Sony drops list price of Cyber-shot DSC-RX10

yes 400%.

I agree with TechRadar, "Our lab results also indicate that the Panasonic camera outperforms the Sony model", and other review sites that the FZ1000 image IQ is slightly better than the RX10.

Write to them and ask. It will be cheaper for them to rebate you than go through all the trouble of handling a return and then you rebuying the camera at the lower price.

Call where you bought it from. You can refuse the delivery when it arrives and it will go back free of charge to you.

In reply to my own post, I bought it from Sony.com so that I could also order some accessorires. I just called Sony and they checked Amazon.com and they WILL refund the 301.99 back to my Credit card. I'm satisfied! m

Great news and a happy ending!
You should send Panasonic a nice tip. :)

Impressive and sensible response.

We have some awesome business leaders on this forum. If only Sony would hire some of them everything would be OK.

Cowardly and cheap? Sony is a business. They name the price and people decide if it is worth it or not. All camera get cheaper as you own them; in five years you be able to buy an RX10 for even less. The point is, if you buy a new-to-the-market camera, you will pay more. Almost no one absolutely needs a camera, so don't chase after the state of the art, because you will always pay the "overpriced" price.

Releasing the camera in the first place was a pretty bold move.
Investing in the R&D to make it, taking the risk to develop the production tooling. All that invested to come to the market with something most industry analysts probably though would be dead on arrival and no one would be interested in.
Now that they've been apparently well received on the market, Panasonic comes along with a less expensive alternative, and good for them too.
I wonder if Canon or Nikon will follow along in another year or two?

My point of view is not about buisness, Im speaking for the consumer

Businesses goals are to make profits. Consumers' goals are to get the best value for money. Markets are the way we mediate these two opposing aims... but they need competition to be effective. Welcome to economics, cricket.

yes, your correct, thats why sony has been loosing billions of $ in the last years, bedbug.

Sony Imaging (you know, the division that sells cameras) made an operating profit of $256 million last financial year. Losses elsewhere in the group (PCs, TVs, etc) have little to do with your point. How much did you make in that same period?

sony imaging is selling less cameras year by year.... 256 millions? Im taking about Billion worth on losses so dont expect sony survival depends on their cameras sales.

Ok, you just hold your breath waiting for Sony to go out of business there sonny!

Maybe they have a mountain of stock in the warehouse. Better for Sony to get $ 998 while they still can than to hold out for the $ 499 deal?

Why should I? My cameras don't start taking bad pictures when Sony is making a loss.

"No for sports"? How all these sports are shot with 70-200/2.8 on FF cameras? ;) Not every sport requires you to be million miles away, but faster lens is always welcome.

Ever tried to to shoot sports with a 200mm lens?? Even when standing 10 feet behind home plate at a baseball game 200mm is too short for anything past the pitcher unless you like cropping. On an APS camera it much more useful because that extra 100mm. On a soccer pitch or football field a 200mm limit is even worse unless you can move up and down the field. If you are up in the stands, forget about it.

What does brand new have to do with anything?

-no 4K video
-slower autofocus and performance
-short and less useful lens

One can always buy an ND filter, but you can't add 4K, speed up autofocus, or add a longer more useful lens -- ever.

The RX10 is supposed to be a video camera right? but lacks 4K?

I would rather have better video quality than stuff listed in a marketing ad. The final output is more important than a "top screen".

- Tilt screen only
- Metal body, like that makes it a deal breaker..really
- Clickless ring likely in response to many complaining it was too easy to accidentally change a setting
- "This is supposed to be a video camera also right?" Uhmm, no, the GH4 is. This is your all in one, like the Sony, only it varies on features that Panny thinks are important.
- Not sure where this camera skimps on quality. What it does is prioritize its features based on what they think are consumers' needs. Don't assume your needs are everyone else's.

like .005% of the population has a 4K TV and computer. It's a marketing gimmick.

You forget that rx10 is 8 months old now, thats why no 4k. What 4k cameras were available 8 months ago? Only ones that cost $8000+

As the review says, the Panasonic cameras build quality is like any other plastic bridge camera... That is AWFUL if you have ever picked up ANY plastic bridge camera, yuck.

Its not awful build, try reading the comments by veteran and seasoned reviewers here on this site about its build quality. What a pizzing match though above, almost pulled out the popcorn!

Siobhan A, the Panasonic may have 4K video but as the comparative review points out the Sony has far more than just an ND filter to aid it in producing its video output such as the way the auto ISO works which keeps shutter speed and aperture locked while still allowing for accurate exposure and the fact it has a full sensor readout.

@saralecaire. 4K video is a fluff feature at this point. Most people don't have 4K TVs let alone a computer powerful enough to edit 4K video. Don't forget to add the price of a new 1TB external hard drive you will need to store all those 4K video files.

People, please understand that 4K capability is not just about use today, it is for future use too. You cannot go back and re-shoot today's memories. So why not record them in the highest quality possible.

Look at re-runs of Star Trek - The Next Generation. It was a great series for it's time. But the 4:3 format looks all wrong on today's tv screens. I'm sure they now wish they shot it in a different format at the time.

Sheesh, is it so hard to understand that you can only capture a live event ONCE. So why not capture it in the highest quality possible? You can always create a 1080p file from the footage and work with that until computers catch up (aren't we basically there yet though). Just upload a 720p file to You Tube if you want.

I guess some people here still don't see the benefit for 4K video is literally in the details. You may not consume 4K video as it is, but having the 4K footage edited or even viewed down scalled on a regular HDTV give so much more detail. Last I checked, nobody every complained of having better detail in their footage. Anyway a 1TB drive is like $60 these days? What's the big deal?

And of course comparing the price of an old vs new model is valid, especially when they're going for similar consumer group for bridge cameras. Those who are unable to logically understand this concept will take too much effort to explain to here anyway. But suffice to say marketing guys love your type of consumer :)

"I don't believe you were being forced to buy one."

Exactly. He is implying it's "cheating" when no one was holding a gun on his head to buy a camera.

It's free market.

Also, $300 drop in price -- after 8 months -- is not really that big. Canon dropped 6D prices more than that after few weeks, as I remember last year

When you release a new category of product, you are taking something of a risk. Conservative pricing like this would be designed to ensure you at least break even on the investment.

As soon as a competitor emerges, it's a fairly clear sign that there is a market for the product, so you can afford to start discounting in order to wrestle over market share.

'Thank God for Panasonic, and competition in general!'

Yes, let's forget the whole exorbitant price gouging Panasonic does with their batteries and Leica branded products.

@btwango So you can't criticise anything unless you're compelled to buy it? Great sense of debate.

Wow, didn't know my comment would unleash that much rabid fanboy vitriol, lol! To all, freaking CHILL! And the logic that you can't criticise this blatant price gouging by Sony since no one put a gun to your head is beyond ludicrous. Yes, it's a free market, but when a company's greed reaches risible proportions, it deserves the ridicule it'll be getting, no matter how much foaming at the mouth its rabid fanboys do!

If what is desired is a truly pocketable camera with a truly functional viewfinder (unlike the one on my Fujifilm X10, which is all but useless), I think it's going to be a little while--just guessing.

I just can't imagine that Fujifilm (with the X30, or whatever the next one is called) or Panasonic (with the LX8) will have thought to put a pop-up EVF on it. Perhaps they will now that Sony cleverly (or perhaps to some "cludgily") snuck an EVF into a camera the size of the previous RX's.

I think if the M3 does well, then perhaps in the LX9 or X40 we'll see a true M3 competitor. I just don't think it'll be the LX8 or X30.

Anyway, I bought the M3, and love it so far.

The main reason why I would buy RX10 (or that new FZ1000) is that I wouldn't need to carry a still camera and a camcorder on my trips. That's why those two cameras are so unique.

oselimg, is K5 better at low light by 3 stops? I don't think so.
According to dxomark, the difference is 1.3 stops. Not enough to compensate for F6.3 vs F2.8 difference at tele end.

This Sony has an 1" sensor and a 8.8-73.3mm F1/2.8 lens. That's equivalent to an 16.-132mm F1/5 lens for a camera with an APS-C sensor like the Pentax K5whatever . So no, it's not faster.

A DSLR only makes sense over something like this Sony if you're going to buy multiple lenses for it. If on the other hand you're looking for a single-lens solution, the Sony makes more sense. A super-zoom on a DSLR delivers (almost always) fairly mediocre image quality and the slow aperture offsets the advantage of the larger sensor. In fact, I bet the RX10 produces *better* IQ than a typical DSLR with a consumer super-zoom in most situations.

yallo, K-5 is an APSC camera (not FF) so F6.3 lens on APSC would be equal to F9 or F10 lens on FF.

RX10 is indeed faster than APSC camera with super zoom

To yallo:
The RX10 lens has the (maximum) aperture 1:2.8 whether you like it or not. That "equivalent" aperture (1:7.5 or whatever) represents the DOF only. Please, learn some optics essentials first.