Budding photographers have two serious choices to pick from when shopping for a camera: DSLR and mirrorless. DSLRs provide a robust set of buttons, dials and lenses to shoot in professional settings, but are generally costly and somewhat bulky. And most mirrorless cameras, which are desired for their diminutive size and portability, simply don’t have the same image quality that pros demand. But leaks from Photoprice Canada and Sony Alpha Rumors suggest Sony (SNE) is planning to sell a camera that has the best of both worlds: A compact camera called the RX1 with a fixed Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 lens and full-frame sensor for $2799.
As a primer, a camera with a full-frame image sensor is advantageous over a smaller APS-C or Micro Four Thirds sensor because it lets in more light. What does that mean? Essentially, a full-frame camera can be used to shoot pictures in low-light settings without significant noise showing up on them. Naturally, most cameras don’t have full-frame sensors because they’re very expensive and therefore usually found in high-end cameras such as the Canon 5D Mark III, Nikon D800 and Leica M9.
But if the rumor is right, the RX1 will combine the best features of DSLR and mirrorless by including a bevy of dials and buttons, a 3-inch display, a max ISO of 25600, five frames-per-second continuous shooting, and HD video recording into a gorgeous magnesium body.
[Via PetaPixel]
