When I saw first leaked images of the Sony RX1 a couple of days ago I was amazed. Finally somebody did it. To put a large sensor in a compact camera. To me it was no surprise that Sony did it first. Either Sony or Fuji would be first I guessed. They both have fresh ideas and they both do not need to protect their DSLR business.
First I need to say something about my Fuji X100. I have it for more than a year now and still every time I shoot with it I enjoy the feeling. I love the simple body, the dials, the optical viewfinder and the completely silent operation of this camera. There is a japanese expression for “pursuit of perfection” but I forgot how it goes. Anyway the Fuji X100 is exactly that. It makes you smile when you use it.
I’m curious if the Sony RX1 will be the same. I think Sony did a great job by putting a full frame sensor in a compact camera. They took a lot of ideas from Fuji like the leave shutter in the lens, the function button or the exposure compensation dial but they made missed out an opportunity and here is why:
- No viewfinder! It was obvious from the first leaked image that the RX1 will have no internal viewfinder but for me this is the biggest reason not to buy it. I know there are add on viewfinders ( optically or electronically ) but where is the sense in that? To make the camera ultra small and than add an external viewfinder which makes the whole camera a lot bigger than it would be with an integrated viewfinder. And shooting with the screen on the back simply does not feel the same. I have doubts that potential buyers will shoot it without a viewfinder.
- No shutter speed dial. This seems not to be a big point but I think that people considering such a camera ( and I’m one of those ) prefer to change to panorama mode by using the menu. Why have a dial at all if it sit’s in A-Mode 90% of the time? The shooting experience would be different with a shutter dial. Sony should have copied this from Fuji or Leica as well.
Don’t get me wrong. The Sony RX1 is a great camera. It is a game changer and I’m convinced that it will change the camera industry. It will probably have the best image quality of any digital camera below medium format thanks to the integrated lens. It most likely will focus a lot faster than the Fuji cameras. And there will be no problems with third party RAW converters too.
The two things I don’t like about the camera don’t mean that it is a poor camera. It’s far from that. But it shows maybe Sony biggest problem: They have all the technology to create an outstanding product but Sony lacks the deep understanding of traditional camera design that companies like Fuji or Leica have. If you look at the NEX line you can say that this is also a big advantage of Sony. They are able to think outside of the box. I love the NEX line.
With the RX1 Sony has created a “state of the art masterpiece in technology” – body, it’s a tour de force without doubt but I think they missed out to give it some soul. I’m not sure if shooting with it will give you the same warm feeling you get when shooting a Fuji X100.