June 27, 2013

Sony’s award-winning full frame RX1 camera gets an update, loses AA filter

by Sayan Chakravarty

Sony’s full frame compact camera Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 just got an update. The camera meant for professionals, who look out for every fine details to be recorded in the picture, has been tweaked to give its photos a little more sharpness. Sony hasn’t bothered too much to sprinkle the new DSC-RX1 with many new features and it remains quite similar to its twin. Only major change is that it has lost the AA (anti aliasing) filter. It has been done to achieve greater sharpness while clicking still pictures.

There are a few shortcomings to this move; the most noticeable effect is that it will be more susceptible to moiré. Interference patters might be quite visible while clicking macro photos of fabric or displays. Another downside might be the added pressure on the processor to compute the more detailed image making it a little slow. Sony isn’t the first company to try out something similar and the result has been less than desirable for most of those camera manufacturers.
The good bit is the price has been kept the same. It will retail at US$2799.99. But it’ll available along with RX1 which might add to confusion for the potential buyers. Only long term online reviews might help them decide. The new RX1R will be available from mid-July, hope it matches up to its award winning twin.