Alongside the compact marvel RX0, Sony has also brought in its updated RX10 IV compact camera. The RX10 IV is for photography enthusiasts who want a fast all-in-one camera that offers super zoom capabilities.
From the offset, the Mark IV doesn’t look any different from its predecessor. It’s a lot like a RX100 V but put into a DSLR-sized form factor. This applies to the amazing fixed f/2.4-4, 24-600mm ZIESS Vario-Sonnar T* (25x optical) zoom lens with optical image stabilisation.
The lens is what you’d expect from a ZEISS: it has a super ED (extra-low dispersion) glass element and ED aspherical lenses to minimise chromatic aberration, and ZEISS T* Coating to minimise flare and ghosting.
What’s awesome about the RX10 IV, though, is what lies beneath.
Simply fast
In some ways, the RX10 IV offers some of the same features which are found in the RX100 V but in a different packaging. It uses a 1-inch, stacked 20.1MP Exmor RS CMOS sensor. That combined with the Bionz X imaging processor makes it capable of taking still frames of up to 24fps with full autofocus and autoexposure (AF/AE) tracking.
For those of you who is constantly taking shots and worried about buffering? Well, worry no more. The RX10 IV can shoot the same speed for up to 249 frames before the buffer is full.
All of this makes it a big improvement over the predecessor, the RX10 III. That in comparison, tops out at 14 fps and could only get an autofocus tracking speed of just 5 fps.
Utilising a Fast Hybrid AF system that combines 315 phase-detection Auto Focus points and contrast-detection AF, it achieves focus in just 0.03 seconds. It’s pretty amazing stuff.
Like the RX0 it also has high-speed Anti-Distortion Shutter (max shutter speed of 1/32000 second) to reduce “rolling shutter” when shooting high-speed moving images.
The 1.44 million dot, 3-inch screen on the back is now a tiltable touchscreen, a first for the RX lineup. Also, there’s a 2.35 million dot high-contrast XGA OLED Tru-Finder electronic viewfinder.
For videographers, the RX10 can shoot 4K (QFHD 3840 x 2160) videos with full pixel readout at either 30fps or 24fps (100Mbps), 1080p @ 120fps, and if you love slow-mo, the camera does 960fps at around HD quality.
The pros and prosumers will appreciate that the camera can acapture in low contrast S-Log3/S-Gamut3 video profiles for more professional-style footage.
By the way, the RX10 IV is dust and moisture resistant, and is Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth compatible.
Pricing and availability
The Sony RX10 Mark IV retails at MYR7,999 and is now available for pre-order. It will be available in retail channels some time October 2017.
