I know what you’re all thinking and the answer is the RX10 III improves on the RX10 II‘s 24-200mm zoom range with a new 24-600mm lens. That’s the biggest difference between last year’s RX10 Mark II and yesterday’s newly announced RX10 Mark III. That’s quite impressive, especially considering they kept the body more or less the same size and shape.
Sony sacrifices the constant F2.8 aperture on the 24-200mm lens and instead, the RX10 III‘s 24-600mm zoom is equipped with a variable F2.4-4 aperture. The lost stop of light is made up for with Sony’s built-in optical image stabilization, which compensates for up to 4.5 stops of exposure.
The 20.1 megapixel EXMOR RS CMOS sensor with an ISO range of 100-12800 and BIONZ X image processor are the same as the ones found on the RX10 II (except the RX10 II is 20.2 megapixels), as are the 3.0-inch rear LCD and 2.36m dot OLED electronic viewfinder.
The RX10 III also does 4K UHD video and super slow motion in 1080p up to 960 frames per second. That’s 40x slow motion when you retime it for 24fps.
The RX10 II will remain in Sony’s lineup like all the RX100 variants while the RX10 III arrives sometime in May at $1999.99 MSRP.
In other news, Sony also added a pair of new FE lenses for their full-frame mirrorless cameras: the FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS and FE 50mm F1.8.
The FE 70-300mm is, as of March 2016, Sony’s longest E-mount lens, featuring a state-of-the-art optical design that includes four aspherical elements, two ED elements and Sony’s Nano AR lens coating, which reduce spherical aberrations, distortion and chromatic aberrations. Minimum focus distance is under 0.9m (3 feet) and maximum magnification is 0.31x. There’s also built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilization for reducing camera shake.
Sony’s FE 50mm F1.8 prime lens is a lightweight “normal” lens, weighing in at 192 grams. Like most 50mm F1.8 lenses, Sony’s aims to deliver a combination of performance, size and value. It’s intended to be that first extra lens you buy, ideal for hobbyist photographers and videographers looking for a wide aperture without the high cost. That F1.8 aperture has rounded blades to keep bokeh smooth and circular.
The FE 70-300mm and FE 50mm F1.8 will both be available starting in May with MSRPs of $1699.99 and $349.99, respectively.