Why a Bridge Camera Is a Great Traveling Companion

I recently returned from a safari in Africa, and I came back with some terrific pictures that I took with a Sony Cyber-Shot RX10 Mark III. This is a span camera, a category that isn't often talked well-nigh.

As I was preparing for the trip, I initially idea about taking two different kinds of cameras: digital SLRs (besides as their mirrorless equivalents) or a superzoom point-and-shoot compact camera. Each has its pros and cons: I typically travel with high-end superzoom pocketable cameras, like the Canon PowerShot SX-720 HS or the Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS70, and find these are terrific for taking pictures at conferences and for basic travel photos. For virtually all of my posts from conferences in the by year I have used photos taken with one of these two cameras. (For daily life, I find that smartphone cameras do a swell task on landscapes and snapshots, simply they don't accept the zoom I need for a briefing, and certainly non for a safari.)

SLRs and other interchangeable lens cameras accept the best shots, only to get the most out of them, I would have wanted to take several lenses to be able to capture both landscapes and animals at a distance. Because of the APS-C sensors used in consumer interchangeable lens cameras, or the even bigger total-frame sensors on the high-cease professional cameras, lenses that enable large amounts of zoom are very big and quite heavy. That makes a lot of sense for a professional person, simply information technology seemed a bit too much to travel with on a casual trip.

A number of my photographer friends, including PCMag'due south Jim Fisher, suggested I take a await at a bridge camera, and in item the Sony RX10. Bridge cameras are typically aimed at professionals and prosumers who have an SLR simply want something lighter that they tin acquit with them at all times, withal which still have the manual controls associated with the higher-end cameras.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 III

The RX10 III has a 1-inch sensor and a 24-600mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens. From early travels with Sony's 1-inch, 20 MP sensor with a smaller zoom photographic camera, I knew the sensor could capture bang-up images, simply the 25X zoom lens was a big plus. It is quite the lens, with a f.two.4-4 aperture over the 8.8-220mm of the actual lens size.

The results are articulate in the photos I was able to take.

Lion 2

I was very happy with the pictures I shot of animals, both those taken at a medium-distance—such every bit the lion above and the elephant at the elevation of the mail—every bit well as shots taken from further abroad.

Giraffe mid-distance

Giraffe closeup

The zoom lens worked very well, and I was impressed by the level of detail I could capture even at a altitude. I suppose a loftier-cease SLR with the correct lens could have done better, but for something I could hands conduct, I was very happy.

Lizard

In full general, I used the photographic camera'southward autofocus and was quite pleased with the results, though there were times when having manual focus came in handy. The photographic camera really has a variety of focus modes: single, continuous, manual, and direct manual focus, which lets y'all override the autofocus using a manual focus ring and which I found quite useful in some situations. Compared with other superzooms, I was specially impressed by the speed of the autofocus on the RX10 3.

Serengeti Sunset

But it wasn't just photos of animals. I was as well able to accept cracking pictures of landscapes, and sunrises and sunsets in item. Similar pictures taken at the aforementioned time with the Panasonic ZS70 are likewise very nice, but the RX10 simply captured more detail and more of the changes in the light.

Maasai

The camera can capture up to 14 frames per second, up to 45 JPGs, when using a fast memory card. (I used cards from both SanDisk and Kingston). In the field, it seemed quite fast, and useful for capturing motion such as a gazelle in flying, or a Maasai cultural performance.

All told, I was extremely happy with the pictures. They simply looked dandy.

As far as video goes, the RX10 Iii takes 4K video at 24 or xxx frames per second, or HD video at 24, thirty, 50, or 120 fps.

Using the defaults, I was able to get very clear videos, and I institute the epitome stabilization worked quite well, equally you tin see in this video, shot from a hot air balloon.

It too has the ability to accept high frame rate (HFR) or irksome motion video. I like the concept, but in do, I found it a fleck confusing to prepare HFR, and occasionally missed the shot because I didn't become through the steps in the right gild quickly enough. However, with enough practice, it worked pretty well, equally yous can see in this capture of wildebeest.

The RX10 III has a number of other features, including a 3-inch rear LCD mounted on a hinge and so it tin can tip up or down. The LCD was quite readable, even in brilliant sunlight. Virtually of the time, withal, I found myself using the electronic view finder, which uses a high resolution OLED display that automatically turns on when you put your eye to the finder (and at the same time turns off the LCD). The camera includes Wi-Fi and NFC, and I used Sony'south PlayMemories app to easily transfer photos to an Android phone.

I was pretty happy with the battery life, and more often than not found I could take near 400 shots a day before needing to switch batteries. Taking video, of form, uses more bombardment, and i downside is that the camera doesn't come with an external bombardment charger, so you may want to purchase ane of these if you're also buying an extra battery.

A photographic camera like this has a few other downsides. Information technology weighs most 2.5 pounds, and so information technology isn't something that you would behave effectually every day (unlike the compact cameras), and at nearly $1400, it's an investment. Still, it's a lot lighter and a lot less expensive than an SLR with a similar lens, however takes much better pictures than any of the smaller superzoom cameras that I've seen. I found the RX10 III was generally like shooting fish in a barrel to handle, with a great zoom range, and fast autofocus and shooting. Just the real win for me was the quality of the photos—this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and I have photos that are worthy of information technology.

(Note all photos are unretouched other than having been reduced for publication)

Here's PCMag'south total review.