Remember the Sony RX1R II? Of course you don’t. Ok, maybe you do if you were around and kicking in October 2015, when it launched. DSLRs were already waning among the wealthy amateur and prosumer segment of the camera market, and EVF (electronic viewfinder) cameras were several years into being the Next Big Thing.

Sony’s RX1R II was well received at the time, and then it just vanished. Faded into the sunset like an aging Hollywood starlet, with no trace of a successor to pass along its good name. It appeared as if Sony was bowing to Fujifilm’s and Leica’s dominance of the camera segment.

And then WHAM. On July 15, 2025, Sony caught us all unaware by dropping a successor, the RX1R III. I’d call it long awaited, but nobody was really still waiting for it to ever appear. More than anything, I’m just surprised that any company as big as Sony could keep a secret without even a pinhole-sized leak.

a new evf in town

The RX1R III packs a 61-megapixel full-frame Exmor R BSI sensor, along with a ZEISS Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 fixed lens that can’t be removed. That’s par for the course in this type of camera. Although the Fujifilm X-E5 does have interchangeable lenses, at $1,899 it’s punching below the RX1R III’s weight.

The ZEISS Sonnar T* packs three prime lenses that let the shooter switch among focal lengths equivalent to 35mm, 50mm, and 70mm through buttons or dials. They call it Step Crop Shooting.

And as long as the shooter taking photos in RAW format, they can reselect the focal length in post-production

Courtesy of B&H Photo Video, which eagerly trumpeted the RX1R III’s arrival on the same day as Sony, the rest of the specs sheet looks like this:

• BIONZ XR & AI processing unit
• 693-Point PDAF & real-time tracking autofocus
• 4K 60p 10-Bit & FHD 120p video
• 2.36m-Dot 0.7x OLED EVF
• 3.0″ 2.36m-Dot touchscreen LCD
• Step crop modes and creative looks
• SD UHS-II slot; USB-C, HDMI, mic ports

Pre-orders at B&H Photo Video, Adorama, and Sony are open, and like the Fujifilm GFX100RF competitor it seems to be, it runs a pretty penny. The cost of admission is $5,100. That’s close to the $4,900 mark that the Fujifilm GFX100RF costs, if you can find it.

Like the far cheaper Fujifilm X100VI, the GFX100RF has been tough to find in stock since its introduction earlier this year. The tariff seesaw isn’t helping. At least now we have more options.