Bridge camera comparison Sony RX10Mk4 vs Panasonic FZ1000 9 February 2018

RX10M4

The RX10 Mk4 is Sony’s latest and best  high performance bridge camera with some amazing capabilities including continuous autofocus on moving subjects at 24 frames per second.

The RX10 Mk4 was announced in September 2017.

The FZ1000 was announced in June 2014, almost four years ago.

Sony started the “one inch” (diagonal 15.9mm) bridge camera arms race with the release of the original RX10 in 2013, with a 24-200mm (equivalent) f2.8 zoom lens.

Panasonic trumped this with the FZ1000 using the same or very similar sensor from Sony by increasing the zoom range to 25-400mm  making the FZ1000 a more versatile proposition.

Sony followed up with the RX10 Mk2 in 2015 with some improvements but the same body and lens then the RX10 Mk3 in 2016 with an excellent 24-600mm lens. Unfortunately the RX10 Mk3 has limited capacity to follow focus on moving subjects so it did not really pose much of a challenge to the versatility of the FZ1000. 

The RX10 Mk4 changes all that. This camera uses the same body and controls as the Mk3 but has the on chip phase detect AF and super fast processor from the RX100 Mk5. This transforms the camera into a sport/action powerhouse with very high capability and performance.

I have now made over seven thousand exposures with the RX10 Mk4 putting me in a position to compare it to my trusty FZ1000 which is over three years old and is much travelled.

I photographed test charts, set piece landscape scenes and several types of moving subject including running people and moving cars and speedboats.

I have enough data to make a meaningful comparison.

Spoiler alert: In practice the main difference between these two cameras is the lens focal length range.

Apart from that they are surprisingly similar in specifications, capability, image quality and performance.

I say surprising because the FZ1000 is getting a bit old in the digital camera world. Not only that but you can buy almost three of them for the price of one new RX10M4.

Specifications

I won’t bore you with information better summarised elsewhere but the main difference between the two is the lens focal length and the maximum frame rate with continuous autofocus. The Sony can do 24 frames per second, the Panasonic about 5 fps.

Image quality 

Lens  Note: Substantial sample variation in lens quality has been reported for both cameras.

I happen to have a very good copy of each and find they test just about identical for sharpness and resolution. The FZ1000 is a bit better at 200mm but that’s about the only difference I found.

Both cameras keep chromatic and other aberrations, purple fringing and other faults to a minimum.

Both are able to achieve very high levels of resolution at all focal lengths from wide open, sufficient for huge enlargements.

The Sony has about half a stop, maybe 0.6 stop less noise at high ISO values.

Dynamic range appears to be very similar with similar ability to recover highlights from RAW files.

Performance

Both cameras are very responsive with fast shot to shot times. Neither gets in the way of rapid fire photography.

Both can follow focus quite well on moving subjects.

On my tests of moving cars at about 50 kph at 400mm focal length, each camera scored about 75% of frames in sharp focus, 20% just out of focus and 5% unsharp.

I had the RX10M4 at 10 fps for these tests.

Of course the RX10M4 shot twice as many frames per second as the FZ1000 so I ended up with more in focus frames per second with the Sony.

Actually I find 10fps rather too fast for most purposes but the Sony does not offer a 5-6 fps option. You get 24, 10 or 3.

Ergonomics

Here the FZ1000 is clearly a more appealing device. It is easier to set up and more streamlined to use with fewer actions each less complex.

The handle is more anatomical and the controls laid out more thoughtfully. The buttons are larger, the dials easier to use.

I score the RX10M4 at 72, the FZ1000 at 85. You can readmore about my camera ergonomic scoring here.

Summary and recommendation

If you don’t absolutely need the extra reach of the RX10M4’s lens then seriously consider the FZ1000 which can still be bought new at a very attractive price. It is a very good, capable and versatile camera.

If 24-600mm in one fixed lens and high speed follow focus capability with very good to excellent image quality is important to you  then the RX10M4 is the only place to go right now.