Sony’s RX1 Full Frame Compact is Small. Really Small.

One of the biggest photo stories at the moment is the fact that Sony is planning to stuff a full frame sensor inside an upcoming compact camera called the RX1. While the $2799 price tag likely puts it out of the reach of many photo enthusiasts, the fact that full frame sensors are starting to appear in fixed-lens compact cameras by a company other than Leica is pretty exciting.

What’s amazing about the RX1 is how small it is. Sony somehow managed to stuff a huge full frame sensor inside a camera body that’s roughly the size of the Panasonic GX1, which packs a much smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor.

Here’s an image by Mirrorless Rumors showing the two cameras overlaid on one another:

How about a comparison of the camera next to the Fujifilm X100, the Leica M9, and the Canon 5D? The M9 and 5D are both full frame cameras:

It’s crazy that the 35mm f/2 lens is what gives this camera most of its bulk rather than a beefy body.

Hopefully this camera is to Sony what the X100 was to Fujifilm: an initial fixed-lens camera to test the market before unleashing an interchangeable lens camera on the world. An interchangeable lens version of the RX1 would certainly shake things up… even more than the RX1 will once it officially exists.

Image credit: Sensor size comparison by Sensor Size