Sony has announced its next-generation action camera: The RX0 II ultra-compact waterproof/shockproof camera equipped with a 1-inch sensor, Zeiss 24mm f/4 Lens, flipped screen and 4K internally recording capabilities.

“Premium tiny tough camera”

Sony defines the RX0 II as the “Premium tiny tough camera”. The camera owns a durable extra-super-duralumin body with a sleek exterior. Measuring just 2.4 x 1.6 x 1.4″ and weighing just 4.7 oz, this camera is extremely portable and can be used in the tightest locations. Regarding toughness, the RX0 II is waterproof to 33′, shock resistant to drops from up to 6.5′, and crushproof to 400 lbf, as well as dustproof.

Sony defines the RX0 II as the “Premium tiny tough camera”. The camera owns a durable extra-super-duralumin body with a sleek exterior

Flipped screen

Added in this model is a 1.5″ 230k-dot 180° tilting LCD, allowing for easier selfies and vlogging. The screen can tilt downward 90° for additional flexibility when shooting at different angles. The ability to rotate the screen is extremely important in action sport. That’s is basically the major advantage over GoPro cameras.

4K internally & S-Log2 Gamma

The RX0 II is capable of UHD 4K30 internally recording to a memory card and Full HD at up to 120 fps. These videos are recorded with full pixel readout of the sensor and no pixel binning, meaning that about 1.7x the data required for 4K resolution is captured and downsampled to produce higher-quality footage. It will record footage in the high-quality XAVC S format at up to 100 Mb/s.

ZEISS Tessar T* 24mm f/4 Lens

Integrated into the body of the RX0 II is a ZEISS Tessar T* 24mm equivalent f/4 lens. These optics are optimized to capture high-resolution images with minimal distortion and high sharpness. It also sports a minimum focus distance of 7.9″ for versatility and can work with Clear Image Zoom to provide a 2x digital zoom with a minor loss in quality. 

15.3MP 1-inch CMOS Sensor

The 1-inch sensor allows the privilege of relatively high dynamic range compared to a smaller sensor in other action cameras.

The 1-inch sensor allows the privilege of relatively high dynamic range compared to a smaller sensor in other action cameras.

Product Highlights

• 15.3MP 1″ Exmor RS Stacked CMOS Sensor
• ZEISS Tessar T* 24mm Equivalent f/4 Lens
• Internal UHD 4K30 Video & S-Log2 Gamma
• HFR Mode for Slow Motion up to 1000 fps
• 1.5″ 230k-dot 180° Tilting LCD
• Water, Dust, Shock, and Crushproof
• Electronic SteadyShot; Clean HDMI Output
• Interval Recording; Microphone Input
• ISO 12800 and 16-fps Continuous Shooting
• Wi-Fi & Bluetooth; Multi-Camera Control

The price for the RXO II is $700, which means a $100 more than the first generation (RX0) and $300 more(!) compared to the GoPro HERO 7 Black.

Resolution and FPS

• 3840 x 2160p: 30 fps, 24 fps
• 1920 x 1080p: 120 fps, 100 fps, 60 fps, 50 fps
• 1920 x 1080p: 30 fps, 25 fps, 24 fps
• 1920 x 1080i: 60 fps, 50 fps
• 1676 x 942p: 250 fps, 240 fps
• 1676 x 566p: 500 fps, 480 fps, 250 fps, 240 fps
• 1136 x 384p: 1000 fps, 960 fps, 500 fps, 480 fps
• 800 x 270p: 1000 fps, 960 fps

Price and availability

The price for the RXO II is $700, which means a $100 more than the first generation (RX0) and $300 more(!) compared to the GoPro HERO 7 Black.

Final thoughts

There is no innovation here. Just another pricy action camera that may fall behind the much cheaper GoPro HERO 7 Black. The main advantages here are the 1-inch sensor (high dynamic range), Zeiss lens and screen. The disadvantages are price and… price. Personally, I prefer the GoPro HERO 7 Black ($400) with the HyperSmooth technology. GoPro still dominates the action camera segment constitutes much more logic alternative than the Sony RX0 II.

Would you prefer the new Sony RX0 II over the GoPro HERO 7 Black? Let’s know in the comments section below.