Sony Cyber-shot DSC RX100 a Quick First Impression

I was lucky enough to have the fine folks as Sony hand-deliver me a Sony Cyber-shot, DSC RX100 camera last Friday. It was rushed to me for my Father's Day TV Segment on NBC's Today in New York, Picture Perfect Summer. It is a pre-production model with beta firmware that should be available for sale mid-July.

The specs on the camera are quite impressive for a "point-and-shoot" camera. It has a large 20.2MP, one-inch sensor (the same as a Nikon J1, but with more megapixels), and a myriad features typically found in a Sony NEX like sweep-panorama, HDR, 13 pre-set scene modes, and full manual control. It has a standard DSLR-type rotary dial that allows choice of shooting modes and a customizable control ring on the lens that may be used to manipulate certain camera functions like aperture, focus, and zoom.

My first thought when I held this camera was, "It's a piece of jewelry." This tiny shooter (smaller than a Blackberry Bold) exudes quality. An all-aluminum body with controls that snap, a Zeiss T* f/1.8 28-100mm zoom lens and tight lines and seams that even the best German car would be jealous of. As I used the camera, a second thought came to mind: "This guy is a game-changer." The Sony RX100 just seems like a pint-sized NEX5. Its controls, speed, and overall feel are extremely similar. And speaking of speed, this camera shoots and displays the image on the super-sharp LCD so quickly, a few times I didn't realize the camera had even taken the picture.

As previously mentioned, this is a pre-production model, so it's not uncommon that there were some bugs in the software. Some photos I took were a bit over exposed, but the sharpness and detail of the large 20MP images was astounding. There is no reason not to expect Sony to have these minor kinks  worked out by the time of its release in July.

Can a camera be perfect? Other than a flash that is positioned to pop-up into the left index finger and a tiny video button that is hard to press, the camera is as close to perfect as it gets. Running a camera store gets you very few perks, but one I will definitely take advantage of is to be Unique Photo's very first customer for this hot piece of Sony jewelry.