Sony RX100 VII Premium Compact Camera with 1.0-type stacked CMOS sensor (DSCRX100M7)

LOVING IT SO FAR. I won’t mention anything that you can possibly find from reading the description and I’m certainly not a professional photographer, more of an amateur but in order to preserve all my memories, I need my photos to look great.I currently own the Sony A7R III, with a preorder in place for the A7R IV, but since I travel pretty often, I wanted something that was a bit smaller. Small enough to fit in my pocket and not attract too much attention. The Sony A7R just looks expensive, and combined with the 24-70mm 2.8f it can get heavy after walking around a city for a couple of hours.This is my very first Sony compact camera so I can’t compare it to any other, but what I can say is that it takes really great photos (at least outdoors in natural light). I’m attaching two that I took earlier of my cat and backyard. I’ve been playing around with the settings and from what I’ve gathered, even in manual mode, there was no way for me to make my fstop constant, although I could change my shutter speed, ISO etc. If there’s a way I’m sure I’ll find it, or I’d like to know how to do so.While the photos look amazing in the natural afternoon light, I also love the option of having a built-in dedicated flash although I personally don’t ever use a flash. The photos look sharp in the camera and also once downloaded. So why did I give it 4 stars. Because of what it didn’t have.Cons.1. Camera because of it’s size can get real slippery after using for a while so I had to end up buying the attachment grip. While not overly expensive, it would have been great to have it, especially when you’re paying over $1k for the camera itself.2. Sony didn’t include a real battery charger, but instead one that connects to a USB so you technically have to plug it into your computer to charge. Since I have a new MacBook Pro that wasn’t possible for me, so once again I had to spend money on a real charger.BTW, there is also no written manual. Besides those two major things above which were my biggest pet peeve, this is an amazing camera. I also purchased the shooting grip so I can take it with me and take my own pics without having to ask someone to do so, and also purchased the camera case.If you’re looking for something REALLY compact, and you’re tired of walking around with your mirrorless or DSLR, then I say get this. I’ll update this if I run into any other issue along the way, but so far I’m loving it.Update: Took it on a trip to Portugal for a week and it performed as I expected, amazingly well. Battery life was good for a couple of hours after taking a few hundred photos, but I purchased another just to be on the safe side. I prefer shooting in Aperture Priority mode, so set the aperture and had everything else on auto and my photos all turned out great. I attached the camera grip and was able to take selfies without having to ask anyone to take my photo.Camera because of its size is the perfect travel camera and now I may just end up canceling my preorder for the M4. I was able to zoom in and out and camera all the details that I wanted to. I’ve attached a few more pics that I took, one of a statue at 24mm and another up close to get more details.I still, however, won’t adjust my rating to a 5. Someone mentioned that they received a wall plug in their camera kit, but mine was missing thus the reason I had to purchase the battery charger. And once again after walking around for a while in the heat and holding this “tiny” camera, it does get slippery, so I recommend the attachment grip. I bought the cheap sony camera case for under $15 and it fit in there perfectly with the attached grip, extra battery with no issues.

Well Worth the Pricetag. Ok, so to keep it simple. As I stated, its worth the price of $1200. Why? Because it is a 20MP pocket camera, that has 4k recording with audio input. As well as an awesome focal range. Starting at a wide 24mm to a 200mm telephoto range. Whats not to like? Its awesome. Don’t expect bird photography though.Now the lengthy part…I’m coming from owning a fair share of cameras as a professional photographer. As of this review, I have a Sony A7m2 with the kit lens, but also the 70200g f4 lens, plus other various lenses. The Sony a6000 + nex 5n, RX100m3, Fuji X100F. Further down in the review III will be the RX100m3 and VII is the one the review is for.Why does this become part of the review? Its because I can put this camera against some stiff competition before writing this review. As far as usefulness, I think this camera is 10/10. I used to carry the RX100m3 along everywhere with me because of its size. I kept it, for the fact that it has f1.8 at its widest vs 2.8 of the RX100m7. Now I carry the III and the VII everywhere. However, the one I have used primarily these past few weeks have been the VII because of its reach. I know 90% of my photos never exceed the range of 70mm. Found this out a 3rd time because of a 2 month trip to Viet Nam and Japan where I took only the III and X100F. During that trip I only encountered maybe 5 times max where I wish I had 200mm reach. Well, now I have that, and more. I’ll upload photos later after this review.Build quality: 10/10Is basically the same as you can expect from Sony and its previous RX models. Same high quality.Image quality: 8/10I love it. Obviously it won’t compete with the bigger cameras I have, but in good lighting (always a key) the image quality is amazing. The range this camera provides helps in making better bokeh portraits compared to the 24-70mm range of previous models (not including the VI). *my opinion you may not agreeVideo: N/AHonestly, not much a video person. Having an option to add a mic really pushed me to buying this camera. That was the selling point to me. Otherwise I wouldn’t have bought this since I didn’t buy the VI either.Where does this camera fit in?As expected, I can see this camera fit perfectly in my travel kit. Where 90% of the time I would use it while traveling, only pulling out the III when I go walking around at night or poorly lit conditions.If you know the limitations of this camera it will not let you down. Just, as explained earlier, it isn’t going to be good for wildlife, but as a portraits and everyday camera. I think it nails it.What I wish:Weather Sealing! C’mon Sony, you pulled through with the mic input. I want to use these cameras in raining conditions. I’m a firm believer of what these tiny guys can do.

Great for taking photos but terrible at everything else. First off, for those who are not tech savvy, or do not need to use any of the convenience features like WiFi, Bluetooth, etc this camera is going to be fine. I give it an A+ for photos, and after all that is the main feature of a camera. Typical of Sony however – they put a lot of effort into building a world-class image sensor and camera electronics, but their software and support apps are literally worst-in-class. Its been that way for years – I thought at some point they would get it right but alas, it continues.I am a professional photographer – in general – we are less is more kind of users – and I suspect most of the amateur photogs are as well – so I could never understand why the menus are so complex. The menu system in this camera is HEINOUS – trying to navigate it in any kind of expedient fashion is next to impossible. Once set, its good to go but plan on a lot of time if you want to personalize it. Then there is the support for WiFi and Bluetooth. Its there, the ads make it sound like its a central feature to the camera – HA – good luck accessing it or making it work. Wireless file transfer to a Mac would be a great thing – I thought for sure this would finally work. It doesn’t. The manual references apps that either no longer exist, or are in end of life and do not support current versions of Windows or MacOS. So even though the camera has Wifi – there is no real use for it it just eats up battery time if left on, so I disabled it.Finding the advanced manual online was a chore as well – the Sony website lists a manual for the RX100 – I never did find it at Sony, had to go through a 3rd party site. Again, total failure of execution.Sony should learn from other manufacturers (like Apple) that get it right – either include features that actually WORK, and verify them in your manuals and website – or don’t include them at all. Advertising support for things like WiFi and Bluetooth is a downright LIE, they don’t work, at least not without a lot of pain and frustration. I would doubt there are very few who actually get it working. I tried and I am *VERY* tech savvy.I would give this camera a 10 if the software actually worked and the menus were less complex. If I could wirelessly download photos to my Mac, or even conveniently transfer them via USB without fiddling with menus every time that would be a home run. Instead, I am stuck using this camera like I did all of my full body DSLRS – taking out the card every time and using an adaptor on my computer.Again – if all you want to do is take photos – this is probably the best image quality small camera out there right now. I am very pleased with it in that regard. At this price point, it is a bit beyond the reach of the average consumer though – I expect more. Working professionals want simple and compact too – there is a time and a place for it – but we also NEED the features like remote download and would gladly use them if they were there – making this purchase far more compelling.I am keeping the camera for my hobby / trip photography its still better than lugging around even a small mirrorless camera – I will just have to succumb to the fact that Sony’s inept software team once again botched the job and made a future proof hardware product with outdated, klunky and poorly executed software. Crying shame.

Excellent clarity. The Sony camera is great except for one thing. The zoom isn’t enough for what I’m taking pictures of. Luther than that, the detail is excellent, it’s lightweight and small. Perfect for on the go pics.

Great quality. This little camera takes amazing quality photos way better than a Fuji X100 V and so small it fits on your pockets