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Sony RX1R II Review – Real World, Lab, Video, Menus, and Lightroom Photo Analysis…

Sony RX1r II Review
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
90
Pro Oriented Full Frame Point and Shoot Style Camera

Hi guys and welcome to another super high quality Sony camera review 😉 This time the Sony RX1R II, which is one of the most powerful point and shoot style cameras you can buy today.

Sony RX1R II Review

The Sony RX1-series cameras are very compact full frame sensor equipped beasts! The lens is a 35mm f/2 Zeiss Sonnar T* unit permanently fixed to the camera, which makes it much smaller than a traditional interchangeable lens camera like the Sony A7r II , for example.

The Sony RX1R II goes for nearly $3898 US at the time of this review, and you might wonder why anybody would want such a thing, when you can get the same sensor inside a ILCE camera like the A7r II, and have the flexibility of using any lens in the world pretty much. Well, in this review I will try and clear that up for you.

Sony RX1R II Review

The Sony RX1R II is not for everybody, in fact, it’s really only marketed towards a slim audience of photographers. Namely professionals looking for the absolute best possible quality compact point and shoot style camera on the planet earth with a 35mm view.

Just like the RX10 and RX100 series cameras, the “pro” oriented features and image quality are best in class for the given sensor size. The RX1 series is no different and offers the full frame sensor flavor.

Will sony come out with an APS-C size sensor RX series style camera?? Time will tell….

Let’s take a closer look at the Sony RX1R II key features first, then below that is my highly detailed video style review, followed by high res sample photos for your visual pleasure and more…

Sony RX1R II Key Features:

  • 42MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor
  • BIONZ X Image Processor
  • Variable Optical Low-Pass Filter
  • Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 Lens
  • Full HD 1080p/60 Video & XAVC S Format
  • 399 Phase-Detect AF Points & 5 fps Burst
  • 0.39″ 2.36M-Dot XGA OLED Tru-Finder EVF
  • 3.0″ 1,228.8k-Dot Tilting LCD Monitor
  • ISO 102400 & Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW
  • Built-In Wi-Fi Connectivity with NFC
  • Weight1.12 lb / 507 g with battery and card
  • Price = $3898 US

Sony RX1R II Camera Body Design, and Promo Photos

Please Click Photos for higher res versions…

rx1rm2-frontview-angle-1
rx1rm2-left
rx1rm2-right
rx1rm2-frontview
rx1rm2-back-ldc-1
rx1rm2-back-ldc-2
RX1R Mark II - Viewfinder
RX1R Mark II - Viewfinder
rx1rm2-top
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R II Digital Camera Sensor
Sony rx1r II chassis

My Sony RX1R II Review – Video Version

In my Youtube video style review of the Sony RX1R II, I cover everything you need to know and much more! It’s fairly long at ~45min, but very thorough. Please be sure to select the 1080p viewing quality and then go fullscreen mode for the best possible viewing experience! The little gear icon on the bottom right of the video is where you change the quality once the video starts playing, and the fullscreen button is the broken square icon on the bottom right.

Sony RX1r II Review
Sony RX1R II Review – Real World, Lab, Video, Menus, and Lightroom Photo Analysis…
Full Frame Beast
The full frame Sony RX1R II is certainly not for everybody, but for those pro oriented users that demand the best possible quality in the smallest form factor available, it could be just perfect.
Bang For The Buck
90
Feature Set
90
Build Quality and Design
95
User Interface and Menu System
85
Auto Focus System
90
Image quality
98
Usability
95
Video Quality
85
Audio Quality
85
Optical Quality
98
Low Light Performance
96
Battery Life
70
Fun Factor
95
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
Pros
Top Quality Image Quality and 42mp resolving power
Excellent build quality and manual user oriented design
Great Low light abilities
Tons of fun to use for a pro oriented full frame camera enthusiast
Ultra compact for a full frame sensor equipped point and shoot style camera
Cons
No fully articulating touchscreen
No 4k Video
Battery life could be much better
Ergonomics could be improved greatly with a RX10 like camera body design
Max Shutter Speed @ f/2 is 1/2000sec
100% View of raw images a little softer than expected
90
Pro Oriented Full Frame Point and Shoot Style Camera

Sony RX1R II – Sample Photos

First I would like to start off with a few RAW Quality Snapshots w/ 100% crops for your critical inspection. This would be what you can expect if just pointing and shooting pretty much. I will show you a few edited photos as well, after this first set, so don’t worry if your looking for those. A new Casino is going in near where I live and it offered some interesting detail to check out I thought.

Sony RX1R II - Sample Photo
f/5.6 @ 1/1000sec, hand-held

I can see a little softness here when viewing 100% towards the top of the photo.

100% Crop

Down here in the middle things are noticeable sharper.

100% Crop

Here is another real world hand-held snapshot raw file…

@ f/5.6 hand held
100% Crop – Top left with harsh sun to the left as well
100% Crop from center area
raw @ f/5.6
100% Crop

Here are a few more Raw quality snapshots: f/2 vs f/5.6 on a full frame camera makes a huge difference…

f/5.6
f/2
f/2
f/5.6

A few more random shots…

f/5.6

Note the lens distortion in this frame below of the rusty paint flaking railing…

f/5.6
f/5.6
f/2, 1/2000sec

Raw Vs Edited

Next I will show a raw file, then a slightly edited version of the same file:

Raw file un-edited
edited raw file

Here are a few more raw files vs an edited raw files:

Raw
Edited Raw
raw
edited raw file
Color and Patterns

I really like this edited frame, and be sure to click on it for a higher res version via Flickr: [divider] Here are a few more snapshots I took the other day at the car dealer.

f/2.2
f/5.6
f/5.6
f/5.6
f/5.6

Lab Testing

For the sake of saving massive amounts of time I will not include all the lab test photos, because I covered them in great detail in the video review above, and at the end of the day you can compare with other cameras on other review sites way better than I can offer here anyway… DPReview for example offers the killer compare to another camera photo tools… I can’t do that, so I don’t feel the need to try and compare to them in that regard. I hope that makes sense and I can send files to you all if you like, no problem at all…. Just shot me an email or a comment below with info.

Max ISO Test

I focused on the train for this frame @ ISO 102400

ISO 102400

It’s certainly noisy when viewing at 100%, but for ISO 102400 I think it’s really good overall.

ISO 102400 – 100% Crop

Minimum Focus Distance @ Max f/2 Aperture

f/2 – Minimum focus distance test
100% Crop – f/2 – Minimum focus distance test

Sony RX1R II Accessories:

Power and Ergonomics:

Protection and Cleaning:

Expanding your Creativity:

Conclusions

As I said in the video review and above in the intro, this camera is certainly not for everybody. In fact, it’s only for a select few that demand the best possible quality in the smallest possible form factor available. Pretty much just like all the RX-100 Series cameras as well. I really enjoyed using this camera and the quality output is outstanding in both video and photography. The lack of 4k is a downside, but the 1080 footage is excellent in my opinion.

Pros

Awesome quality in a super compact form factor considering full frame format. The pop-up view finder is awesome, and the tilting screen is very well designed. Focus speed has been greatly improved over the last model and it’s very accurate based on my testing.

Cons

One of my biggest gripes with the RX1R II is the max shutter speed of 1/2000sec @ f/2. At f/4 for example the max shutter is 1/4000sec, so this does not make sense to me. Also, there is no built in ND filter, which makes shooting at f/2 in bright conditions difficult if not impossible without a ND filter of some kind. The cost of the camera is very high, and with a fixed 35mm lens the versatility is also very limited. Raw files are not as tack sharp as expected, but overall excellent.

Final Word

The Sony RX1R II is a lot of fun to use and offers some exceptional image quality in a very small and well made package. The images are a little softer than I would expect, but with 42mp to work with, this is not an issue that I would consider a deal breaker. Overall IQ is remarkable…. I really hope you guys got what you were looking for and please have a great day! Please feel free to ask questions and comment below as always 😉 Jay

Sony RX1R II @ BHPhoto (Click Here)

Sony RX1r II Review
Sony RX1R II Review – Real World, Lab, Video, Menus, and Lightroom Photo Analysis…
Full Frame Beast
The full frame Sony RX1R II is certainly not for everybody, but for those pro oriented users that demand the best possible quality in the smallest form factor available, it could be just perfect.
Bang For The Buck
90
Feature Set
90
Build Quality and Design
95
User Interface and Menu System
85
Auto Focus System
90
Image quality
98
Usability
95
Video Quality
85
Audio Quality
85
Optical Quality
98
Low Light Performance
96
Battery Life
70
Fun Factor
95
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
Pros
Top Quality Image Quality and 42mp resolving power
Excellent build quality and manual user oriented design
Great Low light abilities
Tons of fun to use for a pro oriented full frame camera enthusiast
Ultra compact for a full frame sensor equipped point and shoot style camera
Cons
No fully articulating touchscreen
No 4k Video
Battery life could be much better
Ergonomics could be improved greatly with a RX10 like camera body design
Max Shutter Speed @ f/2 is 1/2000sec
100% View of raw images a little softer than expected
90
Pro Oriented Full Frame Point and Shoot Style Camera