Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III Unboxing and First look

The R100M3 is shipping this week in most countries and we have the first unboxing videos. Our SAR readers Lachlan Tsang (on Youtube) and Tamrong (on Youtube) also posted the first unboxing videos.. SAR reader Andy shared his RX1003 Samples and thoughts at Proimagenz.com.

And here are some new reviews:

Photographyblog (Click here) posted the full RX100M3 review and writes:

The new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III is once again a better camera than its predecessor, both in terms of features and image quality, but it has gone up in price again. The eye-watering price-tag of £699 / $799 continues to be an awful lot to ask for a humble compact camera, making the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II one of the most expensive models on the market and putting it into direct competition with mid-range compact system cameras and entry-level DSLRs. Having said that, this camera will actually be a better fit for many people, especially if size is a priority, and it also makes a perfect second camera for professionals. We loved shooting with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III, which proves there’s still a lot of life left in the compact camera yet…

Imaging Resource (Click here) just posted a battle of the RX100s:

Sony outdid themselves with the RX100 III, just as they did with the RX100 II and RX100 before, so you’ll be a happy photographer with any one of them. While we were disappointed to see image quality improvements stagnate, the amount of additional functionality in the RX100 III is incredible.

Preorders:

RX100M3 preorders in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA.
RX100M3 preorders in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PT. And Wex UK,
RX100M3 in Asia at Amazon Japan and Sony Australia.

DxOmark (Click here) posted the full Sony A7s sensor test and crazy High-ISO fans will be happy to hear that Sony A7s sensor is the best low light sensor tested at DxO! It easily beats the second bets camera, the Nikon DF (which costs $500 more!). The A7s also prefers more Dynamic Range at High ISO than the Nikon.

DxO writes:

Sony’s A7 and A7R models have not unexpectedly generated a lot of interest with enthusiasts, and the new addition to the range looks equally intriguing, if perhaps for different reasons.
While it’s true the short register and low pixel density makes this model potentially more suitable with rangefinder type (non-retrofocus) wide-angle lenses, there’s little doubt it will appeal to those who value extreme low light performance over high pixel density. And then there’s the additional attraction of video, with 4K as an option (albeit with a third-party recorder). Even the price doesn’t look too bad against the Nikon Df, which is not only more expensive but can’t quite match the Sony’s low light capabilities and  shuns video capture completely.

Sony A7s will ship soon:
Sony A7s preorder in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s EU pages: Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.

Michael Reichmann from Luminous Landscape (Click here) posted his Sony A7s first impression review. Here are just some of his key considerations:

– I have to say that the Sony A7s produces some of the cleanest, most pleasant images I’ve seen this side of a medium format system.
– On the basis of these tests I would judge the A7s to have almost a three stop advantage over the A7r between ISO 6,400 (which is as high as I would use on the A7r)  and ISO 51,200 where the A7s reaches its useful limit (for my type of shooting).
– My biggest beef, already mentioned, is that Sony forgot to allow Silent Mode / Electronic Shutter to be available as a custom function.
– Otherwise, the A7s has all of the goodness as well as minor flaws of its predecessors.
– My parting thought is that the A7s is neither the holy grail of cameras, nor a whimsical outlier. It’s going to take a special photographer with keen image perception to appreciate what the A7s has to offer. Thanks Sony, for catering to more than the lowest common denominator.

Sony A7s preorder in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s EU pages: Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
RX100M3 preorders in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA.
RX100M3 preorders in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PT. And Wex UK,
RX100M3 in Asia at Amazon Japan and Sony Australia.
Sony A77 body in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 body in Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, PT, NO, SE, FI and Wex UK.
Sony A77 in Asia at Digitalrev and Sony Australia.

Chuljae Lee posted that Sony A7s silent shutter test video and guess what…it’s really silent! :)

This is one of my small dreams come true. Even better than the already very silent leaf shutter of the Sony RX1! There are many conditions were you want this: wedding photography for example. I think it’s one of the best untold A7s features on the web!

Sony A7s preorder in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s EU pages: Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
RX100M3 preorders in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA.
RX100M3 preorders in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PT. And Wex UK,
RX100M3 in Asia at Amazon Japan and Sony Australia.
Sony A77 body in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 body in Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, PT, NO, SE, FI and Wex UK.
Sony A77 in Asia at Digitalrev and Sony Australia.

You can’t see enough of those A7s videos? Here comes the next one from Den Lennie! It shows how the Sony A7s video quality easily outperforms the Canon 5D MK III in Low Light conditions.

Only 18 days until the A7s ships at Sony Store US (June 30) and Amazon US (July 1). All A7s preorder links here:
Sony A7s preorder in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s EU pages: Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.

Unboxing the Sony A77 Mark II by John Sison

Three new cameras will ship within the next 2-3 weeks: The A77II, A7s and RX100M3. Here are the full preorder links and after that a couple of new interesting tests:
Sony A7s preorder in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s EU pages: Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
RX100M3 preorders in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA.
RX100M3 preorders in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PT. And Wex UK,
RX100M3 in Asia at Amazon Japan and Sony Australia.
Sony A77 body in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 body in Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, PT, NO, SE, FI and Wex UK.
Sony A77 in Asia at Digitalrev and Sony Australia.

A77II
Photographyblog posted the full A77II review and writes:

Sony may have been lavishing most of their time an attention on their E-Mount and full-frame mirrorless cameras of late, but the new Sony A77 II is a lot more than just a slight upgrade of the original model, offering more than enough new features, improved performance and continued excellent image quality to be awarded our coveted Essential! rating.

RX100M3
Luminous Landscape tested the RX100M3 and says that “the Best Pro-Level Pocket Camera Simply Gets Better“. And DPreview added some more RX100M3 image samples.

A7s:
Photoblog.hk posted some early High ISO JPG and these are two 100% crops:

Image courtesy: Photoblog.hk.

There is also a German review of the A7s at Chip.de.

Sample image with 100% crop.

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SAR note: This is a guest post. Feel free to share your story or review at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Thanks!

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A second opinion on the Sony Zeiss FE 24-70mm f4 lens  (by Stefan Grosjean)

We have all read the reviews. They all seem to agree that the Zeiss Zoom for Full-Frame E-mount Cameras is somewhat “disappointing”: (1) It’s not fast enough, (2) the corners are not sharp, (3) the distortion is heavy, and (4) it’s also too big, too heavy and too expensive.
The Sony Zeiss 55mm lens in contrast was received very well. Reviews agreed that it’s an “excellent” lens. With f1.8 it’s quite fast, it’s sharp across the entire frame even full open, and there’s almost no distortion to speak of (but it’s also rather expensive and not really small).
What’s interesting to me is the fact that both lenses have actually more or less the same low light ability although they do it very differently: The Prime has an aperture that is 2.3 stops brighter, the Zoom has an optical steady shot which is supposed to allow for 2-3 stops longer exposure times – which gives you about the same brightness. So let’s do a very quick and simple test and see how the “disappointing” zoom lens and the “excellent” prime lens perform under poor lighting conditions.
For this test the 55mm was full open at f1.8 with exposure time being 1/160sec. If there’s no steady shot I always chose 1/160 or faster to be sure most of my images turn out sharp (I guess my hands are pretty shaky). The 24-70mm was full open at f4 with an exposure time of 1/30 and 1/40. Steady shot was activated. Focal length was set to 55mm and all the other settings were also the same. The light source was a window on a rainy day. ISO speeds were at 800 (comparison 1) respectively 1600 (comparison 2). All photos were shot by hand without using a tripod. The autofocus field (size M) was set to the very corner because that’s where we have to expect the most significant differences. Photos are JPGs shot from my a7.