Today Sony announced the third iteration of its RX100 series, and it seems like they have a winner on hand. While the older RX100 II was a just minor upgrade to the already excellent original model, the new RX100 III brings a host of new features that are sure to make fixed-lens compact camera shooters excited. Heck, interchangeable lens users too. All this, without significantly increasing the camera's volume.
First and most obvious: that's not a second flash you see up there, that's a pop-up viewfinder. At an 800x600 resolution (1.44 million dots, but that's an unhelpful unit) and a magnification of 0.59x, the EVF is nearly identical in size and resolution to those on the Olympus E-M5 and E-M10. Once again, you have to commend Sony's engineers for being able to pack a ton of features into tiny bodies.
Furthermore, and arguably more importantly, Sony has also changed the Zeiss lens from a 28-100mm F1.8-F4.9 to an impressive 24-70mm F1.8-F2.8. While some users will lament the lack of reach on the new glass, I think most will appreciate the added brightness and wider minimum focal length. After all, you can always crop, and the faster tele end of the new lens should compensate for DoF differences in portraiture.
Other notable new features include the ability for the LCD to flip 180 degrees to photograph or film yourself, a 3 stop ND filter for lowering shutter speed in bright daylight or video, 50Mbps XAVCD recording, clean HDMI output, and more.
The RX100 III is available for pre-order now for $800, and should begin shipping by the end of June.