Sony – a worldwide leader in digital imaging and the world’s largest image sensor manufacturer – has today announced two of the most advanced, versatile Cyber-shot cameras ever to come to market, the compact RX100 IV (model DSC-RX100M4) and high-zoom RX10 II (model DSC-RX10M2) cameras.
Sony says the cameras contain “the world’s first 1.0 type stacked Exmor RS CMOS sensor with advanced signal processing and an attached DRAM memory chip,” which allow for 5x faster image readout and other high-performance photo and video capabilities.
Both cameras offer 40x super slow motion video capture. Users can choose frame rates of 960 (at 1280×800), 480 (at 720p), and 240 fps (at 1080p). A “start trigger” feature lets you start a video 2 to 4 seconds before you actually press the trigger, capturing a moment that just happened as a slow motion video (2 seconds at 960fps takes 80 seconds to play back at 24fps).
The stacked sensor also allows for a rapid continuous shooting speed of 16fps on the RX100 IV and 14fps on the RX10 II. The high-speed anti-distortion shutter enables sharp photos while shooting wide open and minimizes the rolling shutter effect other cameras are plagued by.
There’s a high-speed autofocus system in both cameras that uses contrast detection to lock onto moving subjects in as little as 0.09 seconds.
RX100 IV has a 24-70mm (35mm equiv.) f/1.8-2.8 lens, while the RX10 II has a 24-200mm (35mm equiv.) f/2.8 lens. Both cameras feature a 2.35-million-dot electronic OLED viewfinder (the RX100 IV has a pop-up viewfinder).
For video recording, the cameras can shoot 4K video. The pro-oriented RX 10 II can capture 29 minutes at a time, while the consumer-oriented RX100 IV is limited to about 5 minutes for each clip. Both cameras offer Picture Profile, S-Log2/S-Gamut, and photo capture during 4K recording.
Sony Cyber-shot RX100 IV (model DSC-RX100M4) compact and RX10 II (model DSC-RX10M2) high-zoom camera will be available this July for about $1000 and $1300, respectively. Pre-sales for each model will begin on June 17th.