Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-10-05)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 5 October 2019 49

CAMERA TEST Testbench

FEATURES 8/10

BUILD& HANDLING 7/10

METERING 9/10

AUTOFOCUS 10/10

AWB& COLOUR 8/10

DYNAMICRANGE 8/10

IMAGEQUALITY 8/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 9/10

AtlowISOs,theRX100VIIproducesexcellentimagefileswithnovisible

noiseandplentyoffinedetail.There’sverylittledeteriorationupto

ISO400,butbeyondthis,noisebecomesmoreprominentandfinedetail

deteriorates.Howeveryou’llstillgetentirelyusableimagesatISO 1600 if

youdon’tneedtoprintthemlarge.AtISO3200,finelow-contrasttexture

hasessentiallybeenswampedbynoise.Thetoptwosettingsreallydon’t

lookgreat,withlotsofnoiseandsomebandingcreepingintoshadow

areas.ISO 6400 mightbeOKwhenthere’s no other option, but I’d steer

clearofISO12,800 completely.

Noise

RAWISO 100 RAW ISO 400 RAW ISO 1600

RAW ISO 3200 RAW ISO 6400 RAW ISO 12,800

Resolution

InrawtheRX100VIIcaptureslotsofdetail,with3,600
linesperpictureheightresolvedin ourcharttest.As
always,increasingthesensitivityresultsin a dropin
resolution,with3,200lphachievedatISO400,and
2,800lph at ISO 3200. The top two settingsdeteriorate

evenmorerapidly,withjust2,600lphattainedatISO

6400,and2,400lphatthehighestoptionofISO12,800.

SwitchtoJPEGandtheresolutiondropsto3200lphat

ISO80,withtheprocessingblurringhigherfrequencies

in a bidtominimisesamplingartefacts.

WhiletheRX100VIIsportsthelatestgenerationof Sony’s20MP1insensor,thisdoesn’tbring
muchobviouschangein termsof imagequality.SojustliketheRX100VI,it delivershighly
detailedimagesat lowISOsettings,whilekeepingnoisefairlywellundercontrolat sensitivity
settingsuptoISO 1600 orso.Thismeansit hasnosignificantadvantageoverothercompact
cameraswiththesamesizesensor.Insteadthemainimage-qualitydifferentiatorsbetween
these cameras will be the lens, and for JPEG shooters, the in-camera processing.

Lab results

AndrewSydenham’slabtestsrevealjusthowthe camera performs

Ourcamerasandlensesaretestedusingtheindustry-

standardImageEngineeringIQ-Analysersoftware.

Visit http://www.image-engineering.de for more details

WITHtheRX100VII,Sonyhasdonewhat

it doesbest,andcrammedanastonishing

amountof technologyintoa tinypackage.

Somehowit’sfitteda 24-200mmequivalent

zoom,electronicviewfinder,tiltingscreen,

20fpsshootingand4Kvideorecordinginto

a bodythatyoucanslipintoa jacketpocket.

Itsnewautofocussystemis a genuine

advancetoo,especiallyif youregularlyshoot

erraticallymovingsubjectssuchassportsor

children.Thisis, withoutdoubt,themost

accomplishedpocketcameraonthemarket.

Unfortunately,though,theRX100VIIis

alsoa glaringexampleof Sonydoingwhatit

doesworst,andcrammingcomplexfeatures

intoaninterfaceandbodydesignthat’sill

equippedtointegratethem.Sometimesit’s

merelyunpleasanttouse,butat othertimes

it feelsactivelyobstructive.It’sa realshame

thatSonyhasn’tputthesameeffortinto

improvingtheRX100designasit hasinto

evolvingitsAlpha7 seriesmodels.

Theotherbigquestionis whetheryou’re

preparedtopaya hugepremiumfora

bunchof advancedfeaturesyoumayrarely,

if ever,use.Itscheapercompetitorsmaynot

havequitethesamecapabilities,butthey’re

reallynotthatfaroff.Soif youwanta small

pocketcamerawitha viewfinderforcreative

photography,thentheCanonG5X MarkII

mightbea betterbet.Meanwhileif youjust

wanta longzoomlensanddecentimage

qualityin a compactdesign,Panasonic’s

LumixTZ100orTZ200bothdeliverthis

at a muchlowerprice.

Ultimately,then,theRX100VIIis much

thesamestoryasitspredecessor:incredible

technologyin a deeplyflawedbodydesignat

aneye-wateringprice.AndasI saidlastyear,

I’dstruggletojustifyspendingthiskindof

moneyona point-and-shootthat’sso

frustratingtouse,nomatterhowgood

theresults.Butif youcanaffordit andare

preparedtolivewithitsflaws,theRX100VII

is a phenomenally capable pocket camera.

Verdict

Ontherightweshowdetails
fromourresolutioncharttest
pattern(above).Multiplythe
numberbeneaththelinesby
200 togivetheresolutionin
lines per picture height.

RAW

ISO 12,800

RAW

ISO 3200

RAW

ISO 400

RAW

ISO 64

Recommended

Thecropsshownbelowaretaken
from the area outlined above in red