Sony Cybershot RX100 VII DxOMarked

2020.02.09

The latest Premium Compact from Sony just get their sensor scored by DxOMark. This measure is one metric of image-quality that describes the performance of a camera sensor with normalized output regardless of resolution.

This 7th-generation 1" sensor ultra-compact in the RX100 series. Like all its predecessors, the Sony RX100 VII is built around a 20 MP sensor. Its sensor is fabricated as a stacked BSI-CMOS chip that gives it an extremely fast 90 FPS burst speed! A 357-Point Phase-Detect AF system is built right into the sensor which is paired with a relatively long 24-200mm F/2.8-4.5 lens with optical image-stabilization.

DxOMark measures the Sony RX100 VII at 63. This score falls closely within the range of other cameras with a 1" CMOS sensor, yet on the lower side compared to recent models that can score up to 71. The score breaks down into 3 constituents, a bit-depth of 21.8 bits-per-pixel, a dynamic-range of 12.4 EV and High-iSO score of 418. Unfortunately, the RX100 VII loses out on both bit-depth and low-light performance. Dynamic-range though is just a fraction of a stop below the maximum of 12.7 EV for a 1" sensor. This makes sense as surface area is the prime contributor of dynamic-range.

Bit-depth is near the bottom of the pack, falling behind even the original RX100 launched in 2012! For High-ISO, it pulls ahead of the RX100 yet does not quite reach the RX100 II that sucedes it. It is rare but not unheard that this happens as sometimes compromises force changes in chip-design. In particular, the Sony Cybershot RX100 VII needs a lot more circuitry to read-off the sensor at 90 FPS and built-in Phase-Detect tends to introduces some low-level signal which damages the darkest tones.

For more information, read the full sensor report at DxOMark.

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