The Sony RX1R III wasn’t the only compact camera announced this week, although it was undoubtedly the most interesting one. Rollei, the same iteration of the legendary photo company that released an 85mm f/1.8 prime last month, announced a new camera: the Powerflex X8 Dual Lens 64 MP digital camera with 5K. What a mouthful.
First spotted by Photo Rumors, the Rollei Powerflex X8 sports an 8x optical zoom lens on the front, like a traditional camera lens, and a small little selfie lens on the back where an EVF might otherwise go, ensuring users can easily capture selfies with the aid of the 3.6-inch rear touchscreen.
It’s an odd camera, to be sure. Rollei claims that the small Type 1/2.8 main image sensor can capture 64-megapixel images, although manufacturers often utilize in-camera enlarging with cameras like this to hit a certain megapixel threshold. In any case, it’s a small sensor with a 6.7x crop factor, so image quality will not be a strong suit, and many smartphones should offer similar, if not better, performance. The camera features an 8x optical zoom lens, which provides an equivalent focal length range of 38-310mm with a variable f/1.8-2.6 aperture. Now that’s a focal length range smartphones can’t compete against, at least.
The rear selfie camera features a Type 1/3.06 sensor, although its resolution remains unclear. The selfie camera has a wide-angle lens, as expected.
The Rollei Powerflex X8 can record 5K video at up to 25p and 4Kp30 video. Its highest speed is 60p, and that is only available at Full HD resolution.
As for its design, the Rollei Powerflex X8 sports a very standard SLR-style camera shape, and it features a couple of control dials on its top deck. Oddly, not a single one of Rollei’s official product photos shows a clear view of the top of the camera, so it’s not evident what the dials do. However, Rollei says the camera has a few special shooting modes, so one of them could be for that.
The Rollei Powerflex X8 is also reminiscent of a variety of cheap cameras available on Amazon, although none are a perfect match with the Rollei Powerflex X8 in terms of features. There is little doubt that Rollei licensed this camera or contracted another company to make its newest camera.
In any case, the Rollei Powerflex X8 Dual Lens camera is available from Rollei for €299, which converts to around $350. The Powerflex X8 does have a couple of things going for it. Its selfie camera is an interesting, albeit not unique, feature for a compact digital camera of this class, and the built-in zoom has better telephoto coverage than a smartphone, although less wide-angle coverage.
However, as PetaPixel has written, photographers on a tight budget should consider whether a used camera from a major manufacturer is a better fit for their needs.
Image credits: Rollei
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