Sony DSC-RX100 IV

At first glance, the DSC-RX100 IV and its previous avatar DSC- RX100 III look nearly the same. But everything inside has been upgraded; it’s faster, sharper and more detailed. A 20.1 megapixel 1.0-type stacked CMOS sensor, F1.8-2.8 24-70 mm equivalent Zeiss Vario-Sonar T lens, optical image stabilisation, 16 frames per second continuous shooting, 4K UHD video recording, slow motion video recording with up to 1,000 frames per second, a pop-up OLED electronic view finder, and a tilting 3-inch LCD display… the list is endless and impressive.

Given the high speed that the camera uses, a standard UHS-1 card does not work. I found that if you take a UHS-1 or UHS-2 card with at least a class U3, you will be able to use most of the features. The good part is, Sony is bundling along a free 64GB SDXC high speed memory card. Since I did not get the card for the review, it is not possible for me to say if it supports all the features or not.

The video quality at both 30 fps/1,080p and 60 fps/1,080p is remarkable and sharp. Its image stabilisation is in fine evidence. I shot a few videos while taking an auto-rickshaw ride on bumpy roads.

On the side of the camera is a multi- use micro USB port, which you can use to charge your camera and also for data transfer. With WiFi and NFC on board, transferring files to your phone or a laptop is easy, and Sony has an app to do this too.

For the money you spend on this camera, you can easily buy yourself the latest iPhone. There are other downsides too. I missed not having the hot-shoe on the camera, the battery life is not as good as it should be, there is no microphone socket for an external microphone— especially since the camera does some great video—and I would have loved to see a second dial for the ISO settings. Nevertheless, I would still go ahead and call it the best compact camera available in the market.

compact camerasLCD displaypoint-and-shootSony DSC-RX100 IVUHD video recording