Adding to its bridge camera line-up, Sony has announced the RX10 III. It has a 1" Exmor RS CMOS sensor capable of producing 20.1 MP stills and 4K video. The sensor is complemented by a 24-600mm ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T lens.
The lens is relatively fast, with a maximum aperture of F2.4 – F4. It can be stopped down to F11 and features a nine-blade aperture. The lens comprises eight ED glass elements, including one super ED glass element, five ED glass elements and two ED aspherical lenses. It also features a ZEISS T coating, which reportedly minimises ghosting and flares, and offers faithful colour reproduction.
The lens features a minimum focusing distance of 72 cm (2.36 ft), which when combined with the built-in optical image stabilisation, should give the camera some interesting macro capabilities. According to Sony, their proprietary Optical SteadyShot system offers up to 4.5 stops of stabilisation.
Sony also claims that the RX10 III's auto-focus (AF) responds in as quickly as 0.09 seconds, and according to dpreview.com, features 25 AF points.
The back-illuminated CMOS sensor on the RX10III has an extended ISO range between ISO 64 and ISO 12,800, and the electronic shutter is rated up to 1/32,000 second. On the video front, apart from shooting 4K video, the camera also captures slow-motion videos at 960 frames per second (fps). Sony claims that the powerful DRAM chip complementing the BIONZ X image processor allows the camera to snap high-resolution images at 14 fps.
Video enthusiasts may be happy to know that according to Sony, the 4K video isn't pixel binned (the video is shot at roughly the maximum resolution that the sensor is capable of and is scaled down to 4K). The camera also features a mic input as well as a headphone input. It also features a host of professional video features, like Picture Profile, S-Log2/S-Gamut, Gamma Display Assist, and Time Code.
The camera is dust and moisture resistant and comes with Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity. It costs $1,500, and will hit stores this May.
