Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-29)

50 29 February 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

AWARD

WINNER

2020

SMARTPHONECAMERA

Nominees

■CanonPowerShotG5X

MarkII

■PanasonicLumix FZ1000 II

■RicohGRIII

■ Sony RX100 VII

Nominees

■AppleiPhone 11 Pro

■GooglePixel 4

■HuaweiP30Pro

■ Samsung Galaxy Note10+

Sony RX100 VII

Samsung Galaxy

Note10+

Compact Camera of the Year

Smartphone Camera of the Year

WITHthelatestmodelin itsRX100
series,Sonyhasdonewhatit does
best,andcrammedanastonishing
amountof technologyintoa tiny
package.Somehowit’sfitteda
24-200mmequivalentzoom,
pop-upelectronicviewfinder,tilting
screen,20fpsshootingand4K
videorecordingintoa bodythat
youcanslipintoa jacketpocket.
Comparedtothepreviousmodelit
addsAI-basedsubject-tracking
autofocusthat’sunmatchedbyany
of itscompetitors,andis especially
usefulif youregularlyshoot
erraticallymovingsubjectssuchas
sportsorchildren.
If there’sa flaw,it’sthatSonyhasstruggledtomakeallof these
sophisticatedfeaturesaccessibleandeasytouse.Thisis a camerayouneedto
spenda bitof timeunderstanding,tweakingandsettingup,andthenusing
essentiallyasa point-and-shoot.Butitsautomatedsystemsaresoreliablethat
yourarelyhavetointervenemanuallytogethigh-qualitypictures.
Whilemanywillunderstandablybalkat thestreetpriceof £1,049,thisis,
withouta doubt,themosttechnicallyaccomplishedcompactcameraonthe
market.It’sa fantasticpocket-friendlytravel companion for those occasions
when you don’t want to carry a DSLR.

COMPETITIONbetweensmartphonestoboastthebest

cameratechhasintensifiedin recentyears,with

high-endmodelsboastingmultiplecameramodules,full

manualcontrol,andDNGrawrecording.You’llfindall of

thesein Samsung’stop-of-the-rangeNote10+.

Threecameramodulesareonboard,withan

ultra-wideangle13mmequivalentf/2.2lens,a telephoto

52mmf/2.1lens,plusa standard26mmlenswitha

variablef/1.5-2.4aperture.There’salsoa fourth

DepthVisioncamera,whichis usedforcreatingshallow

depthof fieldeffects.

Thenativecameraappoffersa wealthof different

shootingoptions,includinga straightforwardPhotomode

thatworksasa point-and-shoot,a Nightmodefor

low-lightshooting,anda well-featuredPromode.

UnusuallytheNote10+comeswitha stylusthatcanbe

usedasa remoterelease– idealforshootinglong

exposures,selfiesorgroupshots.

Crucially,imagequalityis fantastic,witha gooddegree

of uniformitybetweenimagescapturedonthethree

differentlenses.Detailis alsogood,withnicelysaturated

colours.Photographerswhowanttheirphonetodouble

up as a high-quality pocket camera need look no further.

Whywelikeit

●Impressivelensgives

sharpimages

●Reallyuseful24-200mm

equivalentrange

●Reliableexposureand auto

whitebalance

●Sophisticatedautofocus and

rapidshooting

●Pop-upviewfinder and tilting

screen

Whywelikeit

●Verstatilethree-lens
camerasystem

●Well-featured,easy-to-use
cameraapp

●Fantasticimagequality

●Usefulremote control
via stylus

AWARD

WINNER

2020

COMPACTCAMERA