.sony.com.au.