DSC-RX100 Developer's Interview: Part 1

[StartTheCar]

Hi.

I really wanted to share this extensive interview of the development team behind the new DSC-HX100 compact camera.  It is not often we get such an insight into a products evolution or get to hear from the whole team involved with its design.  It’s pretty big, so I have split it into several parts.

Enjoy

Lee

Despite its ultra-compact body, DSC-RX100 boasts a new 1.0 type Exmor™ CMOS sensor with approximately 20.2 effective megapixels, and is equipped with a bright Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar T* F1.8 zoom lens. Incredible.  To find out more about this extraordinary camera, we interviewed the development team responsible for bringing it to life.

First off, I was amazed by the camera’s size. I couldn’t believe that a large 1.0 type CMOS sensor and bright F1.8 lens could fit into such a compact camera.

Kaimi (Product Design)

Yes, it is truly small and is undoubtedly Sony’s best compact camera to date. Of course, the camera takes great images but other aspects, including operability, the exquisite finish and other details, make it particularly attractive to high-end users. That was precisely our intent.

At the same time, we wanted to tempt users contemplating an upgrade of their current compact cameras. The team slogan was “two big eyes with no compromise.” In other words, we set our sights on developing an ultra-compact camera with a large 1.0 type CMOS sensor and bright F1.8 lens that would ultimately take fantastic photos.

Kureishi (Product Planning)

Being a compact camera, we wanted to make it small enough to fit easily into a pocket or purse, since being small is what distinguishes a compact camera from a DSLR. But we also wanted it to be capable of highly detailed images. These were our main challenges. Obviously we needed a large sensor; something larger than what is typically found in compact cameras. And to squeeze as much detail as possible out of the sensor, we needed a high-quality lens.

Amemiya (Project Leader) 

Market positioning of DSC-RX100 required not only compactness and high-quality images
but also easy operability, a superb finish and a number of other refinements. So from the start we declared every engineer an artisan with each paying maximum attention to the smallest details; even thinking in microns when it came to product size. We really pushed the envelope in terms of creating small, intricate objects for which Japanese are renowned.

What’s so special about compactness?

Kureishi (Product Planning) 

If you are mainly concerned about taking great photos, image quality is of primary importance and a DSLR the obvious choice. But if you prefer a shooting style less encumbered by gear and still want to take great shots, DSC-RX100 is for you.

The increasing popularity of smartphones and compact interchangeable-lens cameras demonstrates that many non-photographers are interested in taking better photos. So even though we wanted DSC-RX100 to satisfy high-end users, we also wanted a compact camera that would attract less camera-savvy people and ecourage them to discover the joy of photography.

Kaimi Product Design)

I wanted this compact camera to be easy to carry around so people could shoot every day. Hence, we had to keep size to a minimum. Just like a smartphone, it is easy to tote; ready in an instant to grab shots on the fly but with the performance and specs to produce gallery-quality photos. It also has enough features to satisfy the creative urges of high-end users.

Just looking at the specs excites me. I’m curious to know the capabilities of a 1.0 type Exmor CMOS sensor combined with an F1.8 lens.

Kureishi (Product Planning)

At the beginning of the project we made a mock-up of the product brochure to clearly define what features and value we wanted to provide. The mock-up showcased three features: background blur, high resolution and low noise. Of course we knew we could never obtain the quality of a full-size sensor DSLR with a prime lens.

However, the sensor we eventually developed delivers sensitivity and resolution more than equal to that of compact interchangeable-lens cameras and compact cameras equipped with similarly sized sensors. In addition, the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens, which was developed specifically for DSC-RX100, also enhances image quality thanks to its outstanding optical performance and ability to produce lovely background blur.

Amemiya (Project Leader)

Right.Since the lens allows you to easily blur backgrounds, it lends photos a nice sense of depth. The first photo I took with the prototype was of a coffee cup on my desk. It was still early in the development stage, but I remember how impressed I was by the artful depiction of an everyday object. This compact camera’s increased ISO sensitivity, noise reduction technology and reproduction technology make for dramatically better photos compared to earlier Cyber-shots.

Kaimi (Product Design) 

With the first prototype I took some shots using midrange ISO sensitivity between 800 and 1600. Even then I could clearly see that DSC-RX100 surpassed conventional compact cameras in terms of image quality. Because this was an early prototype, I wondered what the finished product would be like. I field-tested it for days.

Ueda (Image Quality Design)

What we have is first-rate background blur that far exceeds the kind produced by conventional compact cameras. I shot video in low-light environments and was very impressed with the soft, beautiful blur and very low noise levels. This is due to the large sensor, which handles high-sensitivity shooting extremely well, and the bright F1.8 lens that makes it possible to keep ISO sensitivity down.

Undoubtedly, the sensor and the lens are responsible for the amazing image quality. How did you decide on a 1.0 type CMOS sensor?

Ueda (Image Quality Design)

We wanted to exploit the ability of the bright F1.8 lens to create background blur. We felt that the 1/2.3 type sensor found in many conventional compact cameras — and even the 1/1.7 type sensor in premium compact cameras — wouldn’t suffice. But if the sensor was too big, we would have to increase the size of the lens, which in turn would make the DSC-RX100 larger. Thus, we settled on a 1.0 type sensor; large enough for producing great background blur yet small enough to keep the camera compact.

Kato (Lens Design)

If the image sensor is large, obviously the lens will have to be large, too. Also, the brighter the lens, the larger it becomes. I don’t want to brag but it was quite a feat to keep the bright F1.8 lens this small (laughs). We developed it specifically for this compact camera. It’s a short, large-diameter AA (Advanced Aspherical) lens, small and with increased performance.

The lens has seven elements in six groups and features optical image stabilisation. If we had employed a conventional optical system, the lens would have been considerably larger. To further reduce size, the stabilisation mechanism drives only the essential lens group. This, however, caused the optical axis to deviate. Solving the problem required exacting precision in the lens design.

Part two

[GaryKD]

Hi, I've just bought the RX100 and it's a great little camera, which I'm going to mainly use for underwater photography. To reset the Custom White Balance, which can be critical for UWP, seems to be rather long-winded, so can any short-cuts be applied, or do you think that you might be able to make it easier/quicker in any future firmware updates? My previous camera was a Canon G10, which is pretty much a 1 button operation.

[StartTheCar]

Good question!

The Q&A team spend a lot of time on these forums and so I suspect they would have seen your question.  Just in case however, I will drop them an e-mail.  No guarantees, but as we have seen with other products such as the alpha and NEX, the design team do look to the people using the products for feedback with a view to trying to apply it to possible firmware improvements and future product design.

Thanks for your feedback.

Lee

[Si_1966]

I am a very proud owner of the RX100, it is such a powerful photographic tool and it is a joy to use.  I am an DSLR / SLT owner first and fore most but I wanted something compant that I could take to crowded places and could fit in my pocket and be able to capture that candid moment I'd miss when using my mainly tripod mounted DLSR / SLT.

I have to agree with Gary's comments and hope that Sony can deliver on the next firmware update.

Thank you Sony for thinking outside the box on this and your A99, very big smile.

Si

[Zafar1084]

Team , I have just become the proud owner of the DSC RX100 and spent a week using it coupled with the Nauticam Housing in the Red Sea. I have to say that adjusting the white balance is not easy and quite long winded through the menu's and that's important to UWP to reach this quickly. Can the firmware update assign setting the WB to the Function button as WB has to be changed for the different depths each time. Overall I am really pleased with the camera the quality is amazing. 

I also struggled to get a good setting and tried using a white divers slate to focus on but kept getting an error message that WB could not be set and the colour temperature gave me 9900 K ! obviously not correct - am I doing some thing wrong here ? or was the white too bright for the sensor ? any tips you can give me would be really appreciated 

Thanks 

Zaf 

[GoNz0-]

you won't see an update, instead they released a new model. screwed over by sony again..