Basic Specifications
Full model name: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VI
Resolution: 20.10 Megapixels
Sensor size: 1 inch
(13.2mm x 8.8mm)
Lens: 8.00x zoom
(24-200mm eq.)
Viewfinder: EVF / LCD
Native ISO: 125 - 12,800
Extended ISO: 80 - 25,600
Shutter: 1/32000 - 30 sec
Max Aperture: 2.8
Dimensions: 4.0 x 2.3 x 1.7 in.
(102 x 58 x 43 mm)
Weight: 10.6 oz (301 g)
includes batteries
Availability: 07/2018
Manufacturer: Sony
Full specs: Sony RX100 VI specifications
8.00x zoom 1 inch
size sensor
image of Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VI
Front side of Sony RX100 VI digital camera Front side of Sony RX100 VI digital camera Front side of Sony RX100 VI digital camera Front side of Sony RX100 VI digital camera Front side of Sony RX100 VI digital camera

Sony RX100 VI Review -- Now Shooting!

by ,
Hands-on Preview posted: 06/05/2018
Last updated: 12/11/2018

06/05/2018: Gallery Images added
06/28/2018: First Shots posted
07/18/2018: Performance posted
10/09/2018: Field Test posted
12/11/2018: Video Features & Analysis posted

Click here to jump to our detailed RX100 VI Product Overview


• • •


Sony RX100 VI Video Features, Specs & Analysis

A good video camera, but not the ‘splash’ to the market like its predecessors

by Jaron Schneider | 12/11/2018

The first time I used an RX100 camera, it was the Mark IV version, and it seriously impressed me. And not just the image-capture ability of the camera, but the video capture as well. It shocked me that I could shoot in S-Log 4K in a tiny camera body and that the resulting footage actually looked fantastic. In one case, I actually shot a paid gig exclusively on the RX100 IV because it happened to be the only camera I had on me at the time (the job sprang up while I was at an event). I would normally never take paid work if it wasn't with my professional kit, but I knew what the RX100 was capable of, and I knew it would make excellent footage. I was not wrong. 

But fast forward a few years, and the entire media landscape has changed. My expectations for what a camera should include, as well as how much that inclusion should cost, has dramatically shifted. Sure, a few years ago $1000 for a point-and-shoot seemed high, but what this particular pocket-cam could do made it outclass some full-size cameras. But in 2018, that has changed, and the RX100 Mark VI has made very few changes to keep up with those expectations. 

Is this a bad camera? By no means. But, to this market segment, is it the camera that the Mark IV was? Also, by no means.


• • •


Sony RX100 VI Field Test

The new 24-200mm zoom brings with it both the good and the bad

by | Posted 10/09/2018

134mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 500
Note: This image has been edited. Please click for the original.

I have been a fan of the RX100 line of cameras for seemingly as long as they have been on the market. I own an RX100 IV and still, to this day, find it to be a useful camera and an excellent investment. It still retails brand new for just under $800, if you can believe that. Obviously since then Sony has released two newer versions of the powerful little point and shoot with additions that focus more on extraneous camera features than on updates to the sensor.

Specifically, the biggest improvement in the Mark V was the bump in frames per second. The RX100 V, and now VI, shoots at up to 24 frames per second with full active autofocus that looks and feels like the same system on the popular A7 III and A7R III. With the Mark VI, the major, notable improvement was an all-new zoom lens, with a lot more range than ever before in an RX100: 24-200mm-eq. optical zoom lens. The optic is a "Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar f/2.8 - 4.5 variable aperture lens comprised of 15 elements in 12 groups, eight of which are aspherical.

That sounds impressive. Having that much of a range for a camera that fits in most pockets with image quality that the RX100 series has been known for is pretty much unheard of. And Sony kind of had to do it, since the point and shoot market is in a weird place right now. Compared to what can be captured with something like the iPhone or the extremely excellent Huawei camera phones, where could Sony stand out? Well, the size of the sensor for one, but that doesn't have the pizazz to attract all the fans. No, they needed the big guns, and a giant zoom range is the heavy artillery of marketing fodder.

Because very little about this camera has changed except the zoom range, I'm going to focus on the changes to the camera as a result of instituting a 200mm-eq. lens on a point and shoot camera (that is variable aperture) and what you can expect out of it should you choose to pick one up.

24mm, f/2.8, 1/40s, ISO 1250

Image Quality

One of the standout reasons to use a point and shoot over a mobile phone camera, and in this case a $1200 point and shoot, is the image quality. It should always be better than a phone camera, without exception. With the RX100 VI, I can say that is still the case, though how much better it is and the value of that difference will regularly be a source of debate.

When shooting outdoors with bright, available light, the RX100 VI shines (no pun intended). When locked on focus, images are sharp, clean and with great color. I think for what you would expect out of a small camera with a one-inch sensor, this is as good as you could envision.

Before we get to the sensor itself, which hasn't changed, Let's first look at the lens. I want to spend a moment looking at how this camera's lens renders bokeh, or the out-of-focus areas. When you focus closely and isolate a subject, you can get a really nice blurred, out-of-focus background, like in this photo:

24mm, f/2.8, 1/320s, ISO 125

The pumpkin in the foreground is crisp, sharp and vibrant. But let's next look at this photo:

24mm, f/2.8, 1/200s, ISO 125

Yet again, the in-focus area is crisp, vibrant and full of detail. But this time, I want you to look to the lower left of the image towards the row of green pumpkins and the hay. You may notice that it looks kind of... smeared. Not blurry in the same way a larger-sensored camera shows out-of-focus area, but more like there is some kind of motion blur.

I personally think this doesn't look good. I like my bokeh to be more circular and smooth as it transitions, rather than what I am seeing here. If you look back at the first pumpkin image, you may see something similar; before the blurring gets to be more like what I enjoy, it first smears a bit. It is my opinion that the RX100 VI bokeh just doesn't transition from sharp to out-of-focus that well. The closer, out-of-focus areas look less good than the farther away areas.

I would like to point out that this opinion is currently my own, as other team members here at Imaging Resource don't necessarily agree with me. So take this opinion how you will: it's just something that bothers me!

I decided to compare the lens on this camera with the one on the RX100 IV just to see if there were any major differences in quality, considering that the new model has significantly more zoom.

Side by side, and you can look at them below, there is very little difference that can be attributed to anything other than one camera having a brighter wide-open aperture available to it than the other. In terms of quality, I think they are pretty similar, which is a good thing. Sony managed to increase the zoom of a lens without taking anything away from the actual quality of the optic.

RX100 VI: 50mm, f/4, 1/640s, ISO 100
RX100 IV: 50mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s, ISO 125

I will say, both cameras are guilty of some softness/smearing in their corners, especially at 24mm. As both zoom in, that effect is lessened (and it's pretty close to nonexistent at the RX100 VI's 200mm), but neither does a great job with corner to corner sharpness at 24mm. Knowing all that, we can praise Sony for not making the image quality worse with the new lens on the RX100 VI, but at the same time it would have been nice if they addressed the corner sharpness.

I have mentioned that the sensor itself has not changed on the Mark VI over the last few interactions of this camera, and that means that the same limitations on ISO are in place here. This camera has the same ISO range as the Mark V and Mark IV models, though it sports an updated image processor compared to my older Mark IV. Overall, you are likely going to be okay with images taken as high as ISO 2000, but after that you're going to start pushing your luck.

200mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 2000

At ISO 4000, you can tell that images are in focus, but not easily. For example, see below. This photo has so much noise being introduced that it's really getting in the way of the photo.

48mm, f/4, 1/50s, ISO 4000

I am pleased that there isn't any color shift, though. Yeah, it's noisy, but at least the colors are right.

Overall, this is not a great low light camera. Not only is the lens is much slower than on its predecessors, but also because the sensor is just too small to do a great job at higher ISOs.

Well-exposed images are displayed with just about the perfect level of contrast with the in-camera JPEGs, in my opinion. I'm pretty satisfied with many natural-light photos I shot with this camera without having to do any edits to them. In fact, I think that the RX100 VI best shows that it is better than a cell phone in its ability to capture a wider range of shadows and highlights. I'm of course talking about its dynamic range. Bright highlights are captured just as well as dark shadows, and I'm impressed with the strength of the RAW files. You can really play with images taken on the RX100 VI, and that is something I've come to expect with this line of camera. They're built on a pretty nice sensor, and that sensor is absolutely going to beat the pants off just about any cell phone sensor.

58mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 100

That Extra Throw

I won't deny it, having more zoom is never a bad thing. As long as I'm not boxed into always shooting at 200mm, having the option to move between that and as wide of an angle as 24mm is a blessing for any photographer.

Specifically with the RX100 VI, it makes me feel like I can capture a whole lot more, and maybe that means I'm pushing the camera beyond its limits, or at least pushing what the thought of a point and shoot's limits actually are.

Let me back up.

The RX100 line was originally marketed as a premium point and shoot designed to compliment a professional's larger equipment. It absolutely was not going to replace an Alpha series camera, but it was going to give you the Alpha experience in the palm of your hand. The idea was, if you wanted better image quality than a cell phone but didn't want to have to assemble your larger camera, the RX100 was perfect for you.

For me, that means I use the RX100 on vacations and when scouting jobs. It's a pretty unobtrusive package that lets me capture very nice quality video and nice, higher resolution photos than my phone can capture. Plus, the whole workflow of the RX100 for offloading images and managing them is so much easier than what I have to do with my iPhone, which lacks removable storage.

So in the past, the RX100 had its place but I also knew its limits. I think I am presently struggling to figure out where the limits of the RX100 VI are. Why?

Because when you move from either the RX100 IV or the RX100 V to the newest RX100 VI, you are making a big sacrifice for that additional 130mm of zoom: aperture. The two previous models also had a variable aperture, but instead of f/2.8-4.5, they were f/1.8-2.8. That's a huge difference when it comes to allowing light to hit the 1-inch-type sensor living inside this premium point and shoot.

I have absolutely no problems shooting indoors with the RX100 IV, but with the Mark VI, I really have to be aware of letting the camera do any thinking of its own. For example, my preferred settings for the RX100 are aperture priority, usually wide open, and auto ISO. For what I use the RX100 for, that should get me a reasonably good image in just about any environment.

Well, it did. When I had an additional stop of light to work with.

Now I'm finding that the RX100 VI struggles even in moderate lighting. In what your eyes would consider a "well lit room," the Mark VI has to push itself to ISO 2000 and 1/30 second shutter just to get to a properly exposed shot. Often I'm shooting in the middle of the full zoom range, somewhere between 50mm and 120mm, and that usually means pushing the aperture to a maximum f/4.0-4.5. That's not nearly wide enough for this little sensor.

84mm, f/4, 1/30s, ISO 1250

In fact, looking at the majority of my images (most of which were shot indoors), I'm very rarely at 24mm, and thus my aperture is narrower than f/2.8. Back on my Mark IV, I also was very rarely at 24mm, but that didn't matter since I could be as far out as 70mm and still have a nice and bright f/2.8 aperture. On the Mark VI, on the other hand, that same focal length is only as open as f/4.0. That's a full stop lost, and I absolutely notice it. I don't even like being at f/4.0 indoors on my full-frame DSLR, and that has a sensor many times the size of the RX100's.

More on that to come.

Burst Mode

One of the major selling points of this camera, and the major selling point of the Mark V iteration as well, is its ability to shoot at 24 frames per second with fully active autofocus like its big brothers the A7 and A7R. I recall my experiences with the Mark V a couple years ago and really liking that it could do it, and as I recall, the Mark V was pretty good at it.

148mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 400

I can say that the Mark VI has excellent tracking and autofocus as expected, but is held back by the same problems I mentioned regarding its considerably more closed-down aperture. For indoors, it's very challenging to get enough shutter speed to stop motion while also managing the maximum aperture of f/4.5 for anything with zoom, all while also knowing that the camera's ISO performance degrades once you hit about ISO 2000. When you combine all these factors, you end up having to choose between one of two less-than-satisfactory end results: 1) the image will have motion blur or 2) the image will have heavy noise from high ISO.

But were you to use this outdoors with a ton of available light, you would have a wholly different experience. With bright sunlight, the excellent tracking and great FPS of the camera can really strut their stuff.

46mm, f/4, 1/500s, ISO 4000

This kind of goes back to what I said earlier about knowing this camera's limits. I am so used to what the RX100 IV could do in these same lighting environments that even with a burst mode that far exceeds that older camera's capabilities, the lens itself is just doesn't work as well in these situations thanks to that new 200mm max zoom and narrower aperture. With the previous two models, I could go into a situation, lens zoomed to 50mm-eq. and have a decently-bright f/2.8 aperture and a lower ISO setting. However now with the Mark VI, at 50mm-eq., the lens stops down to f/4, which make it trickier to use in a number of situations, especially in low light. Sure, you get more zoom, but at the cost of image quality.

29mm, f/3.2, 1/40s, ISO 2000

That Buffer Clearing Though

I mention shooting in burst mode because it's an iconic feature of this camera, but it's just an absolute pain to deal with burst on the camera itself. For one, viewing images you shot in burst mode creates this weird sub folder on the camera called the "Continuous Shoot Group." By default, you can't just scroll through all your images like you can if you didn't shoot in burst. If a series was captured in burst, for as long as you held down that shutter button, the RX100 VI bundles all those images together into one preview that you have to select first, and then you can see all those images from that specific burst. It's slow, clunky, and makes me not want to look at my images on the camera itself. Gratefully, you can disable this in the playback menu, but I still find it strange that this organizational method was chosen as the default operation.

But really the biggest problem is how long it takes to clear the RX100's sizable buffer. The buffer is huge. Shooting in JPEG only, it's 233 frames. Shooting in JPEG and RAW, which is my preference, it's about half that. But that's still a ton of images. So that's a lovely buffer size, to which I give a thumbs up, but I give a big thumbs down to how slow the camera is to put all those images onto a card.

46mm, f/4, 1/500s, ISO 4000

Even using a top-of-the-line, 300MB/s read and write UHS-II SD card, the RX100 can take over a minute to fully clear its buffer. That's not even filling it up to capacity. I specifically recall standing around, looking down at the RX100 VI and seeing 90 images remaining to write to a card and how agonizingly slow it was. If you've ever used a Sony, you know that when their cameras are writing to a card, a lot of the camera's features are completely inaccessible. You often get a "Writing to Card, Cannot Access" warning when you try and do anything other than take more pictures to add to that buffer to increase your wait time.

In my opinion, it's downright unacceptable for a camera to offer burst shooting and a buffer that huge and then require minutes, not exaggerating here, MINUTES to clear before the camera's full features can be accessed again or the camera can be turned off.

Oh, I forgot to mention that part. While the RX100 VI is writing to a card, you cannot turn it off. You cannot even make the lens retract back into the body. So if you choose to shoot burst and you fill that buffer (heck, not even fill, but just put 60 to 80 photos onto it), you're forced to hold the camera until it's finished doing so. Let me tell you that even though it's just a couple minutes at most, those minutes feel like centuries when you're looking down at the camera, desperately wanting to put it back in your pocket but cannot because the lens refuses to retract.

24mm, f/2.8, 1/400s, ISO 125

If some of you are saying that I could shoot burst but take fewer photos, you probably aren't grasping how quickly a 24 frames per second camera can rack up on you. You can just be shooting for three seconds and find yourself in buffer hell with this camera. Not even three continuous seconds, mind you. Just a... one second burst, wait a second, one second burst, wait one more second, and another one second burst. Suddenly you are 70+ images in. That's a reality with the A9 as well, but at least the A9 writes to the card way, way faster than the RX100.

The Bigger Picture

As with all point and shoots from any manufacturer, Sony is constantly in a position of having to prove these small cameras still have value. They are especially required to do so when that point and shoot is $1200.

In order to do that, Sony has to continually add features that make the camera stand out against smartphones. Initially that meant a bigger sensor and more megapixels, but those weren't super important to a lot of people because the iPhone images are high-res enough, and the photos look really good on the phone (which is all most of them care about). So then they added burst features to accurately capture tons of photos very quickly. But, now you can also do that on smartphones with good-enough accuracy. So that becomes less of a big deal. So Sony enhanced the zoom lens, up to 200mm-eq., which vastly outperforms the optical zoom of any smartphone camera. On paper, that sounds like a good reason to pick up the camera. But in practice, at what cost did that new, longer zoom come?

Back when I had only 24-70mm-eq. to work with on my RX100 IV, that was actually pretty darn good. I could take nice portraits, and if I needed to zoom in on anything I could just walk closer. I never expected my RX100 to work at sporting events or airshows, and would bring a bigger, better camera to those events if I really wanted to shoot them.

148mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 500

But now, when I have that kind of zoom range to work with, my expectations grow along with that zoom range, and don't retract with the knowledge that I just lost a ton of low light performance. My expectations of the RX100 are already solidly set in stone after five generations of this camera, so why would I easily change those expectations with the sixth iteration?

I can't. I expect the camera to work in the same environments that my RX100 Mark IV does, and it can't. Because of it, in many cases the RX100 VI is an objectively worse camera than the two iterations that came prior to it.

I mentioned earlier that point and shoot cameras are fighting against the "good enough" that is smartphone cameras. But with the RX100 VI, I find myself repeatedly looking at images I shot with it and using that phrase completely differently: are these photos good enough? Are they good enough to warrant carrying the RX100 VI with me and my smartphone? Are they good enough to warrant the $1200 price tag?

115mm, f/4.5, 1/40s, ISO 1000

For me, and this might just be my opinion, the added 130mm of zoom were not worth the tradeoff of the dimmer aperture range. I very rarely find myself getting the bright f/2.8 on the RX100 VI because even a slight zoom past 24mm, and it immediately pushes you to f/4. I'm very rarely ever at 200mm, but because of the need to include it, my photos at 50mm suffer.

In a very rare case here for me, I find myself wanting to go back to my RX100 IV. Sure, I'll lose the faster burst mode and be restrained to "just" 70mm-eq. maximum, but those are sacrifices I'm willing to make if it means I can have photos I actually like. If you're already an owner of either the RX100 IV or V, I think you're probably going to be happy with those and won't really need to upgrade to the VI. Perhaps if Sony made their 1-inch, 20.1 megapixel sensor better in some way across these models, I would be singing a different tune, but right now the burst mode is nice but frustrating for a couple reasons, and the new zoom lens just isn't worth losing those stops of light gathering potential in the aperture.


• • •


Sony RX100 VI Review -- Product Overview

by William Brawley
Hands-on Preview posted: 06/05/2018

The 6th-generation RX100-series camera is here! The aptly-named Sony RX100 VI, announced today, sports a familiar, compact body but features an all-new, longer-zooming lens -- a Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-200mm f/2.8-4.5 lens -- the longest zoom lens we've so far seen in the RX100 family. Using what Sony calls "extra high-density construction," Sony engineers have been able to create a camera that keeps the same size and footprint as the RX100 V; when retracted, the lens itself is only about a half-inch thick! The camera features similar ergonomics and overall design too, including the nifty pop-up EVF and tilting LCD screen which now finally has touchscreen functionality!

As with previous RX100-series cameras, this new model is decidedly a premium model. Aimed at professional and enthusiast photographers as well as vloggers and other video creators, the RX100 VI offers numerous high-performance photo features and high-resolution 4K video specs for video shooters.

Main Features:

  • Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-200mm eq. f/2.8-4.5 lens
  • BIONZ X processor with front-end LSI
  • 20MP 1-inch-type Exmor RS stacked CMOS sensor with DRAM chip
  • 0.03s Hybrid AF speed
  • Continuous Eye AF (2x tracking performance of RX100 V)
  • 24fps burst with AE/AF
  • 4K HDR video
  • 960fps/1000fps super slow motion video
  • XGA OLED Tru-Finder with one-button pop-up design
  • 3-inch touchscreen (with touch AF)
  • $1,200 USD ($1,600 CAD)

Image Quality

As for the imaging pipeline, the RX100 VI, not surprisingly, uses the same 20.1-megapixel 1-inch-type Exmor RS stacked CMOS sensor as the Mark V, which is paired with Sony's latest BIONZ X image processor and a front-end LSI. What this should get you is high-quality, detail-rich photos with good high ISO chops as well as quick, nimble performance for fast, action subjects.

When it comes to ISO sensitivity, the Mark VI is similar to the previous-generation, with a native ISO range of 125-12,800. The ISO can be extended down to ISO 80 and 100, as well as upward to ISO 25,600 with Multi-Frame NR.

A significant factor to image quality is the lens sitting in front of the sensor, and with the RX100 VI, its lens is one of the headlining new features. With the RX100 VI, the new 24-200mm-eq. optical zoom lens is the longest zoom offered in the RX100 series to date. The first two generations offered a fairly healthy 28-100mm-eq. range with an f/1.8-4.9 max aperture, while subsequent versions widened and shortened the zoom to a classic 24-70mm-eq. range with an f/1.8-2.8 max aperture. With this latest-generation model, Sony's been able to pack in a more versatile, longer zoom lens -- with an optical zoom range once relegated to Sony's bulkier RX10 and RX10 II super-zooms -- yet keep the svelte RX100 size and shape. The aperture range isn't as fast as the shorter-zooming predecessors, but instead offers a moderate f/2.8-4.5, which is quite impressive given the camera's size constraints.

When it comes to optical construction, the RX100 VI's lens includes eight aspherical elements with 13 aspherical surfaces that should help provide sharp image quality across the frame. Four "advanced aspherical" elements and two ED glass elements help combat spherical aberration and coma as well as chromatic aberration, respectively.

The lens features powerful optical image stabilization, too, which should come in very handy at telephoto focal lengths, given the lens' somewhat dim f/4.5 aperture at max telephoto. According to Sony, at 200mm, the SteadyShot system should provide up to 4-stops of stabilization.

Autofocus & Performance

As with the RX100 V, the performance packed into this tiny pocket-camera is quite impressive and based on the specs, the RX100 VI is looking to be similarly excellent when it comes to AF speeds and burst performance.

Featuring on-sensor phase-detect AF with 315 PDAF points covering around 65% of the imaging area, the RX100 VI's Hybrid AF system (which combines PDAF with contrast-detect AF) is said to be even faster than the previous RX100 at a blazing 0.03s AF speed (down from 0.05s in the Mark V). The camera also features continuous Eye AF tracking functionality, similar to what we've seen with the Sony A7 III and A9 cameras, with two times the tracking performance of the RX100 V, according to Sony.

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Based on our hands-on experience with it, the RX100 VI looks like a true
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shooting speed that's about the same compact size as previous RX100 models.

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Sony RX100 VI Digital Camera with 24-200mm F2.8-4.5 Zoom Lens - $1,198

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Like the RX100 V, the new generation camera is capable of super-fast continuous burst-shooting rates. Sony claims the RX100 VI can shoot at up to 24fps with continuous AF and auto-exposure adjustments, which is the same as the RX100 V. However, Sony's beefed-up the buffer capacity now, offering up to 233 Fine JPEG frames at 24fps (up from 150 in the Mark V).

When it comes to action shooting, the RX100 VI's super-quick sensor readout capability helps it achieve very low visible rolling shutter distortion with its electronic shutter. The RX100 VI's maximum shutter speed is 1/32,000s. For quiet or sound-sensitive moments, the RX100 VI also offers a silent shooting mode.


Given the popularity of the RX100 series for videographers and vloggers, it's no surprise that this latest model is packed with video features. The camera can shoot video up to 4K UHD resolution (3840 x 2160) using the XAVC S codec with full pixel readout (no pixel binning). 4K video is captured at up to 30fps (no 4K/60p, unfortunately). Continuous 4K video clip recording time is limited to just five minutes (same as on RX100 V), while Full HD recording extends to 29'59". The 4K recording limit feels a little disappointing and restrictive, given the camera's target audience of vlogging -- you can't vlog for very long if you want to shoot in 4K.

The RX100 VI also offers numerous advanced and professional-focused video features, including HDR movie recording (Hybrid Log Gamma), as well as S-Log3 and S-Log2 gamma curves for improved post-production color grading. The camera also includes Gamma Display Assist, exposure zebras, clean HDMI output, Timecode (TC/UB), Rec Control, marker functions, and proxy recording.

There's also extensive slow-motion video functionality, with 4x-40x slow-motion capture (frame rates up to 960fps, although at reduced video resolutions).

The Sony RX100 VI shown here mounted to the new VCT-SGR1 Shooting Grip (sold separately).


Although from a glance the RX100 VI looks nearly identical to the previous generation, there are a few updates to the camera's physical design. Size and weight are similar, despite the longer zoom lens. The rear LCD features the most significant change: touchscreen functionality, a first for the RX100-series. Much like the recent touchscreens we've seen on Alpha mirrorless cameras, the RX100 VI's touchscreen works only for touch AF (moving the AF point) or using a touch-shutter feature. You can't navigate menus with the touchscreen. The rear LCD uses a standard RGB LCD panel, as opposed to the RGBW screen of the previous model, but the effective 307,200 pixel resolution is the same (921,600 dots on the RX100 VI compared to the RX100 V's 1,228,800 dot RGBW screen).

As with the previous model, the RX100 VI also offers a pop-up electronic viewfinder, but with a clever new one-touch access mechanism. It uses the same 2.35-million-dot OLED display with 0.59x magnification (35mm eq.), and ZEISS T* coating to help reduce glare and improve image clarity.

The RX100 VI also includes pop-up flash, although Sony's had to make the flash smaller and weaker than on the previous model.

When it comes to connectivity features, the Sony RX100 VI includes a similar array of wireless features as on most modern cameras. There are Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity options as well as, for the first time, Bluetooth (4.1), which allows for automatic location geotagging with a paired smart device using the PlayMemories app. With Wi-Fi/NFC and a paired smartphone, you can wireless transfer images and videos as well as control the camera remotely. The RX100 VI also supported tethered shooting using Sony's Imaging Edge desktop software, allowing you to remotely control the camera, see a live-view of the screen on your PC as well as edit/develop RAW files.

The RX100 VI uses the same battery pack as previous RX100 models, the NP-BX1. CIPA-rated battery life has improved slightly compared to the Mark V, from 220 shots to 240 when using the monitor and from 210 to 220 with the EVF, but it's still not great. However when Auto Monitor Off is reduced to 2 seconds, battery life with the LCD can be extended to 310 shots. In-camera charging and power via USB are still supported.

Sony RX100 VI Pricing & Availability

The Sony RX100 VI is scheduled to go on sale in early July with a retail price of $1,200 USD ($1,600 CAD). This is priciest RX100-series model to date, as the RX100 V debuted with a $1,000 USD price tag.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the new Sony RX100 Mark VI!


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Also has viewfinder

45% larger

3x zoom (167% less)

RX100 VI vs G1X Mark III

$397.99 (201% less)

20.3 MP

Also has viewfinder

21% larger

3x zoom (73% more)

RX100 VI vs ZS80

$296.95 (303% less)

20.2 MP

Lacks viewfinder

Similar size

5x zoom (60% less)

RX100 VI vs WG-6

$297.99 (302% less)

20.3 MP

Also has viewfinder

19% larger

3x zoom (73% more)

RX100 VI vs ZS70

$399.00 (200% less)

20.3 MP

Lacks viewfinder

10% larger

4x zoom (80% more)

RX100 VI vs SX740 HS

$379.00 (216% less)

20.3 MP

Lacks viewfinder

10% larger

4x zoom (80% more)

RX100 VI vs SX730 HS

$476.95 (151% less)

16 MP (26% less)

Also has viewfinder

24% larger

35x zoom (77% more)

RX100 VI vs A1000

$247.67 (384% less)

20.2 MP

Lacks viewfinder

64% smaller

25x zoom (68% more)

RX100 VI vs SX620 HS

$473.00 (153% less)

18.2 MP (10% less)

Also has viewfinder

20% smaller

28x zoom (71% more)

RX100 VI vs HX99

$396.95 (202% less)

20.2 MP

Lacks viewfinder

16% larger

35x zoom (77% more)

RX100 VI vs A900

$232.95 (414% less)

16 MP (26% less)

Lacks viewfinder

14% smaller

5x zoom (60% less)

RX100 VI vs WG-50

$304.00 (294% less)

20.3 MP

Lacks viewfinder

Similar size

4x zoom (80% more)

RX100 VI vs SX720 HS

$448.00 (167% less)

18.2 MP (10% less)

Also has viewfinder

20% smaller

3x zoom (73% more)

RX100 VI vs HX90V

$368.00 (226% less)

18.2 MP (10% less)

Also has viewfinder

20% smaller

3x zoom (73% more)

RX100 VI vs HX80

$144.00 (732% less)

2 MP

Lacks viewfinder

98% smaller

1x zoom (20% more)

RX100 VI vs 190 IS

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