Sony’s new RX1R III camera looks awesome. Hardcore photo enthusiasts have wanted an updated version of its full-frame compact camera, the RX1, for nearly a decade. I’m not surprised it costs a whopping $5,100 (cameras and lenses have been trending more expensive), but what I do find surprising, and quite egregious, is that the RX1R III lost the tiltable screen of its predecessor. Its rear LCD is fixed in place, which is a real blow to the street photographers and shooters who like the added convenience of easier from-the-hip or overhead angles.
The Sony RX1R III traded away a key feature to maintain the compact dimensions of its previous model.
Antonio G. Di Benedetto is a reviewer covering laptops and the occasional gadget. He spent over 15 years in the photography industry before joining The Verge as a deals writer in 2021.
The designers at Sony obviously went to great lengths to maintain similar dimensions to the last-gen RX1, and they did it while adding a lot: the high-resolution full-frame sensor from the A7R V, Sony’s latest autofocus tracking system, a longer-lasting battery, and a proper electronic viewfinder (no more pop-up nonsense). They even went the extra mile of integrating the top dials and hot shoe into the body for a sleeker look. To do all this, the company made the camera 2.5mm taller and 15.5mm deeper — though that’s mostly the Zeiss 35mm f/2 lens protruding a little further.
But if it made the body just a few millimeters thicker or wider to accommodate a flippy-tilty-screen I don’t think anyone would have minded. The camera’s small stature also seems to make it a non-starter for any lens or sensor-based image stabilization, which it also lacks. (Though, to be fair, the RX1 cameras never had it before either.)
Unrelenting dedication to smallness has been a long-standing issue of mine with Sony cameras.
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