A working photographer's long-term review of Sony's pocket zoom camera, and whether it's still worth buying in 2026
The verdict
I bought the Sony RX100 VII soon after it came out in 2019, and I paid full price. Seven years on, it's still the camera I take out with me almost every time I go anywhere, whether that's a walk in the local woods or a trip to the pub.
It's done paid work, live music and a music video. It's been rained on, taken onto sandy beaches and dropped. It has never let me down, and it has never needed a repair.
It isn't perfect. The battery could be better and the body has no grip. It isn't weather sealed either. But it's a bloody good camera, and it's still worth the money I paid for it.
Good
A 24–200mm zoom in a camera small enough for a coat pocket
Autofocus that tracks people and animals
4K video with HLG and S-Log, and a microphone socket
A pop-up viewfinder for bright days
Tough enough for seven years of real use
Not so good
The battery: I carry three
No grip, and a slippery body
Not weather sealed
No built-in ND filter, and nowhere to mount a microphone
About £1,000 new
Which RX100 is this?
There have been nine RX100s since 2012, counting the VA and the new VIIA, and the names don't help. Here's how to tell them apart.
RX100 VII (2019): a 24–200mm f/2.8–4.5 zoom and a microphone socket. That's mine, with the socket under a flap on the side.
RX100 VI (2018): the same 24–200mm lens, but no microphone socket.
RX100 III, IV, V and VA (2014–2018): a shorter, brighter 24–70mm f/1.8–2.8 zoom and a built-in ND filter, but no microphone socket.
RX100 and RX100 II (2012–2013): a 28–100mm zoom.
RX100 VIIA: the version you'll mostly find new in UK shops now. It's the same camera, except it can't charge its battery over USB, a change Sony made for Europe's common-charger rules. It comes with a separate charger instead.
Sony announced the VII on 25 July 2019, and it reached UK shops that August at £1,200.
Why I've got one
I bought it because I wanted the best pocket camera money could buy. I got it soon after it came out and paid full price for it.
I carry it in a Sony case with a strap. I've also stuck Sony's small grip to the front, because the body on its own is slippery and there's nothing to hold on to. With the case on, I'm not afraid to use it.
What you get
A 1-inch-type stacked sensor, 20.1 megapixels
A ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* zoom, 24–200mm equivalent, f/2.8–4.5
Autofocus with 357 phase-detection points, Real-time Tracking, and Real-time Eye AF for people and animals
Up to 20 frames a second with no viewfinder blackout, plus a 90fps Single Burst mode
A pop-up OLED viewfinder with 2.36 million dots
A 3-inch touchscreen that tilts up 180° to face you and down 90°
4K video at 24, 25 and 30fps; Full HD at up to 100 or 120fps; slow motion at up to 1,000fps
S-Log2, S-Log3 and HLG picture profiles
A 3.5mm microphone socket (no headphone socket)
Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation
A pop-up flash
The NP-BX1 battery: about 260 shots per charge using the screen (Sony's figure)
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Micro USB, not USB-C
302g with battery and card; 101.6 × 58.1 × 42.8mm
The lens: 24–200mm, and what it costs you
The lens is the reason to buy this camera. At 24mm it's wide enough for a room or a landscape. At 200mm it's long enough for a stage.
I've used the zoom fully, and I've shot live music with it. It performed very well.
There's a price for squeezing an 8x zoom into something this small. The lens is f/2.8 at the wide end and f/4.5 at the long end. By around 70mm it has already dropped to about f/4, a stop slower than the older 24–70mm lens. Less light means a higher ISO in the dark, so in a dim room the older lens has the edge.
Some reviewers find the corners a little soft at 200mm. At gigs, it performed very well for me.
Image quality, from the woods to the pub
It's a 1-inch sensor: bigger than a phone's, smaller than a mirrorless camera's. In daylight, the pictures are flawless.
Low light is fine. The highest ISO I use is 800. Zoom in to 100% on a file shot higher than that and you'll find grain, as you would with any sensor this size. Reviewers who test that way see it creeping in from around ISO 800 too, so that's where I stop.
I've used it at events and for paid work, and the client still loved the pictures.
Autofocus and speed
Sony built the VII to match the autofocus speed of its α9 sports camera. Real-time Tracking follows whatever you point it at, and Eye AF finds people's and animals' eyes. It shoots 20 frames a second without the viewfinder blacking out, and the 90fps Single Burst mode catches a fraction of a second in seven frames.
The autofocus is amazing. It catches eyes and faces every time, and it tracks subjects well.
Video: 4K, HLG and a microphone socket
For video, it's brilliant for its size.
It records 4K at 24, 25 or 30 frames a second, reading the whole sensor rather than skipping pixels, so the footage is sharp. Full HD goes up to 100 or 120fps, and the slow-motion modes reach 1,000fps in short bursts. I've only used slow motion for fun with friends, and it's pretty decent.
There are S-Log2, S-Log3 and HLG profiles for colour grading. I shot a music video in HLG and graded it in Adobe Premiere. HLG is the better choice on this camera. It records 8-bit video, and the flatter S-Log profiles can show banding when you push 8-bit footage hard in the grade.
I always expose using the zone system, and the camera makes that easy with its Highlight metering mode. It meters for the brightest part of the scene, so the highlights don't burn out.
The microphone socket is the big change from the earlier RX100s, none of which had one. There's no hot shoe to mount a mic on, so I use a Rode mic on a hot shoe adapter. There's no headphone socket either, so you can't listen to your sound while you record.
There's no built-in ND filter, and in daylight you need one to keep the shutter speed down so movement looks natural. I use a magnetic variable ND. A magnetic ring sticks onto the front of the lens, and the filter clips onto that. I found mine easily on Amazon.
The phone app
Sony's Imaging Edge Mobile app is easy to use. I can control the camera remotely from my phone and transfer pictures to edit on the phone. With the app connected, the camera also tags pictures with the GPS location from the phone.
Battery life
The battery could be better. Sony rates it at about 260 shots per charge using the screen, and about 40 minutes of actual filming. I have three batteries for it.
The VII charges over its Micro USB socket, so you can top it up from a power bank. The VIIA can't. It comes with a separate charger instead.
Is it tough enough?
It isn't waterproof or weather sealed, so it lives in its case, and I'm careful not to get it too wet in the rain.
Even so, it survived a lads' drunken holiday in Lanzarote, where I used it every day. It's been in the rain and on sandy beaches, and it's been dropped. It still goes fine.
What I'd change
The battery. It doesn't last long enough, which is why I have spares.
The grip. The body has nothing to hold on to, which is why I stuck one on.
The menus get a lot of criticism. They're fine once you know them.
RX100 VII vs RX100 VA
The RX100 VA, from 2018, was the last RX100 with the older 24–70mm f/1.8–2.8 lens. The two cameras are almost the same size and weight.
The VA's lens lets in more light. It's still f/2.8 at 70mm, where the VII is around f/4, which helps in the dark and gives softer backgrounds. It also has a built-in ND filter, which is handy for video.
The VII zooms almost three times further. It has the newer autofocus with tracking and animal Eye AF, a touchscreen, and the microphone socket the VA lacks.
Choose the VA if low light and background blur matter more to you than reach, and you don't need a microphone. Choose the VII if you want the zoom, the autofocus and proper sound. The VA is mostly found used now.
RX100 VII vs ZV-1
The camera I'd like Sony to make already exists, nearly. The ZV-1, from 2020, has the older 24–70mm f/1.8–2.8 lens, a microphone socket, a proper hot shoe and a built-in ND filter. In the UK it's now sold as the ZV-1A, which, like the VIIA, can't charge over USB.
The catch is that it's built for vlogging. There's no viewfinder and no flash. If you mostly film yourself, it's the better buy. If you take photographs on bright days, you'll want the VII's viewfinder.
RX100 VII vs Canon G7 X Mark III
Canon's G7 X Mark III has a brighter 24–100mm f/1.8–2.8 lens, a built-in ND filter, a microphone socket and USB-C. It has no viewfinder, and the Sony zooms twice as far. Reviewers rate the Sony's autofocus higher.
If you want a bigger sensor more than a long zoom, look at the Ricoh GR, the Fujifilm X100VI or the Leica D-Lux 8. They're cameras for a different job. The GR and X100VI have a single fixed focal length, and none of them gets anywhere near 200mm.
RX100 VII or a phone?
When I'm leaving the house for a day out somewhere I might want to take pictures, I take the RX100 over my phone. My Xperia 1 V is great if I don't have a camera with me.
The RX100's lens reaches further: 200mm, where my phone stops at 125mm. It has a viewfinder. And I prefer using a camera to using a phone.
Is the RX100 VIII coming?
Not yet. As of late October 2026, Sony hasn't announced one.
The rumours are louder this year. Sony Alpha Rumors puts the chance of an RX100 VIII in 2026 at 70%. In June, a Sony "digital camera" appeared on a product registration database in Indonesia and was pulled a few days later. It could be an RX100 VIII, or it could be a new ZV model. In July, Sony launched the RX10 V, nine years after the RX10 IV, so it hasn't given up on the RX range.
If Sony makes a new version with the older, faster lens and a microphone socket, I'd buy that too. Until then, the VII is the newest RX100 there is.
Is the RX100 VII still worth buying in 2026?
I paid full price in 2019, and it's still worth it.
It's expensive because a lot is packed into a small body: a stacked sensor, an 8x zoom, a pop-up viewfinder and autofocus built to keep up with Sony's α9. It has held its value, too. In October 2026 Wex listed the new VIIA at £1,049, against £1,200 at launch, and MPB was selling used VIIs for between £724 and £944.
A used VII has one small advantage over a new VIIA: it still charges over USB. If you buy a VIIA, check your editing software opens its raw files. Some owners found older versions of Adobe's software didn't recognise them at first.
Buy it if:
you want one camera for days out, holidays and the odd paid job
you need reach, for gigs, sport or anything you can't walk up to
you film as well as take photographs, and want a microphone socket
you'd use a viewfinder on bright days
Look elsewhere if:
you shoot mostly in the dark: the RX100 VA, the ZV-1 and Canon's G7 X III all have brighter lenses
you mostly film yourself: the ZV-1 is built for it
you'd rather have a bigger sensor than a long zoom
you need weather sealing
Quick answers
Is the Sony RX100 VII waterproof?
No. It isn't waterproof or weather sealed. Mine lives in a case, and I'm careful with it in the rain.
Does the RX100 VII have a flash?
Yes, a small pop-up flash.
Does it have a hot shoe?
No. To mount a microphone you need an adapter or a bracket. I use a hot shoe adapter.
Does it have an ND filter?
No. The older 24–70mm models did. You can add one with a filter adapter or a magnetic filter.
Can you charge the RX100 VII over USB?
The VII charges in the camera over Micro USB. The VIIA doesn't, and comes with a separate charger. Neither has USB-C.
How do you get photos from the RX100 VII to an iPhone?
Sony's Imaging Edge Mobile app transfers them to your phone, and it lets you control the camera remotely too.
What size is the sensor?
1-inch type: 13.2 × 8.8mm, with 20.1 megapixels.
When was the RX100 VII released?
Sony announced it on 25 July 2019. It went on sale in the UK in August 2019, at £1,200.
Does it shoot raw?
Yes.
Seven years on
It's a bloody good camera and a very powerful piece of kit. Seven years after I bought it, it's still the one I take with me.
Sony didn't pay for this review or ask me to write it. Sony has lent me kit in the past, but I bought this camera with my own money, at full price. There are no affiliate links.
