Sony's new RX10 III triples the zoom range of its predecessor

Sony just announced the RX10 III, a new version of the company's flagship superzoom camera. The biggest difference between the RX10 III and its predecessor is that it has a brand new super-telephoto lens with 25x optical zoom, giving it an equivalent range of 24-600mm. That's a three-fold increase from the 24-200mm lens found on the RX10 II.

The most notable tradeoff Sony made in order to pack in this extra zoom range is that the RX10 III loses the constant f2.8 aperture found on the RX10 II. Instead, the new camera is equipped with a variable f2.4-4 aperture. To help photographers shoot at the long end of the new lens, Sony has built in optical image stabilization capable of compensating for 4.5 stops of exposure.

Other than that, the new RX10 III is very much the same camera as the RX10 II. It has the same videographer-focused features that were rolled out with last year's RX10 II and the RX100 IV, like the ability to shoot 1080p slow motion video at 960 frames per second (about 40 times slower than normal speed), or film in 4K at regular speeds of 30 or 24 frames per second.

And also like its predecessor, the RX10 III is capable of shooting stills at up to 14 frames per second in silent mode. (Though, autofocus tracking is only available at shooting speeds of up to 5 frames per second.) There's a 2.35-million-dot resolution OLED viewfinder, as well as an articulating 3-inch LCD screen on the back of the camera. Sony's SteadyShot electronic image stabilization is also included.

Sony says the refreshed RX10 III available this May for "about" $1,500.

• SourceSony