Contents
- Why The Sony RX1?
- Basic Specifications
- Variants
- Batteries and Charging
- Video Reviews
- Text and Image Reviews
- Sample Photos
- Purchase an Ricoh GR
Why a Sony RX1 / RX1r?
You might want a Sony RX1 / RX1r for a few reasons:
- It is one of the smallest full frame cameras ever made
- It has a world-class Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f/2 lens that is just stunning
- The image quality from the sensor is great, especially combined with the Zeiss lens
- The overall package of the camera (size, weight, image quality, etc) are hard to beat to this day
- It has a pop-up flash that is useful in certain situations, that many modern cameras lack
Specifications
Sensor: 24 Megapixel full-frame Sony sensor
Shutter: 300s – 1/1000s
Exposure: Fully manual (M), Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv), Program (P), Automatic (A)
Lens: Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f/2 lens
- Filter size:
Size: 117 mm × 61 mm × 34.7 mm (4.6 in × 2.4 in × 1.4 in)
Weight:
Color: Black
Lineage: Succeeded by Sony RX1rII
Full Specifications:
- RX1:
- RX1r
User manuals:
- RX1:
- RX1r:
Variants
This guide covers both the RX1 and the RX1r. There is only one difference between the cameras, and that is that the RX1 has a low pass filter over the sensor, and the Rx1r does not.
What does this mean?
Basically, a low pass filter will reduce or eliminate moire, which is a pattern that shows up when photographing certain fabrics, at the cost of reducing the overall sharpness slightly. Without a low pass filter, images will be sharper and crisper, but you will be subject to moire in certain circumstances.
Our opinion? Either of them is good. The RX1 is plenty sharp, but if you want the slight edge (and don’t care about moire), get the RX1r. The RX1r will likely be a little harder to find as they were produced in lower numbers.
Batteries and Charging
Batteries for the RX1 and RX1r are still widely available both from Sony and in the aftermarket, as are Sony and aftermarket chargers. Not a problem.
Notable Features
Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f/2 lens
There was a lot of talk about the lens on this camera when it came out, and that talk continued for a few years. Many people consider the lens on this camera to be one of the best 35mm lenses ever made, from any manufacturer. This is so much so, that these same people felt that the price of the camera would be worth it for the lens alone, and you get the rest of the camera for free.
We’ve been using our RX1 almost daily since 2014 and can attest to the quality of the lens. It’s amazing. The main downside is that the lens suffers from distortion, but either the in-camera processing can take care of that, or Lightroom / can easily correct it. Don’t skip out on the camera due to the distortion.
Controls
The RX1 and RX1r have great controls. While the main dial is a mode dial (for P / A / TV / etc), the camera has both an exposure compensation dial that is easily used, and an aperture ring around the lens. This is a nice combo of the old school and new school control schemes and we’ve found it to be perfectly suited to casual shooting. Along with that, the control dials feel great. Nice satisfying level of engagement, and they feel well made.
Detachable EVF
The RX1 and RX1r are compatible with the Sony (model name here) detachable EVF that mounts in the hot shoe. The EVF can tilt 90 degrees up, for waist-level or look-down shooting. While the quality of the EVF isn’t anything to write home about, it’s very nice to a) have a tiltable EVF option and b) be able to take it off when you either don’t need it, or want a more compact setup.
The size
There is basically no other camera (save for the RX1rII) that combines this level of image quality, with this size. The Leica Q series (Q1, Q2, Q3) are all bigger, and even the Fujifilm X100 series of cameras are bigger in a couple of dimensions (despite having a smaller APS-C sensor). If you want a small, jacket-pocketable camera with a full frame sensor and world class lens, the RX1 lineup is your best bet.
Potential Issues
The RX1 and RX1r are subject to a few potential issues:
- Manual focus stops working
Tips
- If you want to shoot wide open at f/2 outside, you’ll need an ND filter. We recommend an ND0.8 from B&W (link), as that is what we’ve used on our camera since 2014.
- The lens is sharp from f/2 onwards. Given that we like shallow depth of field, we shoot our camera at f/2 by far the majority of the time and there’s basically no downside to doing so aside from some vignetting, which you can take out in post processing if you want to.
- Buy spare batteries and keep them charged and with you. Given the small size, the camera eats through the batteries pretty quickly. We’ve had the best luck with Sony’s official batteries (link here), even though they’re more expensive.
- We bought the EVF when we first got the camera, and even though it was expensive, we’ve loved using it. These days, we tend to not use it as much and use the RX1 as more of a point and shoot, although we still put it on occasionally. Either way works well.
Video Reviews
Coming soon.
Text and Image Reviews
Comparisons
Coming soon.