By: Tucyard [ Instagram ]
Introduction
In the spring of 2025 I travelled to Japan for the first time, visiting Tokyo and Osaka. Being an avid anime consumer, and a fan of Japanese culture in general, I was excited to take photographs during my trip. In anticipation of this, I purchased a used Sony RX100 III to be a versatile and pocketable every day carry on my holiday. All of the photos in this are shot with the RX100. Upon arriving to Japan, the scenery was actually more inspiring than I had anticipated and I was happy to have a camera with me at all times, which the compact RX100 was ideal for.
Impressions
I bought the Sony RX100 III as a complement to my admittedly both large and heavy Nikon DSLR. I wanted something I could carry around everywhere always and that still retained a zoom lens; as many compacts use prime lenses. In that respect, the RX100 is a great tool. It fits in every pocket and is able to capture great photos from a range of perspectives.
The III has a focal length of 24-70mm (full frame equivalent) ranging from f/1.8 to f/2.8. One of the main reasons I decided on this was the electronic viewfinder, which is missing from many compact cameras. However, against my expectations, I mostly used the screen at the back of the camera and not the EVF.
People often complain about Sony’s UI being hard to navigate. While it is true that the system is complex and has a moderate learning curve, I found it easy to get used to it quickly. It might take some time to get the FN menus the way you want, but once that process is done, navigating is no problem.
My biggest gripe with the camera is the autofocus. I used it as a point and shoot camera in aperture-priority (A) mode most of the time. Dialing in the focus manually with digital controls is quite the pain in the ass if there are issues locking on to your subject. The RX100 III’s autofocus is achieved through contrast-detection, which is, no matter how you cut it, not as good as phase detection autofocus that is used in newer cameras.. A lot of shots were out of focus ever so slightly, and I only noticed it at home on preview. Apparently, starting from the RX100 V, Sony gave the camera the superior phase-detection autofocus system. With the VI model, the lens changed from 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 to a 24-200mm f/2.8-4.5 lens. Much more reach, but with a smaller max aperture.
All in all, the RX100 III is still a great little camera which can be found relatively cheaply for older generation models. It’s image quality might not be on par with modern tech mirrorless cameras, but it still produces good images and is infinitely more pocketable, and most importantly, is fun to use. Versus fixed focal length cameras like the Ricoh GR series, I find the zoom on the RX100 more important on a holiday to ensure that I don’t miss any shots from being stuck with a relatively wide angle prime lens.
Image Samples
Clicking the thumbnail below will take you to a higher resolution image.
The avid anime watcher may recognize this, this spot has been shown in Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume. The bridge is outside of Ochanomizu Station, with enough patience 3 trains can be captured at the same time.
It’s not easy to get a nice shot of the life sized Unicorn Gundam at Diver City Mall due to the backdrop, but with the imposing sky and the red lights, it made for a nice shot.
Located at the top of a hill in Osaka, the buddha statue towered over most buildings. An interesting motif in combination with the power lines (bravo Anno).
The arcade game for Fate/Grand Order has been on the decline and the cabs at Gigo 1 (now Silk Hat) got removed. On the final day, the players held a funeral service. The game is set to completely end service in March 2026.
The cityscape of Tokyo is constantly changing so there were a lot of opportunities to shoot construction sites. Seeing old buildings get demolished did feel sad, like a part of the city and its history being brushed away.
I’d often stay in Akihabara until way past sunset. The environment changes once everything is closed. In the dark and without the masses of people, I got a new perspective on the usual spots.
By pure chance I was at the outskirts of Osaka and was at the right place at the right time to see this beautiful sunset over the city.
If you enjoyed this photoset, you may like to follow Tucyard on Instagram [INSTAGRAM LINK] where he regularly posts photography taken on his travels.