Product Reviews

I have only had this camera a few weeks and I am so glad I made the discussion to buy it. My Canon became to big and heavy for my arthritic hands, so the Sony is a delight to use with lovely pictures.

Everything is fantastic, but I can't create account to download an apps. I live in Poland witch is on the support list, so I don't know what's wrong...

Superb quality. Wonderful results. Worth every penny.

This was an unexpected present and thus it has taken time to get round to writing this review. As it is, much of the review will be limited to handling and performance as opposed to picture quality, as I have yet to edit edit photos taken with it. However, reviewing what pictures I have taken on a TV would suggest that quality will be good. Out of the box the camera is impressively small for something with so many features. In the hand it feels solid and weighty but not overly so. Control buttons are small and set almost flush with the camera body. this makes them hard to find when you have your eye to the EVF (electronic viewfinder) again I expect with time and practice this will become less of an issue. The mode dial feels solid with a positive click and I have not inadvertently change the camera mode in transport or in use. To get the best of all the cameras features you will need a SDXC memory card U3 or equivalent. For such a small camera were space is such a premium I was surprised that it did not accept micro memory cards without an adapter. Setting up the camera to my preferences took some time, the age old issue of the sony menu system did not help as did the lack of a touch screen. That said once you get to know the menu system it does become a lot easier. Being able to map buttons to your preferences helps set the camera up the way you want it. But not all functions a can be mapped to all buttons. For example the eye detection can only be mapped to wither the centre or “C” buttons. The control ring also has a number of options. Set in auto it is semi intelligent it’s function varying with whatever mode you are in, eg in Aperture priority or manual mode it will change aperture in programme mode it will alter aperture and speed to correctly expose and so on, if you wish other option such as zoom control or others you will find them in the control ring option set. However, you can not set the camera to remember a preference in any of the three available memory modes. You should note that if you switch the mode dial guide off, than selecting which of the two auto modes (intelligent auto or superior auto) to use becomes a little harder. So if you do intend to use these auto modes often I suggest that you either leave the mode dial guide on or leave the shoot mode option in the function menu set. This that gives you access to 12 functions at the press of the Fn button. Otherwise you will find yourself having to dive into the the full menu if you wish to switch between auto modes. In use the camera is a great it gives you most of the control you would wish for or allows you to shoot in full auto. I have small to medium sized hands how someone with larger hand would far iI can not say but they might find it a little harder to use than I. As I said above at present I am finding it hard to find buttons when using the EVF. The EVF is a very good feature and particularly useful in bright light. I like that the camera switches on if you pop up the EVF, just remember to then pull it out to actually use it. Like so much of the camera you can control what happens when you take your eye away from the EVF or shut it down. This may sound like a small thing but it is very useful features in some situations. As with most EVFs you can also review photos in the EVF. Focus acquisition is quick in almost all lighting situation and the eye focus is an impressive and helpful focus mode. To get the best from the focusing ability of the camera you do need to become familiar with sony’s focusing modes and drive modes. I do miss touch focus whilst this is on the apps the screen on the camera itself is not touch sensitive and I do miss this feature it would be particularly useful in combination with the evf. Metering is accurate providing well exposed shots control through exposure compensation gives +- 3 stops enough for most purposes and there is a good selection of bracketing option should you wish to do your own HDR photos or are just unsure of the exposure you want. On the down side you can not Link metering to focus point or select where you would like spot metering to occur, not a deal breaker as you you can set a button to auto exposure lock (AEL) but it would be nice to have. On TV as I’ve already said the shots look good the 24mm to 70mm lens produce what seems to be good crisp images. For some the lens may not f have enough reach and maybe 24mm to 105mm would be better. Also others will point out that the maximum aperture of f1.8 is only available at 24mm at all other focal length it is f2 or above. Both to a small extent limiting it usefulness as a premium travel camera but that should distract from what it can produce. Finally whilst I have download some apps from play memories and played with them I am yet to use them. What I will say is download the smart control app from the playmemories store it is free and appears to offer more functionality than the one pre installed on the camera. Maybe I’ll return and update this review once I’ve edited some photos but so far this is a mightily impressive camera, that I believe anyone would be happy with. Would I have got the Mark 5 instead... of that am not sure, so far probably not. Do I already have a wish list for any new marks oh yes but I’ll save that for later.

The camera is packed with features and feels very well made.

Only owned this camera for a couple of week and I am still trying to work my way around all the options in the menus. I would only request 2 changes, a decent downloadable manual and a seamless wireless transfer to mobile device. Have a look at how Nikon do this with the D750 (wireless) and for all their cameras on the manual side. It's not a cheap product and no detailed product manual that you can download to your phone...could do better Sony.

Highly recommend if you want the ultimate point and shoot camera which fits in your pocket. Wish Sony chucked in the camera protection case in the price and package. For me taking good pictures was a priority , the 4K video is a bonus so if you want to do more longer 4K video then I would suggest other options. its a bit pricey but am sure they will make further developments and this one will go down in price.

I bought this a few weeks ago after some of the best reviews I Have ever read for any product. It is slowly revealing its hidden mysteries to me, but it rewards the patient. It is the most expensive and most sophisticated camera I have ever owned - I guess I like it fine, so far!

I've used another very good make of camera for over 40 years, finally breaking free from my default choice, something I could never previously envisage. I'm so glad I did. The picture quality of this Sony is every bit as good as my other camera and it has all the features I would ever want or need. The Sony is easier to use and, a big advantage this, it has true pocketability and solidity without undue weight. That means that, once again, I carry my camera everywhere, something I had stopped doing. This camera is not only perfect for me, it is a great camera in its own right.

Such amazing picture quality in a small body. Packed full of features like slow mo and the pop up flash and view finder. Great results all the time thanks to the quality Zeiss lens and stacked CMOS sensor. Highly recommended.

Would not work straight from the box. Could not record 4k even with a recommended Sony card. It has been returned to store. I'm further research it seems these cameras have serious issues with memory cards.

Hi I bought the M1 when it came out and boy it takes great photos but that was a few years ago and it’s now a bit battered. Upgraded to M4. Looked at M3 & M5, but iv was the best price/spec compromise. It’s like the original, but just a bit better in almost every way Best feature is probably min ss on auto iso. Menu is exactly the same as original so easy peasy I also have a6000 and regard myself as keen photographer This camera will not let you down. You can control it, but as a point and shoot, it has no equals. Picture quality is fantastic and you can crop and crop without it affecting print quality

The camera is pin sharp, light (ish) and reasonably user friendly (I've moved from Canon) but the user guide is brief,flimsy and not sufficiently detailed.

I recently decided to switch systems to Sony, and have had my eye on an RX100 as a secondary or family camera for a while. After weighing up the features of each version of the RX100 I deviced on this as it offers so much without being the most expensive. I used it over Christmas, got oads of amazing photos of my 2 year old opening his presents, super slow motion of snow, and crisp winter parks. The lens is stunning, even wide open at 1.8 it's amazingly sharp, I tried an astrophotography shot one night, 10 seconds, ISO100 F1.8 and it's the sharpest starfield I've ever taken. Every other lens is hard to focus, or has coma towards the edges, this is perfect. I haven't had a clear night since to do more, but I can't wait! It's great in low light, high ISO performance rivals my previous APSC mirrorless system, and the OSS makes it even better. Looking at the RAW files in Capture One (the free Sony version!) you can see loads of detail, and dynamic range, being able to get lovely photos of my boy being read a story by firelight next to the Christmas tree without a flash, while zoomed in fully was quite unexpected. The build is great, it feels very solid, the EVF and screen are both superb, and the NFC/wifi and Android app make sharing photos quickly very easy. It lasted me about 5 days of shooting over Christmas before dropping to about 50% battery, so that seems very good too. My only negative to report is that its crams so much into such a small body that it can be a bit overwhelming at first. It's seriously impressive, showing people the popup flash, tilting screen and then a popup viewfinder, then super slow motion video, the photo quality, the normal video... it's just awesome. I highly recommend this camera, and that probably goes for any in the range too. This is the kind of camera you do replace a DSLR with, you can take this anywhere and getting stunning photos.

Sony invented this super-compact camera type, and still leads the field with sensor quality and smart technology. But it's still difficult to use RX100s except as a rather dumb 'point and shoot' camera. Instead of adding ever more features to this already feature-overloaded model, some thought should be given to ergonomics and to more advanced photographers using this as a second or third camera. Ergonomically, it's still a mess and difficult to hold without a grip. And the features you are always adding are often difficult to access or use properly. And still no control dial for aperture??!! You could always disable it for beginners... And still no way to attach filters without clumsy glue-ons? Silly. Would a tiny screw thread hurt?! The fact that each iteration costs more also erodes the long-term VFM of this product.

Bought a couple of weeks ago, very pleased. Takes very good pictures out of the box, but allows full range of control, as on a SLR. Full use will take time to learn, as I am moving from a point and shoot camera, but pleased that I have.

Glad I chose this, beautifully made and packed with functions, the quality of processed pictures is excellent

Doesn't disappoint when taking pictures at night, really impressed.

Tales a while to explore all options as very clever camera. Used in Auto mode with very good effects. Particularly impressed with some of the scene selections for night time shooting. Panoramic shooting very quickly stitches together a seamless image. Still getting to grips with the more advanced features. Wifi transfer of images is incredibly slow, much quicker to plug into computer and transfer images that way. Overall though, a very clever piece of kit that takes stunning pictures.

I have many larger cameras but find that I take most pictures on my iPhone simply because it is with me most of the time. Now I can take higher quality pictures in RAW format and control the images much more. So far I am very pleased.

its a perfect compact camera nice picture and video

The camera itself is wonderful, pictures are beautiful, and controls are well laid out. I find having to pop the eyefinder up and then have to extend the rear of it unnecessarily fiddly, but that's the only thing I can find to criticise on the camera. The software associated with the camera unfortunately still reminds me too much of the Sony software of old. For example to connect the camera to my phone for reviewing and transferring shots is nice, but I ended up downloading 3 separate Sony apps for this! One for the NFC, one for the actual transferring, and the third with a similar name turned out to be for online storage and wasn't actually needed for what I want, but why are they all separate in the first place? After I installed the Sony playmemories software on my PC I noticed some of my photo folders now had duplicates files of the photos in there, in an unrecognised format. I googled it and turned out its a Sony format, and a bunch of people were complaining in *2013* about playmemories duplicating all their photos - thousands of them. Thankfully on mine it only seems to have done it in a couple of folders, not all of them, but how is this still an issue 4 years later? So yeah same old Sony, great hardware, but software yet to catch up.

High quality images in a very compact camera with excellant set of features - only criticism compact design presents fiddly operation that takes some getting used to