Sony RX10 V — the bridge camera returns after nine years, $2,299 for a 24-600mm F2.4-4 that would cost $8K in mirrorless kit
TL;DR
Sony announces RX10 V on July 9, nine years after the IV — same 24-600mm F2.4-4 lens, upgraded to Bionz XR + AI, 30 fps blackout-free, 4K 120p. $2,299, shipping August.
Sony announced the RX10 V on July 9, its first update to the RX10 series since the 2017 IV — a nine-year gap, and the most watched revival of the "one camera for everything" category since the market wrote off the bridge form factor. MSRP $2,299 / CA$2,899 / HK$15,990, shipping around August 6.
Same signature glass, all new internals. The Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-600mm F2.4-4.0 25× optical zoom carries over intact, as does the 20.1MP 1-inch stacked Exmor RS CMOS sensor. Processing switches to Sony's flagship Bionz XR plus a dedicated AI chip (from the α7 V and α7R VI). Continuous burst climbs from the IV's 24 fps to 30 fps blackout-free, with AF/AE tracking at 60 fps — bridge camera specs pushed into sports-body territory.
Video is the qualitative jump. The RX10 IV capped at 4K 30p. The V jumps to 4K 120p slow-motion, 4K 60p full-width, S&Q, and live streaming — none of which existed on the IV. The EVF grows from a 0.39-inch 2.36M-dot to a 0.5-inch 3.69M-dot panel at 0.78× magnification. The battery finally moves off the decade-old NP-FW50 to the modern NP-FZ100, with 50%+ better runtime.
The twist is that this category should be dead. Computational photography on phones has swallowed the mid-range fixed-lens market from below; mirrorless has eaten it from above; no major maker has refreshed a bridge camera in five years. Sony is targeting a niche: the concert-photo, wildlife, sports-arena, and long-lens crowd who genuinely need 600mm but don't want to carry an α1 + FE 200-600mm rig that runs $8,000+. RX10 V does it all for $2,299.
The used market has already validated the demand. During the nine-year gap, used RX10 IV bodies have traded up to $3,000 — above the new RX10 V's asking price. That premium is why Sony resurrected the line. Against Nikon's Coolpix P1100 (3,000mm reach but a tiny 1/2.3-inch sensor) and Panasonic's discontinued FZ series, Sony's 1-inch sensor + f/2.4-4 aperture stack remains the only combination at its focal range.
The criticism lands on price. RX10 IV launched at $1,700; V is up 35%. Against DSLR/mirrorless inflation over the same period, that's not egregious — but it is real.
Win the bet, and the niche buys, the first production run sells through in a year, and Sony pushes the "bridge is dead" verdict off by another decade while giving the dormant RX100 line a lifeline. Lose it, and the concert-and-wildlife crowd is already on APS-C mirrorless like the α6700 + 70-350mm, a $2,299 1-inch body loses its price anchor, and RX10 V becomes another farewell product for a fading category.
via PetaPixel / Unwire.hk / DPReview / Liberty Times
Same signature glass, all new internals. The Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-600mm F2.4-4.0 25× optical zoom carries over intact, as does the 20.1MP 1-inch stacked Exmor RS CMOS sensor. Processing switches to Sony's flagship Bionz XR plus a dedicated AI chip (from the α7 V and α7R VI). Continuous burst climbs from the IV's 24 fps to 30 fps blackout-free, with AF/AE tracking at 60 fps — bridge camera specs pushed into sports-body territory.
Video is the qualitative jump. The RX10 IV capped at 4K 30p. The V jumps to 4K 120p slow-motion, 4K 60p full-width, S&Q, and live streaming — none of which existed on the IV. The EVF grows from a 0.39-inch 2.36M-dot to a 0.5-inch 3.69M-dot panel at 0.78× magnification. The battery finally moves off the decade-old NP-FW50 to the modern NP-FZ100, with 50%+ better runtime.
The twist is that this category should be dead. Computational photography on phones has swallowed the mid-range fixed-lens market from below; mirrorless has eaten it from above; no major maker has refreshed a bridge camera in five years. Sony is targeting a niche: the concert-photo, wildlife, sports-arena, and long-lens crowd who genuinely need 600mm but don't want to carry an α1 + FE 200-600mm rig that runs $8,000+. RX10 V does it all for $2,299.
The used market has already validated the demand. During the nine-year gap, used RX10 IV bodies have traded up to $3,000 — above the new RX10 V's asking price. That premium is why Sony resurrected the line. Against Nikon's Coolpix P1100 (3,000mm reach but a tiny 1/2.3-inch sensor) and Panasonic's discontinued FZ series, Sony's 1-inch sensor + f/2.4-4 aperture stack remains the only combination at its focal range.
The criticism lands on price. RX10 IV launched at $1,700; V is up 35%. Against DSLR/mirrorless inflation over the same period, that's not egregious — but it is real.
Win the bet, and the niche buys, the first production run sells through in a year, and Sony pushes the "bridge is dead" verdict off by another decade while giving the dormant RX100 line a lifeline. Lose it, and the concert-and-wildlife crowd is already on APS-C mirrorless like the α6700 + 70-350mm, a $2,299 1-inch body loses its price anchor, and RX10 V becomes another farewell product for a fading category.
via PetaPixel / Unwire.hk / DPReview / Liberty Times
