This camera is finally perfect. Good job Sony 👏

So let's get this out of the way. Yes, Michael, it uses a one-inch sensor. On the size chart, it's far away from your precious full-frame quality, and it barely edges out a regular smartphone. However, that doesn't mean we can't get great photos out of a one-inch sensor. I mean, come on, just look at these images here. Almost like they were shot on a full-frame camera. But the one-inch sensor is absolutely necessary to help cram this 24 to 600 millimeter lens down into a manageable form factor. You're not gonna find another camera like this in this compact-ish size with this mega-long reach, at least not without taking a further hit in image quality. And after five iterations, by the way, I'm not sponsored by Sony, nor am I getting paid to say this, Michael, in my humble, vong opinion, I truly believe the new Sony RX10 Mark V is perfected, for me at least, and I'll share why later in the video. But I know a lot of people will disagree. So let's talk about it. Same old Zeiss glass they've been using since the RX10 Mark III back in 2016. Welcome back. A 10-year-old lens at this point. Good or bad, I'll leave that up to you. But Zeiss is still nice, plenty sharp. But the zoom is not your traditional barrel. It's zoom by wire, meaning we can twist the zoom ring here all we want, but the camera must be on in order for the focal length to be changed. But because it's zoom by wire, it could be frustrating to get to the exact focal length we want. It's not like, oh, I want to be at 374 millimeter, and we can just get there. No, we would have to keep nudging the zoom rocker back and forth until we get there. And even then, we can only get so close. Not a terrible deal, but luckily we can change the setting to where twisting the zoom ring would land us to the more common prime-like focal lengths, 24, 35, 85, 100, 135, 200, and so on and so forth. I like that. F-stop starts at F2.4, though a slight nudge on the zoom rocker we already changed it to F2.5, but it stays locked in at F4 from 100 millimeters onward. So we can still pull off some decent background blur at telephoto ranges. Oh, look how cute these little sparrows are. And these images, they look good. They look like they were taken with a professional camera, and the RX10 Mark V can be a professional camera. But listen, let me level with you, all right? The people who are picking up this camera here aren't gonna care about background blur. Hell, they aren't even gonna care about aperture. It's gonna be parents who wanna capture their kids' competition to graduations from the bleachers. It's gonna be the aging unks and aunties and grandmas and grandpas who wanna capture wildlife without breaking their backs and their wallets. And it's gonna be for casual travelers who want better photos than the average Joes with their Xiaomi smartphones. Really good. So while the zoom experience might be frustrating for traditional photographers and Michael over here, for everybody else, holy mother of focus, this compact 600 millimeter is flippin' awesome. Photo upgrade. Colors are a lot better. Obviously not gonna be as amazing as the film simulations like from Fuji or the brand new Lumix L10, but coming from a history of Sony pre-2020, especially the previous Mark IV model, the colors on the Mark V are a lot better. Still 20 megapixels. Do we need more than that? Eh, do I need more than that? No. 20 megapixels is manageable, especially with the new 30 frames per second raw burst that we can do with this camera. Plenty for local sports shooters and any high-speed action scenes. But the one feature I really wish Sony trickled down from their higher-end models would be pre-capture. Magpies. Because damn, it is hard to get shots of birds taking off. And it flew away. I can't predict it. I'm a terrible bird photographer. The moment I see them taking off, I hit the button and it's just not a good shot. I just really need pre-capture. I've been so baby by the Sony A75 and the A1 Mark II that I really miss not having pre-capture. And I think Sony should have really included pre-capture in the RX10 Mark V. But hey, you know what? I get it. They wanna gatekeep it for their higher-end cameras. I understand that. But that doesn't mean I have to like their decision on it. I just think it would really make casual birders consider getting a higher-end alpha camera for better image quality once they get addicted to Sony's state-of-the-art autofocus. 30 frames per second raw burst, no blackout frames, and pre-capture. Then boom, they will be spending their precious G money. Otherwise, the Sony RX10 Mark V is a performance beast. User experience. The overall user experience is worth the upgrade from the previous models alone. It's using the modern menu 2.0 system, so it's a lot snappier and a lot cleaner. The old menu is not only outdated, but it's terribly slow. The overall redesign is much better than the previous gen. It looks sleeker, the grip has a lot more for our hands to bite onto. And you know, bigger grip also means bigger battery. It uses the Z batteries over the OW batteries, so 50% more juice for your use. But we all know the bigger battery is absolutely necessary for all that processing, the AI autofocus subject recognition, and the writing buffer, et cetera. Another big improvement is the USB-C. Yes, thank you, with the faster transfer rate. Double-decker mode dial for easy mode switching. Thumbstick to move the focus around a lot easier. Didn't expect that, but very welcome. And improved resolution on both the LCD screen and the ICU PVF. Don't spell that out loud, only the real ones will know. But the LCD screen here is still tilt-only, and I think Sony really dropped the ball on this one. They should have really updated this to a flip-out screen. And I'm not talking about for vlogging, okay? What is this, 2016? But if Sony is marketing this as a family travel camera, I mean, families need to take selfies too. Maybe not at 600 millimeter, but certainly at 24. I mean, they implemented the vertical UI, but it's kinda hard to shoot vertical when you can't even see it, especially when you're shooting at low angles. And oh no, say it ain't so. They got rid of the built-in flash. How do I look like a deer staring into the headlights now? Video upgrades. All right, let's do some video. Now this, this is what I'm most excited about. 4K 60, 4K 120, 10-bit 422 S-Log3 with real-time LUT preview. That's it, that's all I've ever wanted. I've always said the RX100 Mark VII and the RX10 Mark IV were just one generation from perfection. All Sony had to do was give it proper video specs and boom, it only took them nine years, nine freaking years. But I'm incredibly happy. And no, Michael, it doesn't have Open Gate, you sick freak. ♪ Nowadays it's so easy to believe ♪ ♪ What you want ain't no reason to perceive ♪ No, the 4K with the 10-bit 422 S-Log3 just looks so damn good. 4K 120 does have a slight crop, but I mean, I'm not gonna complain. The previous model did have 4K and they did look good enough, but as a video snob, I want it to look better. Phones have gotten so good, especially iPhone ProRes Log, because it has 10-bit. And finally, the Sony RX line is catching up. ♪ This is how your heart is used to ♪ Sony, please, if you're gonna make the next RX100 Mark VIII, just include 10-bit 422. 4K 60, 4K 120, and I will be so happy. The lens has Optical SteadyShot Stabilization, which I find very useful. The stabilization is crazy good, even when being at 600 millimeter. I mean, there's some shakes, but it's acceptable. And of course we can enable Digital Active Stabilization to further minimize the shakes. But I mean, we're hand-holding 600 millimeters here. Geez, it's steady enough. Hotshoe now supports the MI wire-free mics. Otherwise, headphone and mic jack ports are available, making the RX10 Mark V actually a decent video production camera. And I know what you're gonna ask, Michael, what about overheating? Is there overheating? Feel free to pause the video to read the results on the screen, but I find this very impressive. The only time the RX10 Mark V had to shut itself off was during 4K 120p, which is the usual for even higher-end Sony models without a built-in fan. But of course, everybody's shooting climate varies, so just keep that in mind. Now, my one complaint in video mode is that the zooming becomes super slow in the middle of recording. God, the zooming is so slow when you're in recording mode. Oh my God. However, when you're out of recording mode, it zooms pretty crazy fast. I mean, look at that. Boom. This isn't an RX10-specific problem. It's just something that I've noticed on any cameras with a built-in zoom lens. If you know the reason why, please let me know in the comments down below. The wrong opinion. So despite me pointing out a list of flaws, why did I say the RX10 Mark V is perfected? Well, that's kind of the oxymoron of the entire review. There's no such thing as a perfect camera because there's always gonna be a Michael out there that's gonna be bitching about something. Yeah, no ---- is not gonna be a perfect camera for everybody. But the RX10 Mark V being the one-inch camera that it is that goes from 24 to 600 millimeter with improved colors, Sony's best autofocus system, better battery life, modern menu system, and 4K with 10-bit 422, it has everything a functional camera should have in 2026 with very, very reasonable compromises in my humble, wrong opinion. And honestly, those compromises are just me nitpicking because if I truly want the best of the best, I can get something like this. But for the days I want something small with a long-ass reach and all the most important features that I personally value, the RX10 Mark V is perfect. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform to create beautiful websites. No coding knowledge needed. It's perfect if you wanna showcase your photos, sell prints, and run your business online all in one place. And with Blueprint, Squarespace's new AI-powered website builder, getting started has never been easier. Just answer a few quick questions and it instantly builds a custom site with layouts, colors, and even sample content, plus built-in SEO tools to help more people discover your site. Use my link down below for a 14-day free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use code JASONWONG to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Guys, thank you so much for watching. We'll see you guys in the next video. Peace and peace, Michael. Forget Jason Vogg. This is Jason Schlu- Hey!