When the Sony RX100 was announced, its one-inch sensor and f/1.8
aperture seemed too good to be true. Near-DSLR power packed into
a body the size of a compact point-and-shoot camera? What's the
catch?   Why It Matters  There has arguably never been a better
time to be a camera enthusiast. But this is also such a strange
time for cameras. DSLRs are no longer luxuries for pros and the
wealthy. There are mirrorless cameras which are nearly the size
of compact shooters. Mobile phones can sometimes pull off images
that go toe-to-toe with far more powerful cameras. And then
there's the point-and-shoot.  For nearly a decade, this was the
camera category for the masses. But in 2012, most of them can't
compete with the quality of DSLRs, nor can they attain the
diminutive size of a cameraphone. It leaves people to wonder why
they'd even want a compact camera. For the first time in a long
time, the RX100—with it's massive one-inch sensor, wide f/1.8
aperture, and wonderful low-light handling—provides people with
a reaso