Leaked Sony RX1 Fits a DSLR in Your Pocket (rumor)

[fjrabon]

I really don't get a $2,800 camera where all you can ever shoot is 35mm on a full frame. I guess it's just the ultimate street camera, but even for street, wouldn't you OCCASIONALLY want to shoot at, I don't know, 50mm? I get that the fixed lens with the fixed focal length allows it to be a bit smaller, but man, that seems like a HUGE tradeoff.

 

[Helen B]

If you are used to using a high quality fixed lens compact it isn't such a drawback. It doesn't suit everybody, but it does suit those of us who know that we can be perfectly happy with a fixed 35 mm lens (and superb image quality). I'll wait to see how it performs before buying one. If it meets the quality of a Rollei 35S I would seriously consider it.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

No longer a rumour. It's available for pre-order at B&H (link), and the price really is $2,800.

PS I know you guys don't want to hear this, but I think that the RX100 is easily the best in its class. There are other Sony products that are best in class, but you can dismiss them as irrelevant niche products if you wish.

I mentioned niche the other thread because Sony products as a whole aren't fairing well, and seems they only target a small sector of a market with their "best of breed". They fill a small "niche" in a few of their products lineups.

Perhaps this new camera will sell like crazy. For Sony's sake I hope so because as a company and compared to their competitors they are performing poorly. A quick financial google search of their financial trends past year or so as compared to their competitors will prove they need to do "something".

I'm not knocking this camera or any of their products, but Sony needs to sell something on a mass scale, not have their awesome products in empty high tech Sony stores at the malls collecting dust.

 

[Helen B]

`At some point I wonder if the best Sony thing to buy will be SNE (Sony Corp stock) because it has taken such a beating - and there may be more to come.

Re the RX1. The Sigma DP2 Merrill ($1000, 45 mm equiv f/2.8 fixed lens) and DP1 Merrill (28 mm equiv, otherwise same as DP2 M) are almost in the same small niche, but they appear to have usability problems and they are quite large. The Rollei 35S is more compact, thanks mostly to its use of 35 mm film and a retractable 40 mm f/2.8 Sonnar - it was also much cheaper than the RX1 when new, even with inflation taken into account.

 

[unpopular]

Hey Helen - while you're at it, can you buy me one too? I wouldn't mind owning one, but at that price I just can't justify it.

Seriously though, if you do end up with one, please post your thoughts on it. I kind of doubt there will be too many real users out there.

 

[fjrabon]

If you are used to using a high quality fixed lens compact it isn't such a drawback. It doesn't suit everybody, but it does suit those of us who know that we can be perfectly happy with a fixed 35 mm lens (and superb image quality). I'll wait to see how it performs before buying one. If it meets the quality of a Rollei 35S I would seriously consider it.

Yeah, I mean I get that it could work for certain shooters, in certain genres of photography. But to me that seems like a lot of cash for a camera with such few applications. Usually when you have to make that many concessions on a camera, it's because it's cheap.

 

[unpopular]

Like this one:

Fujifilm GF670 Rangefinder Folding Camera 16019089 B&H Photo

or this one:

Plaubel Makina W67 with case, mint- condition | eBay

There have been plenty of high end, fixed focal length cameras.

 

[Derrel]

No longer a rumour. It's available for pre-order at B&H (link), and the price really is $2,800.

PS I know you guys don't want to hear this, but I think that the RX100 is easily the best in its class. There are other Sony products that are best in class, but you can dismiss them as irrelevant niche products if you wish.

Just to be clear...I was not saying nor implying that Sony products are either irrelevant, or niche products, but merely point out that Sony's sales leadership position has VANISHED, totally, and they now have ZERO products leading in sales in ANY of the product categories they used to dominate. And this camera is indeed, in a class ALL BY ITSELF.

Personal music players, a category Sony pretty much invented??? Puh-thetic products and pathetic sales figures. Apple's iPod crushes the ****ty Sony music players, easily. DVD players? DVD recorders? Camcorders? Computers? TELEVISION sets??? Sony used to be a sales leader in multiple consumer electronics categories. And now they are wayyyyyyyy back in the pack, and are losing millions of yen every single week. As I recall, Sony's most recent quarter marked their worst-ever financial losses. But I could be mistaken, since Sony has reported multiple record losses multiple times over the past three years.

Sony makes some decent products, sure. But they have also lost the worldwide consumer electronics leadership position they used to enjoy, in every single category in which they sell products.

 

[Helen B]

High end fixed-lens cameras? Plenty.

All the Rollei 35 models
All the Rolleiflex TLRs (which are more expensive than the RX1)
The Plaubel Makina models (already mentioned by unpopular) - more expensive than the RX1
Voigtlander Bessas (original and current)
Various Zeiss cameras I'm not familiar with
The Hasselblad SWC series
The Minox 35 models
Many Fuji rangefinders
The Leica Minilux

I'm sure that there are more. Don't forget all the people, including a lot of famous and well-respected photographers, who buy an interchangeable lens camera and only use it with one normal-ish prime lens.

 

[Scuba]

I read about this camera this morning on gizmodo.com and thought for sure it was just a concept that would never make it to production. Wow I can't believe that it is actually going to be sold. I don't get the target market for this? Is it for the people who don't really know anything about photography and have a lot of money? I am sure it will take fantastic images being a full frame with a prime on it but without interchangeable lenses or a zoom it just doesn't make sense. Pro's won't use it....why would they. Most consumers won't because of the cost. And those of use between the two either use a 4/3 or a mid range SLR that we can slowly accumulate lenses for. But at the same time when the iPad came out there was no market for that either....

 

[Derrel]

Michael Reichmann of The Luminous Landscape webs site JUST got done reviewing one of the new Sigma DP2 "Merrill" fixed-lens camera...he was very enthusiastic about the PURE IMAGE QUALITY the sensor and the excellent lens can produce; he likened it to medium format digital capture quality!!! Sigma DP2M Review

Unfortunately, the DP2 Merrill has, as Helen mentioned, what seem to be some very serious usability issues...like incredibly sucky software and basically no third-party software support, kind of a balky AF system--at times, and basically no supply of extra batteries anywhwre in North America. The camera apparently has absolutely dismal battery life, and ships with two batteries standard. I read the review...sounds like an interesting camera that's kind of a hassle. I bet the SONY fixed lens com pact will be much slicker in operation, and a better "machine". But, yet again, the price makes it a niche product, and FUJI's now seemingly the leader in high-end, luxury compact cameras designed for size-conscious hipsters and elitist pho-togs (grin).

Back to the Sony thing...here's a quickie summary of a few point the New York Times made in an article they ran this past April.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/technology/how-sony-fell-behind-in-the-tech-parade.html?pagewanted=all

Some selected quotes: "Sony, after all, hasn’t turned a profit since 2008. It now expects to lose $6.4 billion this year. The reason is plain: Sony hasn’t had a hit product in years."


Sony’s share price closed at 1,444 yen ($17.83) on Friday, a quarter of its value a decade ago and roughly where it stood in the mid-1980s, when the Walkman ruled. Sony’s market value is now one-ninth that of Samsung Electronics, and just one-thirtieth of Apple’s.
"...a proud company that was unwilling or unable to adapt to realities of the global marketplace."
"Lower-cost manufacturers from South Korea, China and elsewhere, meanwhile, are increasingly undercutting Sony and other high-end electronics makers. As Sony’s brand started losing much of its luster, the company found that it had a harder time charging a premium for its products."
"..undisputed global leadership has narrowed significantly, having being usurped or equaled by the likes of Apple and Samsung Electronics."
"...a confusing catalog of gadgets that overlap or even cannibalize one another. It has also continued to let its product lines mushroom: 10 different consumer-level camcorders and almost 30 different TVs, for instance, crowd and confuse consumers."
"...Some analysts wonder if Mr. Hirai — who previously ran the money-losing games and TV businesses — is the right man to lead Sony. A protégé of Mr. Stringer, he appears to have been appointed as much for his ease in English as his management skills, analysts say."

 

[gsgary]

I really don't get a $2,800 camera where all you can ever shoot is 35mm on a full frame. I guess it's just the ultimate street camera, but even for street, wouldn't you OCCASIONALLY want to shoot at, I don't know, 50mm? I get that the fixed lens with the fixed focal length allows it to be a bit smaller, but man, that seems like a HUGE tradeoff.

Leica is ultimate street camera and street is best shot at 28mm fullframe, if auto focus cannot be turned off it will be no good for street photography real street there is no time to focus

 

[jake337]

Wish it had interchangeable Lenses for it.

Sol cheaper than its leica competition....

 

[gsgary]

Wish it had interchangeable Lenses for it.

Sol cheaper than its leica competition....

I meant M series is ultimate street camera, but i would rather have an X1 pro than this Sony

 

[unpopular]

Regardless that Sony has been having tough times lately (I think they will bounce back) their products are good within their market.

I don't think Sony is just going to go belly up. You might not buy a walkman in the future, but they will continue to sell products that are profitable, and cut those which aren't.