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StephenCY

StephenCY

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Just got this yesterday.

WHAT I LIKE

- Very fast start up to shoot time, faster than my A1ii and MUCH faster than my A7CR

- AF speed and focus tracking speed is faster than my A7CR + 24GM/35GM

- Operations responsiveness, playback delay, playback zoom in is faster than the sluggish A7CR, very close to A1ii which I find very satisfactory

- Electronic shutter banding and distortion is less serious than A7CR

- Lens wont extrude when turned on/focusing which is good

- beautiful rendering and bokeh by this Zeiss 35 F2 lens

WHAT I DONT LIKE

- Lens not as sharp as 35GM wide open, though it looks natural

Already in love with RX1R3. Then I just sold my a7CR today.
 
Congrats, mine arrives tomorrow
 
StephenCY said:
Just got this yesterday.

WHAT I LIKE

- Very fast start up to shoot time, faster than my A1ii and MUCH faster than my A7CR
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s surprising. I wouldn’t have expected a noticeable difference. I wonder if it’s down to two causes:
  • No need for IBIS to start up and stabilise
  • No need to detect and interrogate the lens—its characteristics can be embedded in the firmware.
StephenCY said:
- AF speed and focus tracking speed is faster than my A7CR + 24GM/35GM
Click to expand...
That’s genuinely surprising. I wonder why?

StephenCY said:
- Operations responsiveness, playback delay, playback zoom in is faster than the sluggish A7CR, very close to A1ii which I find very satisfactory
Click to expand...
Again, I wonder why? It’s the same electronics. Perhaps the fixed lens allows simplified software?

StephenCY said:
- Electronic shutter banding and distortion is less serious than A7CR
Click to expand...
Again, very surprising, as it’s the same sensor and electronics.

StephenCY said:
- Lens wont extrude when turned on/focusing which is good

- beautiful rendering and bokeh by this Zeiss 35 F2 lens

WHAT I DONT LIKE

- Lens not as sharp as 35GM wide open, though it looks natural
Already in love with RX1R3. Then I just sold my a7CR today.
Click to expand...
 
Hope you enjoy it! I am bring the RX1R III + A1 II to overseas travel tomorrow.
 
To be honest, if the RX1R III 's speed (operation, playback, focus) is just the same as A7C II / A7CR I wouldn't like it and keep it. Glad it is better, that's what point and shoot shoot experience should be, fast and snap.
 
StephenCY said:
To be honest, if the RX1R III 's speed (operation, playback, focus) is just the same as A7C II / A7CR I wouldn't like it and keep it. Glad it is better, that's what point and shoot shoot experience should be, fast and snap.
Click to expand...
Your firsthand experience alone could be the deciding factor for many. None of the YT reviews so far have touched on these quality-of-life details.
 
StephenCY said:
- Lens not as sharp as 35GM wide open, though it looks natural
Already in love with RX1R3. Then I just sold my a7CR today.
Click to expand...
Could you post some wide open samples comparing this camera with the 35GM lens?
 
I’ve picked up mine yesterday. My biggest worry was the lack of tilt screen vs my Rx1Rii. Turns out it is not as problematic has I anticipated. 50% of my shots are in portrait mode and thus flip is pointless and for the rest, I can move down or simply trust a MUCH better AF.

Quite a few side benefits I didn’t think about:
1) new EVF is not different than my previous version. It is plenty good.
2) because it is integrated, I can now use a flash while using the EVF. It aldo much less prone to getting caught while in use and putting the camera away,
3) new software is now fully compatible with sony recent flash and especially its wireless commander. You also get the full flash menu in the system and can map it to a button.
4) You can now use aspect ratios marker (a bit like in the GFX100RF) except it doesn’t seem to stick in the file when exported. Might be operator error but would be nice if it worked like I believe it should.
5) AF is much improved especially in low light. Speed is not an issue and plenty fast for the use case I have of this camera.
6) you now get proper Eye AF like any modern sony camera (RX1Rii could do it but in a very convoluted way),
7) modern menu system,
8) Phone app that is decent and plenty good connectivity.
9) touch screen as a there is no joystick,
10) I can now use the shutter app to do focus stacking,
11) faster write speed to the SD card, one additional button to assign in lieu of the record button,
12) proper back button focus capacity,
13) finally a USB-C connector.

Most of the shortcoming really did not bother me. I liked the lens, the leaf shutter, battery was not a problem so a bit improved in this iteration.

I really get that the price is very high. As a very long user of the RX1Rii, the price I paid was already very high, but fully amortized over a much longer period than my other camera. Having the new camera secures me for an extra 5 -10 years. :-).

My Rx1Rii will be up for sales shortly. Given the value it retained, it will go a good way toward softening the hit of the new price. Interested people stand ready for it. :-)

So far, I’m very satisfied with this new version. Looking forward to many, many picture experiences.

It will pair super well with my Rx100vii for travel. Now if they could update this one. :-)
 
I Just got mine today, so far very happy with the performance. As I said on other posts I get why people like a tilt screens but I rarely used it on my RX1RII, so I am good. Actually I use the viewfinder far more and now having it ready to go all the time is much better. Funny the only minor issue is now that the eye cup is a usable option, leaving it on has made me need yo get a slightly larger pouch than I used for the RX1RII.

The RX1RIII has a really nice mat finish to the body which looks cool to me but more importantly makes the camera feel more secure in your hand. But I can see where the more glossy finish of the last one can make the body feel more metallic for some. They are both metal bodies, it is just that mat looks less so.

Plan to take it for a real spin tomorrow, still not sure if I should sell my RX1RII or keep it.
 
Sorry man already out for a long trip abroad without the 35GM, only with me RX1R3, A1ii + 20G & 50150GM. Will try at a later time when I am back.
 
Last edited:
Nice pictures.

How was the Lafitte 1970? :-)
 
tbcass said:
StephenCY said:
Hereby FYR I attached a few casual snap photos to showcase the RX1R3 at F2.0.

No it is not sharp like my GM lenses but good enough at 60M pixel. And this Zeiss 35/2's bokeh to me characterful and pleasing.

View attachment 5947eb2d5ebb4d8894adba6ca188a6b0.jpg

View attachment 3034642c9d394062badefc29acf0d80a.jpg
Click to expand...
I see some issues in these photos when viewing away from the center of the image that could be due to lens misalignment.
Click to expand...
Are you sure about that? Can you elaborate?



The Zeiss Sonnar f2 has a very characteristic lens fall off from the center, especially at f2. This is no different in my RX1R III than in my original RX1 that I still use today. As a matter of fact, it was one of the reasons for me to buy the camera, and I'm glad its holds up to the 60 MP reasonably well.
 
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