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Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

The Sony RX0 is tiny and looks like an action camera that's built for shooting video, but it's a surprisingly capable stills camera as well. Here are some example photos I've taken with it to give a sense of its real-world performance.

Sony DSC-RX0 Miniature Camera

Categories: Adventure Cameras, Compact Cameras, Sample Images
Tags: Sony, Sony RX0
Last updated about 6 months ago // Originally published about 2 years ago

The Sony RX0 camera looks for all the world like Sony’s answer to GoPro, but its looks are a bit deceiving. Yes, it’s tiny, rectangular, and waterproof, but it’s not accidental that Sony has put it in their digital stills camera series (its full model number is DSC-RX0) rather than with their camcorders or action cams series. It has some unique and impressive video features, but its photo capabilities strike me as the most developed.

It has a 15MP sensor, 24mm (35mm equivalent) focal length lens, and shoots RAW (.arw).1 It has multiple shooting modes, including a full manual mode. You can choose from different drive modes, including bracketing, as well as different focus modes. In short, its features and settings for shooting still photos are in many respects the types of things you would expect on larger, full-featured cameras like market-leading Sony’s mirrorless cameras.

Sony’s marketing for this camera has treated it as a niche offering, with an emphasis on professional video. While it’s a little outside the primary target use, it has grown on me for travel photography. There are quirks to using it, such as the slowest shutter speed available being 1/4 second. And there are frustrations, such as the camera overheating and a slower-than-it-should-be automatic focus. But the RX0 is rugged and discreet and takes great photos. It has therefore earned a place in my regular travel kit, and I often find myself taking it out when I might otherwise have reached for something like a Ricoh GR II.

I’ve posted a detailed review of the Sony RX0 separately. I’ve also posted some examples of its high-ISO photo capabilities. What I’m focusing on here is providing some general examples of photos taken with the RX0 under a variety of lighting conditions and with different mixes of tones and detail in the hope that they might be helpful to someone trying to get a sense of how it performs as a stills camera in real-world shooting.

These were all shot in RAW (.arw) and processed in Lightroom. As RAW files, they’ve required at least some processing to be usable, but in many of the shots here the processing has been done with quite a light touch. What I haven’t done with any of these is apply any additional fixes to optical issues like chromatic aberration, noise reduction, or sharpness beyond the Lightroom defaults. Those are things I’d normally address in the workflow, but I wanted to retain any of those issues here to give a better sense of what you can expect out of the camera.

Sample Photos Taken with a Sony RX0

You can click on each individual image to open a full-size version.

Sony RX0 Sample Image

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₈₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 4000 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₆₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. The water splashes close to the camera tricked the autofocus and are nicely in focus; the main subject, not so much.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¼ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 500 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₂₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. Another shot that should really show up any chromatic aberration issues, if there were any, but it’s not much of an issue in this one. But it does show up some blurriness at the corners, particularly the bottom corners.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 2500 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 500 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. At ISO 6400 it’s starting to show a lot of noise in this shot.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 800 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 Sample Image

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₅ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 160 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₄₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

38 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 1000 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₂₅₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. I took this to look for purple fringing (chromatic aberration) in the corners. There’s very little, and what there is easily corrected in apps like Lightroom or DXO.

05 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

03 1 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₂₀₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. A nice straight horizon even near the top of the frame. The lens has very little distortion.

02 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 5000 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₂₅ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ⅛ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

06 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 80 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. I’d switched to manual mode for this to darken the scene–it was getting overblown on standard auto–but I took it too far and underexposed it by quite a bit. This one has had quite a bit of shadow recovery applied in Lightroom, but as you can see there’s quite a bit of detail that can be recovered.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₅ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

07 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₄₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

09 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₈₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

31 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₂₅₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

25 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

33 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

10 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₈₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

26 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 2000 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

11 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 2000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. There some pronounced blue fringing in this shot.

04 1 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₆₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. Another straight horizon. Also shows the depth of field.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

02 1 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Sony RX0 High ISO Example

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₃ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

30 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₈₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. Such a tiny camera is quite discreet.

29 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₅₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

32 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

48 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₅₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

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Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₈₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

46 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₈₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. The original shot is very high contrast, but this one has had a reasonable amount of shadow and highlight recovery applied. As you can see, the detail is there to work with.

43 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

53 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 800 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 50cm (about 20 inches), which isn’t especially close. So it’s not much good for close-ups. This shot was taken at right around the minimum focus distance from the ferns.

45 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₅₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

08 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 250 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4.

05 1 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 6400 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₄₀ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4.

50 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₄₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

04 2 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 800 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₆₀ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4.

09 1 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 400 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4.

03 2 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 640 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₆₀ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4. This shot shows up issues at the corners, with blurriness and pronounced chromatic aberration.

51 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

49 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₂₅₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4. Some lens flaring at right of frame, but not anymore than you’d reasonably expect when pointing at the sun. Nice detail in the rigging of the Cutty Sark.

07 1 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 125 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4.

06 1 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 160 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4.

02 2 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Taken at ISO 125 and a shutter speed of ¹⁄₁₆₀ sec. The RX0 has a fixed prime 24mm (35 equivalent) with a fixed apertured of ƒ/4.

44 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 2000 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

47 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₁₂₅₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

37 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 5000 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

35 678x452 - Photos Taken with a Sony RX0 Camera

Sony DSC-RX0 at ISO 125 and ¹⁄₄₀₀ sec. Prime 24mm lens (35mm equivalent) at fixed aperture of ƒ/4.

Detailed Hands-on Review

I’ve posted a more detailed hands-on review of the Sony RX0 separately.

Where to Buy

I bought mine at B&H Photo. You can also find them at Amazon and Adorama. If you’re in the UK, you can find them at Jessops.


  1. Technically, it’s a 21 MP stacked sensor, but in practice it results in 15 MP images. ↩
By David Coleman
Instagram: @havecamerawilltraveldc

Last updated on August 6, 2020

Categories: Adventure Cameras, Compact Cameras, Sample Images
Tags: Sony, Sony RX0

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News & Deals

With the holidays fast approaching, there’s some great deals on photography gear and services available. I’ve put together a roundup of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 Photography Deals. It’s a running list as new deals are announced, so be sure to check back.

Canon announces new EOS Rebel T8i DSLR. Canon has announced their new T8i DSLR. 24MP APS-C cropped CMOS sensor, 4K24 video, and updated image processing and detection systems. It’s available for preorder from B&H Photo.

New Firmware for the Ricoh GR III. Ricoh has release firmware v1.31 for the GR III. Release notes are: “Corrected — When shooting with the multiple exposure, in rare cases the live view may not display correctly. Improved stability for general performance.” You can download it here.

New Canon 1D X Mark III Pro DSLR Announced. Canon has announced their new flagship model of pro DSLR, the 1D X Mark III. They’re sticking with a 20.1MP CMOS sensor, but it’s a new and improved version and boasts an incredible native ISO range of ISO 100 to ISO 102400 and an extended range that goes up to a jaw-dropping ISO 819200. With revamped autofocus, a new image processor, and all sorts of other bells and whistles, it’s no wonder that Canon is billing it as “The Ultimate EOS.”

New Manfrotto Pro Rugged Memory Cards. Manfrotto, an Italian probably best known for their tripods and studio accessories, has launched a new Pro Rugged range of high-end SD, microSD, and CompactFlash cards. While they don’t have a huge selection of sizes and speeds, the cards are aiming for very fast cards that can put up with rugged demands. For instance, they claim that their V90 rated SD cards can withstand three times the force (20kg / 45 lbs) of a regular SD card. I’ve ordered some to run through my speed tests.

New Sony Alpha a7 firmware released. A firmware update for the Sony a7R IV now lets you control external Sony flashes from the camera’s own menu system. Up to 15 flashes in five groups can be controlled via the camera. It also applies to the a7R III and a7 III.

Comments

  1. David says

    March 26, 2019 at 2:14 pm

    “35mm equivalent” is a common way to standardize focal lengths when referring to focal lengths of lenses mounted on cameras with different sensor sizes. The RX0’s lens is actually a 7.7mm focal length lens on a 1-inch sensor. When you convert that to the 35mm standard (ie. a full-size sensor or a standard frame of 35mm film), it’s the equivalent of a 24mm focal length if it was on a full-frame sensor (or a film camera using 35mm film). All of the camera manufacturers who produce cropped sensor cameras use the “35mm standard” and it’s also printed on the front of the RX0’s lens port. You can see it clearly on the top photo here, for example.

    Reply
  2. Shaun says

    March 26, 2019 at 1:25 pm

    Why are you saying 35mm equivalent ? It’s a fixed 24mm lens providing a 24mm focal length. It’s a 1″ sensor. 23mm on an Aps-c sensor is 35mm equivalent. You should correct this. It could confuse a lot of people.

    Reply

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