I’ve owned four of the 1-inch sensor RX100 series cameras. I bought the original RX100 in February 2013 and used it for 4½ years – up to August 2017. It was a great portable travel camera. You can see my gallery of the original RX100 pictures here.
I briefly had the RX100M5 back around mid 2018. But then the RX100M6 came out soon after so I traded for that. The VI has a longer 24-200mm lens, a better sensor, faster autofocus, and a touch screen. It is also a great camera; but I had one quibble with it: the pop up viewfinder would lose its diopter setting making the view blurry. I learned to live with it by putting my finger on top of it to slow its pop up speed.
I later bought a Sony A6600 and sold the RX100M6 thinking the A6600 would be great for travel and walking around – and it is. But I missed that little RX100 and when version VII came out, I picked one up. I walk a lot and found that I missed the small camera I could walk with in the palm of my hand and put in a pocket if need be. The VII is similar to the VI; they have the same lens but the VII has even faster autofocus, and a wider phase detection area. Autofocus speed is important to me for taking pictures of trains, my grandkids, and other fast moving things.
Because of the strong similarities of the VI and VII cameras I’ve combined pictures of the two on this page. You can click on the images to get bigger versions.
Sony RX100M6 (Sony RX100VI)
My first tryout of the RX100M6 was during a trip to Newport, Oregon.
We had dinner at the Local Ocean Seafoods restaurant on the historic bayfront. I highly recommend it. I tried a closeup shot.
After dinner we walked around the area.
In August we took an overnight trip to Seattle to watch My Los Angeles Dodgers play the Mariners. It was a perfect summer day Pike Street Market and surrounding area are photogenic,
In October we took a road trip down through California, Arizona and back up through Utah and Idaho. I used my big Sony A7R3 for the pictures in Yosemite, Kings Canyon and the Sedona Red Rocks. But the RX100M6 came in handy for our walk around the Simplot Boise River park in Boise, Idaho.
We made one last overnight stop in Baker, Oregon to take in the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
In November we spent a weekend in Manzanita with our older son and his wife.
The RX100 series cameras are perfect for tourists in the big city. We went to New York City to visit my nephew and his SO.
We took a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Sony RX100M7
As COVID restricted our travel I picked up my walking during the summer of 2020. I carried around my A6600 but longed for something lighter for my long walks. I knew the RX100M7 was what I was longing for.
For our 44th wedding anniversary we dared to take a day trip to Cannon Beach. We took our own picnic; and it was breezy enough and easy enough to stay away from others so we felt safe.
I purchased a LensMate filter adapter kit for the camera and used a polarizer filter. I was stunned at how well it allowed me to shoot through the glare on the water.
Then I took some shots around home with LED lighting.
Despite their tiny 1-inch sensor size, the RX100 series cameras are outstanding.
