Why did I buy this (another) camera? Quite simple: I have returned – to some extend – to the world of analogue photography. Not to replace my digital workflow, but as a welcoming addition to what I am doing with my digital equipment. I simply love the process and the excitement of film development. There is another kind of Christmas-Like satisfaction when the roll of film turns out right. Up to that moment, the photography itself is different, too. Using a more than twenty years old rangefinder camera is an experience of its own. Very pure photography with only so few options, nothing to worry about except the correct framing and exposure …
So – I was looking for a small camera I could take along with my analogue gear (just in case, you know, just in case …) and that is where the RX100 plays along quite well. It is a small masterpiece of technology, a very capable camera not much bigger than a package of cigarettes (if you still know what size that is), so it can get along with the analogue gear without any additional burden. The zoom lens is very ok (24-200mm) and the operations are also ok (not as good as my Fuji, but ok). The buttons are small, yes, but that should be clear due to the „not-size“ of this camera …
I can not speak to all the functionalities, but what does the trick for me is:
- it is small
- it has sufficient resolution
- it has a decent viewfinder
- good zoom range
- good access to exposure compensation functions
- decent black and white functions and descent jpegs straight out of camera, but also RAW delivery
- acceptable way to costumize functionality
- did I mention it is small?
The camera does all of that and has build in functions beyond that, which means I will not hit a functional limit immediately if something might become important for me.
What I like a lot:
The „rich black and white“ function, which takes three shots and combines these in a black and white HDR image … not so well suited for moving sceneries, but the results are quite nice if you are looking for great pictures out of the camera that do not look „overcooked“ but just with nice tonality, no further work needed.
The following pictures are jpegs straight from camera.
And some pictures of the camera itself …
Summary
The Sony RX100VII is a capable camera in a very small package. It has an abundance of options to help you through your photographic visions whilst maintaining a good level of usability.
The sweet spot for me is the portability in addition to my analogue gear or as main camera whilst riding my bicycle (due to it‘s size it can come along quite easily).
It would not replace my digital equipment, but it outpaces my phone camera quite easily. It does not draw a lot of attention, from that perspective its very discrete.
For the size and mobility gains, its a no-brainer, I would buy it again.
