Sony announces ultra-compact RX0 II
Sony has announced the RXO II, an ultra-compact camera that's similar in size to a GoPro, but stills packs in a 1"-type Exmor RS CMOS sensor, a 24mm-equivalent f/4 fixed wide-angle lens and an LCD screen that tilts upward 180-degrees, downwards 90-degrees and even works underwater.
Inside, the RXO II features a 15.3-megapixel crop from a 20MP sensor and is powered by Sony's BIONZ X image processing engine. The ZEISS Tessar T* 24mm-equivalent F4.0 fixed wide-angle lens has a minimum focussing distance of 20cm.
Sony describe the RX0 II as 'truly a ‘worry-free’ camera' that can be taken into places that no other camera can go. The body is both waterproof and strengthened, with internals waterproof down to 10m, while the camera is also shockproof up to 2m and crushproof to up to 200KG of force. In the hand, the RXO II measures 59mm x 40.5mm x 35mm and weighs just 132g.
The RX0 II also features in-body electronic stabilisation. Interestingly, Sony says this can be enhanced even further when footage is exported to a smartphone or tablet running the ‘Movie Edit add-on’ application where the additional information captured can be processed to produce a video with gimbal-like smoothness.
Speaking of movies, the RX0 II offers 4K 30p internal movie recording with full pixel readout and no pixel binning, which collects approximately 1.7 times the amount of data required for 4K video.Sony says this oversampling should reduce the appearance of moiré and jaggies and delivers smooth, high quality 4K footage with exceptional detail and depth.
There's also a number of features for stills photographers, including an Anti-distortion shutter of up to 1/32000s and 16 fps shooting. In an upgrade from the original RX0, colour reproduction has been enhanced to reproduce natural and vivid colour of human skin, and the optional ‘Soft Skin Effect’ can be applied to cover minor blemishes and wrinkles.
Sony’s Eye AF is also included: a half press of the shutter button will lock-on to the eye of the subject, and the focused eye can be selected (left / right / auto) in the menu or assigned to a custom button.
The RX0 II will be available in Australia from April 2019 for SRP $949. The RX0 II kit with the VCT-SGR1 Shooting Grip and bracket will be available in Australia from June 2019, pricing TBC. You can find out more at Sony.com.au