Sony RX1 costs $2799! Same A99 sensor. Electronic and Optical viewfinders coming too!
The upcoming Full Frame RX1 will use the same 24 Megapixel sensor of the A99 and be priced at $2799. Like the A99 it has 14 bit RAW and ISO range from 100 up to 25.600. Shoots 5 fps and It makes video in AVCHD 2.0. The body is made of magnesium but it is not weather sealed. It has the same A99 3 inch screen but without the smart three way tilting system. I have been told there will be many accessories including optical and electronic viewfinders!
Price comparison: A Nikon D800 (Click here) with 35mm f/2.0 Nikon lens would cost you a total of $3350. A Canon 5DmarkII with 35mm f/2.0 lens almost $3800. To be honest the Nikon and Canon 35mm lenses do have a pretty non impressive quality. The RX1 has a Zeiss! Of course we are comparing apple with oranges but honestly…there is no other camera like the RX1 right now! The camera is too expensive to be considered as a Fuji X100 competitor. But you know, between the RX100 and the RX1 there is enough space for an RX10 
Now that we know the price and the specs let’s do the poll again:
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Bruno_dn
10 months ago |No. Too expensive.
Doo_Doo
10 months ago |http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/7969257486_860a96de35.jpg
m ?
Jean
10 months ago |Are you 100% sure the lens is fixed? It shows the same orange ring the A99 has.
Froo
10 months ago |There is no lens release button.
Zaph
10 months ago |Couldn’t it be on the bottom?
Froo
10 months ago |No.
Zaph
10 months ago |Why not?
mr.smth
10 months ago |couldn’t it be push to release?
Boom!
10 months ago |Sony has successfully found a solution for not releasing new lenses for NEX lineup! Boom! We have a full frame RX model instead of a E/A mount. I was really eager about this one but with a fixed fixed lens
No more
Fel
10 months ago |I still hope that 2799 is the price for the a99 and you got a wrong info… (finger crossed)
zzvisual
10 months ago |SAMURAI CONSPIRACY
I am confident that there is some agreement between top bosses of Japanese corporations not to compete with each other directly. If Sony wanted to kill (or, say, to bring troubles) to Canon/Nikon they would do it easily for example by releasing an RX1 analogue with interchangeable lenses. Maybe it even was a part of the condition for buying Sony sensors by Nikon.
Mathias Pettersson
10 months ago |Why not a 50? :’(
Froo
10 months ago |This camera is likely a test to see the response. They will probably use the tech to create a NEX variant in the future. Like Fuji did.
A 35 is just the right lens for such a camera, I think. And that also means it comes with a built-in 50/2; just crop down to 16MP.
saiman
10 months ago |So, basically another of Sony’s $2800 rediculus price tag, now for one fixed focal length 35mm f/2 lens.
No, thank you. Sony is just getting hungrier every season for insanely more profit.
Hope Steve Huff and others get some share of Sony’s profit for trying to hype up this crap.
a
10 months ago |the nex system is the most competitively priced aps-c milc system. and even cheaper than nikon 1. only m43 has cheaper bodies. even m43 lenses are similarly priced.
laval
10 months ago |I think it will be a FF mirrorless with changeable lenses. It seems you’re missing something in your speculation.
I think that the lens shown in the photo is NOT a fixed lens.
Mirrorless FF with changeable lenses would be a game-changer.
Dirk
10 months ago |Did you see the link above Doo_Doo posted?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/7969257486_860a96de35.jpg
Sahaja
10 months ago |Love to be proved wrong but that looks like someone took the front image of the camera and removed the lens then added the sensor ans internals in Photoshop and then took the top image of the camera and removed the body and added a mount to the lens.
Sahaja
10 months ago |Anyway that’s an M-mount
a
10 months ago |the nex cameras are pretty reasonably priced. in fact, they are the most competitively priced aps-c milc cameras.
Shy
10 months ago |Who wants to spend 2800 USD for a “test drive”? IMHO to make such a statement as comparing a D800 or 5DMIII with a lab experiment and without real facts (pictures and handling) is not fortunate. As this post is written, nearly 70% says NO to the purchasing poll. I am not sure if Sony learned from what happened to Fuji. The X100 (1000 USD) Fuji experiment was successful but at $1700 the Fuji PRO X 1 was not so, you can find them almost new for $1300 on several places. That´s why now Fuji is proposing as alternative X-E1 (100 0 USD) at the price the people rightly places the product.
In short, the answer to Sony is “NO” we don’t want a 2800 USD Leica alternative.
On the 2800 – 3500 USD range I prefer the bulkiness of a D800 or a 5D and with the D600 and 6D on the horizon, on a lower range of prices, with lots of good F mount and Eos mount around. By the way, can the admin mention what’s wrong with Zeiss 28mm, 35mm and 50mm and many more zeiss, voigtander, nikon and canon lenses for F and Eos mounts?
Zaph
10 months ago |1000 people also said Yes. That’s $2.8M in sales. Would likely help pay for some of the R&D.
acolyte
10 months ago |Is it just me or did Steve Huff changed the wording in his blog post to not refer to the ‘new’ product? (RX1)
I thought he mentioned about the new product he’s interested in and is not leaked yet – but now I don’t see any wordings like that from his post.
Did he just happily cut it out?
ageha
10 months ago |Glad most people wouldn’t buy it.
Gato
10 months ago |At this price I would have seriously considered buying a FF NEX with interchangeable lenses, provide there was an adapter available for A lenses. That’s true even if a 35mm was the only native lens available at introduction.
Now I’m stuck. I would really like to switch to NEX, but I want a 24MP with WiFi. Maybe next year …
Rinaldo
10 months ago |It would like to see it against the Sigma DP2 Merrill. I suspect the Sigma would still blow it away (IQ)…
Zaph
10 months ago |All a lens release does is move a couple of pins, why does it have to be right next to the lens?
Ben
10 months ago |If this were to be priced at $2000 it would be a real game changer. I would buy it, definitely!
LifeStoryImages.com
10 months ago |But will it blend?
Happy shooter
10 months ago |How awesome that Sony is pushing the envelope with this direction. I think there’s room in the market for fixed lens high quality cameras, just like there is for replaceable lens ones. Curious if they removed the AA filter in this design, similar to what Fuji did. The engineering advantage of designing a fixed lens in front of a great sensor cannot be overlooked.
I would miss the view finder, but then, I’m so used to the a900. Heck, I hardly ever use the LCD on my x100, that hybrid viewfinder is a thing of beauty. But maybe I’m just old school
I haven’t held the RX100. But that 35mm seems like a honking big lens on a small body. In terms of depth, it seems more similar to the A-mount 35G/1.4 than, say, the M-mount Summicron 35/f2. In my mind, the main advantage of the Fuji x100 is how compact it is relative to the IQ quality. A big lens would negate that a bit.
bloodsucker
10 months ago |fixed lens = no resale value
RVN
10 months ago |+1
RVN
10 months ago |andrea, RX1 have image stabilization or not?
Jon
10 months ago |No built in VF, no deal. Do a Fuji: combo optical/electronic. Best of both worlds. For me, this kind of Leica-ish camera is useless without a built in VF. Street photography with the camera at arms’ length? Pffffft.
I would love it if Sony had ONE photographer on their camera design staff. Just ONE. Then, instead of making ‘devices’ they could make cameras.
My 2 centavos.
mkln
10 months ago |I think street photography is easier with the LCD. You just don’t get noticed at all.
Different story when you’re clearly pointing the camera at someone.
Steve S.
10 months ago |As a “retro-ish” body with RF styling, it has some promise. FF sensor by Sony (who makes top-tier sensors), no-compromises (we hope!) lens by Zeiss, mag-alloy body… no, those specs might WELL command a $2000 to $3000 price…
Without decent weather-sealing, however, it is (in my view) overpriced; or more-correctly, under-spec’ed. I cannot understand why they would not build this one as a top-tier machine, with all that’s implied at the top tier.
However: that’s NOT an interchangeable-lens body – there’s no right-hand grip, just a flat panel; even the NEX has a grip (however inadequate you may find it). Imagine handling something like a 24-70 by that body… by the end of an assignment/contract, your hands will be SOOO cramped…
Asasino
10 months ago |Nex-7 is 1200 bucks + 999 for the 23mm Zeiss glass, reaching a 2200 dollars for an APS-C mirrorless.
That said this RX1 is far from being cheap, but come on! It has no competitors and can be considered as a pro tech toy.
So who’s asking for price?
mkln
10 months ago |by the way. am I seeing a manual aperture control on the lens?
mr.smth
10 months ago |like!
john
10 months ago |Maybe this time next year Sony will release the RX10
APS-C 16-24 MP with fixed Zeiss 24-135 MM 2.8-4.8 = a true R1 replacement.
$1500 and I’m in but knowing Sony they will make it $2K+
Harold GLIT
10 months ago |Can someone tell me what DMF stands for?
I get that being next to MF, The last two mean manual focus but the D in DMF ?
what kind of manual focus is it ?
a900andanex5
10 months ago |DMF is ‘direct manual focus’ which already exists for some Sony lenses and is also implemented in some bodies.
Basically; after the camera has auto-focussed, you can still then turn the focus dial manually to maybe fine tune the focus
KQN
10 months ago |At $2799 and no EVF, no weather sealed? Sony is really trying to milk it.
Full frame or not, I do not see this $2799 Sony keeping its value in the 2nd hand market. If I am splurging for the (cheaper) X2, at least I know the Red Dot will help me when it comes time to unload it.
David
10 months ago |Would never buy a camera without a real viewfinder no matter how good the LCD screen is. And don’t try to sell me a stick-on one either.
LiteDway
10 months ago |This is a stupid move for Sony to make and shows just how out of touch they are with this market. I had hoped that Sony would eventually grow smarter about this business and this is an example of them looking the other way. This makes me think that they are in the camera business solely to sell sensors with this being a marketing ploy.
Zaph
10 months ago |It’s all a marketing ploy. Every company. Companies exist to make money for their shareholders. People make some damn fine images and movies on Sony cameras though.
Laura G.
10 months ago |No interchangeable lenses with a high price tag = no go. If the lenses are interchangeable would highly consider…
rhlpetrus
10 months ago |Question: any news about lens adapters for WA and short tele? Even though purists and snobs would cry foul, for someone that would like to use this camera in trips and trails that would be wornderful.
Adam
10 months ago |I’ll be saving my money for a D600 thankyou. Unless the image showing the M-mount is legit, this seems like a huge waste of sensor.
James
10 months ago |Oh dear. What a missed opportunity- interchangeable lens, I would have sold my M6 and 5Dmkii and been happy. With a fixed lens this is an overpriced toy.
Sony, listen- do this camera with interchangeable, high quality, fast lenses and decent manual video performance and they will walk, probably run, off the shelves. Simples.