Sony RX0 II Camera Review

The Sony RX0 II is incredibly portable. It's similar in size to many action cameras and is even a bit smaller than the GoPro HERO10 Black in height and width. It's remarkably lightweight, making it easy to take anywhere, film in tight spots, or attach to an object or drone.

The Sony DSC-RX0 II feels amazingly well-built. It's made of robust materials, including a duralumin chassis, and it's advertised to be crushproof under weights up to 200 kgf/440 lbf/2000 N, shockproof from drops at heights up to 6.5 ft/2 m, and waterproof down to 33 ft/10 m. The screen and tilting mechanism feel solid, and the battery compartment is covered by a hinged door with a gasket for waterproofing. However, the plastic buttons feel cheap and flimsy compared to the rubberized button on the GoPro HERO10 Black. The SD card and inputs are covered by just a flap door, which feels like it could break more easily and would render the camera unusable underwater.

• Sony DSC-RX0 II camera
• 1x Sony NP-BJ1 battery
• USB-A to Micro-USB cable
• AC adapter
• Memory card protector
• Wrist strap
• Startup Guide and warranty documentation

The Sony RX0 II is fairly comfortable to shoot with, though it isn't meant for handheld use. It's primarily meant for use with a tripod, monopod, or external grip. Sony sells the optional VCT-SGR1 Shooting Grip with integrated controls that you can buy at additional cost, but the camera is also compatible with third-party options and other accessories.

The buttons on the camera provide good physical feedback. The camera's compact size makes it easy to shoot with, though it can also feel cramped if you're shooting handheld.

The Sony RX0 II has a small, tilting screen. You can tilt it up 180° to record vlogs or take selfies, or tilt it down 90° for high-angle shots. Unfortunately, the screen doesn't have a very high resolution and doesn't get especially bright either, making it difficult to check the monitor when shooting in sunny conditions. The camera also uses Sony's full menu system, which is hard to read on the camera's tiny screen. The screen also lacks touch navigation.

The Sony RX0 II uses Sony's older menu system, which is just okay. It isn't very well-organized, with advanced settings spread across many pages and submenus that aren't always clearly labeled. You also have to use the camera's buttons to navigate the menu, which can be cumbersome, along with the small size of the screen, making it harder to read. On the upside, the menu does have a 'tile' view that makes it a little easier to see and navigate. Pressing the 'Fn' button also brings up a quick menu to access commonly used settings on the fly. You can also create a custom menu to access the settings you use most frequently.

Unfortunately, the Sony DSC-RX0 ii has poor battery performance. Its advertised battery life in photos is limited to 240 shots according to CIPA standards. While that number should be taken with a grain of salt when applied to real-world usage, it does give a good indication of how the camera performs compared to more conventional mirrorless or DSLR models. Naturally, because of the small size of the camera, it can't last as long as larger cameras. The bigger disappointment is its video battery life, which only lasts about 45 minutes when recording continuously using the highest quality settings. That's much shorter than many action cameras, lasting only about half as long as the GoPro HERO10 Black. On the upside, the battery doesn't overheat throughout its runtime, and you can keep using the camera while charging it via USB if you need to extend the battery life.

The Sony RX0 II has a very fast max burst rate to capture stills of fast-moving subjects. The camera only has an electronic shutter, so the burst rate remains the same whether or not you're shooting in silent mode. It has a decent-sized image buffer, but it does take a very long time to empty once full, which can slow you down or cause you to miss a critical moment.

The Sony RX0 II doesn't have any stabilization features in photo mode, but the camera's small size makes it easy to keep it steady for photos at relatively slow shutter speeds.

The Sony RX0 II stands apart from your typical action camera in that it supports Log recording with S-Log2, allowing you to capture flat footage that can be color graded in post to get a wider dynamic and tonal range.

The Sony RX0 II can record 4k video up to 30 fps, but it lacks any high-frame-rate or slow-motion recording options in this resolution.

The Sony RX0 II has great internal recording specs in 4k. It captures video at fairly high bit rates and has an unlimited recording time limit, so you can record as long as you need to within the limits of the camera's battery life. Unfortunately, it's limited to 8-bit 4:2:0 internal recording, which gives you less color information to work with when editing your footage.

Unfortunately, the Sony RX0 II only has single autofocus and can't track moving subjects continuously. It supports eye and face detection and does a good job of finding its target and accurately locking in focus, so it's good for videos with a static subject, like a talking head vlog where you don't move from your position in the frame. However, it's not well-suited for anything where you need to track a moving person or object continuously. You can adjust the focus while shooting by half-pressing the shutter button, but it won't automatically refocus if your subject moves.

Video quality is good in 4k, especially when shooting in more controlled lighting conditions. It does an okay job in low light; however, it's limited by its sensor. Low light video tends to look noisy and soft, with some loss of fine detail.

Despite being advertised to have an 'anti-distortion' shutter with fast sensor readout speeds, the Sony DSC-RX0M2 still has some fairly heavy rolling shutter effect in 4k, especially when moving or panning the camera more quickly.

The Sony RX0 II can record 1080p footage at up to 120 fps without a crop, which is great for capturing smooth, fast action video or creating slow-motion clips. It also has a separate 'High Frame Rate' mode that can capture 1080p footage at 240 fps, 480 fps, or 960 fps, which you can slow down to 60p, 30p, or 24p for varying levels of slow motion. However, this mode doesn't record audio, and in our experience, it made the camera feel a bit slow and laggy.

Like 4k, FHD internal recording capability is great. There's no recording time limit, so you can record clips as long as you need within the camera's battery life.

Unfortunately, the Sony RX0 II only has single autofocus and can't track moving subjects continuously. It supports eye and face detection and does a good job of finding its target and accurately locking in focus, so it's good for videos with a static subject, like a talking head vlog where you don't move from your position in the frame. However, it's not well-suited for anything where you need to track a moving person or object continuously. You can adjust the focus while shooting by half-pressing the shutter button, but it won't automatically refocus if your subject moves.

1080p video quality is good in brighter lighting. Videos look reasonably sharp and detailed. However, the camera's smaller sensor introduces more noise at higher ISO settings or in low light. In dimly lit environments, there's pretty noticeable noise and grain and loss of detail and sharpness.

There's less rolling shutter effect in 1080p, which is good. Some distortion is still noticeable when moving the camera very quickly, but with moderate movements, it isn't too bad.

The Sony DSC-RX0M2 has a single microSD card slot rated for UHS-I cards, meaning you can't take advantage of the faster read and write speeds of UHS-II cards.

The Sony RX0 II has a solid amount of inputs and outputs for such a small camera. It has a micro HDMI port, allowing you to connect it to an external monitor or display. It even has a microphone input to connect an external mic for better audio recording.