(upbeat electronic music)
This is the Sony RX10 Mark III,
a hybrid 20 megapixel photo and UHD 4K video camera
with a built on 24 to 600 lens.
I've been using this camera for about
three months now, both on client shoots,
and just doing personal tests with it.
So in this video, I'm going to
do a full review of this camera, the body, the lens,
buttons, features, share how I use the mobile app
along with it, and I'll also go into what
I don't like about this camera, and who I think
it's perfect for.
Getting into the video and photo settings,
the RX10 has a 20 megapixel one inch sensor in it,
which is the same as the previous version, the Mark II.
And it also still shoots slow motion
up to 960 frames per second, although that footage
is rarely usable with the amount of moire and
artifacts present.
You can film slow motion in 1080p at
120 or 240 frames per second, which is actually usable.
Photo wise, you can also get 14
frames per second out of it as well.
If you're coming from shooting video
on a traditional DSLR, you'll love the electronic
viewfinder, especially when you're shooting outside
in a bright environment so you can actually
see what you're getting well.
And you'll also get some of the smoothest
handheld video footage you've ever seen.
The in body image stabilization makes footage usable,
even at 600 millimeters when handholding.
Speaking of the lens, the zoom range on this
thing is kind of ridiculous.
Yeah.
Here's a shot I took at a San Diego Padres game
from the very top row of the stadium at 24 millimeters,
its widest angle.
Now, let's zoom all the way into 600 millimeters.
That range is just absolutely insane.
I don't own a lens that has a range like that,
and the Canon 600 millimeter is almost 12,000 dollars,
which is about 10 percent of the cost of this camera.
The zoom ring is electronic, not manual
like on a DSLR photo still lens,
and because of this it kind of has to catch up
when you turn it.
And it has two modes, both fast and smooth.
I like to use the fast mode when I'm taking photos,
and smooth when I'm recording videos.
You can also use the zoom shuttle next to
the shutter button to zoom in and out
which is what I tend to use
instead of turning it on the lens.
There is an aperture ring built directly onto
the lens which you can de clip
so that your aperture is actually smooth
when changing between a bright or a dark
environment both in photo and in video mode.
You can focus at about an inch away at
24 millimeters for macro shots,
and two feet away at about 600 millimeters,
which really equal about the same kind
of framing composition wise but they
give you a different kind of compression
at about point five magnification, not a direct
one to one.
The RX10 Mark III has four focus modes which you
can change with the dial on the front left side
of the camera.
Single, continuous, manual, and digital manual focus
which allows you to actually fine tune the camera
after it's found focus which is really helpful
during macro shots.
There's also a focus lock button
on the left side of the lens which is really
helpful when you're using that continuous focus mode
and then once you know you have what you want in focus
you can just push that button and it'll lock it.
They've also included a zoom assist feature where you
can preview what focal length your
able to change to, although I didn't really
find myself using that at all.
Looking around the camera body of the RX10 Mark III,
the hot shoot is active, so it can accept not only
flashes but the Sony XLR or wireless mic adapters
for better sound input without that extra cable.
You have two custom buttons on the top which I had set to
video specific toggles like focus peaking
or zebras or other features, just nice to
always have extra buttons you can program.
And unlike on the A7 series, the video record
button is in a really good spot, right next to
the viewfinder.
For the back wheel dial, I ended up putting
ISO control there when shooting video,
since I keep my framerate the same.
But during photos I'll have that adjust to
the shutter speed in manual mode,
and keep my ISO on constant or
on auto with a maximum value.
On the left side of the camera body is a
microphone jack with a decent pre amp,
a headphone jack, a USB plug, which I would sometimes
use to keep the camera charging via
an external battery pack, and an HDMI port.
As with most Sony cameras, you also get
clean HDMI out, at full UHD which is great
for livestreaming, or external recording
to a different device.
The LCD screen on the back pulls out a little,
and tilts up and down, but you don't get full
articulation towards the front of the camera,
which is kind of a bummer.
Like other Sony mirrorless cameras, this thing
eats through batteries fairly quickly,
so I recommend you get a bunch of extra batteries
like these off brand Wasabi Power versions
of the FW50s, or if you're going to use it in a
studio environment, pickup the ACPW-20 wall power adapter.
There's also a built in small pop up flash
that I really haven't used yet.
One of my biggest surprises lately when using
Sony cameras is their play memories app.
If you connect to the app in the camera
to a smartphone or tablet, you can
control the main settings of the camera,
and also get a great full screen preview
of what you're capturing.
This is helpful when you're filming
by yourself or when the camera is out of reach
and you want to adjust settings like aperture,
shutter speed, ISO, start recording, take a picture,
and even zoom in and out.
It's really really helpful, and I've also
been using that with clients so they
can see what I'm filming.
You can also buy and install apps to the camera
like time lapse or star trail, although
that process is a little bit frustrating
to get through compared to installing an app on
a computer or a smartphone.
Moving onto cons, the main issue I've had
with this camera is the inconsistency in its
focusing performance.
Sometimes, it's extremely fast and snaps
right into focus on what I want it to.
Other times, I'll be zoomed in quite a ways,
and the camera will just stay out of focus
for a long time, multiple seconds, five, 10, seconds.
Also, punching in to check focus doesn't give
you a crisp image, it's kind of blurry on the LCD
which makes it hard to get a subject tack sharp
manually, or even with focus peaking
which you really need to focus on when
you're shooting 4K.
I'd love to see that pixel for pixel when you zoom in.
Also I want a touch screen for focus,
like on the Canon ADDs or the 5D Mark IVs,
or at least a joystick to toggle between different
points.
Sony also chose to remove the three stop
neutral density filter from the RX10 Mark I and II.
This means you either need to buy
a screw on filter, for the end of the lens,
or deal with a high aperture or shutter speed
when filming outside.
The lens also isn't a constant aperture anymore
like it used to be.
It's a two point four at its widest but that slowly changes
to F four at about 100 millimeters,
and then stays at that through 600 millimeters.
So I found myself sticking to F four,
in manual mode while filming so my exposure
didn't adjust mid zoom.
The aperture ring is kind of hard to
spin when holding the camera properly too.
It's really thin and it's just kind of too close
to your fingers that are on the right hand grip.
It is nice to have though.
So who is the RX10 Mark III perfect for?
I think this is the best all around pro
consumer level hybrid camera on the market right now.
It's the perfect camera for a parent, or
someone who's traveling with not needing to
bring a bunch of different extra lenses.
You get the wide range or you can zoom in
really close, take a lot of stills or video
at sporting events, it's just
a great all in one complete package,
and you can quickly share everything
you've taken to your phone or to your TV within seconds.
I think this is also a great B cam or C cam
for someone that films on Sony cameras already
whether those are A7s or up to the FS7
or FS5 since it has S log two, and it films
in UHD 4K with extra zoom reach
all the way to 600 millimeter, that
I'm gonna guess that you don't have a lens
that goes that far.
This would also be a solid option as
an all in one for a videographer that's filming
documentary style because you won't
really stand out with this small form factor,
you'll be able to capture beautiful
hand held images that are really usable
in post without having to stabilize them, and
you could still get solid raw photos out of it too.
It's just a good all around camera.
Personally I've been using it lately on
client projects where I need a very detailed
overhead camera angle to show calligraphy and
I'll film in 4K so that I can zoom in if need be,
and it's up high, I can control it from my phone,
get a little preview of what I'm capturing,
even zoom in and hit record if I want to.
So if you're looking for an all around video and
stills camera with a built on lens that can
kind of just do everything on its own,
the RX10 Mark III from Sony is a really great option.
If you're with Canon, check out the XC10, or
the new announced XC15 for a comparable camera as well.
If you enjoyed this review, please
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I've been Caleb Wojcik of DIY Video Guy,
and remember if you're gonna do it,
do it on video.