When you’re traveling, most of the time you’ve got to take the light as it comes. And much of the time, the level of illumination leaves something to be desired. So you want a camera that can take it in stride—there’s not much fun in putting your camera away when the sun goes down.
Sony’s new RX100 VII is a high-end compact camera that continues in a line of feature-rich and impressive compacts. I’ve recently been out shooting with it to put it through its paces. I thought it might be useful to post some real-world examples of its high-ISO performance in case it’s useful for anyone wondering how well it performs in low light.
- 20. 1MP 1. 0 Type stacked CMOS sensor, Zeiss Vario Sonnar T 24 200 millimeter F2. 8 F4. 5 large aperture...
- 0. 02 sec. High AF speed, 357 point focal plane Phase detection AF and 425 point contrast detection AF
The Sony RX100 VII doesn’t have a particularly expansive ISO range. At least, not compared to some other cameras like the full-frame models that have ISOs up into six figures. I’ve previously posted some side-by-side examples throughout the ISO range. The RX100 VII’s full range is from ISO 64 to ISO 12800. Of that, ISO 100 to 12800 is native ISO, with ISO 64 and ISO 80 in the extended range (where software takes over from the hardware’s native sensitivity).
What I’m focusing on here are some examples taken at high ISOs. I’ve posted a more general collection of sample images taken with the RX100 VII separately.
Where “high ISO” begins is obviously open for debate. For the purposes here, I’m focusing on ISO 3200 through ISO 12800. ISO 3200 isn’t really a particularly high ISO these days—certainly not compared to what it was in early digital and film days—but I’m including them here as reference points.
I’ve tried to focus here on shots that are likely to show up issues with high ISOs. So things like smooth tones through the shadows and subtle colors. I’ve also included the same shot at different ISOs to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.
I’ve taken all of these in RAW and processed them with a light touch in Lightroom. Doing so has bypassed the in-camera processing that’s applied to the JPGs. I haven’t applied any extra noise reduction beyond Lightroom’s defaults (Luminance: 0; Color: 25; Detail: 50; Smoothness: 50).
It’s worth noting that I haven’t applied any external noise reduction to these, either. There are specialized image editing apps available that can do pretty remarkable things in cleaning up image noise at high ISOs (eg. DxO’s DeepPrime and Topaz Labs’ DeNoise AI are good places to start; and if you’re shooting RAW, DxO’s PureRAW works a bit differently and isn’t only focused on image noise, but it can yield impressive results).
Sony RX100 VII High-ISO Sample Images
You can click on each image to open a full-size version for a closer look.
Fixing Image Quality Problems in Editing
The general rule of thumb in photography is that it’s better to get the shot right at the time of capture rather than trying to fix it later. That’s a great aspiration, but it’s not always possible to do if you’re shooting in especially challenging conditions or bumping up against limitations or flaws in gear, conditions, or technique.
But it’s worth mentioning that there are some excellent tools available to help address common image quality issues with digital images. And they’re getting better and better all the time as the power of AI ramps up. They can deal remarkably well with anything from sensor issues like high-ISO image noise to lens issues like distortion, softness, vignetting, and chromatic aberration. (Note: I’m focusing here on corrections related to image quality, not image enhancement tools—that’s a different kettle of fish.)
All-round image processing apps like Lightroom Classic and Capture One have solid tools built in that are very good places to start. But it’s also possible to take it much further with more specialized tools. If you shoot in challenging conditions regularly and find room for improvement in the image quality coming out of the camera, these might well be worth a look (and they have free trials). Some are stand-alone apps; some integrate into image editing suites such as Lightroom Classic.
UPDATE: In April 2023, Adobe released an update to Lightroom Classic that added new AI-powered noise reduction for RAW files. It’s a powerful tool that rivals some of the dedicated apps below. If you’re already using Lightroom Classic for your image editing and organization, it’s well worth trying out—look for the Denoise tool under the Detail panel.
Fixing Image Noise & High ISO Artifacts
- DxO PureRAW 3. Like Lightroom Classic’s Denoise tool, it only works on RAW files. But since was updated to version 3, it has become my go-to app for this kind of thing. I’m consistently amazed at how it can rescue photos with otherwise dodgy image quality from noise. It can also help with lens distortion, lens vignetting, and lens softness.
- DxO DeepPrime. This is the noise-only offering using the same denoising technology as PureRAW.
- Topaz Labs’ DeNoise AI. This is another excellent option for specialized denoising. It works alongside Lightroom or as a standalone app.
Fixing Lens-Related Optical Issues
- DxO PureRAW. Again offers an impressive suite of automatic fixes that are applied before you start editing the images.
- DxO ViewPoint. Correcting for lens distortion and geometry skews. Lightroom Classic and Capture One also have excellent built-in tools for this.
- Topaz Labs Sharpen AI. In addition to standard unsharp tools, it includes focus correction and shake reduction.
Wrap Up
For a compact camera with a small sensor, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the high-ISO performance of the RX100 VII. Although it probably shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise considering it’s coming from a camera manufacturer has been consistently producing some of the best sensors in the business for several years now.
Accessories
It’s possible to add filters to the RX100 VII, but you first need to attach the VFA-305R1 filter adapter kit as the front panel. You can then use 30.5mm filters. The kit also comes with a lens hood.
The Sony RX100 VII doesn’t come with a memory card as standard. I’ve put together a detailed post of Sony RX100 VII memory card recommendations separately.
Sony RX100 VII Price & Availability
Check the current price and availability of the Sony RX100 VII at:
- 20. 1MP 1. 0 Type stacked CMOS sensor, Zeiss Vario Sonnar T 24 200 millimeter F2. 8 F4. 5 large aperture...
- 0. 02 sec. High AF speed, 357 point focal plane Phase detection AF and 425 point contrast detection AF
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